3 ms·

It has been years since I gave them a try. Their interface was horrible, but this is a good reason to try them again.

openbasic 7y ago
Almost all free and open-source alternative have terrible UIs and crappy UX. And some have shitty content too. However, that content is done by volunteers just like you, and if you refuse to contribute because something puts you off, then the project dies. Imagine people with the same mindset as you: Oh, I don't bother contributing my design skills because the content sucks. And you don't contribute because design sucks. In the end, no one contributes and the project, as a whole, suffers. But if the project suffers, you and everyone else, lose to corporate offerings like Google. And that is fine, if you like that. But don't expect them to respect you. I hate to say this, but change has to come from within, not from laws, market forces or anything else. So, if you want LIBRE maps, and you really care about that, just go on and do it. Gather people, make noise and work hard. There's thousands of highly successful projects to get inspired by.
Vinnl 7y ago
Regardless of what the sibling comment says, the editing UX is really good now. Their editor has a beautiful walkthrough and easy-to-use tools, at least on desktop: https://www.openstreetmap.org/edit https://www.openstreetmap.org/edit
- londons_explore 7y ago
  But is lacking pretty badly on mobile... Exactly the device people have with them when out in the real world...
  - Vinnl 7y ago
    True, I think one of the things Google Maps does very cleverly is making it really easy for users to suggest corrections, often just a single tap away. That said, OSMand has been making great strides usability-wise, and though it's still pretty lacking, hopefully it'll get there some day too.
    - mikekchar 7y ago
      I'll be honest, I actually prefer OSMand to some other navigation apps. It may be that I'm used to it, but I find it works really well. I think my only complaint is that they use an arrow to show where they think you should go and a kind of weird, hard to see shading to show where the phone is pointing. It confuses me each time until I remember how it works.
  - purple_turtle 7y ago
    There is StreetComplete (application asking simple questions and making possible to edit without any OpenStreetMap specific knowledge)

Almost all free and open-source alternative have terrible UIs and crappy UX. And some have shitty content too. However, that content is done by volunteers just like you, and if you refuse to contribute because something puts you off, then the project dies. Imagine people with the same mindset as you: Oh, I don't bother contributing my design skills because the content sucks. And you don't contribute because design sucks. In the end, no one contributes and the project, as a whole, suffers. But if the project suffers, you and everyone else, lose to corporate offerings like Google. And that is fine, if you like that. But don't expect them to respect you. I hate to say this, but change has to come from within, not from laws, market forces or anything else. So, if you want LIBRE maps, and you really care about that, just go on and do it. Gather people, make noise and work hard. There's thousands of highly successful projects to get inspired by.

Vinnl 7y ago

Regardless of what the sibling comment says, the editing UX is really good now. Their editor has a beautiful walkthrough and easy-to-use tools, at least on desktop: https://www.openstreetmap.org/edit https://www.openstreetmap.org/edit

londons_explore 7y ago
But is lacking pretty badly on mobile... Exactly the device people have with them when out in the real world...
- Vinnl 7y ago
  True, I think one of the things Google Maps does very cleverly is making it really easy for users to suggest corrections, often just a single tap away. That said, OSMand has been making great strides usability-wise, and though it's still pretty lacking, hopefully it'll get there some day too.
  - mikekchar 7y ago
    I'll be honest, I actually prefer OSMand to some other navigation apps. It may be that I'm used to it, but I find it works really well. I think my only complaint is that they use an arrow to show where they think you should go and a kind of weird, hard to see shading to show where the phone is pointing. It confuses me each time until I remember how it works.
- purple_turtle 7y ago
  There is StreetComplete (application asking simple questions and making possible to edit without any OpenStreetMap specific knowledge)