Android: The google-less experience

Apple... :smirk:

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I tried out Organic Maps with the Ubuntu Touch install - awesome. Very good contender for G-Maps... I think haha. I have a Linux powered GPS for my dual-sport, all rugged and rubberized and such - has Organic Maps!! So have been using it for some time actually. Has been my go-to for off-road trails around my area. G-Maps didn't have all the trails like Organic has.

I really want to try a Xiaomi.. I've had so many different ones it's.. mind bottling :joy: Oddly enough, only Apple for work - but provided.

I just watched a video - apparently there is an app that will theme your iPhone as Samsung UI :rofl: I need to try that on me mums iPhone.. she'll flip out lol but again, a work phone so maybe not :smirk:

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Thank you for that sir ..... downloaded and installed after I had to install Huawei AppGallery which wasn't on my Huawei phone of less than a year old .... the phone didn't want to except either app so I had to give the special permission to install ..... but I got'er done ..... :+1: :crazy_face:

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I use Magic Earth as my GPS app (I've used Waze, but it's too ad-intrusive, whereas Magic Earth has no ads), and I have GPS Cockpit to see which satellites are available and their signal strength, and StreetComplete so I can edit the OpenStreetMap map that Magic Earth uses.

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I used a Garmin Nuvi for several years. Then after an update it started giving me bad info. In southern Kentucky it took me off a good road onto a smaller road. That road then became a gravel road and then a dirt road. By this time I am in an area with trees close on both sides of the road and no where to turn around. As I traveled farther the road turned into a very narrow path filled with potholes and muddy water. This condition went on for a couple of miles while the GPS showed I was getting close to the end. I ended up doing some damage to my car trying to get through that mess. Fortunately I was driving a Mitsubishi Outlander with AWD or I would have never made it. And this was a remote area with no cell service. I thought that was some kind of fluke so I kept the Nuvi. About a year later we were going to meet my children and grandchildren for a weekend at a lake in NW South Carolina. I was driving our motor home. Again the Nuvi took me off a perfectly good road and onto a smaller road. This road also turned into a gravel road that wandered around for a while and then took me back to the same road I had gotten off of. That was when I scrapped the Garmin and started using a gps on my phone. I will never use another Garmin gps.

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Oh man! I had a little Garmin Nuvi 250!! I loved that thing - just cause I could use different map packs and update for free hahaha used it till it just stopped working. Which was like, 5 years - I picked it up at a Goodwill in Vegas for like 3 bucks. Battery still worked, touch screen was nice and bright, no scratches.. a diamond in the rough :wink: I wish I still had it.. It eventually just stopped working altogether.

Google Maps has a Maps Go alternative, like a webapp. It does work - I've used it in a pinch..

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Not so, I have Netflix on my Fairphone 3+, an un-Googled phone that came with /e/ OS. I have also installed /e/OS on my old 1+ 3. It uses something called micro-g(oogle). It has it's own App Store and you don't need to login with a Gmail account. It uses it's own Chromium Browser with SearX search engine (but lately this has been playing up so I have reverted to using Mojeek search engine).
Interestingly I installed some F-Droid apps, but following several system updates, I can no longer access the F-Droid store - which does not happen on my old 1+ 3, they are distinctly separate - something I need to raise on the murena forum!

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https://microg.org/ <-- Lil'bit o-info haha Good stuff - was using that with the Calyx flash. Ubuntu Touch worked really well with WayDroid - at the home screen, couldn't tell it wasn't Android. The notifications were a pain, but figured it out - and had apps running in the background! I'd like to Micro-G my current device - too many linked things though.. Still much more secure than cr-Apple! hehehe :smirk:

There are other app-stores to use though 10 best third party app stores for Android - Fall 2023 <-- I've used at least five of them - all pretty good! Also Aurora, that's with Calyx - a lot like F-Droid. Seemed to have more de-G'd apps too.. Anything that's good third-party is hard to get away from!

I can't think of much that would disable F-Droid after sys updates other than maybe Android version.. ? Can you re-download, possibly a higher / newer version?

Those things are built like tanks... I still have one in my car. It's survived the high temperatures under the sun. The NiMH battery has like 30 seconds of run-time before it shuts down if I unplug the power. The new maps are too big for it, so they had to chop the maps into smaller segments. When I drive into Houston, where the roadways get really complicated, it locks up, requiring a reboot.

I don't use it anymore unless my cell phone just cannot get a GPS fix, which happens sometimes amongst all these trees. For some reason, the Garmin gets a fix every single time, trees or no trees.

