10 ms·

StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time

829 points by kls0e 2mo ago

flaburgan 2mo ago
I am using EveryDoor to contribute to OpenStreetMap. I find the information it allows to add much more useful than the one in streetcomplete quests.
bjoli 2mo ago
Last week I am #2 in Sweden on StreetComplete, despite using veapucci for about half my edits (my neighborhood is pretty effed up). AMA I guess
myself248 2mo ago
See also, https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SCEE https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SCEE
- kls0e 2mo ago
  scph1001.bin
  - Narishma 2mo ago
    More like scph1002.bin in this case. 1001 is for SCEA.
aweb 2mo ago
I discovered that recently, it's a very fun way to contribute to OpenStreetMap, and the UI is really well-done, it's totally beginner friendly! I wish there was a way to do more than labeling though, like add simple roads and footpaths
- jdboyd 2mo ago
  I think adding things, instead of updating existing things with missing data is where you get into needing a more serious app. I keep Vespucci for when I want to initiate an edit, and StreetComplete for fun filling in missing information tasks.
- janpeuker 2mo ago
  I love the app idea but I don't think it's beginner friendly - for example it starts zoomed out of the globe and there is no button to zoom to the location; also it's unclear what the hatched lines until one zooms in.
  - up-the-hill-4 2mo ago
    There's a button to zoom to the location at the bottom right, the same spot as Google maps (and the same icon too).
- eskori 2mo ago
  I have used it one (1) time in my life, ans it was my first experience with OpenStreetMap in general. It was pretty fun! It's very intuitive and makes you learn just how detailed and specific map data can be. Can't say much about missing features since I don't event know what can be done. Recommended experience, it's like playing Pokemon Go without the evil part :)
  - hadi121 2mo ago
    What's the "evil" part?
    - weavie 2mo ago
      Probably https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/06/pokemon-go-players-unwittingly-contributed-to-tech-with-military-drone-uses/ https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/06/pokemon-go-players-unwitt...
      - throw101010 2mo ago
        Then again you produce public open-source data when you contribute to OSM, and nothing prevents the military from using it for morally questionable purposes... at the end of the day the only difference is the intermediary that could make a profit selling the data, no?
        black_puppydog 2mo ago
        well, I sure don't get to have access to all the pokémon data even if I ask very nicely, do I? I'd think that's a (related but important) difference
        throw101010 2mo ago
        I was questioning the qualification of Pokemon Go being "evil" here, it's the data broker and the military who are evil in this case in my opinion. (Making it open-source also doesn't help, as I said we'd only short-circuit the intermediary who sold this data). Maybe it's a useless nuance, but I don't think Pokemon Go gamers should feel/evil or even that they should be careful the next time they try to entertain themselves.
- Ajedi32 2mo ago
  Usually if I need to add a footpath I use the "Create new track recording" feature to trace out the path with GPS, then come back to it later on desktop. Adding paths is pretty awkward to do on mobile, especially since there's no satellite overlay.
  - 0l 2mo ago
    FYI someone else has probably already traced this through Strava, which is allowed to be used for tracing: <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Strava#Data_Permission_-_Allowed_for_tracing! https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Strava#Data_Permission_-...>
    - tga_d 2mo ago
      Strava doesn't have complete coverage, especially on newer trails, but more importantly: doing the trace via Street Complete attaches it to an OSM note with an optional (but encouraged) photo. This additional context makes it a lot more useful for editors than an ordinary trace, which can just as easily be an actual trail, a desire path, or someone deciding to improvise a shortcut through some brush. Even if the note just contains the word "trail", that helps us (though more detail is greatly appreciated, of course).
  - nightpool 2mo ago
    StreetComplete doesn't have satellite overlays, but both Vespucci and EveryDoor support viewing satellite overlay tiles!
    - KomoD 2mo ago
      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 https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SCEE
      - khahlsvr 2mo ago
Schiendelman 2mo ago
Hi! Is this yours? Would you like help porting this to iOS?
- looperhacks 2mo ago
  Not mine, but you can check this issue: https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421 https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421
  - herrherrmann 2mo ago
    Wow, that is one well-documented migration project! Thanks for sharing, I wasn’t aware they are so seriously on it.
  - Schiendelman 2mo ago
    Thanks, I didn't even think to look!
TeddyDD 2mo ago
Great app. There is also https://every-door.app/ 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.
- Ajedi32 2mo ago
  StreetComplete lets you place trash cans and benches too (among other things) using the "Things" overlay. IMO Every Door has a much more complicated UI, though it's also more of a full featured editor than StreetComplete. (Though still less so than something like Vespucci.)
  - TeddyDD 2mo ago
    Each to their own, I use both for different things, I like EveryDoor UI better for placing POIs.
    - mrpeek 2mo ago
      Is this better than GoMap?
  - progbits 2mo ago
    Thank you! Is that a new feature? I have over a thousand contributions on StreetComplete (casually using it during walks) and somehow I never noticed that button.
    - ygra 2mo ago
      The overlays are intentionally a bit hidden, since they're more of a power-user feature and I appreciate that StreetComplete retains beginner-friendliness as a core tenet. But the overlays are indeed awesome for survey-type walks where you just want to make sure that all sidewalks are mapped correctly, or to see which shops are still missing.
    - Ajedi32 2mo ago
netfortius 2mo ago
Some more info in an earlier thread [1] [1] CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48808928 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48808928
hadi121 2mo ago
This is such a great idea. Are there ever any plans for a web app?
Acrobatic_Road 2mo ago
Every day I take a 2 hour walk and contribute as much data as I can to OSM using this app.
hirako2000 2mo ago
One thing missing on osm is pictures. Would defeats Google maps if it had some, where users would feedback and bad shots would get wiped to save space. We would get the best shots the world has to offer.
- edent 2mo ago
  OSM does have a pictures layer. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Panoramax https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Panoramax I use https://mapcomplete.org/ https://mapcomplete.org/ to add images of artworks to OSM objects.
  - matsemann 2mo ago
    Panoramax is still unfortunately very lacking outside a French instance. I've tried to contribute my street view images, but it's not used by anyone or anything as far as I can see.
  - lapetitejort 2mo ago
    I had been using mapcomplete to add images of artwork, which in turn used panoramax. However I saw someone else use Wikimedia Commons, and to me that makes more sense. Wikimedia ties into more systems, so if you wanted to create a Wikipedia page about an artist, there will be readily available images to use. On the flip side, panoramax can be used as an open source StreetView. Different sites for different purposes I suppose
    - ygra 2mo ago
      Wikimedia Commons also requires more up-front work by the uploader to categorize the image properly, which can be daunting if you're new to how things are organized there. But yeah, for well-known objects, adding Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons links can be awesome and there are plenty of apps making use of it to show additional information.
- jllyhill 2mo ago
