- cross-posted to:
- hackernews
- cross-posted to:
- hackernews
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remember when apple didn’t have ads because they were premium?
Is CoMaps the only alternative besides google maps?
OSMAnd
, just What I needed - another good reason never to touch Apple. (But hey, there’s money to be made - Google advertising revenue 230+billion USD… remind me again of all the good that these companies are doing in the world with their wealth???).
I’m done.
I thought if people pay for things, like extreamly expensive Apple hardware, no ads can exist there? Must be confused or hearing things.
The business majors are about to learn an important lesson about open source.
Oh fuck dude. You made coffee come out my nose.
CoMaps is a nice offline alternitive. Not perfect,but it respects privacy
to be clear this isn’t a privacy issue. they are allowing companies to pay to be featured more prominently in the app.
Might give it a spin, currently using Organic Maps.
It was forked off if Organic Maps because if a difference of philosophy. Organic Maps wanted to add more proprietary components to their app.
It already has ads. Those businesses it highlights for no reason at all when you’re scrolling around.
yeah google doing this made me stop using it as much. still need to find a permanent alternative
The next headline will read, OpenStreetMaps gains users as Apple adds ads to maps.
i recommend people get streetcomplete too so you can help build out osm! :)
I wish it were good enough to be a viable alternative but it really isn’t.
If it’s missing data (such as locations) that is the issue, then you can update the map yourself and help others migrate at the same time. Every little bit helps, even if you don’t plan on fully moving over. I’ve done over a thousand changes to my local area and it’s actually more accurate than Google Maps in a lot of the commercial areas. You don’t have to do a thousand things though, like I said, every little bit helps.
Of course, it doesn’t help for outside of your area if you only do changes locally, but if enough people were willing to update the map, things could change.
Adding onto that, the app StreetComplete makes contributing stupidly easy. You basically get a bunch of quests generatef around you with missing or potentially outdated data that you can fill in by answering simple questions. Basically Pokemon Go, but infinitely more useful.
After that, Apple would ban OSM apps from their store.
why would they do that when Google Maps and Waze are already bigger competitors?
I could totally see this happen.
Not in a direct manner, but something about “OSM not living up to Apple’s high standards of privacy” or similar strategy.
Be realistic, not many people using apple devices (or any mobile devices tbh) are going to care or be intelligent enough to pull an open source alternative
won’t care? yeah probably. aren’t intelligent enough? that’s an insane generalization, knowledgeable about technology ≠ smart
“People using devices I don’t like are stupid” is among the dumbest of takes.
No, it’s more that the average person will choose an iPhone or Android Phone and use whatever is built-in instead of looking for an alternative, and this describes the vast majority of people.
It’s not the device they picked, it’s that they’re part of the majority.
The point is there’s no reason for android edglords to be all antagonistic and bring intelligence into it.
The majority sucks if you’re a snowflake.
No, the majority sucks at any particular area. It turns out that most people are good at a few things and bad at pretty much everything else. You don’t want a doctor doing your taxes, or a lawyer checking your teeth for cavities, because that’s not what they’re good at.
Most people only care about tech if it’s not working. They use whatever comes with the devices they buy and leave it at that, because why should they care further?
Apple deliberately markets to those who willing to trade their virtual freedoms for a pseudo-luxury brand (with enough QC defects to kickstart Louis Rossmann’s career), a UI filled with (buggy) eye candy, “social status” (Blue bubbles) and “convenience” in the form of never having the option of installing software outside their walled garden.
With the exception of those who work at the company and are mandated to have a device, and those who use iOS for certain apps exclusive to the platform required for their employment, they are the technologically inept. Manuals scare them, a terminal prompt would make them jump up and call IT over right away. Installing an application manually is “scary”. If something went wrong with the hardware, they would throw away the device rather than fix it (thanks to Apple). Trying to explain to the the consequences of their choices is a fool’s errand.
They are the marketable, eager cult members for Apple to puppet on virtual strings. The only thing that surprises me is that they haven’t enshittified with ads sooner. I guess that impacts their “luxury” brand image.