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I use qwant.com. It's been acting up a bit lately, though, asking me to prove I'm not a robot before it shows the search results.

Noice! I regret pitching mine lol not sure what was going on with it though; even plugged in, nothing. I don't remember what I had to do, but somehow was forcing storage on the SD card - where my map files were. Did get an error on one of them, too big - so then went with the SD card.

And absolutely never had any issues with signal - of course, in the desert wasn't any issues hahaha except that elusive road-work :joy:

I'm try out out your choice of GPS apt .... 'Magic Earth' ..... so far it looks very promising ...... looks like a keeper .....

Thanks for the suggestion ..... :+1:

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Download the map you want. It'll automatically prompt you to update when an update comes available.

The settings I've found work best for me:


Settings > Mobile Data: All enabled


Settings > General:
Battery Mode - Normal
Distances - In Miles / Feet
Night Colors - On
Day Style - Basic 3 Nocturnal
Map Layers - Turn off: Points of Interest, Accommodation, Wikipedia, Education, Entertainment, Sightseeing, Religious Places, Sports
Map Labels - Automatic
Map Storage - Prefer External Storage


Settings > Warnings:
Speed Limits - Enabled
Speed Warning Tolerance - 5 MPH
Speed Cameras - Early
Warning Type - Voice Message


Settings > AI DashCam: Disabled


Settings > Navigation:
2D/3D Map - Automatic
North Up - Disabled
Full Screen - Enabled
Autostart - in 10 Seconds


Settings > Navigation > Specific Settings > Car:
Head Up Display - Off
Travel Mode - Fastest
Avoid Traffic - Off
Avoid Motorways - Off
Avoid Toll Roads - On
Avoid Ferries - On
Avoid Unpaved Roads - On
Show Traffic Delays Longer Than - 8 minutes


Settings > Advanced Settings:
Map Data Cache Size - 15 GB
Report Events - Off
Debug Mode - Off


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WOW ..... couldn't ask for anything more ..... :+1: :clap:

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I also have installed Magic Earth. I just followed your instructions for how to set everything up. Looks great so far. Thanks!!

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Another +1 for Magic Earth. Far superior to Google Maps. For example, on my Good Ladies phone on a route through town it gives the wrong roundabout exit of 2 when it should be 3rd exit which Magic Earth provides. It also gives locations of mailboxes and ATMs and can double up as a dashcam. Have got the voice set to an Australian female. Plus all maps of the world are free. The other superior items are that the current speed limit is closer to the driver (I'm in the UK so perhaps GMaps is like all Operating Systems geared to the US).
The advanced warning of turn offs is more clearer and even gives Road names in Nav box. Other useful apps are Where is Public Toilet, also Global map.

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You can correct any wrong directions in real-time using the StreetComplete map editor... check it out, it's even more impressive than Magic Earth.

For example, until a couple weeks ago, if one approached where I live from one direction, it would have you go to the end of the road to the stop light, then pull a U-turn at the light, then turn right to get to the address. But there's a left turn about 1000 feet from the stop light directly to the address. That's now fixed.

There are 'quests' where you can answer any of the available questions (ie: 'What is this road made of?', 'Is this building wheelchair accessible?', 'What is the shape of the roof on this building?', 'What is this light pole made of?', 'Is there a publicly-available swimming facility at this location?' (asked of where I live because it sensed a pool there), 'What is the purpose of this building?' (asked of the maintenance shop / animal grooming boutique where I live), etc.).

I even got to name a road near where I work, that didn't have a formal name. It was specifically made to run to one government building, so I named it "Montgomery County Mental Health Facility Access Road".

I think they ask so many questions because eventually they'll have so much information that they can create a virtual 3-D environment.

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Is this a separate app that you have to download? I remember this being available right inside "Maps With Me", when it still existed (I think it still does but has gone close source).

Yes, it's a separate app.

https://streetcomplete.app/

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I just installed SaverTuner from F-Droid... it enables settings that put the phone into low-power mode to extend battery run time... and on my phone, for some reason, it causes the battery to descend from 100% charge to 79% charge and stay there when charging it, despite the fact that /e/OS doesn't have that functionality at the moment. That extends battery service life.

I'd been using ForceDoze to do the same, but ForceDoze requires root to make any changes (if you don't have root, it'll just apply the default template, you cannot change things), whereas SaverTuner has its permissions enabled via adb commands, without requiring root, so you can change how much you restrict the phone to low power settings.

sudo apt install adb

Setting up adb also lets you see and manipulate all the files on the phone (on the internal storage and on the SD card) from your computer.

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