  There are ways to add pictures as the tags of the OSM objects - https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:wikimedia_commons https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:wikimedia_commons - https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:panoramax https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:panoramax - https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:mapillary https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:mapillary Mobile apps can use this data to either give links to them (e.g. CoMaps) or display them in the app (e.g. OsmAnd)
jmspring 2mo ago
Is there something equivalent for iOS?
- tiffanyh 2mo ago
  > ANDROID WILL BECOME A LOCKED-DOWN PLATFORM IN XXX My guess is no because of the developer linking too below (and how it's always existed this way for iOS) https://keepandroidopen.org https://keepandroidopen.org I wonder why this needs to be an app at all, instead of web based.
  - westnordost 2mo ago
    It works offline, for one. A lot of datais kept persistently in a SQLite database.
- Quot 2mo ago
  StreetComplete has been making steady progress on an iOS port over the past few years. https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421 https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421
  - circuit10 2mo ago
    It would be nice if they made a web app, that would make it work on iOS but also desktop and every other platform with a web browser at the same time
    - Quot 2mo ago
      I agree! It seems like their work on the iOS app would bring them a lot closer to web app support as well. In the iOS tracking issue, they say the main changes are moving to Kotlin Multiplatform and Compose Multiplatform, which both support web as a target.
      - jmspring 2mo ago
        I'll take a look and see if I can help out. Thx.
endymion-light 2mo ago
I really love this - fantastic that it's open source too as would love to contribute. Is there an opportunity to add fresh new sites on this?
- ndriscoll 2mo ago
  As in can you add points of interest like shops? Yes, there's a places overlay with an add button, and a things overlay for things like benches, bicycle parking, etc. For adding buildings, roads, or paths you'd need something else.
- Aachen 2mo ago
  SCEE adds a bunch of features on top of StreetComplete. One of them is that you can always open up the tags for a feature on the map and add or update, e.g., the website information. To do this, open up the appropriate overlay (such as "things" or "places"), tap the POI, and choose "Show/edit tags" in the options menu Some editors like OsmAnd also let you do that. In OsmAnd you can enable the OSM development plugin (it's pre-installed, more like a setting to unlock expert options than a plugin) and use "Edit POI" to add or update website information Or simply use the website at https://osm.org/edit https://osm.org/edit StreetComplete doesn't ask for websites specifically. It's pretty restrictive in what they'll allow as 'quests' to avoid overloading new users
freakynit 2mo ago
Just downloaded and made 15+ small contributions in the vicinity of my area. Very well built app. Super simple to use. And gamification is top-notch. Recommended.
- timoshishi 2mo ago
  Is your area already well mapped? I opened up the app to find more than 5000 tasks within a 20 minute walk of my place
  - freakynit 2mo ago
    Nop... when I opened the app, I found 100's of tasks within 100 meter radius.
- Cider9986 2mo ago
  I naively thought that Duolingo's gamification was for a good cause, helping you learn a language by addicting you, but now I know it's not only an extremely ineffective way to learn a language, but they're an advertising/social media/data broker company, which makes the gamification unethical. I wonder if there are any other FOSS apps or websites with gamification that are for a good cause, like StreetComplete.
  - YoshiRulz 2mo ago
    https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Games#Contribution_games https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Games#Contribution_ga...
  - tancop 2mo ago
    > an extremely ineffective way to learn a language thats only if you use duolingo exclusively without things like reading news in the language (which is common unfortunately). its a problem with their specific design using a weird hybrid of spaced repetition with traditional separate lessons. you only learn a couple words for each section but if they decide you know a word they never repeat it again so its easy to forget. if they made it harder with more open questions and removed combos/perfect lessons to compensate it would be a lot more effective. non linear with multiple paths would also be great, like you decide you want to learn more grammar so you click on that instead of vocab exercises. the addictive and social pressure parts are the whole point. its giving people motivation to learn and well designed interactive tools are always better than passively reading textbooks [1]. even the ui is made with lots of animation, colors, positive messages to make you feel good every time you get something right. if streetcomplete added daily progress bars and fireworks every time your edit gets accepted it would probably have a lot more users. ive actually been thinking about making a new anki frontend with this type of addictive ux. that would be more effective and more general than duolingo but lose some of the features like open questions. would need to integrate a llm to fix that. [1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11933506/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11933506/
piebro 2mo ago
If anyone is interested in where StreetComplete is used or which quests are the most popular, you can check out: https://piebro.github.io/openstreetmap-statistics/stats/04_streetcomplete.html https://piebro.github.io/openstreetmap-statistics/stats/04_s...
khernandezrt 2mo ago
Does it have to be a mobile app? Id love to do this when im bored at work but i dont wanna make it seem like im just sitting on my phone.
- circuit10 2mo ago
  A web app would also make it work on iOS (and other non-Android platforms) at the same time
  - habi 2mo ago
    There are many apps for editing OSM on iOS: https://osm-apps.org/?platforms=iOS https://osm-apps.org/?platforms=iOS https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Go_Map https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Go_Map!! also has some kind of 'quests' built in, and the StreetComplete is planning to porting SC to iOS: https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421 https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421
- stndef 2mo ago
  I think the reasoning behind this is that ideally you're at the location where you can confirm what you see, instead of maybe referring to older media or from memory. That being said, I agree with you and would like to see more ways to access the tool!
- harvey9 2mo ago
  You can edit OSM from their web apps. This is intended to be used in the field but I guess you could use it to find things that need fixing.
  - petrzjunior 2mo ago
    Adding to that: StreetComplete specifically creates only quests for information which must be checked in the terrain like opening hours, surfaces, traffic light sounds. Anything surveyable from maps and other sources should be edited using the web editors. OpenStreetMap iD is probably the easiest to learn.
hexomancer 2mo ago
This is very cool, I wish there was some way to use it on a bicycle though. For example, when moving into a street it could ask (using voice) if this street is paved, and I could answer it using voice too.
santiagohzszmex 2mo ago
Muy bien
preetham_rangu 2mo ago
Been using this for my dog walks too. There's something oddly satisfying about turning a boring loop around the block into "wait, does that bin have a lid?" Never thought trash cans would be the thing that got me into mapping.
qmacro 2mo ago
I enjoyed the simulated phone screenshots, particularly the choice of House of the Trembling Madness, a great beer stockist and drinking establishment on Lendal in York. I would like to think that the name in the input field is deliberately slightly wrong, ready to be fixed by someone. (It's "House of the Trembling Madness" rather than "The House of Trembling Madness".) Gamification at another level :-)
- baumschubser 2mo ago
  Just through your comment I found out that they have different screenshots for all their localization settings. Cool!
Krasnol 2mo ago
