5 ms·

All these apps rely on the data provided by OpenStreetMap (OSM). It is a Wikipedia-like project where anybody can contribute edits. https://www.openstreetmap.o

All these apps rely on the data provided by OpenStreetMap (OSM). It is a Wikipedia-like project where anybody can contribute edits. https://www.openstreetmap.org/ https://www.openstreetmap.org/

hinata08 3mo ago
yeah, so were LibreOffice and OpenOffice relying on the .odt format CoMaps forked out of OrganicMaps after a row about money
- roysting 3mo ago
  Always the rows about some kind of BS that fragments, fractures, and defuses the efforts into pet projects instead of ever actually being a viable alternative for the majority of people to corporate offerings. The hardest thing about any effort that is two or more people is the interpersonal, coordination, consensus, and organization aspects. Everything else is easy in comparison.
  - roughly 3mo ago
    “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”
  - jonahx 3mo ago
    It makes sense. People generally want at least one of: money or decision-making power. If they have to negotiate, constantly settle, and get no money, that's a hard sell.
    - dotancohen 3mo ago
      How hard a sell that is depends heavily on how much that person values their time. I know people who are experts in their field, who have had their with-source Wikipedia edits reverted to incorrect or misleading information by people who have more time to argue online than they do.
- JumpCrisscross 3mo ago
  > CoMaps forked out of OrganicMaps after a row about money Organic Maps is organized as a for-profit entity. CoMaps is not. This is a real difference, and the former asking for donations makes it look like a scam.
  - nexus6 3mo ago
    Looking at the OrganicMaps app on iOS and it seems to be free, with an option for donations in the menu . What does OrganicMap specifically do in order to make profit?
    - sneak 3mo ago
      Charge for downloading map data.
      - Tomte 3mo ago
        I have downloaded many maps and not paid anything.
- flaburgan 3mo ago
  Here is the open letter to Organic Maps owners written by people who then forked it to Comaps, if you are interested: https://www.comaps.app/news/2025-04-16/1/ https://www.comaps.app/news/2025-04-16/1/
trueno 3mo ago
do these damn projects even push the proposed edits up back to openstreetmap? insanely shameful if not
- gpvos 3mo ago
  I assume they all do, it's nigh impossible to maintain your own data fork and keep reconciling your users' edits and the updates from OSM.
- superjan 3mo ago
  They can’t do so automatically. Osm Editors must approve. Apparantly OSM fears legislation when people copy info from google maps. They like to see evidence, like street sign photos. In my limited experience anyway.
  - iririririr 3mo ago
    yet google was caught red handed stealing openstreetmap data for years and all it led to was a timid Ooopsy letter. the real reason is that user content, either you don't have anybody contributing, or you're flooded with abuse. there's no middle.
  - jraph 3mo ago
    I occasionally contribute to OSM. You just send your edit and they are directly live. I don't think there's prior moderation. On these apps you log in to OSM using an OSM account IIRC (though I mostly use EveryDoor or directly osm.org for this, occasionally StreetComplete, I don't contribute using Comaps)
    - ygra 3mo ago
      Some apps don't edit OSM directly, but rather add a note on the map for others to edit. Maybe that's what they meant. E.g., OrganicMaps often creates these kinds of notes: https://www.openstreetmap.org/note/5377887 https://www.openstreetmap.org/note/5377887 which for certain kinds of edits is safer than trying to directly edit. StreetComplete does the same in many cases when something no longer exists. I think, shops and other places can often be added directly, though since that has little to no ties to existing data. But yeah, I'm using mostly StreetComplete (SCEE) when outside, sometimes Every Door and Vespucci. For offline map apps like Organic Maps it's likely not easy resolving potential conflicts with live OSM data that might be weeks or months newer than the map data in the app.
everybodyknows 3mo ago
For business operators this can be done with a low-friction web page: https://www.onosm.org/ https://www.onosm.org/
- ygra 3mo ago
  Nota bene: those end up as notes on the map which another mapper has to input manually. There's a lot of spam and dubious entries so I often no longer bother entering them, especially in places I don't know or where I cannot verify the information.
  - lavela 3mo ago
    I was using Street Complete for some time and was always wondering if using these apps is considered helpful or if it only creates churn/noise. Is there a general consensus on that in the community? Would it be more accepted to just do a few small, potentially not metadata-complete edits myself or is the review structure (if there is any) geared more towards fewer, more steady contributors? Did one direct edit once and iirc it took ages to land in the map and I wasn't able to grasp if came from new editors' edits being scrutinized more carefully by too few reviewers, from the nature of the edits (deleting a bunch of buildings after demolition and probably not replacing it with the right area type) or if the release cycle for new edits to be included is just way longer than I would have expected.
    - maxerickson 3mo ago
      The review does not block the data being added, it's more of a request for feedback. Different maps have different update cycles. The slippy map on osm.org is meant to update as quickly as possible, usually a few minutes, but sometimes there are hiccups. Zoom levels that show larger areas also update a little slower. As long as what you are adding is up to date/accurate, I wouldn't worry about whether you've captured everything about the features. "This thing is here" is a lot better for the map than no information.
    - ygra 3mo ago
      As a frequent contributor myself I love StreetComplete and I wouldn't worry about it perhaps generating a few changesets more than strictly necessary (it tends to make one changeset per quest (with multiple amendments for individual answers) and also only during a certain time frame. Sure, that means that adding information to a staircase creates multiple changesets (incline, step_count, surface, handrail), but that doesn't really matter. What StreetComplete is very good at, in my opinion, is simply QA on the ground. SC asks about features existing on the map (benches, bus stops, shops, roads, barriers, etc.) and some of them might go stale. So asking about opening hours of a shop might cause someone to look and notice that the shop is closed now, or replaced by another one, so in many cases the quests that add detail to objects have the nice side-effect that those are being looked at and reviewed whether they still exist, which otherwise does not happen often. The barrier to adding new data is often lower than fixing or removing outdated information. And it's such a low barrier to entry, especially for people not familiar with OSM's tagging, since the UX is very well designed for beginners in my eyes (while still being useful for advanced mappers), that you can easily recommend it to people who like those kind of hobbies (e.g. geocaching, Pokémon Go). For me it was an excuse to go outside more, also to places I haven't been, during COVID-19, just to tick off another quest.

