Open Technology Workshop – Maps and Navigation Apps

Meeting Details

October 21, 2026
Topic: Maps and Navigation Apps
Description: One of the most useful applications of a smartphone is GPS navigation. But when you use Google Maps or Apple Maps, you are trading convenience for their ability to constantly track your location, life patterns, and so much more. With the privacy-respecting map and navigation apps we’ll explore at this month’s workshop, you can have your cake and eat it too (even while driving!). Open-source apps like CoMaps and OsmAnd don’t collect your data and can work fully offline, while MagicEarth is a great commercial option that’s focused on privacy. We’ll also look at the OpenStreetMap project, a open map dataset that anyone can use and contribute to.

https://www.comaps.app
https://osmand.net
https://www.magicearth.com
https://www.openstreetmap.org

Feel free to bring your laptops and we'll dive right in! If you've got some questions you'd like to talk about, put them in the Meetup comments below!