Ideal maps/navigation app features
We started a poll to pick a maps app here https://codema.in/d/phU1JlaV/pick-and-fund-a-maps-app
But @Guido raised a concern here https://codema.in/d/phU1JlaV/pick-and-fund-a-maps-app/33 about the possibility that the developers of the app that we pick may not be interested in a top priority item for us. So lets have this poll in parallel to see which are the top priority items for us and make sure the app we pick is in alignment. So please suggest the most important features a maps app should have, I think we will keep a week's time to collect the requirements and then open the poll to order the suggestions based on priority.
Guido Thu 29 Aug 2024 9:10PM
allow to load and record gps tracks
-
public transport routing
Badri Sunderarajan Fri 30 Aug 2024 5:19AM
Within public transport routing: I'm not sure what to describe this as but different apps seem to show different leves of routing. For example, GNOME Maps has a "public transport" option but I can never actually find routes there. Organic Maps shows metro lines in Bangalore but not bus routes, whereas OSMAnd shows metro and bus routes as I would expect.
I'm guessing this is to do with what fields or standards the maps are using, so whatever that is we should find out and include it in this list. (Until then I'm thinking of this as "should be able to display both bus and metro routes in Bangalore")
Badri Sunderarajan Fri 30 Aug 2024 9:16AM
More about public transport support in maps
Here's what I found after doing some more research. I don't mean to dominate this thread with public transport discussion but I thought it would be better to document this somewhere 😅
Most projects seem to be using GTFS data for public transport routing. OsmAnd is the only app I have seen directly using public transport data from OpenStreetMap.
Organic Maps seems to be getting its public transport data from GTFS files. One issue tracking the implementation is here. (I think there was a page saying the support is experimental, but I can't find that now.)
GNOME Maps gets it from various sources like MOTIS and Transitous, both which are also (partly or fully) backed by GTFS (the full list of plugins is here).
Pure Maps has an open issue; so far they are thinking of using a similar model to GNOME Maps.
GTFS is a format for publishing public transport schedules (as well as real-time information). Normally this is published by the transport agencies themselves. This is useful in places like Europe where public transport data is commonly published because we get the full dataset at once, from an official source.
However in other places using OSM data might give better results, since it's under control. In India, there are several cities running GTFS projects, but they are limited to major/capital cities and access to the data is often restricted (Kochi Metro, which was the only one in that page listed as "open", is now asking for an email ID to download the GTFS files; others like Bangalore's BMTC don't even have official links, only some data hosted in third-party repos).
Finally, as a quick-fix there is also a script called osm2gtfs to convert OSM data to the GTFS format.
In summary: public transport can be either internal (taken from the OSM data itself) or external (from a GTFS file provided by someone).
I'm not sure if we want to distinguish this in the poll or keep it as a combined option—maybe combined is better since we are talking about end-user functionality and not technical implementation. Personally, I'd prefer taking it from the map itself, since that means better mapped areas also benefit from better routing—but someone from Europe may think otherwise 😉
Poll Created Tue 3 Sep 2024 7:55PM
Arrange desired features of a maps/navigation app based on priority Closed Tue 17 Sep 2024 8:00PM
What is this poll about?
We need to find out most desired features of a maps/navigation app.
Why is this important?
This will help us confirm the maintainers of the app we pick is in alignment with what we want and will accept our contributions.
What are you asking people to do?
Move the most important feature you want to the top.
Vote by ranking the options in order of your preference. The option that ranks first in the results wins.
