You can and you should contribute - Open Street Map
Today I found out that it's actually a lot easier to contribute to Open Street Map than I thought. There are some serious gaps in house addresses in my area and I was painstakingly using the built in browser editor in the browser.
But, you can use a FOSS app (available on fdroid) called StreetComplete that makes it a lot easier to help out filling in the gaps in your local map data.
It's really fun - kind of like Pokémon Go but you are actually making an impact 😁
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I'm addicted to Streetcomplete. I'm 20.000+ edits in. I make about 100 with ease on my commute to work.
I installed it. Judging by the mass of blank info, I guess I'm the only person around here using it lol. 😳
I became nr 10 or so in my country just by adding nearly everything SC can ask in ... a 10 block radius around my house.😁
I am never getting lost in my own neighborhood again!! (Me irl)
It needs an iOS app
iOS apps generally require a $100 yearly fee to post to the app store and if they submitted a waiver as a nonprofit apple would probably take years to accept it.
Also apple has a tendency to quietly kill and/or stall small apps that pose a threat to features they incorporate into their os from what I've heard.
Ugh yeah the small 4-person worker cooperative I'm part of has been trying to get Apple to let us enroll in their developer program for literally weeks now. Every time we clear some other nonsense requirement, there's a new one right behind it; and we haven't even gotten to the "pay $100 for the privilege of undergoing this process" part yet.
I can't believe Apple ever managed to build an application ecosystem around their products when they are so unfriendly to developers.
What? If you’re going to pay for it you just sign up and pay… If you don’t have your company registered before attempting that that’s on you. And if you’re really desperate you could just use a personal developer account which you can set up in like 1 minute. Not sure how this is an issue for you.
Donations
vote and comment here https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/discussions/5230
Check out Go Map!!, it's also open source and has a similar feature to StreetComplete with its quests, at least from what I've heard about how StreetComplete works.
@gonzoknowsdotcom1 This app doesn't seem quite as entertaining as #StreetComplete, but it is also available for #iOS: #EveryDoor
"#OpenStreetMap editor for POIs and entrances."
every-door.app/
Furthermore, it is also very easy to edit #OSM data with #OrganicMaps: organicmaps.app/de/
@Schlemmy
@caos @Schlemmy @gonzoknowsdotcom1 #EveryDoor is great, I use it alongside #StreetComplete as it has more attributes that can be set. First StreetComplete until no tasks are left, then EveryDoor for more details.
once you complete every quest on your commute, what do you do?
parallel streets ✅
and then?
You change your job to another location :)
Not parallel streets.
that turns the commute into a promenade
That's exactly what happened. Fortunately I have 4 different offices and I can work from 'home' anywhere so sometimes I go work at a friend's place instead of working at my place.
There's always more to tag. It's crazy. But I started talking walks during my break.
One thing that I haven't got to is tagging street width and that you can do by using your phones' camera for measuring.
https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/de.westnordost.streetmeasure
In order to use this app, you will need to have the proprietary Google Play Services for AR app installed on your device as well.🤐
edit: this is for StreetMeasure
_What are the system requirements of this app?
StreetComplete requires Android 5.0, and a screen size of at least 4.3" is recommend. Apart from that, any reasonably modern phone (at least 2GB RAM, around 500MB of free space) should support it. It doesn't require Google Play Services_
Edit: You were aiming at Streetcomplete, I see now. This is in their FAQ:
According to our tests, it does work without Google Play Services being installed, but, as said before, the device needs to be compatible.
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/StreetComplete/FAQ
i'm using streetComplete without google. It's streetMeasure that requires Google Play Sevices
Apparently, per their own FAQ, it is possible to use it without Google Play Services.
_What are the system requirements of this app?
StreetComplete requires Android 5.0, and a screen size of at least 4.3" is recommend. Apart from that, any reasonably modern phone (at least 2GB RAM, around 500MB of free space) should support it. It doesn't require Google Play Services_
Cool! Never seen this before. Just downloaded and signed up.
Just did around 150 contributions, looks fun so I might complete more quests tomorrow
Is there an open street map based map app that shows live traffic? I'm trying to get my grandfather to switch to open source, and he says it's the one feature he needs.
MagicEarth has got a live traffic layer for you.
Magic earth is great
If it is free as in beer, but not as in freedom, and is developed by a company, then what is their business model?
This is what they've put on their FAQ
Magic Earth is free for all our end-users but we also have a paid Magic Earth SDK for business partners. For instance Selectric.de (a supplier for navigation solutions for ambulances and fire trucks), Smarter AI (developing ADAS systems) or Absolute Cycling (using the platform on bicycles). For more info on the SDK, you can check magiclane.com.
That explains it, thanks
time for some kind of anonymizing location data sharing service, peer to peer or federated protocol? that might be interesting, or sketchy, not sure which.
OSMand has a feature where it can process other info as tiles on top of the base openstreetmap data it downloads, so what I did was pulling satellite and live traffic data from google and make them work as tiles and it works perfect (although it doesnt take traffic data into consideration when routing, it only shows it as a picture on top of the map, doesn't bother me).
