Vector Tiles are deployed on OpenStreetMap.org • Hacker News Board

Re: Vector Tiles are deployed on OpenStreetMap.org

#71

Post by sp8962 » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 7:51 AM UTC

ikawe wrote: post #66

johannes1234321 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The choices are tough, also in details: Which shops to show in busy areas at which zoom level? But mind: openstreetmap.org is ment as a developer site, for developers to see their changes quickly. The official idea is that other people should take the data and do "nice" things elsewhere. But of course reality is that users want to use openstreetmap.org as alternative to Google maps ...

Official? I've never heard this as official doctrine. Can you point me to anything official? I'd love to see OpenStreetMap.org be more directly useful to more people, rather than only as a "developer site".

"developer" is a slightly weird way of putting it. osm.org is the contributor portal and demo site for OpenStreetMap, and yes it is not and never has been intended as an end user replacement for Google Maps and similar offerings.

The main purpose of the maps on the site is, besides showcasing some topical uses of OSM data, rapid feedback to contributors, which is something that required specific development so that can be provided with vector tiles too.

The 'late to the game' narrative seems to be a bit misplaced in any case given that OSM data has powered essentially all vector tile use outside of Google over more than a decade.

Re: Vector Tiles are deployed on OpenStreetMap.org

#72

Post by colkassad » Sat, Jul 26, 2025, 12:33 PM UTC

tppiotrowski wrote: post #70

colkassad wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they've done the work and are serving them now, just wondering why they don't just dump a copy on AWS. Thanks for answering!

Protomaps does this already. They do a planet build each day and offer a download for free: https://docs.protomaps.com/basemaps/downloads

This is excellent. Thank you.

Re: Vector Tiles are deployed on OpenStreetMap.org

#73

Post by liotier » Tue, Jul 29, 2025, 8:14 AM UTC

lutoma wrote: post #36

dolmen wrote: post #33

Many important details are not visible anymore: - gates on private pathways - shop names

Personally I'm quite happy that these tiles cut down on the clutter in the original OSM tiles. It made it very hard for me to actually use them for navigation because there was just so much stuff everywhere. For example the old tiles displayed rail tracks extremely prominently, which just aren't relevant 99% of the time even when traveling by train. In the vector tiles they're much more muted and thinner.

> I'm quite happy that these tiles cut down on the clutter in the original OSM tiles. It made it very hard for me to actually use them for navigation

The Openstreetmap.org tiles are a demo and a contributor quality assurance tool - they are not meant for end-user applications, hence the rather over-the-top selection of map objects.