Our first digital navigation. Open source alternatives to Google Maps

In the vast technological landscape, few tools have made as deep a mark as Google Maps. Since its inception, this application has become the standard for finding and navigating points of interest on maps. But what happens when we look for options beyond the ubiquitous map application? In this post we review possible alternatives to the well-known Google application. 

Introduction 

At the beginning of 2005, Google's official blog published a brief press release in which they presented their latest creation: Google Maps. To get an idea of what 2005 was like, technologically speaking, it is enough to look at the most groundbreaking mobile terminals that year: 

Imagen credits: Cinco móviles que marcaron el año 2005 

Some of us still remember what the experience (or lack of experience) of running apps on these terminals was like. Well, in that year the first version of Google Maps was launched, allowing us to search for restaurants, hotels and other elements near our location, as well as to find out the best route to go from point A to point B on a digital version of a map of our city. In addition, that same year, Google Earth was also launched, which represented a real technological milestone by providing access to satellite images for almost all citizens of the world.   

Since then, Google's digital mapping and navigation ecosystem, with its intuitive interface and innovative augmented reality features, has been a beacon guiding millions of users on their daily journeys.

But what if we are looking for something different? What alternatives are there for those who want to explore new horizons? Join us on this journey as we venture into the fascinating world of your competitors. From more specialized options to those that prioritize privacy, we will discover together the various routes we can take in the vast landscape of digital navigation.

Alternatives to Google Maps  

Almost certainly some of you readers have seen or used some of the open source alternatives to Google Maps, although you may not know it. Just to mention some of the most popular alternatives:  

1. OpenStreetMap (OSM): OpenStreetMap is a collaborative project that creates a community-editable map of the world. It offers free and open geospatial data that can be used for a variety of applications, from navigation to urban analysis.  

2. uMap: uMap is an online tool that allows users to create custom maps with OpenStreetMap layers. It is easy to use and offers customization options, making it a popular choice for quick creation of interactive maps. 

3. GraphHopper: GraphHopper is an open source routing solution that uses OpenStreetMap data. It stands out for its ability to calculate efficient routes for vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians, and can be used as part of custom applications.  

4. Leaflet: Leaflet is an open source JavaScript library for interactive maps compatible with mobile devices. It is probably the most widespread library because of its low KB weight and because it includes all the mapping functions that most developers might need.  

5. Overture Maps: While the previous four solutions are already widely established in the market, Overture Maps is a new player. It is a collaborative project to create interoperable open maps. 

Of all of them, we are going to focus on OpenStreetMap (OSM) and Overture Maps.

Open Street Maps: an open and collaborative tool  

Of the aforementioned solutions, probably the most widespread and well-known is Open Street Maps.   

OpenStreetMap (OSM) stands out as one of the best open source alternatives to Google Maps for several reasons:   

• First, the fundamental characteristic of OpenStreetMap lies in its collaborative and open nature, where a global community contributes to the creation and constant updating of geospatial data. 

• In addition, OpenStreetMap provides free and accessible data that can be used flexibly in a wide range of applications and projects. To quote verbatim from their website: OpenStreetMap is open data: you are free to use it for any purpose as long as you credit OpenStreetMap and its contributors. If you modify or build upon the data in certain ways, you may distribute the result only under the same license. See the Copyright and License page for more details.  

• The ability to customize maps and the flexibility of OpenStreetMap integration are also outstanding features. Developers can easily tailor maps to the specific needs of their applications by leveraging the OpenStreetMap API. This is the key to the development of an ecosystem of applications around OSM such as uMap, Leaflet or GraphHopper, among many others. 

Overture Maps. A unique competitor  

Perhaps, one of the most promising projects to have recently appeared on the global technology scene is Overture Maps. As indicated (last July of this year) by its foundation (OMF Overture Maps Foundation), it has released its first open dataset, marking a significant milestone in the collaborative effort to create interoperable open map products. The first Overture release includes four unique data layers:   

• Places of Interest (POIs)  

• Buildings  

• Transportation Network  

• Administrative Boundaries 

Example coverage of public places worldwide identified in the initial project dataset. The first version of the overture maps dataset contains, among others, 59 million records of points of interest, 780 million buildings, transport networks and national and regional administrative boundaries worldwide. 

These layers, which merge various open map data sources, have been validated and contrasted through quality checks and are released under the Overture Maps data schema, made public in June 2023. Specifically, the Places of Interest layer includes data on more than 59 million places worldwide. This dataset is presented as a fundamental building block for navigation, local search and for various location-based applications. The other three layers include detailed building information (with more than 780 million building footprints worldwide), a global transportation network derived from the OpenStreetMap project, and worldwide administrative boundaries with regional names translated into more than 40 languages. 

Perhaps one of the most significant pieces of information in this announcement is the number of collaborators that have come together to realize this project. The Overture collaboration, founded in December 2022 by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Meta, Microsoft and TomTom, now boasts more than a dozen geospatial and technology companies, including new members such as Esri, Cyient, InfraMappa, Nomoko, Precisely, PTV Group, SafeGraph, Sanborn and Sparkgeo. The central premise of this collaboration is the need to share map data as a common asset to support future applications.  

As a good open source project, the Overture Foundation has made available to the development community a Github repository where they can contribute to the project.

In short, digital maps, their corresponding geospatial data layers, navigation and photo-geolocation capabilities are vital and strategic assets for social and technological organizations around the world. Now, with the 20th anniversary of the birth of Google Maps just around the corner, there are good open source alternatives and the big players in the international technology landscape are coming together to generate even more valuable spatial assets. Who will win this new race? We don't know, but we will keep a close eye on the current news on this topic.