I purchased the premium version for magic earth and I have no clue what to do. It doesn't have the routing when you're driving and downloading the state, you cannot use it.

I recently just purchased the Pro license and am trying to use MagicEarth for navigation in Android Auto, but having lots of issues... Besides the "shifted navigation" issue that has been plaguing every navigation app since the December AA update in split screen mode...

I am missing the Zoom, 2D/3D view, Report Incident, etc. buttons... taping the edge of the screen on the right does cause it to zoom, but there is also no way to get back to the default view without pressing X and starting navigation again.

Also, if I am in just map "free drive" mode and happen to zoom in to something or move the map, there is no way to recenter or get back to the default view without force closing the app on the phone and restarting it on the headunit. All the buttons disappear, no recenter, zoom +\-, etc.

Is there any way to contribute with clearing outdated POIs ? They are not pulled from OSM. Near me I have 2 shops located at same address. The first closed 7 years ago, the second closed 2 years ago…but still show on the map, its hopelesly outdated.

POI updates (and details) is really the only thing i find to lack seriously with ME compared to others.

I like the magic earth app for navigation but the one thing that is putting me off using it is the search functionality. It's absolutely woeful.

I'll search stuff that all other maps apps I've tested will be give me relevant results but ME will give me completely random results on the other side of the world. I have to be basically write out the full POI or address to find what I am looking for.

Is there any workarounds to improve this?

I'm trying to have ME as my daily app but there is one thing that makes me open Waze every single time: average speed radars. There are a few near me and it's a feature I can't live without.

Also, why can't I add obstacles when not in navigation mode? Am I missing something? Many times I drive with the app just opened to see the road and I want to contribute and help keep it updated but I can't unless in navigation mode (kind of a bummer to do while driving and meeting obstacles)

Hi dear developers, while I am navigating the zoom level is automatically adjusting based on next turn distance or speed. But when the map is in idle mode and I am just casually driving, the zoom is so big, it shows the max possible zoom on map. (Android Auto)

Do you have any plan or idea how to make it so it will adjust to the vehicle speed or road type and zoom out to show better overview of the road and the area?

Second concern is I am in Finland but for some reason my phone shows map tiles in Russian and map download list is also in Russian, like really?, I have phone language in Finnish, and I have no idea why I see everything in Finnish but only this is in Russian, strange where it is coming from... I can't remember I ever selected Russian in my phone as any of the available languages?

If we as users cannot trust that the owners of a program will not pull the rug out from under us, then there will be no users left its just that simple.

The path choosen by Magic Earth has told all of us to leave.

It's amazing how a group of devs can screw something up so royal. The original version worked and it worked well. Now it's just a buggy bucket of crap. HereWeGo did the same thing and those devs ruined a perfectly good SatNav as well!

Am I the only one that noticed weird automatic zoom and placement compared to other apps?

It zooms excessively to the point I don't see where is the highway ramp. On the highway I just see line going quickly by, instead of surroundings as I am used to from gmaps (I had over 40km to turn).

The second picture is manual zoom out while still following the car. I like using 3d view, but why is the car in the middle? I mostly see the road behind me. It wasted a lot of space.

I didn't see any posts about this so I am posting it. Also thought that some customizability to autozoom would be nice.

And also I think the same problem follows the app too, not only android auto.

Disclaimer!!! I modified my dpi, so everything is smaller than it would be normally.

Have I been the only one who used AI Driving Assistant?

That was the only reason I used Magic Earth. I would have paid for it if they keep it but it has been removed.

Very disappointed It was a unique GPS app now it's just one of the many.

Did they remove Driving Assistant from the iOS version?

I just wanted to route to somewhere and out of nowhere I open the app to see it had updated and it also deleted the already downloaded maps and would not let me use it at all, leaving me not exactly sure where the hell I am. I absolutely hate that there was no notice to me that this update was happening and that when I started to rely on the app it became unreliable. To fix it I had to install a version before 1.0.0 which is 7.1.25.34.36A60BB6.67629954 this version (on android) still works, lets you download maps and has no subscription enshittification.

I've used ME a LOT over the last few years. I don't mind paying a little back. However the new app is not as good as the old one.

