For car navigation, I’ve been using Google Maps until now. My test of the alternative OsmAnd didn’t go so well, as you can read in my post OsmAnd versus Google Maps. What bothered me there was the lack of real-time data and the long route calculation times. Andreas Voit recommended Magic Earth to me on Mastodon as another option, and I gave it a try.
Conveniently, on the same day as the recommendation, I had a long drive from Zurich to Frankfurt ahead of me. Fundamentally, the app offers little that’s surprising: various map views based on OpenStreetMap, online and offline navigation, display of speed limits, and traffic alerts. With these features, Magic Earth offers more than Google Maps or OsmAnd. The only things you have to give up are the user reviews and the comprehensive POI search of Google Maps; the built-in one is more limited.
The navigation starts up quite quickly. You enter an address or select one of the POIs, and the planned route is displayed. If you don’t do anything, navigation starts automatically after 10 seconds (which is configurable). I find that very good; Google waits until you start moving. The display is very easy to read and pleasantly minimalist. The next turn is at the top, information about travel time and arrival is at the bottom, and the current and permitted speed are in the corner of the map. And of course, at the very bottom left, there’s a button to report hazards. These reports and anonymized movement data are supposed to support the map service with traffic information.
And that brings me to my biggest criticism. In my test, this only worked moderately well. I was supposed to be home by 4:30 PM, which, according to Magic Earth, would have worked out easily with a 20-minute buffer. That is, until my girlfriend called me to report a construction site and a 50-minute delay according to Google Maps. Magic Earth was also aware of the traffic jam, but it failed to calculate the correct delay from it. Was that a one-off or is it the norm? I’ll keep testing it. In any case, it wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Another point of criticism is the volume of the voice prompts. I use my smartphone via a Bluetooth-AUX adapter as a music source for my car radio. The music was dutifully turned down, but the voice prompts were still significantly quieter than the music at its normal playback volume. Either I couldn’t understand the voice, or I was deafened by the music. Adjusting the volume in the app, during a break of course, hardly improved it. The voice instructions are still unintelligible.
But to be honest, I have the voice prompts turned off in Google Maps, and I’ll do the same with Magic Earth. So far, this navigation solution leaves a much better impression than OsmAnd. It’s not on the same level as Google Maps, but at least you’re not paying with your data. Definitely check out the app; it’s free.