I'm proud to say that the OSM map for my neighborhood has been more up to date than Google since I've moved here.

I've been trying to do the same for Panoramax, but that's so much more work than just updating some details about a new/closed shop. Especially since I'm self-hosting it and I don't feel confident enough in my server admin abilities to pull other people into this.

There is no open source car navigation app which is bad. Magic earth is great but not open source. Tomtom is good but not open source.

Osmand is awesome for power users. Comaps is good for causal users.

We need more wikipedia images and content, there is still a lot to improve on maps just by contributing to wikipedia. Osmand added custom buttons and now you can enable wikipedia connections with one click which is great.

There are no menus for restaurants, no pictures, no other stuff. The situation is not really improving for years. Osm is great for a base map but it lacks so much information that it could replace google maps.

Here maps is trash and apple maps is apple, i.e. not better than google

I tried relying solely on osm and I failed simply because you can't just have a look where cool restaurants or bars are. I use osmand for everything except exploring such random stuff in random cities. Osmand is better for toilets, benches and nieche info.

Related lemmy communities:

• !osm@feddit.uk
• !CoMaps@sopuli.xyz
• !openstreetmap@lemmy.ml
• !osmand@lemmy.ml

I'm doing my part! 🙋‍♀️

Street complete is easy to use, really. It's a great way to contribute and spend a little time when you are waiting in line or for a friend. It asks: is this pavement? What are the open hours of this building? Just simple easy questions in an easy to use application made for a mobile device.

I personally quite like OsmAnd's granular control, but understand how others might experience this as being overwhelming; which big-tech's restrictive... I mean "modern" user-experience (UX) might be to blame for. There are however quite some alternatives to pick from, if you wanted a more minimalist approach to UX; which OsmAnd could also provide by default (while allowing advanced users to toggle additional "expert" settings).

What makes Google "Maps" superior to OSM-based maps, is not its inferior "map", but rather the navigational aspect: businesses and other 'points of interests' (POIs) registering their location to Google, public transit data being supplied to it (allowing for planning), traffic statistics (through creepy location tracking, even in the background unless opted out), etc.; and bundles all into a single, undeniably convenient application.

I would argue OSM data is primarily mass imports, from other permissive or open (government) databases; which are strongly dependent on region. For The Netherlands: BAG (basic registration of addresses and buildings) and BGT (basic registration of large-scale topography), make up a large portion of the data presented (which are either directly imported or used as a reference). Although, relative to real-world changes they might temporarily lack behind, and users add details based on satellite imagery.

Regarding satellite imagery: editors don't always have up-to-date imagery, leading to some users undoing changes others have made. In The Netherlands, the government provides relatively recent satellite imagery: which can be imported into the alternative JOSM editor as an WMTS layer. And you may also want to check the comments of the last change: in OSM's own iD editor you can click the "last modified ..." link, all the way at the bottom of the "Edit object" tab, for the selected object.

Another thing I would really recommend, is checking how other mappers have added certain features. Which is sometimes easier to understand than OSM's documentation; which doesn't always correspond to practice (possibly dependent on region). A very useful tool for this is Overpass Turbo, which you can use to search for certain elements, to see how others have implemented these.

I know this might all feel a little overwhelming, but I wish I had known these things earlier in my mapping journey. I started doing it because I noticed things missing, that I knew existed as a mailman. Just starting with smaller changes to get my feet wet, and gradually working my way to larger changes. As long as you don't start taring up large roads (including their often many relationships), you'll be just fine; and might even become hooked (as it can be quite satisfying, having created another beautiful part).

Just downloaded CoMaps on one of my phones. I'm in the process of degoogling that particular phone

I zoomed in to my local area and typed pizza in the search box. A place with Pizza in the name was at the center of my screen. The search took me to a city in another continent called Pizza.

Contributions from users are wasted if the final UX is so poorly designed.

For those who are looking for a app that's slightly more user friendly, try out cardinal maps - it's amazing. And also uses OSM for its data, so remember to contribute 🙂

Thank you for this kind public service announcement.

Is there an alternative to Google maps that has traffic updates? I want to avoid Google where possible, but last week Google maps warned me about an accident on the highway and saved me being stuck in it for hours.

I did add like two places once, thanks for the reminder to contribute some more, I'll get at it later today/tomorrow :) 

I've been using OsmAnd. I've tried to label some stuff but I couldn't figure it out. Can I contribute with this app? Do I need a different app?

You mistyped the url: it's https://www.openstreetmap.org/ no s at the end

If I remember correctly, years ago we corrected and added locations in our home town as part of a school project. Having alternative map services is really important. Thank you for your work!

Shameless plug for https://mapcomplete.org/ which makes it easy to see and contribute to OpenStreetMap. It has a bunch of maps per topic, making it easy to see what is interesting to you. It also guides (new) contributors, making it very hard to make mistakes.

Can I contribute somehow without turning on location on my phone?

I prefer Every Door for simple POI edits. Much easier to use for this use case (updating opening hours for example), especially on small screens.

Am I the only one who noticed the 6-7 reference? 👀

Clever

I like using Vespucci to edit OSM, easy and fun

I love using OsmAnd~ It's better than google and comaps...

Ive used OsmAnd+ for years & I still find it confusing to find specific settings! Thankfully OsmAnd settings can be backed up & exported/imported.

That said, several times in new cities in both in my home country & abroad late in the day, it's found us places to eat, toilets, late night supermarkets etc etc. I was grateful to the mappers & I vowed to do the same in my home city suburb to help any fellow visitors who find themselves here. I kept my word & mapped it extensively though I'll not reveal where.

Several months ago we visited a European capital for a city break, the public transit navigation in OsmAnd was fantastic. The offline wiki articles are amazing when visiting new places.

Top tip: utilise the "Quick Action" shortcut button. Add fuel, parking, parking location, wiki & "show nearest POI". You can toggle them on/off in an instant when needed

Thanks for the nudge, gonna start using streetcomplete on my walks :)

I have added all the houses on my street to OSM and used StreetComplete for things. The only very frustrating thing I hate is that my house is technically in a tiny town's zone as far as utilities, but my street address is under a larger small town. I have made sure that my house and the others on my street have the mailing address town. But when I search it on Co-Maps it still shows the tiny town name. Which if I wasn't aware of this happening, I would think the address I searched isn't the same place. Does anyone know if there is a way to force OSM to use the correct address?