Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

streetcomplete.app

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 209 posts

Re: StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

#141

Post by Aachen »

patmorgan23 wrote: post #124
cube00 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As evil as they are, it's hearting to see the delivery platforms are embracing OSM when they could probably afford to just pay for Google's Maps API. It gives hope that Google/ESRI won't always be the dominant mapping platform, however OSM is still missing a lot of local businesses which the delivery platforms don't need as urgently as house numbers so there's less focus there.

Lyft even pays people to contribute to OSM

Many companies do. Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, TomTom, Über, Komoot, VKontakte; I see German, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish local governments mentioned; Austrian emergency dispatch; USA school bus operator...

Full list: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Organised_Editing/Activi...

It's more surprising at this point that Google isn't getting in on the fun, at least taking the good bits and calling their own data a 'separate layer' so they don't have to contribute anything back. (And of course no Chinese companies, since accurate maps are illegal there: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restrictions_on_geographic_dat...)

Re: StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

#142

Post by ssl-3 »

ygra wrote: post #60
GreyStache wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Change that to definitely. I added a brand-new road on OSM and a week later it was on google maps.

Google can cheat a little, especially for new roads since they notice when someone is driving over it. When there was a redesign of an intersection near here, someone marked the road as completed in OSM maybe half an hour after it was opened (we have a few quite active mappers), and Google had it open about two hours later and I suspect no one changed the data directly.

Waze definitely does this[1]. As a map editor, I can mark a road segment as closed and it will stay closed for as long as I say, unless reverted by another editor or traffic is observed moving through that closed segment (based on parameters that they set).

This kind of cheating usually works extremely well, from my observation.

Anyhow, Google owns Waze and data goes back and forth between there and Google Maps. They're like two heads of the same snake, so it's implicit that the same thing also works on Google Maps.

[1]: https://www.waze.com/discuss/t/closures/374712#p-2273808-aut...

Re: StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

#143

Post by Aachen »

deckar01 wrote: post #24
TeddyDD wrote: post #4

Great app. There is also https://every-door.app/ that gives you slightly different set of tasks and allows you to place POI easily. I recently mapped a lot of trash cans and benches around my neighborhood while walking with my dog.

The UX is really bad. POI loading is taking 10+ seconds to update, then any zoom or pan reorders the list of locations. Most of the missing info (around me) is just phone numbers and hours of operation, which are boring and should be trivial to collect automatically.

> should be trivial to collect automatically.

Feel free to contribute that, if you think it's so easy! Just make sure what you're scraping is also correct.

Re: StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

#144

Post by Aachen »

jorvi wrote: post #46
jllyhill wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is that the best way to get the phones and opening hours is to walk in person and look them up. Any source for the automated collection is way more likely to be outdated/wrong than what the sign or the person behind the counter tells you. And can also have non-permissive license not compatible with the OSM license.

Raw Information cannot be licensed, and I am not sure why OSM sticks to the policy that it can. Google Maps does not hold the rights to which opening hours Bob's Bakery keeps. If someone entered them from Bob's Bakery their site onto Maps, you are free to type it off of Maps onto OSM. Legally anyway. OSM themselves still hold the policy you can't, so you should adhere to that.

That doesn't fly for several reasons, one of them another commenter already mentioned. See these pages for why we can't copy facts from proprietary sources:

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Copyright_Easter_Eggs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_right

Re: StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

#145

Post by aucisson_masque »

I just downloaded it and launched it. It's very funny and somewhat addictive but it also feel overwhelming, just around me there are hundreds and hundreds of questions.

Some,I really don't care to answer, like "the Telephone pole, is it made of wood or steel ?!"

Who cares honestly.

Re: StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

#146

Post by eliaspro »

aucisson_masque wrote: post #145

I just downloaded it and launched it. It's very funny and somewhat addictive but it also feel overwhelming, just around me there are hundreds and hundreds of questions. Some,I really don't care to answer, like "the Telephone pole, is it made of wood or steel ?!" Who cares honestly.

Feel free to unclutter your view by disabling quests you don't want to answer in the settings, maybe just start with only 3-4 very basic ones.

Re: StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

#147

Post by aembleton »

aucisson_masque wrote: post #145

I just downloaded it and launched it. It's very funny and somewhat addictive but it also feel overwhelming, just around me there are hundreds and hundreds of questions. Some,I really don't care to answer, like "the Telephone pole, is it made of wood or steel ?!" Who cares honestly.

If you go into settings and then quest selection you can choose what you do care about

Re: StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

#149

Post by khahlsvr »

KomoD wrote: post #113
nightpool wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

StreetComplete doesn't have satellite overlays, but both Vespucci and EveryDoor support viewing satellite overlay tiles!

Though if you like StreetComplete and want aerial/satellite, there's SCEE, a fork of StreetComplete. I tried both Vespucci and EveryDoor, but neither is nearly as easy to use in my opinion. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SCEE

I have my mapping spells where I do OSM mapping for a week or a month and then I might not map for a year or two. For mobile mapping I have all those you mentioned installed. They all are useful for something, except perhaps StreetComplete which is just a crippled version of SCEE for me. I also have OSMFocus Reborn installed which I use if I want to inspect ways and nodes in an area when I'm not in the middle of editing/adding anything with one of those other apps. That app is good for quickly checking some things out.

Re: StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

#150

Post by Aachen »

thangalin wrote: post #118

https://shufflenblues.com/location/ OSM is fantastic. I wanted a free, unencumbered map that matches the site's theme for ride sharing, billeting, and the venue location. The solution wasn't trivial, but at least it was possible. Couldn't imagine doing that with Google Maps.

Is that OSM? I didn't even recognise it, good job on matching the color scheme to the website so well!

There's a little (i)nformation icon on the bottom right but it doesn't seem to do anything. If this is OSM then attribution is required. It's how we make people aware of the noncommercial project (considering we barely have budget for servers, running ads is a bit hard) and it also tells people where they can add corrections

The legalese is here if you want https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright but in short, OSM maps need to show something like "©OpenStreetMap Contributors". There's debate whether an (i) fold-out icon is enough since the license technically stipulates that anyone interacting with the material must also be aware that it's OSM data and not literally everyone will click that. Personally I find that clause too restrictive, and the use on your website so minimal... but that's the legal terms. Nobody ever got sued by the OpenStreetMap Foundation. Do with the information as you see fit :P. Personally I'm already happy that you found it suits your purposes well!

Post reply on HN