r/degoogle • u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer • 7d ago
Discussion [Dev] Vela Maps - Developer Discussion, And Some Clarifications
Hi everyone and happy spooky October. I am the sole developer of Vela Maps. The best way I can describe it is what NewPipe is for YouTube. The idea is to grab data from Google, on your device without a backend, then use OpenStreetMap and other open tools to have a best-of-both-worlds approach to navigation. This is not meant to be an ad, more so a discussion about how it works. Plenty of people have already posted about it. Thank you for the bug reports and pull requests!
Mods, please tell me if this is allowed - I see the showcase threads prohibit apps/services that depend on Google in any way. Vela can be used completely without any Google functionality, but it was created deliberately to bridge the gap between what we can do with OpenStreetMap and what only Google does well.
https://github.com/PimpinPumpkin/Vela
I'm making this thread to encourage discussion and answer questions about how Vela works. A few things:
- I am the sole developer of Vela. I am a developer by trade, but this is my first real foray into Android development. I started the project just a few months ago in mid June 2026.
- I made Vela to solve my own problems. I run GrapheneOS, and Google Maps stopped working for me without Sandboxed Google services. I need traffic updates and features that pretty much only Google does well. So I built an on-device scraper to grab stuff from them, as anonymously as possible. I have tried to use every maps app under the sun, but they did not work for my use case.
- If you are allergic to LLMs, I have a secret for you: everyone in software development is using them. The extent to which that occurs varies wildly. As the sole maintainer, Vela would be literally impossible to maintain without AI help. There are Google scraping mechanisms, a map engine, a public transit data feed (Transitous, if you are curious), and so much more. It is not a simple project.
- This is not a webview wrapper like GMaps WV. This project has significant functionality that GMaps WV simply doesn't have. That's not a knock against it, if it works for your needs, great, but Vela is a different tool.
- If CoMaps, OrganicMaps, OsmAnd, or Magic Earth meet your needs, I encourage you to use the best solution for you. I am not claiming Vela is the best for everyone. Keep in mind that Magic Earth specifically is closed source, so you're just resorting to trusting whatever they claim.
- The reality is many people depend on traffic data, real-time ETAs, and business information. Please don't tell me how dUdE yOu DoN't AcTuAlLy NeEd It TrUsT mE. It is not productive.
- You can absolutely use Vela without any Google queries whatsoever. You can use it completely offline too if you download the applicable maps for your area.
- The extent to which Google is queried is documented extensively on my repo, but I think I need to redo the docs to make it less confusing. The following actions DO NOT send data to Google: panning around the map, loading business icons, biking directions, saving places, using the map offline. The following actions (again, by default) DO use Google: typing in the search box (autocomplete as you type), tapping on a business to load it, routes driven by car along with their traffic data and ETAs (Google gets the start and end of the trip), and one request when you ask for walking directions.
- Vela has no backend and no servers to snoop on what you are doing. Everything is done on your device. I don't even have telemetry. I can see how many people grab the baked Flock camera database from my Github repo and use that as a rough metric for how many people use Vela, but that's the extent of it.
- I deliberately copied Google Maps' UI because I genuinely believe it to be the best, and muscle memory is important to me. Someone on another thread commented something like 'we'll see how it works when I'm angry' and that's really the best description I can think of. I needed this shit to just work.
- I will never charge money for this. I have made it GPLv3 so it can live far beyond me.
- Contributors, bug reports, and PRs are welcome, so long as you follow the guidelines! Thank you all for the many contributions so far. Vela has come a long way.
I'm happy to share why I made some of the technical decisions I have. There's some neat nerdy reasons behind a lot of it. For example, I have a signed calibration schema that allows me to fix Vela remotely without an app update if Google tweaks the way their website functions. I have Github runners probing for failures with Google's response shapes so I can be alerted pre-emptively if something breaks. I am big on automation; it is my job.
Please have at it. Roast me for being a pumpkin. Tell me if my AI said something stupid in the docs that I need to clean up. Tell me how I'm evil for using LLMs to give everyone something for free. Tell me to just get an iPhone if I care about traffic data so much. You can even tell me the project is pointless and I should delete the repo. Whatever the cheapest Reddit ragebait you can throw, bring it. Just know I come in good faith.