I use Organic maps, and it's easy to add and edit places with.
MapComplete is more about tagging.
I caught the whole first generation + my favorite Celebi. How's that for an impact?
But are they IV 100? Mine are all IV 96 or better.
I bow before the king! I think I had some shitty <20 IV there as well, but my goal since the beginning was to catch the ones I've been watching in the anime as a kid, didn't much care about other generations (well, I remember a little bit of gen 2 from my youth as well).
I didn´t realize editing OSM is so easy. I just logged in, did a short tutorial and fixed one intersection where a week ago the app told to do an illegal turn. Awesome!
Solid recommendation! "Contribute missing data" sounds like a chore, but this app is super fun
There is a "road" near my house in OSM that does not exist and OSM is always trying to route me though it, which is very annoying. Is there any way to mark them for removal? StreetComplete doesn't seem to have that capability.
You can always long press on a problematic place and leave a freeform note. A more experienced mapper can then fix the issue.
I have a similar problem. Two entrances to my building got their numbers reversed.
If anybody knows if the app can fix it, i'l get it and make an account.
It should be possible using the address overlay in the app. Otherwise you could leave a note or use the web based editor on the OSM homepage.
You could use the editor on the website which although messy, would work fine for removing a road on mobile. Or you can use an app like Vespucci which is more advanced, but it also has a bit more of a learning curve. Or you can create a note like others have recommended but depending on the activity in the area might not be seen for a while.
Wow you're right! I didn't know they have an online editor. I thought the app is the only way to submit changes. I'm able to delete the section of the road that don't actually exist in my area, let's see if the changes will be accepted. Thanks!
Yep, StreetComplete is one of the many editors for OpenStreetMap! Just to name a few:
Mobile (Android & iOS Mixed):
Desktop:
And many more! There's a list on the OpenStreetMap wiki.
Maps.me and organicsmaps apps are great too to edit osm. You can also replace google maps and its navigator which is great because if you don't find something on maps.me, you can immediately add it.
I'm contributing at my level. But, when I see all the errors, issues and missing object around me, it's a full time job for at least one months.
Street complete is amazing. I've been obsessed with it for a couple years. I never would have made hundreds of OSM submissions without it. Whenever I'm bored, sitting in some place waiting, instead of doom scrolling, I pull out up and see if there is anything I can contribute to the area
I've was doing the same until yesterday, then I found StreetComplete. Since then, it's so much easier to enter addresses. So much easier to add addresses while out walking than to carry a notepad or memorize numbers.
I don't really know or use Open Street Map, so I wonder:
Can everyone just manipulate the map data? Is there some sort of control mechanism or is it easy to incorporate fake data?
I'm asking because this seems to be a really fallible concept, where people with malicious intents would have an easy way to disturb Open Street Map.
Yes, but similar to Wikipedia (where the same holds true) the forces fo good and honest seem to prevail.
Even more than on Wikipedia. The problem with Wikipedia is it tries to use a wiki to write about contentious issues like politics, culture war, religion, national conflicts etc. too and wikis just aren't a very suitable mechanism for that. OSM tries to limit itself to completely objective facts about the world, wikis are very well suited for that.
It is a wiki. While anyone can add fake data, there are monitoring tools to make sure that if someone does that, others will notice and remove it again.
I recently contributed a business change and got a message a few hours later that I had made a mistake and a small explanation on how to fix it.
This probably depends on the area, but at least changes in my area seem to be monitored by good people.
Yes and no. If I remember correctly, it was pokemon go utilizing OSM for the kind of Pokemon you could find in a given area which led to some manipulation. You could probably also get away with changing or hiding something in Nowhere, Idaho.
The bigger issue is probably outdated data. Shops or restaurants in urban areas change fairly quickly, it's quite hard to keep up with those.
Very glad I saw this. I've been getting increasingly fed up with Google Maps. Their map in my area is full of annoying errors, such as routing you through roads that haven't existed for a decade, or along private roads that are not open to the public. And no matter how many times I report them, nothing ever gets fixed. Going to give OSM a try and hopefully make the switch for good. Already saw that the map in my area is in much better shape than Google's.
Oh heck yea! My neighborhood is better mapped on OSM than Google Maps even now! Very fulfilling to see.
My shed is mapped in OSM.
Meanwhile Google maps has not got the shed and has the entirety of my property about 10 ft east of its actual location. Essentially terraced up to a neighbouring property even though it's not connected to that property and there is an alleyway.
But I suppose I could say that doesn't really matter for street navigation, which is what Google maps is actually for.
Naaah mate... it can matter a lot lol. We have a road closure (for the past few months) in our neighborhood. Google maps still hasn't updated it. I routinely see drivers driving up to it and getting annoyed for having to turn back. This wouldn't have happened had they used OSM tho!
This is my pastime whenever I don't have anything to do online. It's fun to point something on OSM and remembering the establishments you've walkthrough.
StreetComplete is intended for local, on-the-ground surveying only. Editing remotely is not supported, and will result in problems.
