Convenient 
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I am aware that is the information that has been published on the matter, however I prefer to err on the side of caution. There are enough examples in history of technologies and products put to market that have undisclosed properties.
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That’s of course always a good thing.
However, it’s not about what is “published” about the matter. It’s about understanding technology and physics. If the device does not emit electromagnetic waves, there is nothing that can be detected (and therefore tracked).
Now, there are electromagnetic emissions that are unexpected to the unknowing, like from monitors, screens, CPUs and the RFID tags in your underwear. But it’s no dark magic. Also, yes, you can detect and listen to those emissions, but only in a really limited radius of a few meters. The world is not yet orwellian (or Matrix-like) enough that this would concern me. Basing reliable tracking on this is beyond even the wettest dreams of the NSA. Would cost billions to even cover NewYork.
Shield the device in aluminum foil, and all the billions are wasted.
But the key here is: It’s not easier to try to track a GPS device than it is to track a wristwatch (digital or analog), a GameBoy or your underpants.
No, wait. It’s actually much simpler to track your underpants. It emits a unique ID, if asked by a scanner.
All this is, of course, based on the assumption I gave initially, that there is no hidden sender embedded. But that hidden sender has nothing to do with GPS.
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That is precisely what I am getting at. The sender has nothing to do with the GPS component of the device, but it is all wrapped in the same shell, it is the same device. It would take some doing and expertise to detect such a thing, and neutralize it once detected.
/hijacking of thread
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@prog-amateur, this is a most excellent find! I just put it on my laptop, and it works excellently there (though it definitely pushes the system). Here’s to hoping that the phone hardware will support it well enough!
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This is a similar discussion to The competitor google Maps is here :-) except Pure Maps was never mentioned. Thanks for that share, @Caliga and @prog-amateur, that looks promising. As you can see from that other thread, I tried OsmAnd and share the same headaches you’ve identified here.
I want to ditch all the things that hurt my privacy, but Google Maps is just too damn useful to drop at the moment. 
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I agree, same for me. It’s really hard to abandon that unfortunately!
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Pure Maps will be available for the Librem 5. The delevoper (rinigius) is working on it. He is active on the matrix channel if you have any questions or feedback: #community-librem-5:talk.puri.sm
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Hello all, thank you for sharing your opinions and advises in this thread.
Please find this link to a discussion about Pure Maps with its leader Rinigus. He is a very attentive person and pleasant to talk to.
He confirms that Librem 5 version of Pure Maps and OSM Scout Server are developed, and answer about my question regarding data tracking.
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There a bit more to Osmand+ which is useful.
At least in NL is takes into account Public Transport and you can plan routes across public transport.
Also navigation on water (where the name comes from) is possible on Osmand.
(included is OpenSeamap, naval view, water depths).
It is completly off-line use (the only way i will consider using a navigation device) with up to date maps. (multiple times/day updates if you want). So the search & routing engine MUST be in the app. And it is annoying that one must type names correctly then again there is no 1000-ands of computers search engine inside your phone).
GPS lock on can take a while. esp. if you have no current AGPS data. Worst case it will take 20 minutes before you got the satellite orbital data from the satellites themselves.
They tried a FB tracker in the free version, but it backfired, so it was removed again. (then again i will block any access to ggl and FB site on my phone anyway.) [ Blokada ].
And Osmand is worth it’s price (EUR 7,- ish one time fee for lifetime world wide map updates / month, EUR 3,- ish / year for “continuous” updates )
So for me Osmand+ is a preferred app. [ I tried PureMaps, it loaded 2 extra KDE environments onto my KDE based laptop take 1GB of extra disk space for it, due to flatpak & differente requirement for software).
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Please be aware that the biggest disadvantages come from the data source - openstreetmap. If you do not find street numbers, the reason is that openstreetmap does not know them. Still, I prefer OSM data over other propriatary providers given that OSM is the best open map data you can get.
Till today, I always found my way even without 3D view. Especially travelling it just works nice together with my public transportation apps on Android.
On computer, I download the maps with https://sourceforge.net/p/offroadosm/code/ci/master/tree/ to hard drive and use it for small trip planning. You can even copy these maps to Android using it with Osmand. I know this Java program is not state of the art. But who are we to blame a good idea for the lack of ressources?
So for me Osmand+ is a preferred app, too.
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I came across a pretty good street navigation app called Magic Earth
Apparently they’re in talks with the /e/ project about open sourcing their app code. It also relies on OpenStreetMap data and has some OSMand features I like such as locally caching maps for quicker search. Search isn’t perfect, but it’s loads better than OSMand. And navigation includes 3d. Just another one to check out!
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Please remember that OSM is based on our collective efforts to improve map data. An easy way to add street numbers (among other things) is completing quests in StreetComplete (available from F-Droid):
This app finds incomplete and extendable data in your vicinity and displays it on a map as markers. Each of those is solvable by answering a simple question to complete the info on site.
I would love to see a similar app for the Librem 5!
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Hey looks cool. I will try it later. But where did you find the information about them open sourcing the app?
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The solution, of course, is to have bought your GPS receiver in 1998, before the concept of “big data” Granted, it may be missing a few features, but…
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…but it isn’t that much of an inconvenience, really. Most of my travel is local, and I’m a pretty good navigator once I’m even somewhat familiar with an area.
For longer distance travel, I simply look up the destination address online before leaving the house, punch it into the GPS, and I’m off.
It does navigation and nothing else, which is all I want in a GPS.
That aside, I am excited to get my Librem 5 and run Pure Maps on it. It seems like it’ll be a fine solution, and bring the convenience of tech back to my life without the sacrifice of privacy.
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Here you go:
Beta release info, look at the bottom for comment on Magic Earth
Wiki page including official statement from developer
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One option for me that I am looking forward would be Mapzen’s VALHALLA 3.0. Here is an Introduction for Developers. Proof of Concept for the Traffic Influenced Routing is in progress and under way. There is currently possibility to use a hosted version provided by Mapbox and Mapbox Demo is available for Android.
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Here is an official Intro to Valhalla and information about Valhalla Tilepacks even though I don’t know if there is some broader interest in adjusting it for Librem 5 common usage, but I still hope so.
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Valhalla is fully supported by Pure Maps (as a client) and OSM Scout Server (service provider). So, its used for calculation of the routes online and offline. Right now, OSM Scout Server uses Valhalla 2.x series (its linked to it as a lib) and I am planning to update it to 3.x in future. The update will require planet import in a new format and will have to be synced across the platforms by updating OSM Scout Server accordingly.
Right now, traffic info is available in Pure Maps through viewing the maps, without routing influenced by it. Its supporting Mapbox and HERE data. In practice, HERE can be extended now to provide routing as well (so far has been delayed for legal reasons). Mapbox services were not fully incorporated due to high cost and legal reasons. Legal issues can be resolved by Pure Maps now through use of separate profiles, cost is another matter.
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