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OpenStreetMap is a great ecosystem - I'm a long term contributor. Some pointers: - CoMaps is a fork of Organic Maps, which forked long time ago from Maps.me -
by pietervdvn 23d ago
OpenStreetMap is a great ecosystem - I'm a long term contributor.
Some pointers:
- CoMaps is a fork of Organic Maps, which forked long time ago from Maps.me
- OsmAnd is similar. It has more features but is slower and clunkier
- If you see errors/missing stuff on OpenStreetMap, fix them. You need a free account for this. There are various tools to help out, such as the editor on Osm.org. Beginner-friendly editors are https://MapComplete.org https://MapComplete.org (which has thematic maps; disclaimer: I'm the main dev) and https://streetcomplete.app https://streetcomplete.app
- jech 23d ago> It has more features but is slower and clunkier Just to clarify: OsmAnd has more features, CoMaps and Organic Maps are much faster. (Aside: I'm using CoMaps myself. The main missing features are tracking (I use OpenTracks for that) and public transportation (I use a website for that). End of aside.)
- ihatehn 23d agoCoMaps lets you record a route, though it's somewhat limited
- atkirtland 23d agoWhat website do you use for public transportation?
- lucgommans 23d agoI was recently recommended https://api.transitous.org https://api.transitous.org (it's a webapp despite the domain). It can do things like "someone can pick me up on the far side and I don't mind walking 30 minutes at the start at 6 km/h, what's the optimal route to take?" Revolutionary! Finally I don't have to look on a map to find all stations in walking/cycling/driving distance and then route to/from every possible combination of start and end station manually to see what busses and trains run there. And repeat the process with each schedule change in each involved country. Every other transport app that I know of will try to keep you within a few hundred metres of a bus stop or train station at all times and say "there exists no route" before telling you to cycle 10 minutes or from which station you have the shortest remaining distance by taxi or whatever
- schubidubiduba 23d agoThere is actually work being done to integrate exactly this API into Comaps! Although it will certainly take some more time, especially until these more niche routing features are available
- jraph 23d agoKDE Itinerary, a mobile and desktop application, is becoming better and better for this. It's based on MOTIS / Transitous. I just discovered cartes.app can do this too!
- jech 23d agoI've found that websites specific to a single European country or, in the case of France, to a single city are the ones that work best.
- ligarota 23d ago[dead]
- yread 23d agorome2rio.com works reasonably well to at least get an idea where to look up the exact prices and timetables
- olyjohn 23d agoWait, I just used the tracking the other day and generated a GPX from it. It also drew me an elevation map and gave me some other info about the trip. Is there some other tracking that it can't do?
- jech 23d agoI stand corrected, CoMaps can do tracking. It was introduced in Organic Maps a couple of years ago, but I was already using OpenTracks, so I never switched away from it.
- flexagoon 23d agoOsmAnd is not that much slower nowadays since they added the new OpenGL renderer. It is, however, less convenient and pretty. I think OsmAnd really shines for things like hiking, whereas for regular urban navigation CoMaps works just as well.
- hv42 23d agoExactly my experience as well. OSMAnd is a lot better for hiking as it has 3d views, hiking routes, topo maps and better routing in general. Comaps is great for city navigation or casual usage
- shiandow 22d agoI also really like the star chart they added recently. Seems like a minor thing but it's just really handy to have it available for the few occasions you need it.
- coldpie 22d agoI gave CoMaps a shot this morning, but it doesn't support public transit in my city (Minneapolis/Saint Paul area) which is an instant deal killer. Bummer.
- flaburgan 22d agoThere is tracking in Comaps, what do you miss from it?
- zikduruqe 23d agoYou can also do it directly from CoMaps if you have an OSM account.
- amatecha 23d agoYeah! CoMaps was actually what I used for my very first contribution to OSM! Nice lil gateway to an awesome ecosystem. Mega kudos to the CoMaps devs for doing such a great job with it.
- chantepierre 23d agoHey, a simple question : I would like to contribute not features nor POIs but actual paths. In my region the maps lack a lot of forest paths, and others that are on the map are long gone due to nature closing them. Something like the strava heatmap is a lot more accurate because hikers and trail runners make the actual paths appear. I often use https://onthegomap.com https://onthegomap.com (which uses OSM) to plan routes and find that the hiking paths do not match reality. What is a straightforward way for me to contribute ? I have GPX traces of all those not-on-maps well-trodden paths if that helps.
- emj 23d agoThere is an upload GPX track function on the website. You then draw your paths with the online editor, above those tracks. Edit: you do this because GPS is not clean enough and you need to choose which paths connects where. You will often forget the details if your GPX are old. E.g. was it really possible to use a bicycle on that path, did those two actually connect or was it me running 150m through the Forrest as a short cut. So it takes work to get right.
- chantepierre 23d agoThanks, that was so simple ! Just contributed my first missing path.
- leokennis 23d agoUnfortunately (but logically I think) the OSM-ecosystem is very Android leaning - so missing out on a large % of street walking smartphone wielding would-be mappers. Also, to get "basic non-tech regular people" involved in improving the maps, it's too complicated (i.e. even the simplest street or sidewalk has a lot of tags with arcane names, which need to be set to exact values according to very deeply buried and confusing documentation). For street level small maintenance level enhancements, I would envision (and need) an app that would consist of: - See the point/lines/area that make up the map at the place where I stand - Add a new point/line/area or drag existing ones to change their shape - Answer some simple questions about what you added or edited (i.e. for an area: "is this grass?" or "is this parking space?", for a line "is this paved?" or "can a car drive here?") - Optionally, either directly publish the changes or add them to some review queue where an expert can asynchronously review and catch the most basic mistakes or abuse Although I do need to say that despite this app not existing, OSM is often the most detailed and up to date map in my area. I think it heavily depends on if your neighborhood has an OSM enthusiast or not.
- matkoniecz 23d agoStreetComplete is preparing release for Apple devices GoMap!! also exists for Apple devices
- cicko 22d agoPlease no! I like the fact that the maps are created by people who actually know something about the topic.
- maelito 22d agoNote that there are lots of OSM editors, but sadly not a single one as simple as Google Maps for end-users. I'm working on cartes.app, we've designed a very simple opening hours editor, but we're missing lots of other edition features. We should also mention Everydoor or of course osm.org, the main one. In the end, you can modify way more things yourself on OSM than Google Maps, but through a complexe ecosystem that you have to understand first, and most are missing place reviews and simple image uploading. Both cartes.app and mapcomplete enable these, through two different databases. Mapcomplete enable Mangrove reviews and Panoramax image uploads. Cartes enables ATProto place reviews, with pictures, and soon Panoramax upload too.
- random3 22d agoThis is a related relevant thread from two months ago (200+ comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48808928 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48808928
- javier2 22d agoI will try out CoMaps. Tried OsmAnd and it takes forever to get gps position on my iphone.