Mastodawn

Has anyone used or contributed to OpenStreetMap?

https://coeus.sbs/post/29460

Has anyone used or contributed to OpenStreetMap? - Coeus.sbs

I’ve tried using it over the years but I never liked it because there was no information. So last night I looked at my local city and there is almost no information at all. I spent a few hours last night adding buildings and restaurants and removing incorrect items. It was actually kind of fun and therapeutic and I plan to do more of it tonight. My girlfriend thinks it’s dumb and I’m wasting my time because Google maps and Apple maps and Bing maps exists but she just doesn’t understand open source.

larmicon Jul 13, 2023

I’ve been contributing to it via Street complete (can get it on fdroid) and it has become quite a hobby of mine.

Coeus Jul 13, 2023

I’ll check it out thanks for the suggestion

m3adow Jul 13, 2023

Same. It’s nice to contribute a little on the side. Using Vespucci for a new house was too much of a hassle for me though.

Undearius Jul 13, 2023

Probably the best way to contribute buildings is using the JOSM editor and the buildings plug-in.

It’s only available on the computer and it has quite the learning curve, but it’s a very powerful tool for serious editing. Usually the iD editor is good enough for easier editing than on mobile.

OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by people like you and free to use under an open license.

OpenStreetMap

azimir Jul 13, 2023

I’ve started using StreetComplete. It’s a great tool for wandering around and putting in data to OSM.

EugeneNine Jul 13, 2023

I use it a lot. I’m finding things like hiking trails are more up to date than Google maps

Coeus Jul 13, 2023

I’ve noticed there are nature trails missing so I would like to add those.

JaxiiRuff Jul 13, 2023

OSM is an awesome project I agree it is fun contributing to it but it is not as useful yet due to what you describe, details.

Finding addresses and other specific information is very hit or miss in some areas. Especially in the US where no one really cares about it other than tech corporations using it for quick info like street layouts.

My entire city has address numbers missing and for a long time I used an app on my phone (StreetComplete) to fix address numbers and other various details. But it can be overwhelming very quickly depending on how outdated or not updated your place is. Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time by the way.

abeorch Jul 13, 2023

Try Everydoor as well. Another StreetComplete like App that’s great for adding simple items

NaturalEnganche Jul 13, 2023

I’ve not contributed to the main one, but I have for the humanitarian osm team, you get recently disaster stricken areas and copy roads and buildings and the like

themarty27 Jul 13, 2023

It’s not even so much about F(L)OSS for me, it’s mainly about privacy. Haven’t contributed so far, but been using it through Organic Maps. OSM lacks no address in my town, and that’s enough for me. I only need a map to get frow A to B, and I’d already know what’s at B if I’m going there in the first place.

Organic Maps・Offline Map & GPS | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Get reliable offline maps with GPS navigation for hiking, cycling, and travel.

sab Jul 13, 2023

After trying a bunch of FOSS map apps, Organic Maps comes across to me as completely superior. It's not as good as Google Maps for finding businesses and restaurants in most cities, but it's vastly superior for trails in the country side.

Also, you can contribute to OSM directly from Organic Maps, so if a restaurant is missing it can be added in a few seconds. :)

INeedMana Jul 13, 2023

I use OsmAnd~. Mainly to analyze my skating routes (average speed, distance, etc) and planning sightseeing routes when on vacation.

For finding commute an app from local public transport is still the best and google maps are better than osmand, but for navigation on foot it’s very good. And you can download the region earlier, so when you use it, you don’t need that much data.

OsmAnd~ | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Global Mobile Map Viewing & Navigation for Offline and Online OSM Maps

arandomthought Jul 13, 2023

I had the same experience. OsmAnd seems to be better for planning routes on foot than Google maps. Where Google Maps is clearly better is for info about businesses and stores.

Grangle1 Jul 13, 2023

OSMAnd is how I use OpenStreetMap too. It’s quite good for road routes even in rural areas, but especially in those rural areas finding specific locations can be spotty or outdated. Even in my town of over 100,000, I still have trouble finding some local places like restaurants and businesses. I always try searching for what I’m looking for before I leave home, so I have access to my computer to pull up a map and address to pin onto OSMAnd if I need to. (I’m someone who de-Googles as much as humanly possible so I don’t use Google Maps.) With more up-to-date data it can be a great alternative to Google or Apple Maps, but that’s the nature of crowd built data: it’s only as up-to-date as the data contributors provide, and that’s both a strength and a weakness of OSM.

INeedMana Jul 13, 2023

In ideal world it would be businesses putting info about them in OSM, same as they do with Google maps now.

Until then it has to be us putting them on the map, I guess

ripe_banana Jul 13, 2023

I found OsmAnd~ to not only be good on foot, but also on bike. It sometimes plans more aggressive routes than google which saves time (side steeets for less distance, opposite directions on one ways…). Take this with a grain of salt though, because I ride primarily in NYC.

