Geo Share

An Android app to open map links in other map apps and copy coordinates.

<img src="https://f-droid.org/badge/get-it-on.png" alt="Get it on F-Droid" height="80"> <img src="https://gitlab.com/IzzyOnDroid/repo/-/raw/master/assets/IzzyOnDroid.png" alt="Get it on Izzy on Droid" height="80">

If you'd like to help getting the app published on Google Play, write me an email to jakub at jakubvalenta dot cz and I'll invite you to the testing program.

Share a map link with Geo Share and the app will open it in another installed map app.

Supported map links

• Google Maps
• Apple Maps
• 2GIS
• Amap (AutoNavi)
• Baidu Map (beta)
• CoMaps
• HERE WeGo
• Magic Earth
• Maps.me
• Mapy.com
• OpenStreetMap
• Organic Maps
• OsmAnd
• Urbi
• Waze
• Yandex Maps
• coordinates

Example use cases

When someone sends you a Google Maps link, but you prefer using OpenStreetMap, you can quickly open the same location in OsmAnd or Organic Maps.

When you like Google Maps for finding places, but you prefer a different app for navigation, you can easily switch from Google Maps to your favorite navigation app.

Other features

• Shows the geographic coordinates of a map link and allows copying them to clipboard in various formats, for example as a geo: link.
• Shows all points of a place list link.
• Allows performing an action automatically when a map link is processed.
• Allows launching navigation in all apps that support it, including TomTom.
• Allows opening a location in web maps, pre-installed ones or your own.
• Allows saving a location as a GPX file.
• Retries on patchy internet connection.
• Allows pasting map links directly into the app, instead of sharing them with it.
• Interface adapts to tablets.

Intro

How to show a map location in another map app

Share a location from your map app or web browser.

Choose Geo Share and the app will let you open the same location in any installed map app.

Configure Android to open links to Google Maps in alternative maps (optional)

First, go to Settings > Apps > Maps > Open by default and turn off the opening of links in this app.

Then go to Settings > Apps > Geo Share > Open by default, turn on the opening of links in this app, and tap Add links.

Select maps.app.goog.gl, maps.google.com, and www.google.com. These are the common Google Maps links. You can choose other maps or the more rare links too, but it’s not essential.

If some links are grayed out, other map apps are set to open them by default. You can find these apps and turn off the opening of links for them, like we did for Google Maps.

How it works

Geo Share converts map links (e.g. https://maps.app.goo.gl/...) into geo: links that can be opened by other map apps. To create a geo: link, geographic coordinates are required. Geo Share extracts them from the map URL.

However, not all map URLs include coordinates. In such cases, Geo Share will prompt you for permission to connect to the map service (Google Maps, Apple Maps etc.) and retrieve the coordinates from:

• either HTTP headers, e.g. Location: https://google.com/maps/@40.78,-73.96,19z
• or HTML document, e.g. <meta property="place:location:latitude" content="40.78">
• or the whole web page with running JavaScript.

If you don’t allow connecting to the map service, then Geo Share creates a geo: link with a search term instead of coordinates, or it stops, depending on the particular link.

To permanently allow or deny connecting to the map service instead of always asking (the default), go to the app’s preferences.

Privacy considerations

When possible, Geo Share converts map links offline. If the map link requires online conversion, the app will ask you before connecting to the map service ( Google Maps, Apple Maps, etc.). If you allow the connection, the map service will receive the map link, it will be able to read your IP address, and in some cases Geo Share will load the live web page of the map service and execute its JavaScript. This happens in a restricted environment, which blocks tracking scripts and doesn’t store cookies.

Location permission

Geo Share asks for location permission when launching the TomTom navigation and when sharing a GPX route, because in these cases the app needs to create a GPX route that starts at your current location. The location information is discarded immediately after the creation of the route.

Reporting issues

Geo Share supports many types of map links. If you still find a link that doesn’t work, please report an issue.

Screenshots

<img src="./fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/images/phoneScreenshots/1.png" alt="Screenshot of Geo Share’s main screen" width="270"> <img src="./fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/images/phoneScreenshots/2.png" alt="Screenshot of Geo Share’s result screen" width="270"> <img src="./fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/images/phoneScreenshots/3.png" alt="Screenshot of Geo Share’s automation configuration screen" width="270"> <img src="./fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/images/phoneScreenshots/4.png" alt="Screenshot of Geo Share asking for permission to connect to Google" width="270"> <img src="./fastlane/metadata/android/en-US/images/phoneScreenshots/5.png" alt="Screenshot of Geo Share’s intro screen" width="270">

Installation

From an app store (recommended)

Get the app on F-Droid (recommended) or [Izzy on Droid](https://apt.izz