I love this tool. It brought me back to mapping on OSM. Wherever you are and need to wait for a minute, there are quests to be solved there. I recommend SCEE for those who are already familiar with OSM mapping or are in an area where the most common tasks are already covered: https://github.com/Helium314/SCEE https://github.com/Helium314/SCEE
lisper 2mo ago
See also: https://gurumaps.app/ https://gurumaps.app/
- maelito 2mo ago
  It's basically Comaps but not open-source, right ?
  - lisper 2mo ago
    Yeah, I actually meant to post this comment in the comap thread. Both comaps and SC were on the home page at the same time.
earth-tattoo 2mo ago
It sucks that Google is probably using OSM data to check what they are missing and adding it to their maps, but we can't do vice versa. OSM should change their license to something like if you use our data, you have to make yours open as well.
- GreyStache 2mo ago
  Change that to definitely. I added a brand-new road on OSM and a week later it was on google maps.
  - ygra 2mo ago
    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.
    - ssl-3 2mo ago
      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-automatic-opening-of-a-closure-link-to-this-sectionuploadysu9jnxxhuzb7i4yapw7bpfkhkepng-8 https://www.waze.com/discuss/t/closures/374712#p-2273808-aut...
  - plorg 2mo ago
    On the other hand, I've been trying to submit changes to Google for several new and vacated roads for over a year (having already updated OSM) and they are constantly rejected. I suspect it is much more that their updates are responsive to car traffic. The segments I'm submitting are or were low-traffic although they include a road that a local municipality has directed people to in official communication for overflow yard waste after some big, recent storms.
jcynix 2mo ago
StreetComplete is cool, fun and useful, yes. And there is its companion app StreetMeasure which makes it easy to add measurements like the width of a narrow street, for example.
marssaxman 2mo ago
Thank you for the reminder! I got out of the habit of checking StreetComplete since my previous neighborhood was well populated in OSM, but having just moved, I should check it out again.
- westnordost 2mo ago
  When you are out of quests in your area, check the overlays! (Button to the left of the menu)
giancarlostoro 2mo ago
Reminds me of when Microsoft released a new Flight Sim, and people immediately started spotting buildings and things that were out of the norm in the game, which in turn started getting reported to OSM for corrections. https://hackaday.com/2020/08/21/microsoft-flight-simultors-data-insanity-spawn-enourmous-buildings-an-anomalies-from-openstreetmap/ https://hackaday.com/2020/08/21/microsoft-flight-simultors-d...
wxlong2000 2mo ago
StreetComplete's trick is hiding the tagging model until you actually need it. Most contributor tools expose the schema too early.
pavel_lishin 2mo ago
I downloaded this, and I'm slightly amazed at how much detail there is. What material the utility poles are made of?
- ivanjermakov 2mo ago
  My favorite one is smoothness, I find it very useful when building cycling routes. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:smoothness https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:smoothness
jnpnj 2mo ago
Are there other similar apps to stimulate soft "crowdfixing" ? I'm sure there are plenty of other aspect of society that would benefit from a light way to know where someone can contribute or notify so other can fix things (forest dumps, random trash). Homeostatic apps to ensure our surroundings are close to a good state :]
- ivanjermakov 2mo ago
  > forest dumps, random trash Likely you can report such occasions to local authorities via online form. Of course every city/county would have their own.
  - macintux 2mo ago
    My city had a very vanilla, but very useful mobile app for submitting problems like missed trash pickup or dead traffic lights. Someone apparently decided it needed to be "more modern", making it nearly unusable for quick reports like traffic light problems while I was stopped at the light. Every page was a separate request to a server, slow JS, etc. They've since improved the flow and performance, but it still asks me for contact information before I can submit it. Fortunately they haven't started server-side validations yet, so I can still submit bogus info. Just let me tell you your traffic light is out! Why is this so hard?
    - ivanjermakov 2mo ago
      They likely provide plain email you could write to instead.
    - jnpnj 2mo ago
      ah yeah pretty common and pretty annoying.. either they had to avoid false issues or maybe there was a regulation forcing the use of a more beefy system (or maybe someone thought it's "better" to use the latest shiny thing)
  - jnpnj 2mo ago
    That is true, that said reporting is not the same (imo) as having a global map of problems and proposals to fix some of them. To me it's a lot more engaging (again, imo) as you see the distance to a goal.
lapetitejort 2mo ago
I got into OSM and StreetComplete to flesh out intersections, stop signs, and sidewalks in my area. I always felt like I was doing something wrong though. I created crosswalks, then OSM would prompt me to connect the crosswalk to the road via a crossing. In StreetComplete, it felt like I was filling in duplicate data. I had to add whether the crossing had crossing lights not only at the middle crossing, but on the sides as well. This probably doesn't make any sense. Basically, I am never confident I am editing OSM correctly. Am I supposed to manually draw out sidewalks, or tag the road as having a sidewalk? After adding sidewalks in my area, StreetComplete is now asking me if roads have sidewalks, which I clearly see on the map. Reminds me of editing the various Wiki pages. There's several ways of documenting something, only one way is correct, and it's undocumented. edit: after playing with StreetComplete more, I noticed you can mark sidewalks as displayed separately. This is tagged as "sidewalk:both=separate" on the road. Whether this is the right way to do things I do not know
- pbmonster 2mo ago
  > Basically, I am never confident I am editing OSM correctly. This is the case for the majority of users. The rules are complex and not always obvious or clearly defined. The world is complex, unfortunately, and so is describing it accurately. One of OSM killer features for me is finding drinking water along the route when I'm hiking/biking/exploring. Unfortunately, there isn't a single, consistent label used for all sources of drinking water. So I have to check amenity=drinking_water, man_made=water_tap, amenity=fountain, one after the other. I think StreetComplete has missions to add the label drinking_water=yes to all of those, so the situation might improve in the future.
- pferde 2mo ago
  The seemingly duplicate data on crossing is because there are different "parts" of the crossing, intended for different users. There is the path across the road, usually from one sidewalk to the opposite, which is meant for pedestrians, and there is the node where this path touches the road, which is meant for car drivers. Yes, the system could be improved by grouping these somehow, maybe using relations (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Relation https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Relation ), but that would add complexity to any navigation or rendering application using OSM data that wants to process information about crossings.
wafflemaker 2mo ago
I was once on a trip in Åndalsness, one of the most scenic places in Norway. Fjords, mountains, you know it. On the walk to our cabin, a little outside of town, I was checking something on OSM, might have been just learning to use it and read it (it has some learning curve when switching from G-maps). To my surprise, I saw a shortcut/walking path exiting from the road we were walking on. Already used such paths twice that day for a nice shortcut that didn't show up on G-maps. But there was nothing there. I told my friend that I'd like to check what this strange hacker map is showing. When we looked again, we noticed that there actually was a trail uphill, what at first sight seemed to just be a forested hillside. As we went up, the trail started to be more evident. We climbed for a couple minutes, went past a cabin with no road leading to it (pretty normal in Norway), and a few more minutes after it we arrived at a semi-top, with a big boulder and a picturesque view out from that viewpoint. Very cool memory on the last day of the holidays, made possible thanks to somebody marking that trail on OSM.
