this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023
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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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[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (4 children)

I'm addicted to Streetcomplete. I'm 20.000+ edits in. I make about 100 with ease on my commute to work.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

You are a hero

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

I installed it. Judging by the mass of blank info, I guess I'm the only person around here using it lol. 😳

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

once you complete every quest on your commute, what do you do?

parallel streets βœ…

and then?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

_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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

i'm using streetComplete without google. It's streetMeasure that requires Google Play Sevices

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Apparently, per their own FAQ, it is possible to use it without Google Play Services.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

@gonzoknowsdotcom1 @Schlemmy Maybe not as much fun as StreetComplete, but checkout the Every Door app: https://every-door.app/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

@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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

@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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Yes, but similar to Wikipedia (where the same holds true) the forces fo good and honest seem to prevail.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

And rember Pokemon Go uses osm for their data so you are making an impact on them too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Just downloaded this today and going nuts making contributions in my neighborhood. Thanks so much for the suggestion!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Oh heck yea! My neighborhood is better mapped on OSM than Google Maps even now! Very fulfilling to see.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I just started using it but I made a mistake on one of my submissions. Is there any way to undo or edit a submission made in the app?

Edit: There is an undo button on the bottom left in the app.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

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 :("

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Honestly, thanks for your post. It inspired me to actually download the app and i solved a bit of issues around my area today.

It's actually fun and it also helps other people and increase the quality of OSM overall. This could motivate me to also just go for a walk instead of hanging in front of my computer so again: thx for your post <3

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

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...)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

StreetComplete is awesome and so easy to use.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

It's exceptionally will designed and programmed in my experience. UX and UI design is very professional.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

No, unfortunately not. Getting traffic data would mean users volunteering to share location data, would need a centralized system to process everything, and would need a critical mass of users sharing said data to be anywhere near useful. The other possibility would be to pay for data from a provider like Google under an enterprise license that doesn't require sharing data back, but I don't know if that is even an option.

For now, I use both on my phone. I use OSM when biking or walking, I use Google Maps when driving, and I use my local transit web app when taking transit. I plan to switch my Pixel phone to GrapheneOS and to sandbox Google services that I still need. That being said, the ultimate way around needing traffic information is to try to live in places and in such a way that driving is not very necessary, but I know that is a huge ask for a lot of people.

EDIT: To be clear, MagicEarth does have live traffic as @[email protected] pointed out and is based on OSM, but is not itself open source.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

There is OpenTraffic but it seems unfinished and not implemented anywhere as far as i can tell. Edit: just to clarify, ive only heard from others that it's unfinished, havent checked myself :)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That's a super interesting project. For anyone else, the project overview has some great system level diagrams:

https://github.com/opentraffic/otv2-platform

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

It looks really interesting - but unfortunately it seems it's abandoned? Last time it was updated was 7 years ago...

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (2 children)

MagicEarth has got a live traffic layer for you.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If it is free as in beer, but not as in freedom, and is developed by a company, then what is their business model?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

That explains it, thanks

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, it's not open source though.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Indeed it isn't. But is privacy focused and sort of the best next thing.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Pretty sure you can download the maps ahead of time, GPS doesn't require data, then upload the fixes when you get home.