From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

I posted on this NG a while back about this app, finally got it going on my Moto G5+
phone with Android 8.1 Oreo.

Phone had to go into the repair shop for a USB jack change and he fouled it
up beyond hope.
So I bought another on ebay and transfered stuff from Google backup but it didnt back up
Magic earth.

Their Magic Lane system now has support tickets, opened one but no anwer for days.

I need the 32 bit APK for Android 8, not the ARM 64 as I believe the phone
is 32 bit.

Hard to find it on the web?

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From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

UFO <techforce@nospam.gmx.com> wrote:

I posted on this NG a while back about this app, finally got it going
on my Moto G5+ phone with Android 8.1 Oreo.
...
I need the 32 bit APK for Android 8, not the ARM 64 as I believe the
phone is 32 bit.

Hard to find it on the web?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.generalmagic.magicearth

"About this app" popup says it supports Android 8+.

Many more negative reviews than positive. Sure you don't want to use
some other mapping app (e.g., Google Maps, OsmAnd, Here WeGo, etc)?
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From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:

UFO <techforce@nospam.gmx.com> wrote:

I posted on this NG a while back about this app, finally got it going
on my Moto G5+ phone with Android 8.1 Oreo.
...
I need the 32 bit APK for Android 8, not the ARM 64 as I believe the
phone is 32 bit.

Hard to find it on the web?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.generalmagic.magicearth

"About this app" popup says it supports Android 8+.

Many more negative reviews than positive. Sure you don't want to use
some other mapping app (e.g., Google Maps, OsmAnd, Here WeGo, etc)?

The last version supporting Android 8 was released in August. Now they
require 9+. The August version is:

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/magic-lane-international-b-v/magic-earth-navigation-maps/magic-earth-navigation-maps-7-1-25-34-36a60bb6-67629954-release/

Be very careful with apkmirror as there are (third party?) ads with fake download buttons - it's better viewed with adblock, but otherwise the
downloads are here (the 'Download APK Bundle' link), for the universal .apk, Android 5+:

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/magic-lane-international-b-v/magic-earth-navigation-maps/magic-earth-navigation-maps-7-1-25-34-36a60bb6-67629954-release/

or here for the arm64 and arm32 version, Android 8+ https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/magic-lane-international-b-v/magic-earth-navigation-maps/magic-earth-navigation-maps-7-1-25-34-36a60bb6-67629954-release/magic-earth-navigation-maps-7-1-25-34-36a60bb6-67629954-2-android-apk-download/

Personally I'd try the second link first.

Theo
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From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

UFO, 2026-02-26 22:01:

I posted on this NG a while back about this app, finally got it going on my Moto G5+
phone with Android 8.1 Oreo.

Phone had to go into the repair shop for a USB jack change and he fouled it up beyond hope.
So I bought another on ebay and transfered stuff from Google backup but it didnt back up
Magic earth.

<https://magic-earth.de.uptodown.com/android/versions>
--
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de
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From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

UFO wrote:

... transfered stuff from Google backup but it didnt back up Magic earth.

That app has to have the longest version string I've ever seen! :)

The version of my Magic Earth APK <com.generalmagic.magickearth> is
Version 7.1.22.43.540E50C8.FEC3AA63 (2022112533)

In Muntashirakon App Manager, I pressed "Save APK" and it copied over
/internal storage/App Manager/apks/Magic Earth_7.1.22.43.540E50C8.FEC3AA63.apk
Name: Magic Earth_7.1.22.43.540E50C8.FEC3AA63.apk
Size: 52266545 bytes (49 MiB)
SHA256: FC84015DD9FF71D9C54D82628365A99C69436E84F78F9A625BCD2C988816D585

Dunno where I got it from but Muntashirakon tells me the following data
SDK = Target: 30, Min: 16
Date installed = December 30, 2022
Primary ABI = arm64-v8a

adb shell dumpsys package com.generalmagic.magicearth | grep -i installer
(nothing useful resulted)
My device apparently has no recorded installer for Magic Earth.

Looking in Muntashirakon for signatures, apparently my Magic Earth APK
is 100% legitimately signed by the real Magic Earth developer.
It is not repacked, modified, or resigned by any third-party store.
Subject / Issuer: ROUTE 66 Switzerland GmbH
Issued: 2011
Expires: 2038
Algorithm: SHA1withRSA
Key size: 2048-bit RSA
Schemes: v1, v2, v

That means it must be from one of these sources (AFAICT).
Google Play
Aurora Store (pulls from Play Store
Magic Earth's official website
APKMirror (they never resign apps)

Since I never use mirrors unless I'm dead in the water, probably
I got it from the Magic Earth official web site, but I don't recall.