- m4rtink 2mo ago
  Back in 2019 OSM helped us by showing a walking path back from the Shiroyama Park hill in Kagoshima, Japan. It has a beautiful view of the city of Kagoshima and the towering Sakurajima volcano across the bay. Google Maps only showed some car only roads and tunnels leading back to the city. But OSM showed a walking path comming down from one of the parking areas. And indeed, it was there and we arrived back down in the city in a few minutes, avoiding lengthy backtracking.
- deleted 2mo ago
  [deleted]
- maelito 2mo ago
  One of these viewpoints maybe ? https://cartes.app/?cat=point-de-vue#13.66/62.56098/7.70188 https://cartes.app/?cat=point-de-vue#13.66/62.56098/7.70188
  - wafflemaker 2mo ago
    Found it! It's on the southern exit from the Mjelva village. Viewpoint is not marked. It felt like a quite a private place, so I don't really want to post more details. Someone dedicated can still easily find it.
crudgen 2mo ago
In principle I like it, what I don't like is that some companies will use the data only for their own benefit / dystopian nightmare mission.
- timbit42 2mo ago
  Another comment here claims their license forbids that.
kelvinjps10 2mo ago
What's the best apps as a Google maps replacement that uses open street maps?
- flaburgan 2mo ago
  Comaps is great. Works offline. https://cartes.app https://cartes.app from France Murena maps have just been released: https://community.e.foundation/t/murena-maps-is-here-in-beta-try-it-and-help-us-shape-v1/82385 https://community.e.foundation/t/murena-maps-is-here-in-beta...
  - maelito 2mo ago
    Main developer of cartes.app here. We've internationalised the app. Expect some traces of French but we're working on it :) But yes, the development force remains mostly French for now. Waiting for more European contributions... https://translate.codeberg.org https://translate.codeberg.org
- Aachen 2mo ago
  I would second CoMaps if you're just starting out. Google has some unique features like tracking everyehhh—I mean traffic data! (Tracking everyone is sometimes legitimately useful :P) and they got businesses on board by displaying Google Maps information alongside Google Search results, so all business owners seek out to add their data to Google for free whereas in OpenStreetMap (and other competitors) someone needs to painstakingly find all the businesses themselves. So business info is much less complete. On other fronts, like hiking trails or public infrastructure, you'll find OSM much more accurate, especially around the world (I hear that Google is comparatively good on their home market). If you want things like trip planning, nautical maps, road avoidance, and tons more features: OsmAnd can do basically everything but the sheer feature count also clutters the UI. I have no problem with it but others say they prefer CoMaps and other apps for the simpler tasks, so just be aware of the different pros/cons and enjoy :)
altern8 2mo ago
They should've called the app MapQuest :-)
- Aachen 2mo ago
  Maybe that's what you're referencing but MapQuest is a commercial company that existed already at the time StreetComplete got started iirc
black_puppydog 2mo ago
I've been mapping out shops, their contacts, cuisines (for restaurants), opening hours etc in my area. It's a lot of work and much of the information will actually simply not be available to me without a shop owner. So I'm trying to get some of them to update their own shop information. But I'm really struggling to find good arguments. Small shop owners often have quite stressful days already and taking even five minutes to update some information only makes sense if I can present them with a case that this will help their business. Does anybody here know of ways that OSM data is used and products that people actually use to find businesses? I have heard rumors that Apple pulls data from OSM every now and again in areas where their own datasets are sparse. But do we have anything more meaningful or more concrete that would work in an area like France where data is not necessarily sparse in Apple's maps? (I'm saying this looking at Google Maps here in southern France where half of the shops that it displays just don't exist anymore for years...)
- jllyhill 2mo ago
  You can get some info on the tag use with taginfo, e.g. https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/keys/cuisine#projects https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/keys/cuisine#projects But it is really technical and not all projects provide this info. The most obvious place where people will look for and query this kind of data are the OSM-based map apps: OsmAnd, OrganicMaps, CoMaps, mapy.com etc. I don't know if this data is pulled into other major maps like Google's or Apple's.
- esperent 2mo ago
  > So I'm trying to get some of them to update their own shop information. But I'm really struggling to find good arguments. I did that for my business (a bakery). Spent ages on it, put in all the details I could think of. At the end of the process there seemed to be a requirement to send it you review so I did that. This was several months ago (probably six months), and it's never showed up. I'm busy, and I have a thousand more useful things to do for my business. I'm very unlikely to try again. On the other hand, if the process had been easier I'd probably have then gone on to adding other businesses in the area. The actual business is listed, but with a slightly wrong name. But I can put that exact slightly wrong name into the search on openstreetmap.org right now and there's zero results. Then I can manually zoom to the location (which is correct), see my business, tap on it... And nothing. It doesn't open. So given all of this, why would I bother with openstreetmaps as a business owner?
thangalin 2mo ago
https://shufflenblues.com/location/ 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.
- Aachen 2mo ago
  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 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!
  - thangalin 2mo ago
    Thanks! The location page was a map image, it's now an interactive map with the clickable (i)nformation icon.
    - Aachen 2mo ago
      Yay! Works for me and looking good :)
ryandrake 2mo ago
Is https://keepright.at https://keepright.at still a thing? That used to be my go-to site when I was bored and wanted to find things to fix in OSM. No matter how much you fix, it seems that when you go back to that site, there seem to always be tons of stuff flagged for fixing.
- bspammer 2mo ago
  Seems like it's pretty out of date, from the site: Site updated at 2024-03-03 It's a shame because it seems very useful.
isanjayjoshi 2mo ago
[dead]
aucisson_masque 2mo ago
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.
- m4rtink 2mo ago
  You can make more realistic simulations based on the data. Also I am sure this is used for data science.
- eliaspro 2mo ago
  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.
- aembleton 2mo ago
  If you go into settings and then quest selection you can choose what you do care about
- mhh__ 2mo ago
  Yes but there is Hans, 25, of Wiesbaden who is the telephone-pole-material guy who catalogues these things.
throwawayk7h 2mo ago
Please advertise that you offer it on f-droid as well! I only see Play store and App store links. But it's available right here: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplete/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplet...
LowLevelKernel 2mo ago
AMAZING work
m463 2mo ago
Tesla cars with their dashcam turned on collect enormous amounts of data. They have 4-6 cameras writing continuously to a USB flash drive. I wonder why we can't get folks to drive around and collect it, then use AI/automation to fill in great swaths of information automagically. EDIT: some people do similar things: - https://wcedmisten.fyi/post/dashcam-to-openstreetmap/ https://wcedmisten.fyi/post/dashcam-to-openstreetmap/ EDIT2: and maybe it goes the other way: - https://teslamotorsclub.com/2019/11/04/tesla-owners-can-edit-maps-to-improve-summon-routes/ https://teslamotorsclub.com/2019/11/04/tesla-owners-can-edit...