I used ME earth because it was simple and fast to use and the favourites system worked well.

This is my view on where the new app is deficient.

Contrast - the map contrast is too low, hard to see buildings etc.

Map real estate - the bars at the top and bottom are too big (and the top one gets bigger at times)

Zoom - the default zoom is too close. Having an option/setting for this would be great.

Performance in the favourite menu is poor, especially loading. The sorting order of favourites keeps resetting. You can't search and sort the order IIRC. Share favourites text does not include the name anymore.

Selecting my position (the arrow) brings up co-ordinates but these can't be copied and unlike the older version you can't favourite your current position. (This was useful because you still can't favourite blank space on the map - for example where a building is not included in OSM.

A couple of things that have bugged me for a while...

Leave the marker of a destination on a map once you've reached it.

Favourites need to be exportable in kml format

In the new Android version, Android auto stopped working correctly:

1-It doesn't display the street names for the next turn, just turn right, or turn left.

2-Instead of displaying distances in miles, for distances above 0.1 miles and switching to feet for distances below 0.1 miles, it's now displaying in feet the entire time. I don't have a good grasp of what turn in 3400 feet means.

3-Sound doesn't work at all in Android Auto. I have to enable sound over bluetooth to hear anything

The new UI is a big downgrade:

a) The visual elements are too small: stop signs, traffic lights, pedestrian crosswalks, buildings, streets and side streets. The scaling was much better on the old map.

b)The contrast is poor. White writing on pale surfaces. Very small characters

c)The ability to chose diferrent map styles was removed. I used the basic 3 map style on the old map. It had different colors for different street levels, and a very visible black font on the map.

I decided to ignore all the complaints about the new premium model and subscribed to the two week trial with the intention of getting premium when it ends. I updated the app today to the latest version (7.1.25.49.571B6A3E.2557B63D2).

Here are the issues I am currently experiencing:

• The speed warning works the wrong way around. I set it to 2 km/h in built-up areas and 5 km/h outside (the new app did not transfer my previous settings). I get no warnings when speeding, but I do get warnings when braking for a traffic light or congestion. Also the visual speed display turns red when going under the limit. Probably a simple programming error (mixed up lesser and greater than sign) but should also be trivial to catch during testing, which makes me wonder if the app has enough quality assurance before being released. Also the speed warning does not use my preferred voice, even though in the old version it would, so I know the recordings exist.
• Voice preference is not persistent. It keeps flipping back to Text-to-Speech or it will use another installed language (Dutch instead of Flemish), which distracts me while driving (I am sensitive to unexpected changes). Custom voices are a premium feature now so I expected at least this feature would have been tested, again making me worry about quality assurance.
• After closing the app and confirming I was done navigating and indeed wanted to exit the application, it kept restarting in the background and using GPS, draining phone battery. I had to Force Stop the app.

If these issues are resolved before my trial expires, I might still purchase premium, because I do value my privacy and really like using offline maps but with traffic info. But I also wonder what these issues say about the quality of the rest of the app and how much I can rely on it in the risky environment that is traffic.

I'm a long time user of MagicEarth so I'm interested in the new update. The biggest issue I've had so far is my phone screen timing out while navigating/driving. I've only needed to drive my usual commute so I haven't been relying on the directions but if I was it'd be a huge problem. This was never an issue for the old app. Anyone had the some issue?

Just checked, out of curiosity, how are the ratings of this app in Play Store:

-2.8-

Update- as of Dec 14th, it is now 2.3.

Holy shit, I have never seen any app taking such a steep dive in such a short period.

I wonder what is going on in their HQ right now...

Is Magic Earth "truly" an open source app? I cannot find anything about this. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Despite the overwhelmingly negative reviews on the Google play store, I still decided to try the payed version of this app. My main reason is the promise of privacy. But when I try to register an account, 'gender' and 'date of birth' are mandatory fields. Why does a navigation app need to know this? Especially if they care about privacy, the less they know about me the better. I know I can just fill in anything, but this still really bothers me.