I’m not sure what an iphone user did to you exactly, but seek therapy.
Complain for years on end about the issues with their devices while simultaneously refusing to actually question whether they should stop buying Apple products.
Look, I live in silicon valley, I had to deal with family members and colleagues who had these exact issues in real time. Whenever they ask, “This sucks, is there a better way?” I would explain the circumstances and what phones/software would work as an alternative, and they would act repulsed, as if I offered them poison. “I only know how to use Apple! If I can’t get the same experience I’ll never switch!”
Then the very next year, same thing. Makes me want to tear my hair out when they ask me for assistance and refuse to actually consider why they have these issues in the first place.
The dumbest of takes indeed.
I am a software engineer with literally decades of experience, I was self hosting websites on personal Linux boxes via dynamic dns before it was cool, and I basically live in my terminal. I’m a proud NixOS user and I spend about as much time shelled in over SSH as I do not.
I use an iPhone because it’s a fucking phone, I use it to browse the web and make calls. I just need it to stay out of my way and not crash.
Maybe deciding that which phone someone uses needs to be a core part of their identity is the actual problem.
So you’re saying you’re fine with the required Apple account, advertising, and data collection? That’s not getting in your way?
Being unable to use a browser that isn’t webkit/safari isn’t problematic?
Yes.
Android does all the same shit with your data but worse.
I could install GrapheneOS or whatever else but there’s tradeoffs around actual usability, reliability, etc there I’m not willing to make, especially considering I use my phone for my job. If you are good for you, but don’t assume people are idiots because they prioritize different things than you.
That’s valid, I do use GrapheneOS personally and I understand that it’s not a choice (or available) for everyone. The thing that grinds my gears my most are the hypocritical Apple users, those who act like the platform is a bastion of Privacy, Security, and Simplicity when in reality it has just as many (or more) flaws as a platform like Samsung’s line.
If you’re using it as a work phone, I can understand that entirely (I probably should have included that alongside those who need a specific iOS app for their jobs).
Would you care to enlighten us fools on what phone and OS you use and how we can be as great as you?
I took a few hours to think before I messaged here again so I don’t ragepost, sorry.
Yes, my statement was full of vitriol - fueled from negative experiences assisting IT clients, family members, and colleagues who were too stubborn to realize the limitations of Apple’s ecosystem. I understand people who already have an iPhone either as a gift or a prior purchase, but it’s the refusal to do research or to realize that Apple’s screwing them that grinds my gears.
Personally, I use GrapheneOS, on a Pixel 9, but I am well aware that can’t be a solution for everyone (especially until the Graphene team manage to finish working with that Android OEM for more hardware support), so my best advice is to just to research about what device you are using. Ideally, it should have an unlocked bootloader, a transparent support timeline, and something like PostmarketOS support if you’re buying used.
None of those will ever be options on Apple’s ecosystem, and history shows their ecosystem enshittification is both inevitable, and accelerating. So please, just avoid them (and I guess Samsung as the worst Android-based offender) as much as possible.
People that like iphones hail Steve jobs. The guy that wore one single outfit because he hated choice, and made an operating system out of that believe system. On top of walled garden crap like not even being able to use Bluetooth for sending things around.
Yes the iPhone is pinnacle of stupid.
None of what you said is true.
I like my iPhone and I think Jobs was a twat.
The world does not exist in dichotomies like you’re asserting.
Probably those iPhone users look at you and think that it’s so stupid to test several apps when the default ones work great.
Be more realistic and try it. You’ll find obsolete and missing information, no review, and no info about opening times. I’d be happy to use it, but quite frankly it lacks all the features I need.
this is me as well. I’m the /only/ person in my town that updates data on OSM, and if you leave the area its just a void of nothingness. Outside of the automatic survey info that gets added its a ghosttown.
I want to like OSM but, between the crappy UI on all the apps, and the lack of information, I couldn’t do it.
There are a few around me, but I still find very outdated info and make a bunch of updates. A business left a year ago, and I finally got around to replacing it with the new business.