829 points by kls0e 2mo ago

I am using EveryDoor to contribute to OpenStreetMap. I find the information it allows to add much more useful than the one in streetcomplete quests.

bjoli 2mo ago

Last week I am #2 in Sweden on StreetComplete, despite using veapucci for about half my edits (my neighborhood is pretty effed up). AMA I guess

myself248 2mo ago

See also, https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SCEE https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SCEE

kls0e 2mo ago
scph1001.bin
- Narishma 2mo ago
  More like scph1002.bin in this case. 1001 is for SCEA.

aweb 2mo ago

I discovered that recently, it's a very fun way to contribute to OpenStreetMap, and the UI is really well-done, it's totally beginner friendly! I wish there was a way to do more than labeling though, like add simple roads and footpaths

jdboyd 2mo ago
I think adding things, instead of updating existing things with missing data is where you get into needing a more serious app. I keep Vespucci for when I want to initiate an edit, and StreetComplete for fun filling in missing information tasks.
janpeuker 2mo ago
I love the app idea but I don't think it's beginner friendly - for example it starts zoomed out of the globe and there is no button to zoom to the location; also it's unclear what the hatched lines until one zooms in.
- up-the-hill-4 2mo ago
  There's a button to zoom to the location at the bottom right, the same spot as Google maps (and the same icon too).
eskori 2mo ago
I have used it one (1) time in my life, ans it was my first experience with OpenStreetMap in general. It was pretty fun! It's very intuitive and makes you learn just how detailed and specific map data can be. Can't say much about missing features since I don't event know what can be done. Recommended experience, it's like playing Pokemon Go without the evil part :)
- hadi121 2mo ago
  What's the "evil" part?
  - weavie 2mo ago
    Probably https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/06/pokemon-go-players-unwittingly-contributed-to-tech-with-military-drone-uses/ https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/06/pokemon-go-players-unwitt...
    - throw101010 2mo ago
      Then again you produce public open-source data when you contribute to OSM, and nothing prevents the military from using it for morally questionable purposes... at the end of the day the only difference is the intermediary that could make a profit selling the data, no?
      - black_puppydog 2mo ago
        well, I sure don't get to have access to all the pokémon data even if I ask very nicely, do I? I'd think that's a (related but important) difference
        throw101010 2mo ago
        I was questioning the qualification of Pokemon Go being "evil" here, it's the data broker and the military who are evil in this case in my opinion. (Making it open-source also doesn't help, as I said we'd only short-circuit the intermediary who sold this data). Maybe it's a useless nuance, but I don't think Pokemon Go gamers should feel/evil or even that they should be careful the next time they try to entertain themselves.
Ajedi32 2mo ago
Usually if I need to add a footpath I use the "Create new track recording" feature to trace out the path with GPS, then come back to it later on desktop. Adding paths is pretty awkward to do on mobile, especially since there's no satellite overlay.
- 0l 2mo ago
  FYI someone else has probably already traced this through Strava, which is allowed to be used for tracing: <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Strava#Data_Permission_-_Allowed_for_tracing! https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Strava#Data_Permission_-...>
  - tga_d 2mo ago
    Strava doesn't have complete coverage, especially on newer trails, but more importantly: doing the trace via Street Complete attaches it to an OSM note with an optional (but encouraged) photo. This additional context makes it a lot more useful for editors than an ordinary trace, which can just as easily be an actual trail, a desire path, or someone deciding to improvise a shortcut through some brush. Even if the note just contains the word "trail", that helps us (though more detail is greatly appreciated, of course).
- nightpool 2mo ago
  StreetComplete doesn't have satellite overlays, but both Vespucci and EveryDoor support viewing satellite overlay tiles!
  - KomoD 2mo ago
    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 https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SCEE
    - khahlsvr 2mo ago

Schiendelman 2mo ago

Hi! Is this yours? Would you like help porting this to iOS?

looperhacks 2mo ago
Not mine, but you can check this issue: https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421 https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421
- herrherrmann 2mo ago
  Wow, that is one well-documented migration project! Thanks for sharing, I wasn’t aware they are so seriously on it.
- Schiendelman 2mo ago
  Thanks, I didn't even think to look!

TeddyDD 2mo ago

Great app. There is also https://every-door.app/ 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.

Ajedi32 2mo ago
StreetComplete lets you place trash cans and benches too (among other things) using the "Things" overlay. IMO Every Door has a much more complicated UI, though it's also more of a full featured editor than StreetComplete. (Though still less so than something like Vespucci.)
- TeddyDD 2mo ago
  Each to their own, I use both for different things, I like EveryDoor UI better for placing POIs.
  - mrpeek 2mo ago
    Is this better than GoMap?
- progbits 2mo ago
  Thank you! Is that a new feature? I have over a thousand contributions on StreetComplete (casually using it during walks) and somehow I never noticed that button.
  - ygra 2mo ago
    The overlays are intentionally a bit hidden, since they're more of a power-user feature and I appreciate that StreetComplete retains beginner-friendliness as a core tenet. But the overlays are indeed awesome for survey-type walks where you just want to make sure that all sidewalks are mapped correctly, or to see which shops are still missing.
  - Ajedi32 2mo ago

netfortius 2mo ago

Some more info in an earlier thread [1] [1] CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48808928 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48808928

hadi121 2mo ago

This is such a great idea. Are there ever any plans for a web app?

Acrobatic_Road 2mo ago

Every day I take a 2 hour walk and contribute as much data as I can to OSM using this app.

hirako2000 2mo ago

One thing missing on osm is pictures. Would defeats Google maps if it had some, where users would feedback and bad shots would get wiped to save space. We would get the best shots the world has to offer.

edent 2mo ago
OSM does have a pictures layer. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Panoramax https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Panoramax I use https://mapcomplete.org/ https://mapcomplete.org/ to add images of artworks to OSM objects.
- matsemann 2mo ago
  Panoramax is still unfortunately very lacking outside a French instance. I've tried to contribute my street view images, but it's not used by anyone or anything as far as I can see.
- lapetitejort 2mo ago
  I had been using mapcomplete to add images of artwork, which in turn used panoramax. However I saw someone else use Wikimedia Commons, and to me that makes more sense. Wikimedia ties into more systems, so if you wanted to create a Wikipedia page about an artist, there will be readily available images to use. On the flip side, panoramax can be used as an open source StreetView. Different sites for different purposes I suppose
  - ygra 2mo ago
    Wikimedia Commons also requires more up-front work by the uploader to categorize the image properly, which can be daunting if you're new to how things are organized there. But yeah, for well-known objects, adding Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons links can be awesome and there are plenty of apps making use of it to show additional information.
jllyhill 2mo ago
There are ways to add pictures as the tags of the OSM objects - https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:wikimedia_commons https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:wikimedia_commons - https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:panoramax https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:panoramax - https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:mapillary https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:mapillary Mobile apps can use this data to either give links to them (e.g. CoMaps) or display them in the app (e.g. OsmAnd)

jmspring 2mo ago

Is there something equivalent for iOS?