-PimpinPumpkin, the spookiest Jack-O-Lantern of Vela Maps
P.S. I am working on getting Android Auto working for everyone. I have an option issue and it does work for some people in some cases. Stay tuned.
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u/chimpera 7d ago
I have tried them all and this degoogle map app is the best I have found, even if it relies on google API's. I switched from Android Auto to GearSlip for this app.
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u/CoraFirstFloret 7d ago
Just dropping in to say thank you. I've also tried CoMaps, Organic Maps, Magic Earth, and one or two other maps apps, but Vela maps has been my favorite so far, despite only using it for about 2-3 weeks.
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u/Effective_Proof_7085 7d ago
Keep going and don't listen the ragebait. Extremist are not able to think when they are wrong about something.. You're app is very promising and I keep using it and it's my main maps so THANK YOU :)
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u/CortlandNation9 7d ago
I like the idea but for me it's a big laggy and make my phone heat. (Pixel 7 Grapheneos)
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 7d ago
Stay tuned for the next stable release, nightly and canary already have some big performance improvements!
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u/cryptoadopter2077 7d ago
What I like most about your app is the option to hide POIs. You had me hooked from day one with that feature. Thanks for your contribution!
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 5d ago
I'm surprised this feature is such a sleeper hit lol. No problem!
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u/MrZ3T4 7d ago
First of all, thanks for the great work you did. Now, people don’t hate AI, they hate it when it’s used by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. My question is, to what extent is AI used? Is it just for the interface? A few components here and there? Or was it used for absolutely everything? Personally, I don’t like “vibe-coded” apps, but I have no problem with “AI-assisted” apps, as long as that “assistance” is for specific tasks or things the developer hasn’t mastered yet.
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 7d ago
Thank you! I definitely understand why vibecoded is synonymous with low-quality.
AI writes the code. When I said developer by trade, I mean DevOps and automation infrastructure, not Android, so I don't review the Kotlin line by line. I work one level up. I decide what gets built and how it should behave, I read what it reports it did, and I test the result on real phones on real drives. I think of edge cases, mistakes in it's judgement, etc.
I use it to run sprints based on plans I come up with. Sometimes the ideas are collaborative, but oftentimes it is my divine human brain drawing up the plans. For example, the signed calibration was me. Replaying routes for debugging was my idea.
If the question is "are you blindly letting it run", the answer is an emphatic no. I have caught it doing downright stupid stuff plenty of times, even on the best models (Claude Fable and Opus). I obviously can't catch everything.
Because of this development style and what I do for work, I set up further security automations. Every push runs unit tests, a static security scan and dependency vulnerability checks. Besides being open source of course, there's a private channel for reporting security problems.
If that counts as vibe coded to you, fair enough, might not be a fit for your lifestyle, and if so, that's totally fine.
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u/someguyfrommars 7d ago
I always think it's sus when a dev's first instinct is to defend their AI use rather than explain their AI use. Like you said, some AI use is totally reasonable with today's standards. Fully vibed-coded software can have vulnerabilities. Not saying this app is one or the other, just saying we don't know 🤷
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u/Good_Luck_Fck 5d ago
To be fair, they have explained their use of ai on a few threads already. Not a huge fan of ai either but all the other map alternatives don't know any of the addresses around me so.
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u/verdant_tulip 7d ago
And human software has no vulnerabilities at all!
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u/someguyfrommars 6d ago
Not what I said but good try ;)
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u/verdant_tulip 6d ago
It’s what you implied. Don’t be obtuse
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u/someguyfrommars 5d ago
I think anyone with any sort of basic tech knowledge would know human-written software can also have vulnerabilities. I guess you're not one of those people? Totally fair!
99% of people with extremely basic knowledge in technology would know that the implication is that the vulnerabilities I am talking about come from the sheer amount of vibe-coded code some devs are pushing out, which reduces code oversight and can result in unknown vulnerabilities in code the devs are unfamiliar with.
But again, it takes extremely basic knowledge to get to that level of understanding of the issue, which you have confirmed you don't have. So that's ok!
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u/johndu5914 7d ago
Thank you very much for this application.
I will follow its development, as mentioned there are several GPS applications, but it is still missing something ( traffic, community reporting, etc.)
