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p/arcane-mapA privacy focused Google Maps alternative
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Aaron O'Leary

Arcane Maps - Blockchain-based alternative to Google Maps

byโ€ข

Find your way in the World with Arcane Maps. Get navigation, traffic, and extended places info and even organize your favorite places into custom lists and share them with your friends. No logs with full privacy.

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Walterion
Maker
Hi everyone โœŒ๏ธ, Walterion is here, and I'm excited to introduce you to Arcane Maps ๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ, a private and secure alternative for Google Maps. As we keep hearing about data breach news of big companies, it is harder for us to keep trusting them with our personal data, especially our location history. It made us think about finding a better way. We believe the best way to keep data secure is by not having them in the first place. That's why we choose the server-less and encrypted solution with the help of blockchain. We worked on it for months, and now it is ready to share with you. Arcane Maps is a full-featured map service and with it, your identity, location, search history, favorite places and all, will be private and in your control. All safe and secure on blockchain-based cloud storage with high industry standard encryptions. Arcane Maps is available now for Mobile and Desktop right in your browser. It is entirely free with usersโ€™ support, so come and join us in our launch. I canโ€™t wait to hear what you think. Please do not hesitate to ask me any questions. Shows you the path without knowing where you are โ€” Arcane Maps P.S. Here is the rest of Arcane Projects if you missed them: Docs, Sheets, Marks, and Photos.
Walterion
Maker
Thanks to @aaronoleary for the Hunt โœŒ๏ธ
MARLEY ๐Ÿ’ก
@walterion1 does it let you know when the cops are in the bushes ?
Hakan Erdur
@walterion1 thank you. Does it have a feature like timeline that track the places we visit? I need that feature but to stay private.
Walterion
Maker
@hakan_erdur1 Hey Hakan! Not for now but it will be nice to have it. I added it to our task list.
mG S
Nice Map ! I like the overall look... Works smoothly on desktop and mobile ! Some questions though : - Any plan for natives app ? - Do you plan to have an API for third party developers ? - Whats your source ? OpenStreetMap ? - How do you plan to have as much POI as GMaps ? PS : Having some issue on mobile, when I click on the map it goes all the way back to NY, I'm in Paris :-)
Walterion
Maker
@mgs Thank you very much for the comment! - Yes, native apps are under development for Android and then iOS. - No plan for an API for now, but a very interesting idea. - Yes, OpenStreet and Mapbox. - No plans for now. It seems you didn't give the app location permission, so it goes back to the default, NY.
mG S
@walterion1 I think I did ๐Ÿค” otherwise when I click on the location button on right bottom corner it would not go to where I am I'm guessing. Thanks for the details, I hope it will get the attention it deserves, people don't realise yet how much Google knows about all our moves, it's scary !
Walterion
Maker
@michal_sastinsky Hey again Michal, sure we have it on the roadmap ๐Ÿ‘
Duiker101
@walterion1 your products look amazing! I will definitely be trying this and the photos. One thing I wish was present is displaying the search results on the map. Currently, if I search Supermarket it shows me a list of places but I don't really know where they are and I would have to check every single one to find the closest to me.
Walterion
Maker
@duiker101 Lovely words, thanks! This is a very cool idea, Simone, allow me to add it to the todo list. Please dont forget to support the Arcane apps, especially Maps
Lui Kohl
@walterion1 Wow, are you the hardest working man on PH? Very cool. One thing I noticed, the directions do not display the steps required on transport for example. A more general question, are you continuing to develop the other products (for eg. Docs)? Because I think they are a great start but to really become a viable alternative to G suite they would need to continue to improve. Take my upvote and good luck!
Walterion
Maker
@lui_kohl Hey Lui, you are very kind ๐Ÿ˜ธ I am checking what you said, thanks for the note. Yes be sure we do, they got minor fixes this month to improve stability and will get more features soon. There is a long way to compete with billion-dollar companies, but we are doing this one step at a time, thanks to the support of friendly people like you.
Lui Kohl
@walterion1 Also for that feedback, OSX FF v69. Do you have a website for the 'company' behind all these products?
Walterion
Maker
@lui_kohl Sorry but I don't get "OSX FF v69" and no for now.
Walterion
Maker
@lui_kohl Checked it, and it seems working just fine, can you DM me more detail?
Egor
Looks good but isn't is that instead of Google tracking the user there is now Mapbox tracking the user who uses your product?
Walterion
Maker
@egorka Thank Egor for your interest. No, as we cared a lot about the requests, and we will not share users locations and data to anyone, as we don't have them either.
Egor Kunovsky
@walterion1 are you serious? You are using Mapbox basemap and have a button to locate the user. Each time user hits that button their location should go to Mapbox to show the map. If you do not have it it does not mean Mapbox does not have it.
Walterion
Maker
@egor_kunovsky_ Hey Egor and thank you for your passionate interest. Your answer is no, and we took care that no personal info link to the location.
Egor
