Me: can't install Google Maps because my phone doesn't have gapps. Awesome.

Osmand is really cool and it's really capable but I understand that it isn't for people who don't want to tinker a bit to make things work just right for them.

For that Organic Maps is what I recommend.

You: thinking they weren't already tracking you by a zillion other means including wifi/bt and cellular triangulation

Me: google-free wifi-only phone with all radios/mic/camera physically disconnected unless I need something specific

Normal people: Gladly give google maps access to location data at all times and never think about it

Yet also same normal people get utterly genuinely shock when they see a map of their past locations for the last 3 months.

Or have your phone location turned on and be super boring back and forth. When you deviate use a burner.

Who in their right mind would charge a subscription fee to download and/or update maps?

Edit: I only found out about this after my father downloaded the app on his phone, and it said he only has 5 downloads remaining before downloading the map for my state. It's extremely dumb for a "privacy focused maps app"

Google saw neat idea, built cool software, users happy. Replace cars to generate map data with phones for utmost accuracy. Trends of maximizing profit from cool technology makes users sad and services suck like other popular sites. Host begs Google not to make maps suck next.

Every free tech service can be (notionally) graded on how much value it offers for how much of your data it sucks up and monetizes. Most of the time we see an initial high value that gradually decreases as the developer gets greedy.

Google maps has managed to become Google "best" service, but it's important to be aware of the scale of problem we'll see if they start squeezing it for increasing profits, since it sucks up so much of our data and manages to be so useful.

That's the bulk of it, but there were other points being made about solving for edge cases that seem less central to the point.

Organic maps is what I use. Keep in mind OSM is built by the community so in places with lower tech literacy it will incomplete

Used to know someone who looked for cars around a restaurant, or long lines waiting to get into a tiny cafe, asked wait staff for interesting places they liked to go; went into non-chain stores where locals shopped (off the main streets); asked walkers and service station workers for directions. Always had wild stories about what happened, if you could get past their private nature. Weird fucker, unpredictable, never could get used to'm. Likeable enough, though.

human interaction