All these apps rely on the data provided by OpenStreetMap (OSM). It is a Wikipedia-like project where anybody can contribute edits. https://www.openstreetmap.org/ https://www.openstreetmap.org/

hinata08 3mo ago

yeah, so were LibreOffice and OpenOffice relying on the .odt format CoMaps forked out of OrganicMaps after a row about money

roysting 3mo ago
Always the rows about some kind of BS that fragments, fractures, and defuses the efforts into pet projects instead of ever actually being a viable alternative for the majority of people to corporate offerings. The hardest thing about any effort that is two or more people is the interpersonal, coordination, consensus, and organization aspects. Everything else is easy in comparison.
- roughly 3mo ago
  “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”
- jonahx 3mo ago
  It makes sense. People generally want at least one of: money or decision-making power. If they have to negotiate, constantly settle, and get no money, that's a hard sell.
  - dotancohen 3mo ago
    How hard a sell that is depends heavily on how much that person values their time. I know people who are experts in their field, who have had their with-source Wikipedia edits reverted to incorrect or misleading information by people who have more time to argue online than they do.
JumpCrisscross 3mo ago
> CoMaps forked out of OrganicMaps after a row about money Organic Maps is organized as a for-profit entity. CoMaps is not. This is a real difference, and the former asking for donations makes it look like a scam.
- nexus6 3mo ago
  Looking at the OrganicMaps app on iOS and it seems to be free, with an option for donations in the menu . What does OrganicMap specifically do in order to make profit?
  - sneak 3mo ago
    Charge for downloading map data.
    - Tomte 3mo ago
      I have downloaded many maps and not paid anything.
flaburgan 3mo ago
Here is the open letter to Organic Maps owners written by people who then forked it to Comaps, if you are interested: https://www.comaps.app/news/2025-04-16/1/ https://www.comaps.app/news/2025-04-16/1/

trueno 3mo ago

do these damn projects even push the proposed edits up back to openstreetmap? insanely shameful if not