tiffanyh 2mo ago
> ANDROID WILL BECOME A LOCKED-DOWN PLATFORM IN XXX My guess is no because of the developer linking too below (and how it's always existed this way for iOS) https://keepandroidopen.org https://keepandroidopen.org I wonder why this needs to be an app at all, instead of web based.
- westnordost 2mo ago
  It works offline, for one. A lot of datais kept persistently in a SQLite database.
Quot 2mo ago
StreetComplete has been making steady progress on an iOS port over the past few years. https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421 https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421
- circuit10 2mo ago
  It would be nice if they made a web app, that would make it work on iOS but also desktop and every other platform with a web browser at the same time
  - Quot 2mo ago
    I agree! It seems like their work on the iOS app would bring them a lot closer to web app support as well. In the iOS tracking issue, they say the main changes are moving to Kotlin Multiplatform and Compose Multiplatform, which both support web as a target.
    - jmspring 2mo ago
      I'll take a look and see if I can help out. Thx.

endymion-light 2mo ago

I really love this - fantastic that it's open source too as would love to contribute. Is there an opportunity to add fresh new sites on this?

ndriscoll 2mo ago
As in can you add points of interest like shops? Yes, there's a places overlay with an add button, and a things overlay for things like benches, bicycle parking, etc. For adding buildings, roads, or paths you'd need something else.
Aachen 2mo ago
SCEE adds a bunch of features on top of StreetComplete. One of them is that you can always open up the tags for a feature on the map and add or update, e.g., the website information. To do this, open up the appropriate overlay (such as "things" or "places"), tap the POI, and choose "Show/edit tags" in the options menu Some editors like OsmAnd also let you do that. In OsmAnd you can enable the OSM development plugin (it's pre-installed, more like a setting to unlock expert options than a plugin) and use "Edit POI" to add or update website information Or simply use the website at https://osm.org/edit https://osm.org/edit StreetComplete doesn't ask for websites specifically. It's pretty restrictive in what they'll allow as 'quests' to avoid overloading new users

freakynit 2mo ago

Just downloaded and made 15+ small contributions in the vicinity of my area. Very well built app. Super simple to use. And gamification is top-notch. Recommended.

timoshishi 2mo ago
Is your area already well mapped? I opened up the app to find more than 5000 tasks within a 20 minute walk of my place
- freakynit 2mo ago
  Nop... when I opened the app, I found 100's of tasks within 100 meter radius.
Cider9986 2mo ago
I naively thought that Duolingo's gamification was for a good cause, helping you learn a language by addicting you, but now I know it's not only an extremely ineffective way to learn a language, but they're an advertising/social media/data broker company, which makes the gamification unethical. I wonder if there are any other FOSS apps or websites with gamification that are for a good cause, like StreetComplete.
- YoshiRulz 2mo ago
  https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Games#Contribution_games https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Games#Contribution_ga...
- tancop 2mo ago
  > an extremely ineffective way to learn a language thats only if you use duolingo exclusively without things like reading news in the language (which is common unfortunately). its a problem with their specific design using a weird hybrid of spaced repetition with traditional separate lessons. you only learn a couple words for each section but if they decide you know a word they never repeat it again so its easy to forget. if they made it harder with more open questions and removed combos/perfect lessons to compensate it would be a lot more effective. non linear with multiple paths would also be great, like you decide you want to learn more grammar so you click on that instead of vocab exercises. the addictive and social pressure parts are the whole point. its giving people motivation to learn and well designed interactive tools are always better than passively reading textbooks [1]. even the ui is made with lots of animation, colors, positive messages to make you feel good every time you get something right. if streetcomplete added daily progress bars and fireworks every time your edit gets accepted it would probably have a lot more users. ive actually been thinking about making a new anki frontend with this type of addictive ux. that would be more effective and more general than duolingo but lose some of the features like open questions. would need to integrate a llm to fix that. [1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11933506/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11933506/

piebro 2mo ago

If anyone is interested in where StreetComplete is used or which quests are the most popular, you can check out: https://piebro.github.io/openstreetmap-statistics/stats/04_streetcomplete.html https://piebro.github.io/openstreetmap-statistics/stats/04_s...

khernandezrt 2mo ago

Does it have to be a mobile app? Id love to do this when im bored at work but i dont wanna make it seem like im just sitting on my phone.

circuit10 2mo ago
A web app would also make it work on iOS (and other non-Android platforms) at the same time
- habi 2mo ago
  There are many apps for editing OSM on iOS: https://osm-apps.org/?platforms=iOS https://osm-apps.org/?platforms=iOS https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Go_Map https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Go_Map!! also has some kind of 'quests' built in, and the StreetComplete is planning to porting SC to iOS: https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421 https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421
stndef 2mo ago
I think the reasoning behind this is that ideally you're at the location where you can confirm what you see, instead of maybe referring to older media or from memory. That being said, I agree with you and would like to see more ways to access the tool!
harvey9 2mo ago
You can edit OSM from their web apps. This is intended to be used in the field but I guess you could use it to find things that need fixing.
- petrzjunior 2mo ago
  Adding to that: StreetComplete specifically creates only quests for information which must be checked in the terrain like opening hours, surfaces, traffic light sounds. Anything surveyable from maps and other sources should be edited using the web editors. OpenStreetMap iD is probably the easiest to learn.

hexomancer 2mo ago

This is very cool, I wish there was some way to use it on a bicycle though. For example, when moving into a street it could ask (using voice) if this street is paved, and I could answer it using voice too.

santiagohzszmex 2mo ago

Muy bien

preetham_rangu 2mo ago

Been using this for my dog walks too. There's something oddly satisfying about turning a boring loop around the block into "wait, does that bin have a lid?" Never thought trash cans would be the thing that got me into mapping.

qmacro 2mo ago

I enjoyed the simulated phone screenshots, particularly the choice of House of the Trembling Madness, a great beer stockist and drinking establishment on Lendal in York. I would like to think that the name in the input field is deliberately slightly wrong, ready to be fixed by someone. (It's "House of the Trembling Madness" rather than "The House of Trembling Madness".) Gamification at another level :-)

baumschubser 2mo ago
Just through your comment I found out that they have different screenshots for all their localization settings. Cool!