INeedMana Jul 13, 2023

What Google does (I see it as remains from early days of how it became good) is it takes into consideration the route other people took. So if a lot of people do an illegal u-turn, there’s high probability you’ll be proposed such route too.
It works the other way round too. If a lot of people don’t take an optimal route for whatever reason, there’s less probability it’ll propose it to you.

OsmAnd just tries to connect the dots postman-np-problem style

itchy_lizard Jul 14, 2023

I actually find OSMAnd is great for busses because you can quickly see all the bus routes as lines and figure out which you need to take.

Ifinsd most cities just make a PDF that doesn’t have as much detail and you can’t pinch-zoom and pan around quickly. And their guides specify neighbourhoods or destinations whose names you’re not familiar with

borlax Jul 13, 2023

I love the idea of OSM, been trying to use MagicEarth on iPhone which leverages OSM, but I run into similar issues that your describe. I’ll be honest tho, I never even thought of trying to contribute, may look into it as a little hobby in my free time.

dedale Jul 13, 2023

Where I live it's much more complete than google maps, especially in the countryside.

caferetro Jul 13, 2023

I have, using OSMAnd on iOS. Here in Puerto Rico there are quite a good amount of map details already.

jman6495 Jul 13, 2023

I’ve been contributing a lot via StreetComplete, what is also great is that you can use OSM offline!

centopus Jul 13, 2023

I regularly do edits in my city. Its way better than google maps. Especially when you're travelling and want to visit the less tourist crowded parts of whereever you are.

M-Reimer Jul 13, 2023

I’m contributing a lot in my area.

I started because I needed a customizable online map for a website and no map out there was really complete where I needed. So instead of waiting for commercial services, I started to log ways using GPS and add them to OSM.

sab Jul 13, 2023

How do you log paths? If with an android phone, which app? And is it power intensive?

I do quite a bit of hiking, usually everything is well marked at OSM but there are some exceptions.

M-Reimer Jul 13, 2023

Vespucci. But I often have an external GPS connected via Bluetooth which is way more precise than the phone GPS.

But for a quick edit on the go, the app and the phone’s built in GPS is all you need.

sab Jul 13, 2023

Downloaded! Thank you. :)

varaki Jul 13, 2023

I already did a small modification on our street we live in, because it was not a one-way street anymore. But we have a vacation home on a vineyard where the road does not even exist and I figured if I can log gps coordinations while going up to the gate then maybe I can use those coordinates to import them as a way in OpenStreetMap to be precise. Is something like this possible?

M-Reimer Jul 13, 2023

You have to use data you created yourself. It is not allowed to use proprietary data from Google. If you use Android, then the Vespucci app may help you. Allows to log the way and then directly add it.

dknelson Jul 13, 2023

The simplest way is to trace it on the starllite imagery available on the editor built-in to osm.org. If it’s not visible there, here is the wiki’s list of Android apps that can record GPS tracks, and it’s not hard to find the other pages on the wiki about getting those off your phone and into the map. Some of those apps can probably do that bit for you, I’ve just never tried

Category:Android apps that can record GPS tracks - OpenStreetMap Wiki

Spiracle Jul 13, 2023

OsmAnd is my family’s go-to app for navigation. I didn’t notice it missing information compared to Google Maps. The opposite really, with several hiking trails or small side-roads not being on Google some years ago.

I haven’t added anything actively. I think there might have been an option to send location data to improve the accuracy of the streets or something at some point, but I’m very unsure about that one.

zlatiah Jul 13, 2023

Yes and yes! Couldn't contribute that much but I try to

I think having a highly important FOSS project that is not controlled by a company known for shutting down many of its beloved products (I'm talking about you Google) is pretty nice...

Also I think map quality is location-dependent. I live in a large metropolitan area in Southern US; OSM is usable, but there are no house/building numbers, and a good number of businesses are missing. In contrast I think the map is a lot better in Chicago which is a lot more pedestrian-friendly? Also, when I looked at Germany it seems OSM is on-par or better than Google Maps... in fact one of the larger rental websites use OSM instead of Google Maps (imagine Zillow doing it in US lol)

UntouchedWagons Jul 13, 2023

I used OSMAnd for a while before I got a data plan but found it next to useless as it would routinely take nearly an hour (not even joking) to figure out where I was.

kbity Jul 13, 2023

OsmAnd actually works pretty well in my experience, at least in the UK. It's not always up to date or fully-detailed but it's far from useless and I appreciate that. It's my primary map program on my phone.

troybot Jul 13, 2023

Pokemon Go uses OSM for the map data in the game. I've submitted park trails by tracing them in the satellite view and now the game has all the trails.

NotThatDisuse Jul 13, 2023

Contribute! The info will bubble up into there other products as they all supplement and enrich their data from OSM if applicable.

