StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time(streetcomplete.app)
356 pointsby kls0e4 hours ago27 comments
  • lapetitejort29 minutes ago
    I got into OSM and StreetComplete to flesh out intersections, stop signs, and sidewalks in my area. I always felt like I was doing something wrong though. I created crosswalks, then OSM would prompt me to connect the crosswalk to the road via a crossing. In StreetComplete, it felt like I was filling in duplicate data. I had to add whether the crossing had crossing lights not only at the middle crossing, but on the sides as well. This probably doesn't make any sense.

    Basically, I am never confident I am editing OSM correctly. Am I supposed to manually draw out sidewalks, or tag the road as having a sidewalk? After adding sidewalks in my area, StreetComplete is now asking me if roads have sidewalks, which I clearly see on the map. Reminds me of editing the various Wiki pages. There's several ways of documenting something, only one way is correct, and it's undocumented.

    edit: after playing with StreetComplete more, I noticed you can mark sidewalks as displayed separately. This is tagged as "sidewalk:both=separate" on the road. Whether this is the right way to do things I do not know

    • Cider99869 minutes ago
      When I'm unsure I make a note with a photo and someone who knows more looks into it.
  • earth-tattooan hour ago
    It sucks that Google is probably using OSM data to check what they are missing and adding it to their maps, but we can't do vice versa. OSM should change their license to something like if you use our data, you have to make yours open as well.
    • JacobKfromIRCan hour ago
      The license seems to already require this: https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright/

      Maybe I am misunderstanding the summary, but it says: "If you publicly use any adapted version of this database, or works produced from an adapted database, you must also offer that adapted database under the ODbL." <https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/summary/>

    • GreyStachean hour ago
      Change that to definitely. I added a brand-new road on OSM and a week later it was on google maps.
      • plorg12 minutes ago
        On the other hand, I've been trying to submit changes to Google for several new and vacated roads for over a year (having already updated OSM) and they are constantly rejected. I suspect it is much more that their updates are responsive to car traffic. The segments I'm submitting are or were low-traffic although they include a road that a local municipality has directed people to in official communication for overflow yard waste after some big, recent storms.
      • ygraan hour ago
        Google can cheat a little, especially for new roads since they notice when someone is driving over it. When there was a redesign of an intersection near here, someone marked the road as completed in OSM maybe half an hour after it was opened (we have a few quite active mappers), and Google had it open about two hours later and I suspect no one changed the data directly.
  • aweb4 hours ago
    I discovered that recently, it's a very fun way to contribute to OpenStreetMap, and the UI is really well-done, it's totally beginner friendly! I wish there was a way to do more than labeling though, like add simple roads and footpaths
    • eskori4 hours ago
      I have used it one (1) time in my life, ans it was my first experience with OpenStreetMap in general. It was pretty fun!

      It's very intuitive and makes you learn just how detailed and specific map data can be. Can't say much about missing features since I don't event know what can be done.

      Recommended experience, it's like playing Pokemon Go without the evil part :)

    • Ajedi323 hours ago
      Usually if I need to add a footpath I use the "Create new track recording" feature to trace out the path with GPS, then come back to it later on desktop. Adding paths is pretty awkward to do on mobile, especially since there's no satellite overlay.
  • giancarlostoroan hour ago
    Reminds me of when Microsoft released a new Flight Sim, and people immediately started spotting buildings and things that were out of the norm in the game, which in turn started getting reported to OSM for corrections.

    https://hackaday.com/2020/08/21/microsoft-flight-simultors-d...

  • jnpnj29 minutes ago
    Are there other similar apps to stimulate soft "crowdfixing" ? I'm sure there are plenty of other aspect of society that would benefit from a light way to know where someone can contribute or notify so other can fix things (forest dumps, random trash). Homeostatic apps to ensure our surroundings are close to a good state :]
    • ivanjermakov12 minutes ago
      > forest dumps, random trash

      Likely you can report such occasions to local authorities via online form. Of course every city/county would have their own.

