Looking for an alternative to Google, this reminded me to look into Waze. And, wtf, I was not aware of the history of waze. I feel like I’ve caught an unregulated Wikipedia edit, too.
Waze started as FreeMap Israel. Of 3 founders, one has a wiki page, and is self-identifying as atheist and zionist. Meanwhile, Uri Levine’s page’s description of waze is “a traffic and navigation app that is meant to steal personal data from users”. Is this something confirmed or is it just describing crowd-sourced data collection in a demonizing way? All 3 founders were in Israeli Unit 8200 cyber warfare, so certainly sounds concerning. I get that crowd sourcing has mixed opinions and keeps proving to be surveillance mashed with convenience, like tracking links or Pokémon go.
Google recently messed with the UI around the same time it changed the lake name, so I’m actively looking for alternates now. I tried mapquest knowing it’s not the original mapquest group, but found it lacked a bit of functionality. Biggest issue is not being able to search along route. Is there anything else decent?
I can recommend OSMand https://osmand.net/ It’s Open Source (the additional features are free on F-Droid too) and works offline as well.
Maybe a state-lecel investment is what it will take to get a true alternative off the ground. I finally mostly left Google maps this year as part of de-googlimg my life but live traffic is essential for many and will be a tough wall to climb without critical mass. Maps took years to improve their navigation and it’s good because so many use it.
Genocide is a damn good reason for someone to get nav moving in a non-fascist, non-profit direction.