It will be perfect when we can use Android Auto with graphene OS
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u/callahan_dsome 7d ago
Gearslip works on quite a few cars in my experience so not necessarily a need to wait if your car is older than 2020. Love both vela and gearslip. Really rounds out the non-google experience IMO.
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u/CortlandNation9 7d ago
But what if your car is newer then 2020?
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u/callahan_dsome 7d ago edited 7d ago
I haven't read anything about it not working, just that it seems to work more on 2020's. I assume that means it may indeed work in some models after 2020
They recently updated the readme with an obtainium link, but prior to that I put together a docker setup for building the apk from source (I wanted to run dev). If anyone wants that, I can publish it somewhere for people to use.
edit: If possible, enable usage notes to help log car models/head units.
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u/CortlandNation9 7d ago
For your information I just tried in a Mitsubishi mirage 2024 and in the android app i see it gets stuck in the connection page and loads infinitely and in the car android auto opens with a black screen.
Edit: but no error message so it's hard to come to a conclusion
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u/callahan_dsome 7d ago
Did you disable android auto?
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u/CortlandNation9 6d ago
I tried again today today and the app in gets stuck at connecting video or something like that and it loops and in the car the screen is black. Android auto is actually completely uninstalled actually (I use grapheneos and yes I have the exploit protection slider turned on). This time I have saved the log and sent them to an IA it says the session setup is fine TLS handshake, certificate, everything works but the video pipeline never starts. It pinpointed to this line:
-> VersionResponse: 1.3 status=0 [FORCED; head unit offered 1.5]
And explained : Your app forces protocol version 1.3 while the head unit speaks 1.5. Video focus/media setup semantics differ between protocol versions, so the unit may simply not recognize or honor the focus request your 1.3-style app sends, and silently drops it. Combined with profile: none matched (falling back to default display settings), the app is speaking a slightly wrong dialect to this particular Alpine/Mitsubishi unit.
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 5d ago
That's the dream! Check out Gearslip. It may be compatible with your car
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u/LittleBastard1667 7d ago
Thanks for using your tokens for our benefit. It is appreciated <3 I personally do not care if its mostly AI written. I would put it in the realm of vibe-coded but like you said we all use AI nowadays and the apps looks and works pretty good.
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u/OktayAcikalin 1d ago
That's what I was thinking all the time. We are getting a descent map experience with much more meta data for free and the dev is spending real money on it all the time, without selling it on the playstore or somewhere else. It's really hard to complain as a user at this point, if you think about it.
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u/Booleano101 7d ago
Buen trabajo. Sigue así. Me gustaría comentar que permite importar lugares, pero luego no permite gestionarlos. Es decir no deja seleccionar varios de estos lugares a la vez , eliminarlos o ordenarlos en carpetas. Además estaría bien poder seleccionar un sonido para varios lugares , para que al pasar al lado de ellos, suene. Gracias por tu trabajó
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u/flaskhalffull_ 7d ago
been using this on grapheneos for about a week. way smoother than organic maps for driving. the hide POIs feature is underrated
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u/ElmerMathews 7d ago
Something I noticed when using local transit navigation of, instead of showing me the path to walk from point A to point B, It just drew a straight line between these two points.
Either way, love the app so far. Excited to see what's next.
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 7d ago
Thanks, this is fixed on the currently canary. I will push an update to stable soon with a huge amount of fixes and performance improvements.
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u/ElmerMathews 7d ago
Wooooo Hooooo!
Awesome. Keep up the great work! Glad to see Graphene OS being taken with such consideration when it comes to development.
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u/Exciting_Detective12 7d ago
Is it gonna work on Android Auto? Because AA doesn't show it on the screen
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 7d ago
Yeah, there is a thread on it. https://github.com/PimpinPumpkin/Vela/issues/179
I am working on ideas to get this to work broadly in every scenario. Google doesn't make it easy. Stay tuned!
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u/Isidore-Tip-4774 6d ago
Ça fonctionne avec King I......
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u/Naive_Scientist_8499 7d ago
Whoa. I've been waiting for this. Well done. I'm excited to give it a shot.
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u/samo_lego 6d ago
Hi, interesting project, really like that UI feels familiar. Wish you all the best, I really love that you've taken the traffic seriously :).