OSM is great, but it’s super spotting for anything with any amount of variance. It’s fantastic for trains and whatnot that rarely change, but for what most people use Apple Maps/Google Maps for, it’s largely useless.
What the heck did I (an iOS user) do to hurt you???
Bought from Apple. Voted with your wallet to support the walled garden infrastructure, gave up all of your software freedom for a shiny interface, blue bubbles, and some casual marketing.
And now that users like you realized how fucked you really are once Apple decides it’s time to extract more value from you, now you come crawling to the OSS community for a path out of the walled garden.
I mean, the community will still help you. But I can’t say I like Apple users after years upon years hearing them sing praises about the walled garden and worshipping the company’s abuses at every step of the way. At least we warned you about when this would happen, I suppose. Maybe some of them will realize their mistakes. I doubt it.
I don’t think you people fully grasp how insufferably dumb you seem with these opinions.
I had four android phones from three different manufacturers die in less than a year, one of them wouldn’t put out any updates after a year either. I went back to iPhone and it lasted for four years.
I’m not voting with my wallet, I’m picking the device that causes the least amount of headache and just fucking works when I need it to. I have to have one of these to keep my job.
Let me guess. You’re one of the people who compared a full priced iPhone to an entry level android and were upset that the $150-200 device wasn’t comparable? That’s like buying a chromebook and expecting it to have the same specs as a top of the line Macbook (you have to find a device that has bang for buck, not be a cheapskate)
Also, you can shop around and find a device with a support lifetime shown on their website. Google does it. Samsung does it. Oneplus does it. Even fucking Motorola does it. If you install something like PostmarketOS, you can get a support lifetime after the manufacturer stops caring as well. Or install something like GrapheneOS on the Pixel line that’s untethered from google. They have a support lifetime on their website too.
Oneplus
lol now we know you’re full of shit.
You got me, I never used a Oneplus phone. I have used Samsung, Pixel, and Motorola phones in the past though, (Note 9, S23, Pixel 9, Moto G5 and G6), and can confirm their support lifetimes were accurate. (I sold my S23 to buy a Pixel 9 to install GrapheneOS).
2 of them were Galaxy Notes and others were flagships as well. Quit being a douche.
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GrapheneOS and PostmarketOS are independently developed forks, not a “hacked android rom” (I guess you’re saying that to demonize the projects and imply ineptitude?), and have hardware support lists along with expected security support lifetimes if you’re willing to look.
Also, as I mentioned to the other commenter, every manufacturer should list the EOL support dates on their website. Just read that, and then pick accordingly. Or, and crazy thought here - look around for community reviews and recommendations! Don’t just go off Apple’s marketing! Wild concept!
(Also pinephone and Fairphone are two examples of Linux phones, but they aren’t super fleshed out yet so I wouldn’t recommend them either. Just find a device with a good EOL date and an unlocked bootloader.)
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and wasn’t an hacked android rom
So you overpay them for crappy iPhone and have to pay them again by watching ads?
Don’t forget web users. Duck duck go uses Apple Maps.
I guess DuckDuck pays them, so Duck users would be spared of the ads?
Can’t say I’m surprised but it’s such a shame. I’m guessing this ties inter their newly launched timeline feature. Maps was at least up to this point a better alternative to Google Maps.
Well shit.
They’ll probably make “Maps+” soon after.
Only until they rename it the week later: Apple Maps Pro Max 4K (2026 gen 2)
/uninstall
then again google maps and waze already do this too
CoMaps is a passable open source alternative if you don’t need live traffic data, otherwise the proprietary HERE WeGo app can be used. Both don’t project fascism onto the Gulf of Mexico.
All the tech executives are too busy on their hands and knees with Trump
As long as they are tasteful, that’s fine. Like little Dunkin Donuts indicators or whatever if they’re in the normal driving view and take up a very small amount of visual space, great. Waze has done this for years. No bother, no forced waits, no delays in navigation.
If you put banner, UI-blocking, and/or full-screen ads in my maps app, go fuck yourselves.
How’s the boot taste? I paid out the ass for my devices, they already made their money off of me. Get the ads out of my face.