gpvos 3mo ago
I assume they all do, it's nigh impossible to maintain your own data fork and keep reconciling your users' edits and the updates from OSM.
superjan 3mo ago
They can’t do so automatically. Osm Editors must approve. Apparantly OSM fears legislation when people copy info from google maps. They like to see evidence, like street sign photos. In my limited experience anyway.
- iririririr 3mo ago
  yet google was caught red handed stealing openstreetmap data for years and all it led to was a timid Ooopsy letter. the real reason is that user content, either you don't have anybody contributing, or you're flooded with abuse. there's no middle.
- jraph 3mo ago
  I occasionally contribute to OSM. You just send your edit and they are directly live. I don't think there's prior moderation. On these apps you log in to OSM using an OSM account IIRC (though I mostly use EveryDoor or directly osm.org for this, occasionally StreetComplete, I don't contribute using Comaps)
  - ygra 3mo ago
    Some apps don't edit OSM directly, but rather add a note on the map for others to edit. Maybe that's what they meant. E.g., OrganicMaps often creates these kinds of notes: https://www.openstreetmap.org/note/5377887 https://www.openstreetmap.org/note/5377887 which for certain kinds of edits is safer than trying to directly edit. StreetComplete does the same in many cases when something no longer exists. I think, shops and other places can often be added directly, though since that has little to no ties to existing data. But yeah, I'm using mostly StreetComplete (SCEE) when outside, sometimes Every Door and Vespucci. For offline map apps like Organic Maps it's likely not easy resolving potential conflicts with live OSM data that might be weeks or months newer than the map data in the app.

everybodyknows 3mo ago

For business operators this can be done with a low-friction web page: https://www.onosm.org/ https://www.onosm.org/

ygra 3mo ago
Nota bene: those end up as notes on the map which another mapper has to input manually. There's a lot of spam and dubious entries so I often no longer bother entering them, especially in places I don't know or where I cannot verify the information.
- lavela 3mo ago
  I was using Street Complete for some time and was always wondering if using these apps is considered helpful or if it only creates churn/noise. Is there a general consensus on that in the community? Would it be more accepted to just do a few small, potentially not metadata-complete edits myself or is the review structure (if there is any) geared more towards fewer, more steady contributors? Did one direct edit once and iirc it took ages to land in the map and I wasn't able to grasp if came from new editors' edits being scrutinized more carefully by too few reviewers, from the nature of the edits (deleting a bunch of buildings after demolition and probably not replacing it with the right area type) or if the release cycle for new edits to be included is just way longer than I would have expected.
  - maxerickson 3mo ago
    The review does not block the data being added, it's more of a request for feedback. Different maps have different update cycles. The slippy map on osm.org is meant to update as quickly as possible, usually a few minutes, but sometimes there are hiccups. Zoom levels that show larger areas also update a little slower. As long as what you are adding is up to date/accurate, I wouldn't worry about whether you've captured everything about the features. "This thing is here" is a lot better for the map than no information.
  - ygra 3mo ago
    As a frequent contributor myself I love StreetComplete and I wouldn't worry about it perhaps generating a few changesets more than strictly necessary (it tends to make one changeset per quest (with multiple amendments for individual answers) and also only during a certain time frame. Sure, that means that adding information to a staircase creates multiple changesets (incline, step_count, surface, handrail), but that doesn't really matter. What StreetComplete is very good at, in my opinion, is simply QA on the ground. SC asks about features existing on the map (benches, bus stops, shops, roads, barriers, etc.) and some of them might go stale. So asking about opening hours of a shop might cause someone to look and notice that the shop is closed now, or replaced by another one, so in many cases the quests that add detail to objects have the nice side-effect that those are being looked at and reviewed whether they still exist, which otherwise does not happen often. The barrier to adding new data is often lower than fixing or removing outdated information. And it's such a low barrier to entry, especially for people not familiar with OSM's tagging, since the UX is very well designed for beginners in my eyes (while still being useful for advanced mappers), that you can easily recommend it to people who like those kind of hobbies (e.g. geocaching, Pokémon Go). For me it was an excuse to go outside more, also to places I haven't been, during COVID-19, just to tick off another quest.