(I'm not sure whether you're editing remotely vs reminiscing during in-person visits, phrasing is slightly ambiguous.)
Personally I think a great combo is mapping stuff out with the phone where you can survey the place and have GPS, and then sending those changes to a computer to polish in JOSM if needed (e.g. when you're building new ways and want to make their geometry nicer) which is a lot more powerful editor and more comfortable than doing it on a touchscreen.
But whichever editor you prefer, I concur that mapping is very fun and also useful. :)
(And a lot more straight forward than trying to make a change in Apple or especially Google Maps...)
StreetComplete is awesome and so easy to use.
It's exceptionally will designed and programmed in my experience. UX and UI design is very professional.
Do you need an account?
As far as I am aware, yes.
yes, afaik
A OSM account, yes. You can join with OpenID if you want.
To contribute changes, yes. You still can share information as an anonymous user with OSM Notes, but then you need to be clear and a bit exhaustive. You can add a note that says "7-eleven" and a mapper can easily add it later, but for a restaurant called "The Coast", for example, you need to explicitly write in the note that it is a restaurant serving seafood, details of the address and opening hours would be great too.
If push comes to shove, you can always create a note over the same place and mention "sorry I effed up here but don't know how to revert :("
This is a blast, thanks for the recommendation
Vote and comment for an iOS app https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/discussions/5230
OMG! I just tried it and its actually fun. Thank you so much :)
And rember Pokemon Go uses osm for their data so you are making an impact on them too.
If you'd like to be able to search for house addresses in osmand+ you can download these map packs.. A total life saver..
https://github.com/pnoll1/osmand_map_creation
Wow why is that not part of OSM to begin with
Works fine in Germany without any Special Maps
What does that mean, what are you referring to, with or without the custom map, what does working fine refer to
As I said "WITHOUT" any custom/special map. I can enter my home address as is and the search / navigation works as expected - same as it would for gmaps, apple maps, ...
Must be fuckin' nice. - Squirrely Dan
Hmm. I dislike that it uploads every thing as a separate change. I much more prefer editing the whole area and saving it as one neat package, rather than posting hundreds of "this is road is made of asphalt" posts.
So it's not for me, but if that helps to make OSM better, I'm all for it!
Maybe I could make a separate account without neat history and from time to time click some icons in the app though. That probably wouldn't bother me as much.
it doesnt close a changeset after every single change, at least it shouldnt. mmv but if I close the app for some time it bundles my changes in one OSM set
No it doesn't close changeset on every change, 30 days ago I added 123 house numbers in my city with streetcomplete and all of them were in the same changeset.
You can do all of that with this
It actually bundles answers to a certain quest together if I remember correctly. For example, all road surface quests within a certain time (about an hour?) are grouped into one change set. Though if you did one road surface quests and one opening hours quests they would uploaded as two separate change sets.
I can confirm that it works even if you only provide it with internet access periodically (e.g. on a wifi-only device).
Does anyone know of OSM street view equivalents like KartaView allow for campus street view? It seems like it's only available for roads you can access with a car.
If you're asking about more imagery coverage, Mapillary has a lot. The wiki has a list of street-level imagery articles.
OpenStreetMap is more about the map database, so any imagery association tends to be loose, and is more for use as a useable source for ground truth.
Wow, cartography is a whole thing I have never really taken a look at. This is super cool, thanks for the share! I don't like that Mapillary is owned by Facebook/Meta :/
I will take a look at the resources you have sent though!
Just downloaded this today and going nuts making contributions in my neighborhood. Thanks so much for the suggestion!
Yep - been using it for a week or two myself. Nearly 400 points so far!
Another recommendation, especially for addresses and points of interest, is https://every-door.app/
It's not as pretty as StreetConplete but it's fine to work with.
That was my thinking. The OSM is only as good as we make it so the more people know how to fix it, the better for the community 😉
I’m still missing this on iOS, we do have “go map!!” Which is great, but that’s a bit of a different kind of app for me.
i use Every Door on ios… its UI is hideous, but very functional
in still pretty new to it all though so it might not be great… better than go map for edits though
Go map keeps crashing for me, does it for you?
This yes, ever since someone mentioned StreetComplete, I have been using it and love it ! Super easy to contribute. The only thing missing is the ability to add nodes. But that I usually do on a computer/ or using Organic Maps android app.
Have you checked out Every Door?
Yes I did currently using it to add nodes of shops, the mechanic of adding entrances still don't get it ... (Started using the app yesterday)
I've been using Go Map! but it keeps crashing... Maybe I'll try Streetcomplete if it's on apple.
Very cool, downloaded and will start using It!
I just installed StreetComplete because of your post and it's a lot of fun! I guess I'll be doing this on my walks from now on :-)
It seems like a very helpful service. I don't use cell data which means no GPS to contribute to it. I only use apps through wi-fi exclusively.
Pretty sure you can download the maps ahead of time, GPS doesn't require data, then upload the fixes when you get home.
This is what I do, works great
does it need cell-data? why? that surprises me; but then again maybe not . . .
It does not.
Nope, doesn't need cell data