mapsforge/mapsforge

Health v2 · maintenance only

Adoption not part of the score

1403 stars · 400 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded

A Java library for rendering vector maps based on OpenStreetMap data, running on Android and desktop JVM applications. It includes tools to compile custom map files in a compact binary format, XML-based render themes, offline hillshading, and POI search support.

Use cases

• display offline OpenStreetMap vector maps in an Android app
• render maps with rotation and hillshading in a Java desktop application
• compile my own maps from OSM data into a compact map file format
• style map rendering with custom XML themes
• add offline POI search to a mapping application

When to choose

• you need fully offline vector map rendering on Android or Java desktop
• you want to build custom maps from OpenStreetMap data
• you need flexible map styling via XML render themes
• you want a permissive-enough license (LGPL with waived constraints) for closed-source apps

When to avoid

• you need interactive web-based maps (use Leaflet or MapLibre instead)
• you require online tile streaming as the primary use case
• your project is not on the JVM or Android

Facets

library · maturity active

graphics file-system sdk android-tools cross-platform jvm cross-platform openstreetmap vector-maps map-rendering offline-maps hillshading map-writer poi-search maps geospatial android desktop

Member repositories

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="mapsforge/mapsforge")