Krasnol 2mo ago

I love this tool. It brought me back to mapping on OSM. Wherever you are and need to wait for a minute, there are quests to be solved there. I recommend SCEE for those who are already familiar with OSM mapping or are in an area where the most common tasks are already covered: https://github.com/Helium314/SCEE https://github.com/Helium314/SCEE

lisper 2mo ago

See also: https://gurumaps.app/ https://gurumaps.app/

maelito 2mo ago
It's basically Comaps but not open-source, right ?
- lisper 2mo ago
  Yeah, I actually meant to post this comment in the comap thread. Both comaps and SC were on the home page at the same time.

earth-tattoo 2mo ago

It sucks that Google is probably using OSM data to check what they are missing and adding it to their maps, but we can't do vice versa. OSM should change their license to something like if you use our data, you have to make yours open as well.

GreyStache 2mo ago
Change that to definitely. I added a brand-new road on OSM and a week later it was on google maps.
- ygra 2mo ago
  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.
  - ssl-3 2mo ago
    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-automatic-opening-of-a-closure-link-to-this-sectionuploadysu9jnxxhuzb7i4yapw7bpfkhkepng-8 https://www.waze.com/discuss/t/closures/374712#p-2273808-aut...
- plorg 2mo ago
  On the other hand, I've been trying to submit changes to Google for several new and vacated roads for over a year (having already updated OSM) and they are constantly rejected. I suspect it is much more that their updates are responsive to car traffic. The segments I'm submitting are or were low-traffic although they include a road that a local municipality has directed people to in official communication for overflow yard waste after some big, recent storms.

jcynix 2mo ago

StreetComplete is cool, fun and useful, yes. And there is its companion app StreetMeasure which makes it easy to add measurements like the width of a narrow street, for example.

marssaxman 2mo ago

Thank you for the reminder! I got out of the habit of checking StreetComplete since my previous neighborhood was well populated in OSM, but having just moved, I should check it out again.

westnordost 2mo ago
When you are out of quests in your area, check the overlays! (Button to the left of the menu)

giancarlostoro 2mo ago

Reminds me of when Microsoft released a new Flight Sim, and people immediately started spotting buildings and things that were out of the norm in the game, which in turn started getting reported to OSM for corrections. https://hackaday.com/2020/08/21/microsoft-flight-simultors-data-insanity-spawn-enourmous-buildings-an-anomalies-from-openstreetmap/ https://hackaday.com/2020/08/21/microsoft-flight-simultors-d...

wxlong2000 2mo ago

StreetComplete's trick is hiding the tagging model until you actually need it. Most contributor tools expose the schema too early.

pavel_lishin 2mo ago

I downloaded this, and I'm slightly amazed at how much detail there is. What material the utility poles are made of?

ivanjermakov 2mo ago
My favorite one is smoothness, I find it very useful when building cycling routes. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:smoothness https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:smoothness

jnpnj 2mo ago

Are there other similar apps to stimulate soft "crowdfixing" ? I'm sure there are plenty of other aspect of society that would benefit from a light way to know where someone can contribute or notify so other can fix things (forest dumps, random trash). Homeostatic apps to ensure our surroundings are close to a good state :]

ivanjermakov 2mo ago
> forest dumps, random trash Likely you can report such occasions to local authorities via online form. Of course every city/county would have their own.
- macintux 2mo ago
  My city had a very vanilla, but very useful mobile app for submitting problems like missed trash pickup or dead traffic lights. Someone apparently decided it needed to be "more modern", making it nearly unusable for quick reports like traffic light problems while I was stopped at the light. Every page was a separate request to a server, slow JS, etc. They've since improved the flow and performance, but it still asks me for contact information before I can submit it. Fortunately they haven't started server-side validations yet, so I can still submit bogus info. Just let me tell you your traffic light is out! Why is this so hard?
  - ivanjermakov 2mo ago
    They likely provide plain email you could write to instead.
  - jnpnj 2mo ago
    ah yeah pretty common and pretty annoying.. either they had to avoid false issues or maybe there was a regulation forcing the use of a more beefy system (or maybe someone thought it's "better" to use the latest shiny thing)
- jnpnj 2mo ago
  That is true, that said reporting is not the same (imo) as having a global map of problems and proposals to fix some of them. To me it's a lot more engaging (again, imo) as you see the distance to a goal.

lapetitejort 2mo ago

I got into OSM and StreetComplete to flesh out intersections, stop signs, and sidewalks in my area. I always felt like I was doing something wrong though. I created crosswalks, then OSM would prompt me to connect the crosswalk to the road via a crossing. In StreetComplete, it felt like I was filling in duplicate data. I had to add whether the crossing had crossing lights not only at the middle crossing, but on the sides as well. This probably doesn't make any sense. Basically, I am never confident I am editing OSM correctly. Am I supposed to manually draw out sidewalks, or tag the road as having a sidewalk? After adding sidewalks in my area, StreetComplete is now asking me if roads have sidewalks, which I clearly see on the map. Reminds me of editing the various Wiki pages. There's several ways of documenting something, only one way is correct, and it's undocumented. edit: after playing with StreetComplete more, I noticed you can mark sidewalks as displayed separately. This is tagged as "sidewalk:both=separate" on the road. Whether this is the right way to do things I do not know

pbmonster 2mo ago
> Basically, I am never confident I am editing OSM correctly. This is the case for the majority of users. The rules are complex and not always obvious or clearly defined. The world is complex, unfortunately, and so is describing it accurately. One of OSM killer features for me is finding drinking water along the route when I'm hiking/biking/exploring. Unfortunately, there isn't a single, consistent label used for all sources of drinking water. So I have to check amenity=drinking_water, man_made=water_tap, amenity=fountain, one after the other. I think StreetComplete has missions to add the label drinking_water=yes to all of those, so the situation might improve in the future.
pferde 2mo ago
The seemingly duplicate data on crossing is because there are different "parts" of the crossing, intended for different users. There is the path across the road, usually from one sidewalk to the opposite, which is meant for pedestrians, and there is the node where this path touches the road, which is meant for car drivers. Yes, the system could be improved by grouping these somehow, maybe using relations (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Relation https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Relation ), but that would add complexity to any navigation or rendering application using OSM data that wants to process information about crossings.

wafflemaker 2mo ago

I was once on a trip in Åndalsness, one of the most scenic places in Norway. Fjords, mountains, you know it. On the walk to our cabin, a little outside of town, I was checking something on OSM, might have been just learning to use it and read it (it has some learning curve when switching from G-maps). To my surprise, I saw a shortcut/walking path exiting from the road we were walking on. Already used such paths twice that day for a nice shortcut that didn't show up on G-maps. But there was nothing there. I told my friend that I'd like to check what this strange hacker map is showing. When we looked again, we noticed that there actually was a trail uphill, what at first sight seemed to just be a forested hillside. As we went up, the trail started to be more evident. We climbed for a couple minutes, went past a cabin with no road leading to it (pretty normal in Norway), and a few more minutes after it we arrived at a semi-top, with a big boulder and a picturesque view out from that viewpoint. Very cool memory on the last day of the holidays, made possible thanks to somebody marking that trail on OSM.