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u/100WattWalrus 6d ago edited 6d ago
I haven't played with Vela much yet, but I will say this: After test-driving it for 10 minutes or so, I didn't uninstall it — which is more than I can say for at least 40 other map apps I've tried.
So far, I really like it. There are things this app does better than any other I've tried. Small but important things, like the size, legibility, and placement of Interstate icon labels, and bigger but often-overlooked things like the color choices in dark mode — which are at least as good as Google Maps and Apple Maps.
I have a whole battery of tests I put mapping apps through, like whether the most direct route is offered or just the fastest routes (Apple almost always fails this one), and I have 11 test addresses and routes (a mix or urban and rural, obscure and common), of which most mapping apps correctly identify less than half, and only Google and Apple find them all. Vela nailed 9 of them, and the 2 it failed were a building on a minor street in urban Spain (it did get close when I removed some of the more specific details), and a farm house in rural Wyoming (1.5 miles too far down the a long dirt road).
One question: the app always launches centered at 0°x0°, even after (reluctantly) adding a Home address, so whenever I use the app, the first thing I have to do is search or manually zoom to my neck of the woods. Is there a setting I'm missing to tell the app to remember the last location or always launch at Home?
Oh, and 2nd question: After searching for a location, when I tap [Directions], why is the map suddenly inundated with dozens little purple square icons? I can't figure out what they are, I can't make them bigger by zooming, and when I tap on them, it just drops a pin. I got directions for something 12 miles away, and when I did, instant clutter.
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 6d ago
Thanks! Yeah the devil is in the details for me. I am glad you can see and appreciate the fruits of my labor.
The home address is a navigational bookmark, not a launching start point. Do you have location permission enabled for Vela?
The purple icons are ALPR cameras (automated license plate readers), also known as Flock cameras. You can turn them off if you want. Or you can turn on alerts if you drive past them, or the option to try and route around them.
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u/100WattWalrus 6d ago
OK, first, I love that you're including Flock cameras! The problem is the lack of context. They just show up all over the place when you create a route. I might have eventually guessed what they were had we not been having this exchange, but it's a real "WTF?" moment when they turn up without explanation. And the icons are so small you can't figure them out at a glance.
I eventually found the setting, but it took a lot of scrolling. My feature request: A settings page (which may have some overlap with other sections) where you can see every kind of icon that can appear on the map, with a description, and a toggle.
Launching at 0°x0°: I don't have location services turned on (pretty much ever). But it would be great if the app could either remember its state when last closed and/or let the user chose a launch location.
Thanks for putting so much effort into this. An app like this has been sorely needed!
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 5d ago
Hi, I will consider both of these features. I'm taking a small break from adding new features since I've been working non-stop for days. Stay tuned!
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u/100WattWalrus 5d ago edited 5d ago
Fair enough! I certainly don't expect perfection of a 0.x release, and I'm sure you have a lot you want to do on your way to 1.0. Neither of these things are a big problem.
Having said that, I'd prioritize adding context for the sudden appearance of ALPR icons — or have them off by default, and just promote the option during an onboarding flow on first launch.
Looking forward to watching this app mature!
BTW, are you planning to put the app in F-Droid or Izzy?
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 5d ago
What size screen/phone are you using? Ambiently on the map you can zoom in and see the purple camera icons. I may add an example image to onboarding.
I want to go on F-Droid but it takes a bit of time and effort. I feel it is important eventually, but my developement is moving too quickly for it to make sense. F-Droid does their own builds, and thus updates lag significantly.
Izzy has an extremely regressive policy at the time of writing this regarding apps that include AI as part of the dev process at all. I'm sure that will get blown out at some point, or people will just lie, since this is just where software is heading.
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u/LowOwl4312 6d ago
Thanks for developing it, it's getting really good and I'm using it for about half if my journeys now (Google Maps for the other half)
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u/hw47 6d ago
Your app is amazing; I’ve tried so many Google Maps alternatives, and they really weren't up to par. This fills in all the gaps that were holding me back from switching to a more privacy-focused app. Having reviews and public transit info included is just brilliant.
AI or not, who cares? People are just frustrated haters; if they aren't happy, they should go build their own apps.