But my signature matches what's on the Internet so it's valid.
<https://community.e.foundation/t/howto-verify-apk-signatures-and-reflect-on-publisher-trust/30719>

Apparently Magic Earth publishes separate builds for arm64-v8a and for armeabi-v7a, so the ability to install or run it depends entirely on which ABIs my APK includes, but if someone wants it, just give me a way
to upload it with privacy and I'll publish a link to it for them.

In Muntashirakon, there is "Shared libs" of
libMagicEarthNative.so
42.40 MB, 64 Bit, Little endian, Shared library, AArch64
lib/arm64-v8a/libMagicEarthNative.so
Which implies
The APK includes only the 64-bit ARM library (arm64-v8a)
There is no armeabi-v7a folder.
There is no 32-bit ARM support.
So it will not work on:
armeabi-v7a (32-bit ARM) devices
--
Just one person on Usenet paying it forward so all benefit daily.
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From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android



Didnt have a problem with it, would still be using it if the phone didnt go into the repair shop
and die there.

Magic Earth only needs a GPS feed, I think Google maps needs the phones service to internet
or a Wifi connection to work.

Gonna try Osmand, but still hard to find a good link for the Magic Earth APK

Many more negative reviews than positive. Sure you don't want to use
some other mapping app (e.g., Google Maps, OsmAnd, Here WeGo, etc)?

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From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

Thanks the univeral one worked, had to get the APKMirror Installer to read
the compressed file.

I salvaged my old SD card from the dead phone and it had all the maps saved
on it from last time
so that made it easy.


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From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

UFO wrote:

I salvaged my old SD card from the dead phone

Just a quick hint, if you format the sd card with a name that you remember, e.g., I format mine to a volume name of "0000-0001" for easy detection in
the Android file explorer apps, then you can literally *swap* one sd card
for another in your phone, and the phone won't know the difference.

I've been doing that for years with great success.

No need to copy one sdcard to another. Just pop it in and it "just works".
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information specifically so the next person with the same problem finds the solution.
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From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

UFO wrote:

Magic Earth only needs a GPS feed, I think Google maps needs the phones service to internet
or a Wifi connection to work.

Gonna try Osmand, but still hard to find a good link for the Magic Earth APK

Most map apps only need the GPS feed, although Google Maps' offline feature
is a pain so in practice, Google Maps only works well when there's data.

OSMAnd~ is free on F-Droid and it works well offline, although it's a completely different underlying map than Google Maps & Magic Earth I think.

The real differences on outdoor maps show up when you're out of the USA
(since free backcountry maps are fantastic for the USA).

For road maps, the POI is the real distinguishing feature (IMHO).
Google Maps, unfortunately, has them all beat on its POI database.
--
Usenet allows people with shared interests to discuss topics of import.
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From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

UFO <techforce@nospam.gmx.com> wrote:

Didnt have a problem with it, would still be using it if the phone
didnt go into the repair shop and die there.

Magic Earth only needs a GPS feed, I think Google maps needs the
phones service to internet or a Wifi connection to work.

Gonna try Osmand, but still hard to find a good link for the Magic
Earth APK

Google Maps supports offline maps. You select an area, and download the
map to your phone. However, the offline map will not have many POI
(Points of Interest), and, I believe, you do not get step-by-step
driving instructions. Offline maps are how you use Google Maps when you
are out of reach of cell towers, like in rural areas, or state forests.

Here WeGo works using offline maps, but you can pick much larger
regions: city, state, country, continents. The larger the map, the
larger the offline file stored on your phone. I had an SD card, and
that's where I stored there offline maps. Had all of North America
stored on my phone. Here WeGo came from Nokia in cooperation with many automotive manufacturers to provide driving assistance to their
customers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_WeGo

Osmand uses crowd-sourced data from OpenStreetMap for their maps. In
highly populated urban areas, like cities, there are a lot of users per
acre, so the map data gets updated often. In rural areas where users
are far more sparse, or even absent, there is little or no map data, and
not often updated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OsmAnd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenStreetMap

There is a paid version that unlocks additional data, but I didn't
bother when I trialed OsmAnd. Got rid of it when I found too many areas
were covered by county plats which show prospective routes that don't
yet exist.
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