Why people don’t wanna switch from Gmaps (maybe at best a client app):
Gmaps has a monopoly on the navigation industry because of one thing: Bussness hours and reviews. It has been that way for years, and the only real alternative for this is Vela Maps, which is vibe-coded (or AI-made), until now
Competition arrives
A new project, called “Mangrove Reviews”, has been quietly growing on the scenes and has been doing revoews for the FOSS industry, giving Google Maps SOME sort of competition, even if it’s not to the level of straight rivalry
This service, tho, isn’t enough to turn the tides. However, navigation services like MapComplete and CoMaps have been slowly working with them to finally bring convenience for navigation for the more newer or unfamiliar de-googlers
Is this real competition yet?
We can’t know for sure. As stated in the latest CoMaps article (as of Oct 30th 2026), this is very niche. Competition for certain monoloplies have varying levels of success. Godot has succeeded on rivaling other game engines like Unreal or Unity, while attempts at YouTube altermatives like PeerTube only moderately succeeded. Mangrove Reviews, as far as I can tell, seems to be a very new project, so we can’t know for sure. We just gptta hope they succeed
you mean Vela Maps? I can’t find Vera Maps anywhere.
If you meant Vela, it’s a month old, and it’s CLAUDE.md file contains instructions to obscure how LLMs were actually used in the generation of the code for the project. I’ll pass.
…or just live without live traffic information and get the other info from business websites
traffic info is a nice-to-have, sure, but I’ve used just OSMand+ for years and it’s never really been an issue.
adresilo is a good way to get access to Google place data anonymously, if you feel like you need it. I used it a lot at first when it was a novelty, and now I use it about ~10 times per year.
Sorry, but traffic info is an absolute must-have if you drive for a living. Even if you don’t, getting stuck in traffic jams is a waste of fuel/energy, time, & sanity. It also is dependent upon where you are as some areas are better engineered for traffic issues than others (the older the major city, the worse it tends to be - it’s particularly bad in the northeastern US).
You can anonymously get Google place data free (unlike your suggestion) by opening maps in a browser like Firefox Focus that forgets everything each time you exit it. You can also use one of a few apps on F-Droid like GMaps WV that use an isolated webview to do similarly (although you should be aware this is less secure than Firefox Focus because WebRTC can’t be blocked this way & the app’s cache must be manually cleared).
I’ve been using it off & on. While it’s gotten better, it’s still a bit much of a battery-killer, comparatively speaking. It’s surprising how decent it is, but that’s definitely preventing me from adopting it full time yet.
Also, I find it copying Google too closely. For example, I’ve never understood why we can’t just get directions without all the “alerts” that are over-reported by people just for Internet points. I hate already being a mile into a ten-mile construction zone, and being told there’s “construction ahead” repeatedly throughout the rest of the construction. It’s just so stupid and incredibly annoying. It’d be really nice to have the ability to select which warnings get spoken, and maybe disable all warnings for a selectable period (like 10 or 20 mins or miles).
There’s other stuff, too, but they’re far more minor to me. Until the battery sucking issue is resolved, I just can’t be bothered. I’m keeping an eye on it, though.
I assume this is different to newpipe in an important way though. Newpipe is one-way, you just download video files through it. But in this case you effectively need to send your location to someone or its not gonna be able to supply you with information about traffic close to you.
Debated by who? Even ten years ago I remember navigating on a long drive and it automatically redirecting me to avoid a massive traffic jam. Even now that’s incredibly useful, back then it was absolute sci-fi!
As for business reviews I don’t think I’ve ever used that, why would I want to just read ads and paid comments?
Vela Maps is the best way to get accurate information about traffic and opening hours while interacting with Google only as little as you have to
It’s like NewPipe but for GMaps
you mean Vela Maps? I can’t find Vera Maps anywhere.
If you meant Vela, it’s a month old, and it’s CLAUDE.md file contains instructions to obscure how LLMs were actually used in the generation of the code for the project. I’ll pass.
yes Vela Maps, typo
it works great and I use it whenever OSMAnd isn’t enough or just simply unsuitable (finding restaurants e.g.).
It’s up to you if you’d rather use GMaps directly or just pass on important information like that OFC
…or just live without live traffic information and get the other info from business websites
traffic info is a nice-to-have, sure, but I’ve used just OSMand+ for years and it’s never really been an issue.
adresilo is a good way to get access to Google place data anonymously, if you feel like you need it. I used it a lot at first when it was a novelty, and now I use it about ~10 times per year.
Sorry, but traffic info is an absolute must-have if you drive for a living. Even if you don’t, getting stuck in traffic jams is a waste of fuel/energy, time, & sanity. It also is dependent upon where you are as some areas are better engineered for traffic issues than others (the older the major city, the worse it tends to be - it’s particularly bad in the northeastern US).
You can anonymously get Google place data free (unlike your suggestion) by opening maps in a browser like Firefox Focus that forgets everything each time you exit it. You can also use one of a few apps on F-Droid like GMaps WV that use an isolated webview to do similarly (although you should be aware this is less secure than Firefox Focus because WebRTC can’t be blocked this way & the app’s cache must be manually cleared).
Yeah and Vela Maps does it even better
I’ve been using it off & on. While it’s gotten better, it’s still a bit much of a battery-killer, comparatively speaking. It’s surprising how decent it is, but that’s definitely preventing me from adopting it full time yet.
Also, I find it copying Google too closely. For example, I’ve never understood why we can’t just get directions without all the “alerts” that are over-reported by people just for Internet points. I hate already being a mile into a ten-mile construction zone, and being told there’s “construction ahead” repeatedly throughout the rest of the construction. It’s just so stupid and incredibly annoying. It’d be really nice to have the ability to select which warnings get spoken, and maybe disable all warnings for a selectable period (like 10 or 20 mins or miles).
There’s other stuff, too, but they’re far more minor to me. Until the battery sucking issue is resolved, I just can’t be bothered. I’m keeping an eye on it, though.
I already have Vela Maps for those lookups, thank you for the suggestion tho
I assume this is different to newpipe in an important way though. Newpipe is one-way, you just download video files through it. But in this case you effectively need to send your location to someone or its not gonna be able to supply you with information about traffic close to you.
Or you just download the file for the area you’re interested in, same as how the map works
Traffic data needs to be live, so that means constantly downloading the data for your current location which leaks your location all the same.
Traffic data being important is quite debated
Debated by who? Even ten years ago I remember navigating on a long drive and it automatically redirecting me to avoid a massive traffic jam. Even now that’s incredibly useful, back then it was absolute sci-fi!
As for business reviews I don’t think I’ve ever used that, why would I want to just read ads and paid comments?
“Reading ads and paid comments” Ok then your logic says that my post is a paid post or an ad which IT ISN’T. Not EVERY review is sponsored
By whom? I don’t even have a license and still I’d say it’s a must have for longer trips