Marble Maps Open Beta Released and It Looks Rather Promising

Productivity Sauce

Good news for Android-toting users looking for a decent OpenStreetMap-based open source routing app. Dennis Nienhüser announced on his blog a public beta release of Marble Maps. As the name suggests, this app is based on the excellent Marble library and it uses OpenStreetMap as its source. The goal of the project is to create "fast, visually appealing, easy-to-use free software", and if the current beta is anything to go by, the developers are on the right track.

Marble Maps features a refreshingly spartan interface void of any bells and whistles. So there is no learning curve, and the app is supremely easy to use. Routing is Mable Maps' major attraction, and the app supports different means of transportation, including car, bicycle, and on foot. The search field at the top lets you find specific locations, while the dedicated buttons can be used to mark locations as route points and generate a route.

Marble Maps is still at the early stage of development, and it's far from being feature complete. The planned functionality includes turn-by-turn navigation and support for vector-based tile rendering. Hopefully, the offline functionality will also be added to the roadmap. But even in its current form, Marble Maps can make a useful addition to your Android device.