this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023

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Is Graphene the only possible way to use google maps almost anonimously? (feddit.it)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/android

21 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I've been proudly using Lineage OS with microg on my phone for a while now, and while it wasn't ideal, it was good for my daily use.

Now that i'm traveling, however, i really miss some important features, like a properly working geolocation service (i'm using the Mozilla one and it's slow and buggy), and a proper navigator, sad to say that google maps works just too well for certain things like buses or trains.

Magic earth was okay till i moved with car, i could get a position on google maps and then get there with my car and the navigator was working good, however when i need to move by foot or transports is terrible, it takes 10 minutes to find your position approximatively, only working with mobile data, and it doesn't follow you when you move..

So i found myself in some unhappy situations where i would need to rely on someone else's phone to not get lost in a city or to call an uber to my right location. I also got lost when i needed to move only by walking. Of course you can get wherever you want with older methods, like asking to people or signs, but sometimes you just need quick solutions that are reliable.

Is there any real way to use gmaps unonimously except that with the containerized version that graphebe offers?

I do not really want to buy a Pixel and give google more money.

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[–] NicoTimoNemo 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There is nothing anonymous about using Gmaps on Graphene nor any OS for that matter. If you install the app on your phone, Google will receive all your queries and what not.

You just have to get comfortable with planning ahead instead of just winging it and looking up directions on the go. I know there are times you will still get lost especially when traveling through a new area but you can mitigate the number of times you need to check the map by planning ahead.

OSMand is the only one with accurate public transit directions. Magic Earth does not provide all transit options.

Lastly, don't worry about having to pay for a Google phone. It's just a drop in the ocean and afterall it's not your money they want. It's your data.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yeah but with graphene at least you can limit the permissions google maps has and treat the app like every other normal app, isolated and not able to grab informations if you're not using it, i wonder if there's a way to use it with an anonymous google account just like Aurora.

Yeah sure planning ahead helps, but it's difficult when everyone else you are with has a different workflow or if something unexpected happens..

I will try osmand again for public transports, but the problem is sometimes with the mozilla geolocation services (default in lineage) you get your position after 10 minutes (or you just don't get it sometimes) and it isn't precise at all, in my experience it was working well with car but by foot it just can't sort out where you are..

For the google phone it's not just the thing of giving money to google, it's also that i'm tired of phones you cannot unmount, change battery or other basic pieces like the screen, i would get a fairphone, but i'm not really sure the price is worth it.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i don't know how anonymous it is, but there's GMaps WV

i use organic maps and keep that 👆 installed for occasional satellite images

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It does work for maps, but doesn't get your location so it's not very good for navigation

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Gmaps WV does use your location. It should prompt you to allow location when you tap the bullseye icon. It doesn't do spoken turn by turn navigation, however.

[–] xi00 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Have you tried OSMand? I used it for navigation by foot and car, and in many cases it has equally nice public transport as gmaps. Otherwise I only use the local apps from each provider, so WienMobil and Scotty for Vienna/Austria for example, because google does not know about outages or disruptions in many cases. But that's my experience in Europe, so your mileage may vary.

[–] nurple 4 points 1 year ago

OSM is a lot dodgier in the US - and it doesn't have live traffic, which is crucial in some cities.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I tried osmand, but was working even worse with finding my position and getting me to places

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Sounds like gps problem, not osmand problem. Maybe your phone's AGPS service is borked, forcing the phone to do full gps satellite fix, which can take a while especially if the sky is obstructed by buildings or heavy cloud cover.

Try clearing your AGPS data with this app: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.android.gpstest.osmdroid/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Honestly IMHO organicmaps is better than OSMand because it's less cluttered.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I love OSMAnd combined with BRouter to get better and much faster routing calculation.

Not sure what you mean with "Working worse with finding my position".
Its just GPS, not something magical you have to horribly wait for.
Maybe your GPS isnt working well?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

some times the maps have the gps coords shifted

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can't use online maps anonymously. Even if you downloaded offline Google Maps, you cant trust Google not to upload your historical data the moment you get internet connection.

Organic Maps and Osmand+ work on Graphene without google play services and 100% offline.

[–] lemmybenny 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Worth looking into this

https://microg.org/

It's used in e/os which is privacy based to be able to still access Google services on a "degoogled" device

https://e.foundation/e-os/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I thought the sandboxed google play services on graphene was more private than micro g

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

They are in so far as they give you more control. You can restrict what play services has access to. But play services plus Google maps will still give out your location, your queries, and some phone identifier

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago

Nice