Avaq

joined 4 years ago
[โ€“] Avaq@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I love Organic Maps. I used it quite a lot for navigation across Europe and here's my list of findings in order from good to bad

  • The maps are visually much clearer than Google Maps
  • Businesses are all visible like you said, and so are street names, etc. I don't know what Google did, but often zooming on something won't get you the labels. With Organic Maps it just works. On the other hand, businesses are often missing or outdated. Google's database is way more current and complete.
  • Walking paths, benches, bins, etc. are usually better mapped-out (because it's built on OpenStreetMap). On the flipside, this community-driven approach leaves some roads outdated and occasionally it'll cause you having to back-track, or ending up on dirt roads. I have fun in those moments though. :)
  • Its navigation includes instructions for important Y-junctions in highways where Google Maps just assumes you'll take the correct lane. On the flipside it'll often tell you to "go straight" even though there seem to be no other options.
  • Generally when navigating, a Google Maps blunder tends to be way more annoying than an Organic Maps blunder.
  • It works without an internet connection by asking you to download the maps along your route up front. This can also be a hassle when you just want a quick result.
  • Sometimes the position-tracking experiences a delay, which can cause you to miss your turns. This is annoying and I hope it will be fixed.
  • Computing a route can take a few minutes depending on the distance and complexity of roads.
  • It uses way more battery than Google Maps.

Now, if it wasn't for this last point, I'd use it over Google Maps every time. But the battery consumption is so bad that I only use it if I know that I can reliably charge my phone throughout the trip.

[โ€“] Avaq@lemmy.ml 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

The first and last time I clicked an ad was roughly 20 years ago. I was a child, playing RuneScape and orgazing a clan, and I wanted to post our clan events on a website.

An ad for one.com (a web host, called b-one back then) was shown above the RuneScape client. I thought about it and decided to click it. I landed on the website and made an account, played around a bit, and asked my mom if she'd pay for it. In that moment, not only did I become a paying customer, I became a web developer. The latter of which I still am to this day.

Being exposed to such life-altering artifacts on the daily seems like a terrible idea, so I've blocked ads ever since.