Surprisingly, this was the hardest Google app for me to find decent alternatives for. It doesn’t help that, aside from YouTube and GMail, Google Maps is probably my most used Google app. Not necessarily for the navigation piece; I generally prefer learning how to drive around the city myself. But it’s got a couple of really big convenience factors for me: traffic estimation and the business information.
Any time I’m thinking of driving somewhere, I can typically think of a handful of ways to get there, each one being faster or slower depending on what part of town has the most traffic. Google Maps works surprisingly well at estimating this. Granted, they tend to conflate “slow traffic” with “there’s a stop light”, but otherwise, they seem pretty convincing with their traffic estimates (turns out that’s partly because you’re providing real-time traffic updates when you open Google Maps).
Recently, I’ve found myself using Google Maps as an updated Yellow Pages. If I need to know anything about a business, from their hours, to their phone number, to their website, I find myself opening Google Maps. Maybe it’s unsurprising since Google seems to be going out of its way to make its search less user-friendly and more focused on ads and AI (in short: it’s getting worse).
The other criteria I use (selfishly) is their bike navigation. A lot of the alternatives I looked at didn’t realize when there was a separated bike path just next to the highway. There are enough bike accidents, and I’m not trying to add to that because of a desire to move away from Google.
All that to say, a good replacement of Google Maps needs to have some idea of the details around certain businesses and an acknowledgement that traffic exists (and is easy to find on their app), plus semi-rational bike navigation.
Google Maps Alternatives
Apple Maps
I know, I know. Switching from one big tech company to another isn’t great. But honestly I think Apple Maps is the best competition that Google Maps has right now. They seemed to have mostly resolved their mapping issues from the earlier part of the decade. They have a decent number of businesses listed, including accurate hours of operation and phone numbers. They also try to route bikes onto bike routes when they can. So all in all, this might be worth the switch, assuming you’re one of the 60% of people who have an iPhone.
Waze
While they’re still technically a competitor to Google Maps, it’s worth noting that Waze was purchased by Google back in 2013, so you’re still keeping your data all in the family. That being said, Waze has some pretty sweet features built in. The main appeal of Waze is the real-time updates around traffic, construction, and other issues. They make it easy to flag road hazards within their navigation, or update an existing problem. As a result, you get to see a fairly accurate picture of what the roads are actually looking like. They’re also owned by Google, so all of their business information appears to be accurate.
The main drawback is that they’re very much a car-centric app. In fact, the only navigation option is by car. They also have little cutesy icons that show where other “Wazers” (waze users) are and how fast they’re driving. They do keep it fairly anonymous, but it seems like a weird feature to have in the first place.
MapQuest
Now that’s a name you probably haven’t heard in a while. MapQuest is surprisingly still alive and kicking. They’ve even leaned into the “Quest” part of their name, opting for a pixel-art style in their app, along with RPG-like characters to mark where you are. They seem to have decent knowledge of businesses in the area, and the hours look like they’re maybe a few months out of date, but that shouldn’t matter for most cases.
They do seem to enjoy sending bikes down busy streets and highways, so it’s not perfect. But if you’re not on iOS and you really want to be free from Google’s broad reach, this might be the way to go.
OpenStreetMaps (and OsmAnd Maps)
Finally, an open source map software on the list! OpenStreetMaps is kind of like the Wikipedia of maps. You can create an account and make edits to the map yourself (and thankfully they need to be approved by a local moderator to get published). This means you’re more likely to see smaller streets or paths you might not have noticed otherwise. I know that I’ve added a handful of biking trails around town when I noticed they weren’t showing up.
Unfortunately, once the novelty wears off, that’s kind of all that OpenStreeMaps (and the mobile app OsmAnd Maps) has going for it. Navigation appears to be fine, though bike navigation struggles with the classic “biking on the highway is fine” problem. And the business directory is minimal at best. This feels more like one of those apps you’d use as a statement about open-source rather than because of any particular features you prefer.
Organic Maps
This is kind of a fun take on mapping software. They’re a strongly privacy-focused company offering predominantly offline maps without ads or tracking. This means that anytime you zoom into a new area you haven’t been before, they need to download the region (all based on OpenStreetMap data). This means it can be a potential boon for travel, as long as you plan ahead. Snag some wifi somewhere, download the area you’ll be in, and you won’t have to worry about burning through data just to get around. Like OpenStreetMaps, their business info is minimal, but their biking routing seems pretty solid.
All in all, this looks like a sweet find, particularly if you’re focused on privacy or are sick of using up data to get around.