@walterion1 so, you do get user e-mail from blockstack but do not pass it over to Mapbox, but that does not mean Mapbox does not track that user based on the information they receive from user's browser and device. You might be not really helping them to track the given user but you can not control or prevent it as long as basemap from Mapbox on the likes is used. A better solution might be to take basemap tiles from 3d party and host them elsewhere, you might want to explore that if you continue to claim any privacy. I also see that you are using Google Tag manager on the pages, so it is Mapbox and Google tracking your users, not just Mapbox instead of Google.
Walterion
Maker
@egorka No one will receive the location or personal info of Maps users. Even your saved lists, locations, and other info, will be first encrypted and then synced. BTW I'm happy that you are this much interested in commenting with two accounts at the same time, thanks!
Vladimir Nesterenko
Hello! Is there API in your roadmap? :)
Walterion
Maker
@vladimir_nesterenko Hey Vladimir, sure there is ;)
Jun Gong
Walterion did it again.
Walterion
Maker
@jun_gong Thanks Jun ๐Ÿ˜ธโœŒ๏ธ
Juan Sarmiento
Hey @walterion1 so happy to see the Arcane family growing ๐Ÿ‘ already tested, would like to see more information about the suggested places on search :)
Walterion
Maker
@juanpablosarmi Thank Juan, we are very happy too. Sure, added to the todo list.
Juan Sarmiento
@walterion1 Happy to hear :) We're also working on a web app and using Open Street, it's been really helpful, even more than the big G ๐Ÿ™Š
An
@walterion1 Awesome product!! Would be awesome to have the option to embed a map into a website. This would be a great way to embed a loaction without using Google maps!
Walterion
Maker
@anthemaker Hi An, it is a very cool feature to have, added to the ideas. Thanks!
Francesco Strazzante
Great product @walterion1 ! Just wandering, if I can ask you, could you explain where you use the blockchain please?
Walterion
Maker
@fstrazzante Thank you very much, Francesco. Blockchain is used to store the key of your identity so no central server can control it, therefor cant control your data. Don't forget to support us, please ;)
Michal ล aลกtinskรฝ
@fstrazzante @walterion1 what blochchain do you use? It will be a lot of data.
Walterion
Maker
@michal_sastinsky Thank you for your interest Michal. Yes it is, and we are using Blockstack.
osman
First of all great effort challenging multi billion dollar companies. I have few feedback points I'd like to share. 1. The map didn't get my location and didn't ask me for location service permission 2. I tried to search for the location i am at the moment but couldn't find it in suggested results. I had to point out the pin from nearest location. Btw I'm in well known location at the moment. 3. It showed longest drive route between 2 locations. there was a straight road but it couldn't get it. 4. It will helpful to know the distance between 2 destination. Didn't find that information. I hope this will help.
Walterion
Maker
@ossman Thank you so much for the detailed comment and for encouraging us to do better. Please contact us from the website so we can look through these issues, but for now, I checked all of them, and I should say there isn't a problem for getting location, and we show the best path regarding distance and traffic. I like to have the distance too, added to the todo, thanks. For now please don't forget to support us :)
These are great looking maps. If you end up creating an API, LMK. We'd love to have an alternative to Google maps for our social proof notifications.
Walterion
Maker
@jarrod_morris Lovely to hear that, thanks, Jarrod. Yes, we have it on our plan, but first, we want to focus on improving the experience. Please contact us on the website if you like to have a conversation about this.
Mike Mason
Hey @walterion1, Very cool. What are you using for the "blockchain-based cloud storage"?
Walterion
Maker
@tipeveryday Thanks Mike for your interest and happy you liked it. We are using Blockstack!
Vladimir Knobel
Hey @walterion1 Why do you use .NET for the backend? Is that asp.net core? Really surprised about the choice. I thought .NET was mainly for corporate LOB apps.
Walterion
Maker
@vladimir_knobel Hi Vladimir and thanks for the interest. It was a developing choice as we go with any development tools per case. This time it was a matter of maintainability and codebase.
Alex B
Full privacy? This site uses google fonts and GOOGLE ANALYTICS.
Graham Park
Was playing around with it and ran into an issue with your UI. If I type in something like "501 main street" it lists a ton of identical options because the city isn't show.
Walterion
Maker
@grahampark Thank you very much Graham for the comment, we will check it.
Rohan Talip
@walterion1 Looks good! FYI, I did notice that after searching for the Empire State Building that the search results box showed empty space (along with some buttons) : https://photos.app.goo.gl/19VvxL... . I'm also curious: would you mind explaining how blockchain is important in your products?
Walterion
Maker
@rohan_talip Thank Rohan. Blockchain is used to store the key of your identity so no central server can control it, therefor cant control your data.
Suhas darsi
how are getting traffic data? is it reliable? I depend on google maps for time estimation more than directions, that's the reason I'm asking this
Walterion
Maker
@suhas_darsi1 Thank you, Suhas for the question. Yes, we tried our best to gather the most reliable data. Please contact us if there was an error.
Anja Tranninger
Really nice app! Congratulations on the launch!
Walterion
Maker
@sylo_1 Thank you so much for your kind words, Anja. Please consider supporting us if you liked it ๐Ÿ‘
Steve Yakoban
Tried the directions and maybe I'm missing something but it's clunky and a deal breaker. It sure seems that I have to select the start location from a map rather than entering an address. If so, that's a UX FAIL. It needs a text field to enter the start address w/an alternative option to select from a map. Fix it and I'll give it another go, else I'm done.
Walterion
Maker
@steve_yakoban Hey Steve, thank you very much for sharing your thoughts, I noted all of them, and we will take care of it. We will send you a notify at the time.