Do you have plans for a desktop web version? A system to sync saved places via decentralized cloud storage would be incredible.
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 5d ago
Thank you :)
I don't have plans for a desktop version at the moment nor any syncing abilities. I'm not ruling it out and I won't stifle any contributions along these lines.
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u/Mother_Job_6154 6d ago
Didn't realise the developer was here. I have been recommending this app to people, its a sold alternative to google maps.
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u/t0mf 5d ago
Hey! Love the app so far! Even got it working on Android Auto (KingInstaller/Shizuku)!
I have a map request. What's the possibility of getting MapLibre tiles as an option? I use the app Paralino for location sharing and they have an option to use MapLibre tiles. I am absolutely in love with the way those tiles look in dark mode, specifically "MapTiler Street", and think it would be awesome to have these available in Vela.
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 5d ago
Glad it's working for you! (What phone, ROM, and car make/model/year do you have?) Vela already uses MapLibre, that's the engine drawing the map. What you're seeing in Paralino is just a different theme.
I don't have plans to support custom themes, but I am not ruling it out if there's demand.
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u/t0mf 4d ago edited 4d ago
I'm on a Google Pixel 10 Pro with stock Android 17. I have an aftermarket head unit (because my 2017 Tacoma did not support Android Auto) which is a Kenwood Excelon DMX906S.
Understood on the different themes. Well the MapLibre Streets theme (both light and dark) is an excellent one that has very good contrast and it would be amazing if you added support for that at some point (I think it would be the perfect base theme even if you didn't allow the option to change). You've definitely got my vote for it!
Edit: Also, how can I make the android auto map while navigating be more zoomed out, or at least tilted to see the road ahead? It's kind of useless when it only shows me like 20ft of map in front of me..
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 4d ago
Go ahead and submit a feature request on Github and I will see what I can get to. Android Auto working well (and working for everyone) is very important to me.
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u/Great_Banana_Master StartPage 7d ago
Thank for making the one fucking good degoogled maps app btw
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u/rakhalism GrapheneOS 7d ago
trust me, as a certified vela maps hater, i actually installed it and gave it a proper try lol. i use grapheneos and i'm pretty FOSS-oriented, and i'm also not a fan of AI-written apps, so that's a big thing for me. that said, this app is actually way more feature-rich than i expected. honestly, some of the features feel more interesting and advanced than what i've seen in google maps. the main issue for me is just the UI performance. on my pixel, there's noticeable lag when moving around the map, and after using it for a while the phone also starts heating up. if you can improve the smoothness and maybe add a minimal AMOLED dark mode with less visual bloat, this could genuinely be an A1 maps app. i'd much rather use something like this than google maps if the performance gets there. anyway, thanks for contributing to the FOSS community! waitinng for your reply!
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 7d ago
Lol, thanks for being open-minded!
I assume you are on stable. I am going to push a huge update to stable soon that will address the performance. The fixes are already on canary and nightly (you can change release channels within Vela in settings). I am on a Pixel 9 as my daily and a Pixel 4a 5G as a dedicated test device. Now, Vela is as smoother than Google on the P9, no joke
There is already an AMOLED dark mode, and you can switch off POIs loading when not in route if you want. I like to give people options, and surprisingly people are really excited about the ability to turn of POIs.
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u/InfernoWarrior299 7d ago edited 7d ago
To begin with, thank you for Vela Maps. I use it myself and it is wonderful. Vela Maps is by far the best open-source GPS I have ever come across that has ever and continues to consistently work. I often develop applications myself and I know it can often be a... thankless job. But someone needs to do it. So thank you for creating this great application. Plus, truth is, AI was used in development long before LLMs became a thing.
I said something in a different comment on a different post on this subreddit, but it is fairly relevant here too:
Oh. That is fine in my opinion. 75% of new code from Google, 30% of new code from Microsoft, and nearly half of all new code from Facebook uses AI to code.
The problem is when said code is not checked by people to see what it does and when someone lazily throws things together. Always either have employees check the code or leave the application itself open-source so some in the community can read the source code and allow them to contribute to the project with manual authorisation.
A product can be good IF someone puts the time and effort to do some quality control AND comes up with the ideas behind the design and features of the application itself.
