I personally use OsmAnd on mobile (available exclusively on Android), but I’ve taken to using CoMaps on desktop. The menu UI on the right leaves something to be desired, and it’s not nearly as powerful as OsmAnd; however, the map itself is rendered well and easy to navigate, the search and navigation functionalities work well, and map updates come frequently.
To me, it’s the best desktop maps application provided OSM has decent coverage in your area. (If not, I could go on for thousands of words about why you, yes you, should contribute.)
Here’s an example screenshot of a walking route between two nearby locations:
Context for those using Organic Maps: CoMaps is a fork of Organic made by former Organic contributors that has been active for over a year now. It’s generally accepted as better than Organic. This is the open letter they wrote to Organic airing their grievances.
Why YSK: Offline maps are a great way to safeguard your privacy and don’t require much storage space. Likewise, using OpenStreetMap is a great way to maintain digital sovereignty from giant corporations.
Just tried osmand and I basically soft locked the free version. I didn’t know there was a download limit. I told it to download all of the maps for my province. It downloaded a bunch and then stopped and said I reached a download limit. It didn’t get as far as downloading the map where I actually live, so I can’t use the app. Deleting maps doesn’t restore any ability to download maps. Dumb design.
I believe that is the limitation for the Google Play variant. You can download the alternate version allowing unlimited map downloads along with other features all for free from the FDroid repository.
That actually is dumb design. I suggest using the F-Droid version which gives unlimited map access. I never use more than the base 7, but (apparently) not being able to change what those are is silly.
Even though it’s a pain, I seem to recall that you could just delete the app and install it again, resetting the map download count.
Thanks! That worked.