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From: VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH>
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Subject: Re: Paid apps
Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2024 07:31:53 -0500
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"Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> wrote:

> Andy Burns wrote:
>
>> As google are offering me 95% off a item from the play store, has anyone 
>> got any recommendations for paid for apps (not games/films)?
>> 
>> I can't think of any I've been putting-off buying ...
> 
> Apps I have paid for:
> 
> OsmAnd+ — Maps & GPS Offline
> ...
> 
> Yes, some of these apps have a free version in the Play Store, and some 
> times another one in F-Droid; but they are not the exact same one. And 
> people like OsmAnd deserve the contribution.

I thought the map data at OSM was crowd-sourced?

https://www.openstreetmap.org/about
"OpenStreetMap is built by a community of mappers that contribute and
maintain data about roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, and much
more, all over the world."

https://www.openstreetmap.org/communities

Those contributing to the map data aren't getting any part of the
donation (or is it a subscription?).  However, OSMand did provide the
interface and server to access all that crowd-sourced map data.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand.plus
$39.99

Yowser, that is a very pricey app, and still has in-app purchases
(ranging from $0.99 to $74.99).  With a 6 GBP ($7.97 USD) limit on the
95% discount that Andy got (he must buy a lot more at the Play Store
than me), the OSM+ app would cost $32.02 USD, and that would only be for
the first subscription period.  Still very pricey.

At the above Play Store app page, after clicking "About app" to get more
info, it says:

  Paid features:

  OsmAnd Pro (subscription)
  • OsmAnd Cloud (backup and restore);
  • Cross-platform;
  • Hourly map updates;
  • Weather plugin;
  • Elevation widget;
  • Customise route line;
  • External sensors support (ANT+, Bluetooth);
  • Online Elevation profile.

Subscription?  You have to pay $39.99 every year?  Ouch!

For maps, I'll stick with Google Maps (which also has offline maps, but
only for a limited region) and Here [WeGo] offline maps (developed by
Nokia, sold in 2015 to a German automotive consortium).  Both are 100%
free, and neither are subscriptionware.