One Tech Tip: Lake America backlash fuels interest in Google Maps alternatives

Just because Google and Apple are now calling it Lake America doesn’t mean everyone has to.

After President Donald Trump ordered a new name for Lake Ontario, the two U.S. tech giants quickly fell in line, relabeling the body of water on their digital maps.

The move sparked a backlash among some users, already unhappy with the companies’ decisions to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on their maps following a previous Trump edict.

The controversy and lingering worries about digital privacy have fueled interest in map services that aren’t from Big Tech companies, especially Google Maps, which is the dominant player with about 80% of the market, according to most estimates.

Here’s a rundown of some of the most popular free map app alternatives:

MapQuest

MapQuest has been around for three decades but was overtaken by the rise of Google. It’s now owned by California company System1.

Downloads of the MapQuest app surged in early September after Apple renamed Lake Ontario, topping the free app charts in both the U.S. and Canada on Apple’s App Store.

The MapQuest app has real time traffic updates and turn by turn route guidance, and shows what’s nearby, like gas stations and coffee shops.

However, the app isn’t available outside the U.S. and Canada. But people in other countries can still use the MapQuest website.

The company is currently looking into making MapQuest more broadly accessible, after receiving requests for the app from “people in multiple countries,” spokesperson Anne Brownlee said.

TomTom

Another granddaddy in the mapping world, TomTom helped popularize GPS route mapping with the 2004 release of its TomTom GO, which the Dutch company says was the world’s first all-in-one portable satellite navigation device.

TomTom still sells physical devices but it also has a free map app for Google and Android phones that is designed “exclusively for drivers” with live traffic data and info on road hazards.

The TomTom app’s mobile interface is clean and basic, with no ads and few extra features or settings. But its focus on drivers means there are no other route options such as walking or cycling.

HERE WeGo

HERE WeGo has been hailed by some as the closest non-Big Tech alternative to Google Maps. It began life as Nokia Maps and is now owned by a consortium of German carmakers including Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz.

The free app, available for both iOS and Android devices, offers many of the same features as Google Maps. There’s route mapping for various modes of transport — car, public transport, walking, bike and, in some regions, taxi.

Like Google Maps, drivers can add multiple stops to routes and users can choose different maps views like terrain, traffic and satellite — but there’s no Street View.

If mobile signal is spotty or nonexistent, users can download country maps to navigate offline. Offline maps can also be downloaded on Google Maps, but the area is limited and they expire after a year.

After this story was first published, a reader noted the app refers to Lake America, not Lake Ontario. The app’s owner, HERE Technologies, confirmed it has updated the name to Lake America for users in the United States.

“Under our uniform global policy, HERE updates nomenclature based on changes by international and national standards bodies, such as the United States Board on Geographic Names,” spokesperson Jordan Stark said.

Europe has spawned a range of map apps focused on privacy

HERE WeGo is just one of many lesser-known map apps based in the European Union that embrace the bloc’s strict privacy framework known as GDPR. Unlike Google, they don’t rely on vacuuming up masses of user data to sell ads targeted at those users.

HERE WeGo’s business model is based on licensing deals with businesses like trucking companies. Others sell premium subscriptions alongside free versions.

Estonia’s Organic Maps is completely free and based on data from the volunteer-run OpenStreetMap database. Netherlands-based OSMand is similar, but a subscription is needed for more than just basic functions.

Magic Earth is a Dutch route planner that says it never collects personal data or tracks user movements.

Sygic, from Slovakia, is a GPS route navigation app that offers free offline maps, but you’ll have to buy a subscription to get extra features including traffic updates, speed camera warnings and a dashcam function.

Mapy.com, from a Czech technology company, is an outdoor route planner known for detailed hiking and trail maps that can be downloaded for use offline.

Citymapper

Need to get across town without a car? Citymapper is a free journey planning app that’s a major rival to Google Maps when it comes to finding the best routes around a city on public transportation.

The app covers 430 cities around the world and options include bus, subway and ferry routes as well as taxi, rental bike and scooter options.

Waze

This GPS navigation map is focused on providing route guidance for drivers. It’s known for crowdsourcing real time traffic information such as car accidents and police speed cameras from other drivers.

But don’t be fooled by the name. Although it has its own distinct app and branding, Waze is actually owned by Google, which bought it in 2013.

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