Osmand Live Subscription (alt Google PLay)

[RealLucioCarreras]

Hello, first of all, thank you for your beautiful app. I am using it for a few months now and I wanted to subscribe to Osmand Live in order to download more maps.

So I tried to subscribe for the annual service, but when I click/tab on the "annual" list entry within the app, nothing happens. The monthly and 3-month list entry don't work either. Is there another way for subscription?

I tried:

• Reinstalling the app
• Deleting cache
• Restarting
• Any combination of the above

I am using: Osmand 3.4.4 Lineage OS 16 / Android 9 without Google services or Play Store

Thank you & best regards Lucio

[njohnston]

@vshcherb can confirm but I think the subscriptions are all managed through Google Play.

[vshcherb]

:-( We don't support subscriptions without Google Play yet. We plan to introduce it but we need to find payment provider, please recommend in comments if you know

[pietervdvn]

For now, you can use the FDroid version or the nightly version (see link on the right where you can download the APK).

And do a donation instead, they have a bitcoin address somewhere. At last, you can also have a subscription running in the play store without having it installed.

@vshcherb : FDroid has Libera-Pay built in, or perhaps patreon? These might be options.

[vshcherb]

We don't need donation platform, though we need a payment system that will have something like payment processing including VAT / Sales taxes

[RealLucioCarreras]

@vshcherb Thank you for this information. I hope there will be the possibility to pay or donate via paypal or something similar. I also have a Patreon or Libera Pay account. I cannot retrieve Amazon.com gift cards here because Amazon.de gift cards are not compatible. So I would need an additional Amazon.com account. I don't have any bitcoins either. It's really hard for me to send you money. If you have an SEPA bank account or Paypal you can send me a PM and I will pay for your services.

[vshcherb]

Sending same hard as accepting money. To accept money we either need to have an invoice or have a transaction via national payment system.

[Discostu36]

@pietervdvn Nightly built doesn't have Osmand Live (or I just don't know how to activate)

[Discostu36]

By the way, duplicate of #7256

[pietervdvn]

@Discostu36 : swipe from the left edge of your screen, click 'OsmAnd live', then enable one or more regions of interest.

[Discostu36]

Thanks, I had the wrong nightly version installed.

[lmamane]

Just to show some support for this feature request:

Since I don't have a Google account (in fact, no Google services on my Android pocket computer), and no bitcoin setup, for the moment I cannot send you any money, although I use the F-Droid version. I would gladly use another/neutral payment platform, or even just setup an automatic scheduled SEPA transfer from my bank account to yours.

Another advantage of a "neutral" payment platform (if you allow subscriptions, not only donations from it) is it would allow one to use one subscription on both Android and iOS and ...

[vshcherb]

This is far beyond than single payments, we're not going to process individual payments even local i.e. cash / cards at shop. It will require different level of accountancy, different costs and management. The only way we can provide support via payment platforms i.e. Amazon / Google.

You can buy Amazon giftcards for the cash in some countries and purchase the app, indeed it's not handy but at least it's a centralized method

[ManDay]

Could we perhaps get a generic super issue for alternative payment channels (specifically, less parasitic than e.g. Google, Amazon, etc.), not specifically limited to any of "Pro"-, "Live"-, "Cloud"- subscriptions? Since you have provided the most feedback in this thread @vshcherb, may I suggest that we rename this issue to simply "Alternative payment methods" and close down the others as-needed?

https://github.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd/issues/14672, https://github.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd/discussions/17593, https://github.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd/issues/17681, https://github.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd/issues/7256

I worked around the lack of donation channels last time by purchasing through an app store, but the idea of giving Google a share of my money, again, frankly sickens me a bit. I want to support OsmAnd and certainly not Google "May-Be-Evil" Corp, Amazon, or the likes.

But the money is for you, and I think everyone who asks for easier/direct/less parasitic channel does it in your interest. An F-Droid user who purchases through Google doesn't only pay Google's fee, but also Google's services which they don't use. Plus, they will be limited to pre-defined amounts, which may either be too much or less than what they wanted to donate. It really is a big waste. Many people who are eager to donate may not even know about this discussion, much less express their opinion and desires here.

I'll donate through purchasing, again, but I deeply hope that you can set up a channel which feels more satisfactory to the donor!

Perhaps it would be worth a shot to set up a truly simple channel like Paypal or SWIFT for just a few months and do the accounting manually. At the end of the trial period, you can reassess the true benefit-effort ratio and maybe it may even be worth the manual accounting in the long run!

PS: It actually turns out much more difficult (perhaps impossible?) to donate, even if one wants to go through Google/Amazon, but uses a custom ROM (LineageOS w/o Gapps) on their phone. Eventually, I had to use someone else's phone to make the purchase, register my credit card, etc. It's not convenient.

[george-andrei]

I think any payment processor will take a cut from the transaction. For me, it's more a question of trust and privacy, so I don't want to use Google services. Having an alternative payment option would be very much appreciated!

[yekibud]

This is my number one issue with OSMAnd. I want to use Android Auto and would happily pay for it but I can't. The only alternative I see is to fork the project and make an open source version of the AA feature. Wish I could focus on other important issues the project has that could be added to the core.

[vshcherb]

open source version It's android itself which OsmAnd works on. If you are talking about Automative OS than it's more like a special Android for cars but I don't think it's more open than Android Auto

[yekibud]

Actually, sorry, after further research, I don't think payment is the blocker - it's Android Auto's requirement for apps to be installed from the Play Store, which I can't do because I'm on microg. So I guess I'm just screwed for using OSMAnd on Android Auto.