How to Transfer Google Maps Saved Places to OsmAnd: Complete Guide

Are you switching from Google Maps to OsmAnd for offline navigation and want to bring all your favorite locations with you? This comprehensive guide will walk you through the entire process of exporting your Google Maps saved places and importing them into OsmAnd, ensuring you don't lose any of your carefully curated locations.

Why Transfer Your Google Maps Saved Places?

OsmAnd offers powerful offline navigation capabilities and is based on OpenStreetMap data, making it a popular alternative to Google Maps. However, if you've spent years marking your favorite restaurants, memorable spots, and important locations in Google Maps, starting fresh can be daunting. Fortunately, there's a straightforward way to transfer all these places to OsmAnd.

The Challenge: Google Maps Export Limitations

When exporting your data from Google, you'll quickly discover a significant limitation: Google Takeout doesn't provide the actual geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) for your saved places. Instead, it only gives you the addresses and place names, which aren't directly importable into OsmAnd.

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Export Your Saved Places from Google Takeout

First, let's get your data out of Google:

1. Visit Google Takeout
2. Deselect all options (click "Deselect all" at the top)
3. Scroll down and select only "Saved" - this contains your collections of saved places from Google Maps
4. Click "Next step"
5. Choose "Export once" and set the export format to .zip
6. Click "Create export"
7. Wait for the export to complete (you'll receive an email)
8. Download the ZIP file from your email or the Takeout page
9. Unzip the file and locate the "Saved Places" folder

2. The Geocoding Challenge

At this point, you have your saved places, but they're not in a format OsmAnd can use. The exported data lacks geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude), which are essential for plotting points on a map. This is where geocoding comes in – the process of converting addresses into geographic coordinates.

3. Geocoding Options

You have several options for geocoding:

Option 1: Manual Geocoding (Time-Consuming)

You could manually look up each address and find its coordinates, but this is extremely time-consuming if you have more than a few places.

Option 2: Use a Geocoding API

Developers might use Google's Geocoding API or other services, but this requires programming knowledge and potentially API costs.

Option 3: Use Takeout-Tools.com (Recommended)

The simplest solution is to use Takeout-Tools.com, a service specifically designed to solve this problem:

1. Visit Takeout-Tools.com
2. Download the ZIP file from your email or the Takeout page
3. Unzip it and find the Saved Places folder
4. Upload your .csv files to the website (you can upload multiple at once)
5. If your CSV headers are not in English, please translate them to match the exact column names (case-sensitive) to avoid parsing errors
6. The service automatically geocodes all your saved places
7. Choose your preferred export format:
   • GPX (recommended for OsmAnd)
   • KML (Google Earth format)
   • GeoJSON (open standard format)

4. Importing to OsmAnd

Once you have your geocoded data (preferably in GPX format):

1. Transfer the GPX file to your mobile device
2. Open OsmAnd on your device
3. Tap the "Menu" button (usually three horizontal lines)
4. Select "My Places" or "Favorites"
5. Tap the menu icon (three dots) and select "Import"
6. Navigate to and select your GPX file
7. Choose which categories of places you want to import
8. Confirm the import

Your Google Maps saved places will now appear in OsmAnd as favorites or waypoints, depending on how you imported them.

Benefits of Using Takeout-Tools.com

• Time-Saving: Automatically processes hundreds of places in minutes
• Accuracy: Uses reliable geocoding to ensure precise location placement
• Multiple Export Formats: Supports various formats compatible with different mapping applications
• Privacy-Focused: Your data is processed securely and not stored permanently
• Free Tier Available: Process a limited number of places without cost

Conclusion

Transferring your Google Maps saved places to OsmAnd doesn't have to be complicated. With Google Takeout and the geocoding capabilities of Takeout-Tools.com, you can quickly migrate your favorite locations to OsmAnd and continue exploring with all your important places intact.

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