What happened to rendering of non-garmin maps on Garmin devices like Explore 2?

What happened to the rendering of non-garmin maps on Garmin devices like Explore 2?

For couple of updates now, I`m observing that non-garmin maps are basically unusable due to the way they`ve started to be rendered by the Garmin devices (Explore 2 + Fenix 7) - the small roads (and others too) are so thick that it`s impossible to read the map.

Was that changed to lock users to Garmin maps? Is there any advantage of having such "update" for the user I`m not seeing here? Is there any way to solve the way those 3rd party maps are now displayed on the devices with latest FW versions?

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0 erykosky 2 months ago

It’s absolutely ridiculous how Garmin has handled this situation with non-Garmin maps. It's clear they have made them practically unusable on devices like the Explore 2 and Fenix 7. The roads are so thick and distorted that it's impossible to navigate. It really feels like they’re trying to force us to buy their overpriced maps, and it's infuriating. How is this supposed to be an "update" or improvement? There’s absolutely no benefit for the user, just a blatant attempt to lock us into their ecosystem. Garmin needs to fix this mess immediately instead of pushing us towards their own products.

0 bikepc01 2 months ago

You'll have to workaround this problem by changing all polylines in the typ-file of the non-Garmin (OSM) map to bitmap-only. See discussions about this in the 1040 section: https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/cycling/f/edge-1040-series/365387/third-party-maps-on-new-update
If you use the OpenFietsMap you can find information in the help section: https://www.openfietsmap.nl/news
I fully agree that Garmin is on the wrong road trying to force users to use Garmin maps only.