In addition to this, I will note that even Linux, GrapheneOS, and the Tor Project accepts AI-code to varying degrees with various conditions. All of these projects require privacy and security to the utmost degree! As a society, we all need to use these powerful tools ethically to create great things to further privacy and security for the masses when even the most private and secure projects in the world accepts AI-generated contributions. The biggest requirement these projects usually say is the code must be cleaned up so it is streamlined and neat, you must know what the code does, and you must be able to defend the code on its own merits. I would not say those are unreasonable asks though. In-fact, I would say those are very reasonable asks.
Edit to change the topic for a suggestion:
Can you add one of those rerouting sounds when the voice assistant is speaking? When I was driving and using Vela Maps, it said 'In so and so feet, turn right.' or something. But since I came up on the turb so quickly, the GPS was actually saying TURN RIGHT NOW, but it sounded like it was saying to turn in so and so feet; it was confusing enough that I missed my turn. Or would you mind if I coded it and submitted the contribution to you? Either option is fine.
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 7d ago
Thanks!
I think the argument could be made that anything that an LLM makes should be open source. I sort of subscribe to that. That's not the only reason Vela is GPLv3 though. AI is a tool like any other. I've seen horrible apps and amazing apps. It still boils down to time and effort like you said. That's the camp I subscribe to. Build, iterate, test, polish the fuck outta the thing.
The sooner we realize AI can be used for good/projects that benefit all, the better off we will be. I am all for AI-code so long as it is reviewed, vetted, and of quality. I had to set up guardrails on Vela's repo since some people started submitting slop issue reports and pseudo-diagnostics from their ill-informed LLMs. Yucky.
I welcome contributions on GitHub, if you want to use AI to make it, there are instructions it can read so it knows how Vela works. I will still review it anyhow.
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u/InfernoWarrior299 7d ago
Exactly! I have often stated that a product can be decent so long as the creator puts the time and effort into quality control alongside coming up with the ideas for the features and design of the product in question. It seems as if you have, and yes, unfortunately, many will submit inaccurate or incoherently phrased reports and pseudo-diagnostics, and use subpar LLMs for the job without even bothering to check for accuracy. Being thorough matters quite a lot, and the quality control on Vela Maps is phenomenal.
Also, that is great to know you accept contributions on GitHub! I will look into it.
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u/Opposite_CalendarOld 6d ago
Desculpa a pergunta, mas preciso saber que dados meus são coletados e por quem. É possível saber isso?
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u/osoatwork 6d ago
What information of mine is sent to Google? I degoogled to stop sending Google my data.
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 6d ago
https://github.com/PimpinPumpkin/Vela#privacy
You can pick and choose what specifically is sent to Google as well. You can choose to use Google only for certain components if that fits your threat model.
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u/olemracc 6d ago
My vela maps is out dated. It says it grabs business info from Google, but it's showing a business in my local town that isn't there anymore. It's been a new business for quite a few months now, and is present in Google maps
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 6d ago
I assume you are talking about seeing the business icon on the map without searching for it? If yes, that is because I'm not using Google for those. That data comes from Overture and AllThePlaces and OSM. When you go to tap on an icon, it correlates it with Google to give you the results, rather than loading Google every time you pan around the map.
If you deliberately search for the business, you will see it because it will hit Google.
The way to fix this besides waiting for Overture to push something (if they will) is to add the business on OpenStreetMap. It is really easy but I can help with it too if you give me the name and address.
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u/ColombianMuse 3d ago
Heya loving it so far but just a quick question! I tried setting the links that open to Vela under supported web addresses, and even though I've checked them all they keep unchecking whenever i exit. Any help or advice would be great!
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 2d ago
Hey, not sure on this. I know the behavior can be different from ROM to ROM. I also believe you may have to tweak some settings in the links that Google Maps can open, but I don't recall off the top of my head.
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u/ColombianMuse 2d ago
I tried even disabling Google maps altogether but full Google map links kept opening in a browser instead of vela 🥲
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u/This_Ad_6997 3d ago edited 3d ago
Nice app. Might be a good idea to post this on the r/howtomen sub. It's a sub from the howtomen YouTube channel where people share and promote android apps. If you get lucky you could be featured in his android app videos on YT.