  • TeddyDD4 hours ago
    Great app. There is also https://every-door.app/ that gives you slightly different set of tasks and allows you to place POI easily. I recently mapped a lot of trash cans and benches around my neighborhood while walking with my dog.
    • Ajedi323 hours ago
      StreetComplete lets you place trash cans and benches too (among other things) using the "Things" overlay. IMO Every Door has a much more complicated UI, though it's also more of a full featured editor than StreetComplete. (Though still less so than something like Vespucci.)
      • progbitsan hour ago
        Thank you!

        Is that a new feature? I have over a thousand contributions on StreetComplete (casually using it during walks) and somehow I never noticed that button.

        • ygraan hour ago
          The overlays are intentionally a bit hidden, since they're more of a power-user feature and I appreciate that StreetComplete retains beginner-friendliness as a core tenet. But the overlays are indeed awesome for survey-type walks where you just want to make sure that all sidewalks are mapped correctly, or to see which shops are still missing.
        • Ajedi32an hour ago
          Sort of. It was added in 2023. (https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/pull/5373)
      • TeddyDDan hour ago
        Each to their own, I use both for different things, I like EveryDoor UI better for placing POIs.
    • deckar013 hours ago
      The UX is really bad. POI loading is taking 10+ seconds to update, then any zoom or pan reorders the list of locations. Most of the missing info (around me) is just phone numbers and hours of operation, which are boring and should be trivial to collect automatically.
      • jllyhill2 hours ago
        The thing is that the best way to get the phones and opening hours is to walk in person and look them up. Any source for the automated collection is way more likely to be outdated/wrong than what the sign or the person behind the counter tells you. And can also have non-permissive license not compatible with the OSM license.
        • jorvi2 hours ago
          Raw Information cannot be licensed, and I am not sure why OSM sticks to the policy that it can.

          Google Maps does not hold the rights to which opening hours Bob's Bakery keeps. If someone entered them from Bob's Bakery their site onto Maps, you are free to type it off of Maps onto OSM. Legally anyway. OSM themselves still hold the policy you can't, so you should adhere to that.

    • didip3 hours ago
      oooo what a fantastic idea. I have always wanted to map as many clothes donation boxes as possible.
      • ndriscoll3 hours ago
        You can do that, little free libraries, water fountains, etc. all in StreetComplete as well.
  • freakynit3 hours ago
    Just downloaded and made 15+ small contributions in the vicinity of my area. Very well built app. Super simple to use. And gamification is top-notch. Recommended.
    • Cider99862 minutes ago
      I naively thought that Duolingo's gamification was for a good cause, helping you learn a language by addicting you, but now I know it's not only an extremely ineffective way to learn a language, but they're an advertising/social media/data broker company, which makes the gamification unethical.

      I wonder if there are any other FOSS apps or websites with gamification that are for a good cause, like StreetComplete.

  • pavel_lishinan hour ago
    I downloaded this, and I'm slightly amazed at how much detail there is. What material the utility poles are made of?
  • hexomancer3 hours ago
    This is very cool, I wish there was some way to use it on a bicycle though. For example, when moving into a street it could ask (using voice) if this street is paved, and I could answer it using voice too.
  • wxlong2000an hour ago
    StreetComplete's trick is hiding the tagging model until you actually need it. Most contributor tools expose the schema too early.
  • marssaxmanan hour ago
    Thank you for the reminder! I got out of the habit of checking StreetComplete since my previous neighborhood was well populated in OSM, but having just moved, I should check it out again.
  • jcynixan hour ago
    StreetComplete is cool, fun and useful, yes. And there is its companion app StreetMeasure which makes it easy to add measurements like the width of a narrow street, for example.
  • Schiendelman4 hours ago
    Hi! Is this yours? Would you like help porting this to iOS?
  • hirako20003 hours ago
    One thing missing on osm is pictures. Would defeats Google maps if it had some, where users would feedback and bad shots would get wiped to save space. We would get the best shots the world has to offer.
  • khernandezrt3 hours ago
    Does it have to be a mobile app? Id love to do this when im bored at work but i dont wanna make it seem like im just sitting on my phone.
    • stndef2 hours ago
      I think the reasoning behind this is that ideally you're at the location where you can confirm what you see, instead of maybe referring to older media or from memory.