Results
Results | Option | Rank | % of points | Points | Mean | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Adapted to mobile screen | 1 | 12.5% | 170 | 11.3 | ||
|
Offline Maps | 2 | 11.4% | 156 | 10.4 | ||
|
Turn by turn navigation | 3 | 10.7% | 146 | 9.7 | ||
|
Easy to use / Good UI/UX | 4 | 9.9% | 135 | 9.0 | ||
|
Actively developed by a community | 5 | 7.8% | 106 | 7.1 | ||
|
GTK based to fit with Phosh | 6 | 7.5% | 103 | 6.9 | ||
|
Public transport routing | 7 | 7.5% | 103 | 6.9 | ||
|
Work well in low spec devices like pinephone | 8 | 7.3% | 100 | 6.7 | ||
|
No dependency on Android | 9 | 5.9% | 81 | 5.4 | ||
|
No API keys or accounts | 10 | 5.6% | 76 | 5.1 | ||
|
Easy to install | 11 | 5.2% | 71 | 4.7 | ||
|
Ability to download maps for smaller geographic areas | 12 | 5.1% | 69 | 4.6 | ||
|
Load and record gps tracks | 13 | 3.6% | 49 | 3.3 | ||
Undecided | 0% | 0 | 0 |
15 of 30 people have participated (50%)
Pirate Praveen Tue 3 Sep 2024 7:55PM
1 - Offline Maps | ||
2 - Adapted to mobile screen | ||
3 - Turn by turn navigation | ||
4 - Easy to use / Good UI/UX | ||
5 - Actively developed by a community | ||
6 - Easy to install | ||
7 - Ability to download maps for smaller geographic areas | ||
8 - No API keys or accounts | ||
9 - Public transport routing | ||
10 - GTK based to fit with Phosh | ||
11 - No dependency on Android | ||
12 - Work well in low spec devices like pinephone | ||
13 - Load and record gps tracks |
hello_fellow_humans Tue 3 Sep 2024 7:55PM
1 - Turn by turn navigation | ||
2 - Work well in low spec devices like pinephone | ||
3 - Offline Maps | ||
4 - No API keys or accounts | ||
5 - Ability to download maps for smaller geographic areas | ||
6 - Adapted to mobile screen | ||
7 - No dependency on Android | ||
8 - GTK based to fit with Phosh | ||
9 - Easy to use / Good UI/UX | ||
10 - Actively developed by a community | ||
11 - Easy to install | ||
12 - Public transport routing | ||
13 - Load and record gps tracks |
Offline navigation, turn by turn and the ability to actually run it on my phone are top features. The rest are loosely structured by how nice to have i think they would be but again they are nice to haves.
Badri Sunderarajan Tue 3 Sep 2024 7:55PM
1 - Public transport routing | ||
2 - Offline Maps | ||
3 - Adapted to mobile screen | ||
4 - Easy to use / Good UI/UX | ||
5 - Work well in low spec devices like pinephone | ||
6 - GTK based to fit with Phosh | ||
7 - Actively developed by a community | ||
8 - No API keys or accounts | ||
9 - Easy to install | ||
10 - Turn by turn navigation | ||
11 - No dependency on Android | ||
12 - Ability to download maps for smaller geographic areas | ||
13 - Load and record gps tracks |
First two are what I need to make it usable for me. Next four will make me happy to use it (I won't feel I'm sacrificing on experience etc. for the sake of philosophy). Active development is nice to have, but if an app already has the main features we need then a slightly less actively developed one is also fine. I put "easy to install" in the middle because at least right now I think if people are running Phosh they will probably have the patience to work a bit more to install the app.
Silmathoron Fri 13 Sep 2024 1:34PM
1 - Adapted to mobile screen | ||
2 - Easy to use / Good UI/UX | ||
3 - Actively developed by a community | ||
4 - Offline Maps | ||
5 - Ability to download maps for smaller geographic areas | ||
6 - Work well in low spec devices like pinephone | ||
7 - Load and record gps tracks | ||
8 - Public transport routing | ||
9 - Turn by turn navigation | ||
10 - No dependency on Android | ||
11 - Easy to install | ||
12 - GTK based to fit with Phosh | ||
13 - No API keys or accounts |
It's a bit hard to order these... I put the no API keys or accounts at the bottom because I consider that it should be included in the "easy to use part". In addition, I would appreciate the ability (like in the android version of organic map) to log in with an OSM account and contribute directly from the app. This might not be relevant for a mainstream map app but I don't think we're looking for mainstream given the demographics of mobile linux.
Marius Tue 3 Sep 2024 7:55PM
1 - Adapted to mobile screen | ||
2 - Work well in low spec devices like pinephone | ||
3 - Offline Maps | ||
4 - GTK based to fit with Phosh | ||
5 - Easy to use / Good UI/UX | ||
6 - No dependency on Android | ||
7 - Public transport routing | ||
8 - Turn by turn navigation | ||
9 - Actively developed by a community | ||
10 - No API keys or accounts | ||
11 - Ability to download maps for smaller geographic areas | ||
12 - Easy to install | ||
13 - Load and record gps tracks |
I chose "work well with low spec devices" highly but I actually mean "good performance". Mobile osm maps are often vector based and tend to be slow on phones (even on android). But I think this can be fixed by using appropriate algirithms, gpu acceleration and a focus on performance (or by using a mixture between tiles and layers).
Pirate Praveen · Thu 29 Aug 2024 7:38PM
Most commonly requested features are,
Offline maps
Adapted to Mobile screen
Turn by Turn Navigation
Easy to use UI/UX
GTK based for good fit with phosh
Work in low spec devices like pinephone
Actively developed by a community
Should not require API keys or other accounts to use the app
Easy to install/already packaged
No android dependency
Ability to download smaller geographic areas (like a state if the country is very big)
Please add if I missed any features