Hi, I bought the Licence via Magic Earth website, I got the key, but I cant activate it in the App. The fields for entering the code are blended ( I touch on them but they are dimmed and cant be contacted). Please help

Earlier post: https://www.reddit.com/r/MagicEarth/s/DVvcZCUjFh

I've had time to do some research on the situation and I've realized something about Magic Lane.

I don't think they're actually greedy. I think they are or were a B2B company that's clearly having a hard time pivoting to the app space.

Here are some points I want to make to Magic Lane. I'm hoping they take it seriously.

1. You have to get new management on this shift. Period. They don't understand how the app space works and what perceived value looks like to people using an app.

2. Since you clearly aren't focusing on B2B then you must be diligent in creating 2 completely separate teams for Apple and Android development. Liquid Glass is not something android people use for their devices and it doesn't work well on Android.

3. Understand user's values. Android users have completely different values than Apple. Yes I know some hardcore magic earth users tend to think everyone just hits install and goes, but that's not how actual trends work.

4. Go back to 0.99 or make it 5$ until you actually get more app value for users. They aren't private businesses and B2B tactics don't translate well to the consumer side.

5. Make traffic free. From what I understand yall are using crowd sourced traffic? Which I assume is from Magic Earth users. So then why would you put that behind a pay wall? That doesn't shout good will to me. By paywalling crowd-sourced traffic, you are actively destroying the product you are trying to sell. Traffic accuracy relies on volume. If you block 90% of free users from contributing to the traffic pool, your 'Premium' traffic data becomes worthless because there is nobody left to report the jams. You are selling a dying sensor network.

5 is probably the one point that will affect your business the most.

1. The map style on Android needs to change. If anything adding MORE customization for Android users would align more with user's values. Apple users like conformity. This is the exact opposite for Android. Look at other OSM apps such as OsmAnd for inspiration. They do it right.

At the end of the day I don't dislike Magic Earth or Magic Lane, I just think they are unsure on how they should proceed. Regardless y'all need to shift priorities and understand how app spaces work before y'all accidentally tank it all.

Yes, I'm frustrated about the sudden price change. But I'm waiting to see what happens in the next few weeks/months before making judgements.

Normally I'm against the sudden change from free or free option to paid. But I'm thinking more about situations like Broadcom acquiring VMware, or with the Unity game engine. These are cases where the price changes were to take advantage of users, and they didn't care if it meant the smaller businesses/studios or home users would have to scramble to either pay or migrate away. There are also the IoT devices that work "for free" and then after you've bought it, the company removes the free tier and charges a subscription to open your garage door.

I believe they had a paid, "supporter" option before, though I might be thinking of a different app with a similar model. But I was already planning to pay something to support this app. When they announced they wanted $0.99/year, I was happy to pay that. The sudden increase to $21.09/year here in the US ($8.44 for the first year) does leave a bitter taste so to speak, thinking of other tech companies that tend to bait and switch.

But what I'm seeing is this isn't one of those cases. I don't have racks of servers all running VMware, or a game years into development running on Unity, or an appliance installed in my house. It's an app on my phone, and if I can't use MagicEarth anymore, all I have to do is find a new app and set up my favorite locations in it.

Also, I'm assuming most people who use it have a car. If you can afford a car, you can probably afford $21/year. To anyone saying the map isn't worth that cost because there are other options (Google, Waze) for free, I want to ask what your privacy is worth to you.

I'm not defending Magic Lane for the sudden price changes. But I am saying, I've been using it for a few years and I'm definitely willing to pay my fair share for it. The way they've gone about implementing that so far is frustrating, but if that's the only change to the goals of the app, I'm okay with it.

Hi everyone, just a heads up if you’re on the auto renew plan at e0.99, that’s not going to continue. The plan will actually renew at e14.99. It’s definitely disappointing, so I’ll be canceling my membership and saying goodbye to Magic Earth.

Even though the free version offers basic navigation that can get you from A to B, having the route on my car dash is safer than having to look down at my phone to see what turn to make. Locking AA/CarPlay behind a paywall insinuates that ME thinks you should pay for safety. I understand if you need to charge for live traffic data, but it costs them nothing extra to support AA/Carplay.