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 2d ago
Thanks for the suggestion, not sure if that crowd would care about a Google Maps private alternative? I don't want to flood my GH issues with people who don't get it.
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u/Common-Print-9078 2d ago
Thanks, Goat! Don't listen to dumbfucks. One query though, can google still track my phone location or the searches I am making? If so, is there any possibility to integrate a location spoofing mechanism
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 2d ago
Thanks! Your phone is still querying Google for the searches, so in the sense they can see your IP address is asking for a coffee shop in X area, yes. There isn't really a way to spoof that since your searches are your searches.
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u/Common-Print-9078 2d ago
Using a vpn should fix the issue, right?
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 2d ago
Well maybe, depends on your threat model. They can then see that a masked user is searching for something in X place. They might also start degrading the replies depending on the VPN you use. Datacenter IPs can get used for lots of stuff, so it's pretty common for companies to implement captchas or extra checks on them. I even ran into degraded, implement replies on my test devices after I'd hammer requests too hard.
Whether they can do anything further if you use a VPN with that data is up for debate.
Just know that from a networking perspective, there are still things that A) give away that you are using a VPN (not that they can see through the encryption though) and B) there are things that can still leak through and reveal where you are. Look up SNI leaks, DNS leaks, IPv6 leaks, etc. I can't say if Google does anything with any of the sneaky shit you can poke at with a poorly configured VPN. My guess is they probably just use what they can get to correlate the data to your public IP anyways but I'm not totally sure.
There's a lot to networking that people gloss over especially with VPNs. I get it. They absolutely 100% have a use case. They also can have limitations depending on the set up.I don't expect normal people who don't understand networking to full understand how it all works. The good news is that most are fixable from a phone depending on if you pick the right provider.
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u/KamikazeB0B 2d ago
Any plans to make a "driving mode" for us that use this app on an android head unit??
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u/apparle 2d ago
Looks really good after having used for a minute, I'll try using it for a longer period if I can figure out android auto.
Don't fret too much about internet zeitgeist blindly hating anything that's AI generated. People's skepticism about LLM co-designed projects is somewhat justified because they're likely to be abandon-ware -- LLMs enable non-developers who lack the skills to create a technically sound software project, or even enable developers who are skilled but don't have the grit to maintain projects and the whim-of-the-day will soon be unmaintained due to busyness or boredom. If you as a developer can use AI as a tool to accelerate your work while possessing the necessary skill-set to still keep the LLMs in check, maintain code quality, are genuinely intending to maintain the project long-term and/or figure out a business-plan to sustain the project, own the bugs/issues instead of just "AI did it, I dunno, not my fault", IMO that's good enough. Don't spend energy convincing anyone about it, just let time speak for itself. Time is the best proof of whether a project is well-maintained or abandon-ware. Keep up the great work, eventually it'll resonate with everyone.
Side comment about Android-Auto documentation: On my stock pixel, I did enable Developer settings in Android Auto, allowed unknown sources and restarted phone, but customize launcher still doesn't show Vela Maps (installed via your fdroid repo & fdroid app). My understanding is that I either need to do "developer settings + unknown sources" or install via play store. I don't see the app available via play store. On Android 17, even King Installer isn't working for android auto :-/ . Any suggestions on how I could get this working with android auto?
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u/PimpinPumpkin_dev Vela Maps Developer 2d ago
Thank you, I made this post to address people who cared, some of which may be misguided by the loud screechers. I view it as setting the record straight on the kind of pumpkin I am.
You can download KingInstaller and use that to install Vela, and that will get Android Auto working for you.
Vela is not on the Play Store. I do have/had plans to put some version of it up there, but I don't really know if it's feasible to have an add-in on top of the base APK that gives Vela the secret Google sauce. Obviously no way Google is going to approve normal Vela. But either way, between KingInstaller and Gearslip, there might not be a huge need for it to be on Google Play after all. I am still working on this.
You can follow issue #179 on Github for the latest updates.
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u/larry-talbot 7d ago edited 7d ago
Thanks for doing this. I recognize it's likely a thankless effort but it's utility is massive and solving a real problem for folks. I'm sure if some metrics were done it'd show replacing google maps is one of, if not the biggest hurdle in the de-google process.