Jaysyn Jul 13, 2023

I've pulled data from the OSMs for building outlines & such in for CAD landbase.

zeroscan Jul 13, 2023

Back before I felt comfortable taking my expensive smartphones running with me for the GPS purposes, I’d manually enter my running routes into RunKeeper. I don’t know if they still use it, but back then their mapping was powered by OpenStreetMap. I’d add in stuff like sidewalks and trails that weren’t on the map yet to make my manual entries easier. I liked doing this–it was kind of fun and I felt good contributing my knowledge of my local unimportant suburb to the world.

I still like OpenStreetMap, but don’t use it as much anymore. I wish there was a navigation app that used OSM data and was able to give me audio cues (e.g. “turn left at the next exit”), because that’s 99% of my map use these days. (And if there is one that I don’t know about, please let me know!)

digdilem Jul 13, 2023

Yes, I’ve populated most of my local area, and every time I go for a walk or bike ride, I add as much detail that I can. I also find it very enjoyable and it’s pretty cool to see features I added show up in all kinds of mapping services that use its data

Osm now has the clearest and most detailed maps for walking that I know, and I use them in preference to the UK’s ordnance survey maps, which don’t scale so well on electronic devices.

pgetsos Jul 13, 2023

I contribute as much as I can, mostly through StreetComplete. I see it as a hobby when it isn't too hot/cold outside, to take a walk around my area and map houses and addresses. I find it super important

tables Jul 13, 2023

I second StreetComplete. I actually had quite a surprise when I first installed it - I expected to have a lot of mapping work ahead of me in my somewhat rural area, but most of it had been mapped in a lot of detail already.

Droid_B612 Jul 13, 2023

OSM is my favorite, I love the clean interface. Since Google maps has no option to disable advertised and promoted business pins on the default map, I don't use it at all.

markr Jul 13, 2023

Tesla uses osm via mapbox.

lobster_irl Jul 13, 2023

Omg great idea! Probably a stupid question but how did you contribute - through an app or from desktop, through the website?

Coeus Jul 13, 2023

I just use my desktop computer. I’ve got OSM on my main monitor and Google Maps on the other for comparing. Someone mentioned an app called StreetComplete which lets you fill in data on the map but turns it into a game. I haven’t used it much yet though

r0b0 Jul 13, 2023

Don’t just copy from google maps though. You are not supposed to do that

Coeus Jul 13, 2023

Definitely not. I’ve lived here all my life and know all these places well, I’m just using Google Maps strictly for reference.

lobster_irl Jul 13, 2023

Cheers that’s helpful I think I’d enjoy the gamified version!

poVoq Jul 13, 2023

Lots of ways: wiki.openstreetmap.org/…/Comparison_of_editors

Comparison of editors - OpenStreetMap Wiki

lobster_irl Jul 13, 2023

Thank you!!

MrMusAddict Jul 13, 2023

ABRP (ABetterRoutePlanner, the best routing software for EVs) uses OSM. FYI for any EV owners.

I update OSM all the time. Agreed it’s super therapeutic!

KindaABigDyl Jul 13, 2023

It’s a cool project, but I’ve used it, and man is it not going to be a replacement for Google Maps anytime soon, as much as I’d like to get to a FOSS alternative. I can’t use it to navigate to a building down the street lol

It’s not dumb to contribute though because it’s already okay, so it can only get better than okay, and the way that happens is contributions

dknelson Jul 13, 2023

The goal isn’t to replace gmaps, though? If it was, I don’t think they would care to allow me to map the species of tree of the height of a curb. Some apps are trying to use OSM as a base layer to provide a gmaps alternative, but the real goal is just to map the world, at least to me

Wander Jul 13, 2023

Surprisingly in my area OSM is mapped down to individual trees. Definitely keep up the work, because it shines in areas where it’s well mapped.

Odo Jul 13, 2023

I am actually going to a mapathon event in my city this weekend, so yea, there’s an active community of people making their surroundings more accurate on OSM.

Coeus Jul 13, 2023

I never knew such a thing existed. What a great idea.

pietervdvn Jul 14, 2023

Have a look at openstreetmap.community and osmcal.org

OSM Community Index

acwern Jul 13, 2023

Use it and love it. I live in the countryside and google just doesn’t bother capturing footpaths. Using OSM (I use OpenMultiMaps for Android) I can see contour maps, much clearer transport maps, footpaths, and pretty much anything else I need. Occasionally the notes people write have been handy too, for example for marking footpaths that are poorly maintained or turb into a swap in rain

redw0rm Jul 13, 2023

Here in kerala ( a small state in india ), we have a project called Mapathon Keralam. They work with engineering colleges to map out nearby places as well as any place in general. Had contributed few places myself. So pretty much all places in kerala are now mapped in it :)

Mapathon – Keralam