Actually there are publicly available traffic data providers in many countries and cities following standard data protocols. So the app does not need to create the traffic data itself though its user data and aggregate it in it servers before spreading it.
The just released version of Magic Earth for Android (v 1.0.0) appears to be the first release to require payment for certain functions including offline maps and traffic-aware routing.
For anyone like me thatâs been updating Magic Earth through App Lounge it looks like nowâs the time to stop.
It seems that payment for the premium features may be through in-app purchase, so not possible through App Lounge.
See under âWhatâs Newâ here:
https://m.apkpure.com/magic-earth-navigation-maps/com.generalmagic.magicearth
And here:
Edit: Looks like payment is possible through the Magic Earth website for anyone wanting to update & access premium features.
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So how is CoMaps livetraffic support doing? Iâd love to switch.
What if we âlockâ updates for Magic Earth and keep the version that came with e/OS (i.e. do not upgrade to the latest version)? Could we still access updated maps and traffic info? Iâm doing that with Google Maps in a work profile and it works fine.
And they have a special price of 6⏠/ year.
As Magic Earth has always been bundled with /e/os updates (as âMapsâ), App Lounge does not automatically offer any ME updates; you have to actively search for it in App Lounge and then apply the update there. As long as you donât do that hopefully it will continue to work fully, time will tell. It hasnât been updated in /e/os for quite a few months now, possibly over a year.
Itâs still working OK for me just now, showing traffic on the map and in routing, although I do wonder whether offline map updates will still be offered. Thereâs been one just recently so it will be a while before that becomes clear. (Could always try downloading a new map I suppose.)
Iâm not using App Lounge but I use Aurora Store and just got the notification that Magic Earth had an update this afternoon. So I added Magic Earth to the exclusion list so that it not longer check for updates.
I just use âHERE WeGoâ app, seems like a decent eu-based alternative.
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I think that this app is now officially enshittified (previously free functionality is now behind a paywall). I would propose to the development team to remove it from their bundle of pre-installed apps. Even though Magic Lane is privacy focused, the project is not (and has never been) FOSS. In fact, we can not verify that they are privacy focused as the code is not open source. All non-FOSS projects eventually do this crap, so we shouldnât be surprised. Just replace it with Co-maps (even though TTS sucks, no speed cameras, and no traffic).
I probably have a different take on this than most /e/OS users, but I think it would offer an important perspective.
Bottom line is running servers cost money, usually both bandwidth and renting the servers unless youâre big enough to own the hardware. If youâre using someone elseâs server then youâre probably paying for it one way or another. I prefer that way to be actual money upfront instead of the usual alternatives like data farming, ads, hopeful donations, etc. This makes it possible to focus on running the servers with a somewhat steady income to cover the cost of bandwidth, servers themselves, maintenance personnel and developers.
Properly operated services will more or less take the positive difference between income and expenses (in other words revenue) and put it mostly towards R&D. This means the income needs to be significantly more than the expenses to cover R&D, or the services will stagnate and maintenance will get progressively harder as the world around the service keeps moving.
Where I have a bone to pick with Magic Lane is locking the offline features behind a subscription. The whole point of offline features is for the app to be usable independently of their servers once all the necessary data has been downloaded. Even if the company and the servers are long gone sometime in the future. The inability to load custom maps wouldnât help with that either.
This is why Iâm switching to CoMaps. They are using the hopeful donations model but apart from that it seems like a stable option.
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Just to reiterate. Unless anyone installs the new Magic Earth update ME is still working in /e/os at the moment, with no charge, with both offline maps and traffic aware routing.
Magic Earth hasnât been updated with /e/os updates for some time now. The risk is for anyone updating ME outside of the /e/os updates (eg through App Lounge or Aurora Store). Thatâs what I had been doing, and why I commented above to make others aware of the risk.
Whether, at some point, Magic Earth restricts access to traffic information or the ability to download / update offline maps for older versions like that installed with /e/os remains to be seen.
Itâs already been pointed out above that /e/os has been looking for a replacement.
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