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OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

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Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#51

Post by netsharc »

xethos wrote: post #27
Freak_NL wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

StreetComplete is fun for casual contributions, but what OSM really needs is good local mappers. You can tell when a place has local mappers updating and monitoring changes in the real world. Even just taking care of the coming and going of shops is really useful. People who visit your area using apps like OsmAnd and OrganicMaps use that data!

I cannot describe [0] my pleasure and satisfaction when, visiting Germany, we found an icecream shop closed. We'd stopped by with the assumption Google Maps would have the correct hours; they did not, and we carried on without icecream. OSM, on the other hand, correctly showed the shop as closed for the day. [0] I can't, but my fiancee used the words "impossibly smug"

When a huge highway bridge collapsed in Genoa, I checked OSM a few hours later, and someone had already updated the road segment as permanently closed

Video has clips of the bridge falling and aftermath: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53628580

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#52

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

andrepd wrote: post #38
Freak_NL wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

StreetComplete is fun for casual contributions, but what OSM really needs is good local mappers. You can tell when a place has local mappers updating and monitoring changes in the real world. Even just taking care of the coming and going of shops is really useful. People who visit your area using apps like OsmAnd and OrganicMaps use that data!

Re: shops/businesses, it would be nice if we could find somehow a way of having businesses themselves update their details: just basic stuff like opening hours and contacts. Not sure what's the solution for this though. One half of the solution certainly is just a convenient (web) UI for this, minimal friction just go to this website, enter your info, and click okay. But the other half is even making businesses aware…

Absolutely. In Theory a business could make an OSM account and just go and update their own details on www.openstreetmap.org.

From my point of view this is easy. But as we have seen by the experience of how bad restaurant websites are, this is a significant barrier for these businesses.

I'm not knocking them: I couldn't run a restaurant; it's just different skills and experience. It's on the software people to make the software easy enough for restaurant people to use.

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#53

Post by PontifexMinimus »

Ruthalas wrote: post #10

If you appreciate OSM, consider installing the StreetComplete mobile app[0]! It lets you contribute to OSM in a very simple manner, via simple questions like, "Is there a marked crosswalk here?" I'm not affiliated, I just think it's cool. It's very satisfying to complete quests in your local area. [0] https://streetcomplete.app/

Google Maps used to have geolocated pictures taken by users (IIRC this was called Panoramio). If OSM had an app that allowed you to take photos and they'd be automatically uploaded with location, that'd be great.

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#54

Post by kjrfghslkdjfl »

thefz wrote: post #7

Having an offline, updated map in my pocket is invaluable when hiking and cycling in the mountains. I have been contributing to it as much as I can, to at least give something back.

Currently, I use google maps "offline maps" for this. However, one thing it can't do is give you directions in offline mode. Meaning, I can have the map in offline mode but not ask it to find me a path from A to B.

Do you know of an OSM app that can do this is offline mode?

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#55

Post by afavour »

aembleton wrote: post #37
deng wrote: post #17

The amount of data OSM has nowadays is a treasure. It's just a shame that there's no well done generic web frontend that would make all this data accessible in a way that could rival Google Maps. The official openstreetmap.org web site just provides bare functionality with an almost unusable search, and otherwise focuses on editing OSM data. Probably the best generic "frontend" for OSM is Organic Maps, which however…

I think mapy [1] is the best frontend I've seen for OSM. Its search still isn't as good as Google Maps though. They also have iOS [2] and Android [3] apps. I can't speak for the iOS app, but the Android one lets you download offline maps in a very space efficient way, similar to Organic Maps. 1. https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=-2.2989613&y=53.1629710&z=8 2. https://apps.apple.com/cz/app/mapy-cz-maps-navigation/id4114..…

I feel like an ass just for saying it but I downloaded the iOS app at the map style is so… busy. Granted I’m in NYC so there’s a lot going on but it’s showing me every single bus stop (there are literally seven in a one block radius) and building outlines even when zoomed out. It’s very visually overwhelming.

This is something Google and Apple Maps really nail, I hope OSM can too at some point.

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#56

Post by linker3000 »

SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #28
Freak_NL wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

StreetComplete is fun for casual contributions, but what OSM really needs is good local mappers. You can tell when a place has local mappers updating and monitoring changes in the real world. Even just taking care of the coming and going of shops is really useful. People who visit your area using apps like OsmAnd and OrganicMaps use that data!

I do this local mapping, and I also use StreetComplete. I find it's not one of the other, it's "Why not both?" e.g. new coffee shop opened down the road? I'll take a picture of it on my phone, go home and open https://www.openstreetmap.org/ , click "edit" and add it, along with info from the phone photo (Shop name, Address, phone number, and a website if I can find one). The next time I'm nearby, StreetComplete will…

This is how I work.

Having a dog means that I can record updates and additions as I walk varied routes around the area.

Updating the map later using its Web interface is very satisfying and much more worthy than doomscrolling through social media (which I don't really do anyway).

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#57

Post by mrln »

xethos wrote: post #42
dtech wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, both rely on community contributions for this sort of thing, so it feels weird to be smug about this... It just depends on who decided to put the correct hours in.

"Smug" was mostly tongue in cheek. More than anything, it was a breath of fresh air seeing OSM, a product so heavily reliant on it's community, beating out one of the most well-funded corporations on our planet. Google has satellite views, they run their own network of vehicles to gather streetview data at a planetary scale, they follow every Android user (with Google Services installed) to know popular locations, ne…

Is OSM not free-as-in-freedom?

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#58

Post by eddyg »

bartread wrote: post #46
Ruthalas wrote: post #10

If you appreciate OSM, consider installing the StreetComplete mobile app[0]! It lets you contribute to OSM in a very simple manner, via simple questions like, "Is there a marked crosswalk here?" I'm not affiliated, I just think it's cool. It's very satisfying to complete quests in your local area. [0] https://streetcomplete.app/

Sadly does not seem to be available in iOS App Store in the UK or I would love to.

Try https://every-door.app/

Re: OpenStreetMap Is Turning 20

#60

Post by xethos »

mrln wrote: post #57
xethos wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Smug" was mostly tongue in cheek. More than anything, it was a breath of fresh air seeing OSM, a product so heavily reliant on it's community, beating out one of the most well-funded corporations on our planet. Google has satellite views, they run their own network of vehicles to gather streetview data at a planetary scale, they follow every Android user (with Google Services installed) to know popular locations, ne…

Is OSM not free-as-in-freedom?

AFAIK it is, but I thought I'd stick to claims I was all but certain of when posting from mobile and (because of that) not fact-checking

Bit of an ironic one to leave out though, considering my preferences with most of the software I use and enjoy.

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