Mapy.cz is great and my go-to app for outdoors mapping and tracking hikes and bike rides. It's worse than Google Maps for search and listing, but that's fine.
I'd love if something could be done for open street maps to try and create a real Google-competitor for listings, reviews etc.
When I need to orient myself better and especially when outdoors on foot I prefer mapy.cz, they have also a very nice Android app (I don't know if they have one for iPhones) which also gives offline maps. I think they at least partially use OSM, but very nice presentation and smoothness is there. Much better than OSM-And (which last time I used a few years ago).
Mapy.cz is far better than Google in case of Slovakia or Czech Republic. They have full coverage of high resolution pictures taken from planes and not satellites. Also these contain all the hiking, cycling and other routes. The native Android and iOS apps work great and support offline maps - you can download the whole map for a country with one click. Google Maps is unusable for sport or hiking because you only see a large green blob instead of the terrain with contour lines with altitude markings, all trails and roads and POI. Yes, Mapy.cz can't compete with car navigation, but everything else is miles better (and navigation on foot is better too).
Also check out Mapy.cz (for iOS, Android, web). I find it much better than Google Maps for the hiking / walking use cases. It sucks for the "looking for a nearby restaurant" use case though.
I honestly think this is a hidden gem that more people should know about.
Exactly. Specifically, for biking or hiking, Google Maps are useless. Mapy.cz can be downloaded (in region chunks) for offline use and are generally a pleasure to use.
For uses like that I use Mapy.cz app which uses OSM and contrary to the name works all over the world. It’s very good for trail hiking although I haven’t used it in US, it’s probably as good as OSM data.
Mapy.cz are superior to Maps.me for hiking trails and in general has better data 9at least for Czechia) than OSM in Maps.me, only reason why I keep maps.me in mobile is that great 3D bird view, no other app can match that
I see it's another fork of maps.me, I hope it will gain traction. Are there any relation between maps.me and mapy.cz (they look too similar other than using OSM)? I use the latter for quite some time since the maps.me fork that was on F-Droid stopped updating. I love mapy.cz and I would like to give them money so they would not share the same fate. I also like that mapy.cz is from my southern neighbors.
Maps in all of the above are pleasing for the eye and very informative, being offline-capable is an icing on the top, but it is a requirement when hiking. I love to explore areas with them. I start to have an itch to map a few paths in my neighborhood in OSM.
Due to the fact that it is based on (relatively frequently updated) OpenStreetMap data, its data density and depth is really really good and allows for quite obscure POI searches like ping pong tables, barbecue/fire pits, geographical features like valleys, etc.
Mapy.cz covers most of other use cases as well, including business info, public transport and other details. I personally find mapy.cz more tailored to pedestrian/public transport navigation within european city. The only feature which I go to google maps is the mentioned estimation of how crowded a place is (as this comes from android data, and google has an clear edge there).
mapy.cz is miles better in terms of hiking maps, sattelite/plane maps and regular maps compared to Googe Maps - at least in Czech Republic and Slovakia. And their apps have offline mode.
I can second this recommendation. Mapy.cz is especially awesome for me as I live in the Czech Republic. It has more updated satellite imagery for the CZ than Google, and shows all the hiking trails quite nicely. And the download function works pretty painlessly.
I don't use Google maps over 4 years. Mapy.cz is enough for me and I do recommend to use it. It support offline maps, no account, detailed hiking routes... Even more accurate than Google has.
I don't know why, but I love Mapy.cz. Someone recommended it to me when I was hiking in eastern europe, and I use it daily for hiking and biking. I don't own a car but I occasionally also use it when I have rented or borrowed one and it works fine.
I'd love if something could be done for open street maps to try and create a real Google-competitor for listings, reviews etc.
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