You can and you should contribute - Open Street Map

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 😁

Undearius,
@Undearius@lemmy.ca avatar

Another recommendation, especially for addresses and points of interest, is every-door.app

It’s not as pretty as StreetConplete but it’s fine to work with.

OnopordumAcanthium,
@OnopordumAcanthium@lemmy.ml avatar

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

CoachDom,
@CoachDom@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

That was my thinking. The OSM is only as good as we make it so the more people know how to fix it, the better for the community 😉

MazonnaCara89,
@MazonnaCara89@lemmy.ml avatar

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

HamSandwichGenerator,

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

UraniumBlazer,

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

echodot,

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.

UraniumBlazer,

Naaah mate… it can matter a lot lol. We have a road closure (for the past few months) in our neighborhood. Google maps still hasn’t updated it. I routinely see drivers driving up to it and getting annoyed for having to turn back. This wouldn’t have happened had they used OSM tho!

twistypencil,

Street complete is amazing. I’ve been obsessed with it for a couple years. I never would have made hundreds of OSM submissions without it. Whenever I’m bored, sitting in some place waiting, instead of doom scrolling, I pull out up and see if there is anything I can contribute to the area

moitoi,

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.

the_third,

Yeah. When I started in 2007 my area was a white canvas. Now we’re mapping fences around tree plantations. It’s a marathon, not a race.

Zacryon,

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.

brainlessnick,

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

schnurrito,

Even more than on Wikipedia. The problem with Wikipedia is it tries to use a wiki to write about contentious issues like politics, culture war, religion, national conflicts etc. too and wikis just aren’t a very suitable mechanism for that. OSM tries to limit itself to completely objective facts about the world, wikis are very well suited for that.

Takios,
@Takios@feddit.de avatar

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.

schnurrito,

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.

Rhllor,

Yes and no. If I remember correctly, it was pokemon go utilizing OSM for the kind of Pokemon you could find in a given area which led to some manipulation. You could probably also get away with changing or hiding something in Nowhere, Idaho.

The bigger issue is probably outdated data. Shops or restaurants in urban areas change fairly quickly, it’s quite hard to keep up with those.

agile_squirrel, (edited )

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.

brainlessnick,

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 :(”

domesticstreetcat,

StreetComplete is awesome and so easy to use.

whome,

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

urshanabi,
@urshanabi@lemmygrad.ml avatar

Does anyone know of OSM street view equivalents like KartaView allow for campus street view? It seems like it’s only available for roads you can access with a car.

goldfndr,

If you’re asking about more imagery coverage, Mapillary has a lot. The wiki has a list of street-level imagery articles.

OpenStreetMap is more about the map database, so any imagery association tends to be loose, and is more for use as a useable source for ground truth.

urshanabi,
@urshanabi@lemmygrad.ml avatar

Wow, cartography is a whole thing I have never really taken a look at. This is super cool, thanks for the share! I don’t like that Mapillary is owned by Facebook/Meta :/

I will take a look at the resources you have sent though!

ExLisper,

I didn´t realize editing OSM is so easy. I just logged in, did a short tutorial and fixed one intersection where a week ago the app told to do an illegal turn. Awesome!

rikudou,
@rikudou@lemmings.world avatar

kind of like Pokémon Go but you are actually making an impact

I caught the whole first generation + my favorite Celebi. How’s that for an impact?

AngryCommieKender,

But are they IV 100? Mine are all IV 96 or better.

rikudou,
@rikudou@lemmings.world avatar

I bow before the king! I think I had some shitty <20 IV there as well, but my goal since the beginning was to catch the ones I’ve been watching in the anime as a kid, didn’t much care about other generations (well, I remember a little bit of gen 2 from my youth as well).

MorganCS,

This is a blast, thanks for the recommendation

Taalen,

Very glad I saw this. I’ve been getting increasingly fed up with Google Maps. Their map in my area is full of annoying errors, such as routing you through roads that haven’t existed for a decade, or along private roads that are not open to the public. And no matter how many times I report them, nothing ever gets fixed. Going to give OSM a try and hopefully make the switch for good. Already saw that the map in my area is in much better shape than Google’s.

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