m4rtink 2mo ago
Back in 2019 OSM helped us by showing a walking path back from the Shiroyama Park hill in Kagoshima, Japan. It has a beautiful view of the city of Kagoshima and the towering Sakurajima volcano across the bay. Google Maps only showed some car only roads and tunnels leading back to the city. But OSM showed a walking path comming down from one of the parking areas. And indeed, it was there and we arrived back down in the city in a few minutes, avoiding lengthy backtracking.
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maelito 2mo ago
One of these viewpoints maybe ? https://cartes.app/?cat=point-de-vue#13.66/62.56098/7.70188 https://cartes.app/?cat=point-de-vue#13.66/62.56098/7.70188
- wafflemaker 2mo ago
  Found it! It's on the southern exit from the Mjelva village. Viewpoint is not marked. It felt like a quite a private place, so I don't really want to post more details. Someone dedicated can still easily find it.

crudgen 2mo ago

In principle I like it, what I don't like is that some companies will use the data only for their own benefit / dystopian nightmare mission.

timbit42 2mo ago
Another comment here claims their license forbids that.

kelvinjps10 2mo ago

What's the best apps as a Google maps replacement that uses open street maps?

flaburgan 2mo ago
Comaps is great. Works offline. https://cartes.app https://cartes.app from France Murena maps have just been released: https://community.e.foundation/t/murena-maps-is-here-in-beta-try-it-and-help-us-shape-v1/82385 https://community.e.foundation/t/murena-maps-is-here-in-beta...
- maelito 2mo ago
  Main developer of cartes.app here. We've internationalised the app. Expect some traces of French but we're working on it :) But yes, the development force remains mostly French for now. Waiting for more European contributions... https://translate.codeberg.org https://translate.codeberg.org
Aachen 2mo ago
I would second CoMaps if you're just starting out. Google has some unique features like tracking everyehhh—I mean traffic data! (Tracking everyone is sometimes legitimately useful :P) and they got businesses on board by displaying Google Maps information alongside Google Search results, so all business owners seek out to add their data to Google for free whereas in OpenStreetMap (and other competitors) someone needs to painstakingly find all the businesses themselves. So business info is much less complete. On other fronts, like hiking trails or public infrastructure, you'll find OSM much more accurate, especially around the world (I hear that Google is comparatively good on their home market). If you want things like trip planning, nautical maps, road avoidance, and tons more features: OsmAnd can do basically everything but the sheer feature count also clutters the UI. I have no problem with it but others say they prefer CoMaps and other apps for the simpler tasks, so just be aware of the different pros/cons and enjoy :)

altern8 2mo ago

They should've called the app MapQuest :-)

Aachen 2mo ago
Maybe that's what you're referencing but MapQuest is a commercial company that existed already at the time StreetComplete got started iirc

black_puppydog 2mo ago

I've been mapping out shops, their contacts, cuisines (for restaurants), opening hours etc in my area. It's a lot of work and much of the information will actually simply not be available to me without a shop owner. So I'm trying to get some of them to update their own shop information. But I'm really struggling to find good arguments. Small shop owners often have quite stressful days already and taking even five minutes to update some information only makes sense if I can present them with a case that this will help their business. Does anybody here know of ways that OSM data is used and products that people actually use to find businesses? I have heard rumors that Apple pulls data from OSM every now and again in areas where their own datasets are sparse. But do we have anything more meaningful or more concrete that would work in an area like France where data is not necessarily sparse in Apple's maps? (I'm saying this looking at Google Maps here in southern France where half of the shops that it displays just don't exist anymore for years...)

jllyhill 2mo ago
You can get some info on the tag use with taginfo, e.g. https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/keys/cuisine#projects https://taginfo.openstreetmap.org/keys/cuisine#projects But it is really technical and not all projects provide this info. The most obvious place where people will look for and query this kind of data are the OSM-based map apps: OsmAnd, OrganicMaps, CoMaps, mapy.com etc. I don't know if this data is pulled into other major maps like Google's or Apple's.
esperent 2mo ago
> So I'm trying to get some of them to update their own shop information. But I'm really struggling to find good arguments. I did that for my business (a bakery). Spent ages on it, put in all the details I could think of. At the end of the process there seemed to be a requirement to send it you review so I did that. This was several months ago (probably six months), and it's never showed up. I'm busy, and I have a thousand more useful things to do for my business. I'm very unlikely to try again. On the other hand, if the process had been easier I'd probably have then gone on to adding other businesses in the area. The actual business is listed, but with a slightly wrong name. But I can put that exact slightly wrong name into the search on openstreetmap.org right now and there's zero results. Then I can manually zoom to the location (which is correct), see my business, tap on it... And nothing. It doesn't open. So given all of this, why would I bother with openstreetmaps as a business owner?

thangalin 2mo ago

https://shufflenblues.com/location/ 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.

Aachen 2mo ago
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 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!
- thangalin 2mo ago
  Thanks! The location page was a map image, it's now an interactive map with the clickable (i)nformation icon.
  - Aachen 2mo ago
    Yay! Works for me and looking good :)

ryandrake 2mo ago

Is https://keepright.at https://keepright.at still a thing? That used to be my go-to site when I was bored and wanted to find things to fix in OSM. No matter how much you fix, it seems that when you go back to that site, there seem to always be tons of stuff flagged for fixing.

bspammer 2mo ago
Seems like it's pretty out of date, from the site: Site updated at 2024-03-03 It's a shame because it seems very useful.

isanjayjoshi 2mo ago

[dead]

aucisson_masque 2mo ago

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.

m4rtink 2mo ago
You can make more realistic simulations based on the data. Also I am sure this is used for data science.
eliaspro 2mo ago
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.
aembleton 2mo ago
If you go into settings and then quest selection you can choose what you do care about
mhh__ 2mo ago
Yes but there is Hans, 25, of Wiesbaden who is the telephone-pole-material guy who catalogues these things.

throwawayk7h 2mo ago

Please advertise that you offer it on f-droid as well! I only see Play store and App store links. But it's available right here: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplete/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplet...

LowLevelKernel 2mo ago

AMAZING work

m463 2mo ago

Tesla cars with their dashcam turned on collect enormous amounts of data. They have 4-6 cameras writing continuously to a USB flash drive. I wonder why we can't get folks to drive around and collect it, then use AI/automation to fill in great swaths of information automagically. EDIT: some people do similar things: - https://wcedmisten.fyi/post/dashcam-to-openstreetmap/ https://wcedmisten.fyi/post/dashcam-to-openstreetmap/ EDIT2: and maybe it goes the other way: - https://teslamotorsclub.com/2019/11/04/tesla-owners-can-edit-maps-to-improve-summon-routes/ https://teslamotorsclub.com/2019/11/04/tesla-owners-can-edit...