FAQ

FAQ

Is Roadstr free?

Yes. It is open source under the MIT licence: free to use, study, modify, redistribute and sell, as long as the copyright and licence notice stay with the copies. Third-party parts keep their own licences (THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES).

Do I need an account?

No. You need a Nostr identity (through Amber or a bunker) only to publish or confirm road reports, to be zapped, and to sync.

Does it use Google?

Not for anything it needs to work. Roadstr uses no Google services, no Google Play Services, and the builds exclude their libraries; it runs on devices without them, including GrapheneOS. (Two things are your choice: Google is one of the web search engines you can pick in Settings, and your phone's own speech recogniser, used as a fallback for voice search, is whatever your phone vendor provides.)

Does it track me?

There is no telemetry and no analytics, and Roadstr has no server to send them to. The services it does talk to — routing, Overpass, Nostr relays and a few more — are listed on the Privacy page, with what each can see.

Does it work offline?

Partly, and only for what you choose to download: offline map areas and offline routing packages (Maps and offline use), saved routes, voice guidance and voice search once their models are installed. Road reports, place search, speed-camera and speed-limit data, and public transport need a connection.

Why does it ask for Precise location?

Turn-by-turn guidance, speed and report positions need a precise fix. Roadstr does not need permanent background-location access: a foreground service with a notification holds the trip.

Why are the road signs / speed limits sometimes wrong or missing?

They come from OpenStreetMap, which volunteers keep up to date and which is incomplete in places. An unknown speed limit is shown as unknown. Always follow road signs.

How long does a report stay on the map?

From one hour (traffic jam, animal) to 30 days (speed camera). Confirmations keep it up and denials remove it sooner. See Road reports.

Can I delete a report I made?

You can correct your own report, and other people's denials shorten its life, but a signed event that reached public relays cannot be reliably deleted. That is why the first report shows a Public report notice.

Why is my phone not offered voice search?

It needs 64-bit Arm and at least 3 GB of RAM. Otherwise the microphone button keeps using your phone's recogniser.

Why did the app change so much in 1.0?

Version 1.0 replaced the Flutter app with a native Kotlin app (Jetpack Compose and MapLibre Native) under the same package name and signing key, so it installs over the old one and brings your data across once. See Architecture.

Why is Roadstr only on Android?

It is built for Android: it relies on an Android foreground service, the Android signer protocol (Amber) and Android's location and audio stack. There is no iOS version.

How can I help?

Report what you see on the road, send bug reports, translate, add public-transport coverage to Transitous, or test MeshCore on real radios. See Contributing.