      That being said, I agree with you and would like to see more ways to access the tool!

    • circuit102 hours ago
      A web app would also make it work on iOS (and other non-Android platforms) at the same time
    • okok3857an hour ago
      Rapid Editor is a good web app for editing OSM: https://rapideditor.org/
    • modriano2 hours ago
      You can edit OSM from its main site [0], although there's a much steeper learning curve when using the site (as you have far more freedom and it's not super easy to figure out the standard way to tag some situations).

      [0] https://www.openstreetmap.org/

    • harvey92 hours ago
      You can edit OSM from their web apps. This is intended to be used in the field but I guess you could use it to find things that need fixing.
      • petrzjunior2 hours ago
        Adding to that: StreetComplete specifically creates only quests for information which must be checked in the terrain like opening hours, surfaces, traffic light sounds. Anything surveyable from maps and other sources should be edited using the web editors. OpenStreetMap iD is probably the easiest to learn.
  • netfortius4 hours ago
    Some more info in an earlier thread [1]

    [1] CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48808928

  • endymion-light3 hours ago
    I really love this - fantastic that it's open source too as would love to contribute. Is there an opportunity to add fresh new sites on this?
    • ndriscoll3 hours ago
      As in can you add points of interest like shops? Yes, there's a places overlay with an add button, and a things overlay for things like benches, bicycle parking, etc. For adding buildings, roads, or paths you'd need something else.
  • myself2483 hours ago
    See also, https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SCEE
    • kls0e3 hours ago
      scph1001.bin
      • Narishma3 hours ago
        More like scph1002.bin in this case. 1001 is for SCEA.
  • Krasnol2 hours ago
    I love this tool.

    It brought me back to mapping on OSM.

    Wherever you are and need to wait for a minute, there are quests to be solved there.

    I recommend SCEE for those who are already familiar with OSM mapping or are in an area where the most common tasks are already covered: https://github.com/Helium314/SCEE

  • Acrobatic_Road3 hours ago
    Every day I take a 2 hour walk and contribute as much data as I can to OSM using this app.
  • hadi1213 hours ago
    This is such a great idea. Are there ever any plans for a web app?
  • qmacro2 hours ago
    I enjoyed the simulated phone screenshots, particularly the choice of House of the Trembling Madness, a great beer stockist and drinking establishment on Lendal in York. I would like to think that the name in the input field is deliberately slightly wrong, ready to be fixed by someone. (It's "House of the Trembling Madness" rather than "The House of Trembling Madness".) Gamification at another level :-)
    • baumschubser2 hours ago
      Just through your comment I found out that they have different screenshots for all their localization settings. Cool!
  • jmspring3 hours ago
    Is there something equivalent for iOS?
    • Quot3 hours ago
      StreetComplete has been making steady progress on an iOS port over the past few years.

      https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421

      • circuit102 hours ago
        It would be nice if they made a web app, that would make it work on iOS but also desktop and every other platform with a web browser at the same time
        • Quot2 hours ago
          I agree! It seems like their work on the iOS app would bring them a lot closer to web app support as well. In the iOS tracking issue, they say the main changes are moving to Kotlin Multiplatform and Compose Multiplatform, which both support web as a target.
          • jmspring2 hours ago
            I'll take a look and see if I can help out. Thx.
    • tiffanyh3 hours ago
      > ANDROID WILL BECOME A LOCKED-DOWN PLATFORM IN XXX

      My guess is no because of the developer linking too below (and how it's always existed this way for iOS)

      https://keepandroidopen.org

      I wonder why this needs to be an app at all, instead of web based.

  • piebro3 hours ago
    If anyone is interested in where StreetComplete is used or which quests are the most popular, you can check out: https://piebro.github.io/openstreetmap-statistics/stats/04_s...
  • lisperan hour ago
    See also:

    https://gurumaps.app/

  • preetham_rangu2 hours ago
    Been using this for my dog walks too. There's something oddly satisfying about turning a boring loop around the block into "wait, does that bin have a lid?" Never thought trash cans would be the thing that got me into mapping.
  • santiagohzszmex2 hours ago
    Muy bien