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Great Satnav App - Magic Earth

I may not use a smartphone, but I do keep an old Android device in the car to use as an offline satnav.

After playing with /e/os again the other day I discovered an app called Magic Earth, which is bundled in /e/os/ as their maps app. And it's actually really good!

One day last week I spent about six hours driving, mainly on roads I'd never been on before. I used Magic Earth properly for the first time and there were two things in particular that foudn great about it:

  1. Roundabouts - There's a small icon of the upcoming roundabout, but the icon actually accurately represents the real layout and exits of the roundabout. E.g. if you're taking the first exit, and the first exit is actually at about 1 o'clock, that's what the icon shows, rather than a generic exit at 9 o'clock / 90ยบ left like other apps. (Remember we drive on the left and go round roundabouts clockwise in the UK)
  2. Road signs - When you're taking an exit or junction, there's a representation of the road sign at the top of the app, matching the colour and some of the words on the road sign, to help you translate what the app is saying into the real world road signs.

It also of course works offline, is completely free, built on Open Street Map and respects your privacy.

I highly recommend it.