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Comment by aweb | Hacker News Reader

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

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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 :)

What's the "evil" part?

Probably https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/06/pokemon-go-players-unwitt...

Then again you produce public open-source data when you contribute to OSM, and nothing prevents the military from using it for morally questionable purposes... at the end of the day the only difference is the intermediary that could make a profit selling the data, no?

well, I sure don't get to have access to all the pokémon data even if I ask very nicely, do I? I'd think that's a (related but important) difference

I was questioning the qualification of Pokemon Go being "evil" here, it's the data broker and the military who are evil in this case in my opinion. (Making it open-source also doesn't help, as I said we'd only short-circuit the intermediary who sold this data).

Maybe it's a useless nuance, but I don't think Pokemon Go gamers should feel/evil or even that they should be careful the next time they try to entertain themselves.

No, the huge difference is creating the good part. Where is the open data for the general public created from Pokemon GO? You can't stop the military using open data but that is on them. The evil is them getting your private data to have an exclusive advantage people have no control or transparency over.

I was talking about a difference for the bad outcome in this case... if Pokemon Go was open souce and public, the military could have done the same, for that matter the might be doing the same with OSM data to some extend right now and it would be harder to know about it.

Open-source software and data are obviously public goods I support. I was just pointing out that the only "evil" parts here are rent seekers reselling this data and the military... not the people assembling the data (players).

You have no idea what they are selling though. You can ask to get bad things removed from Open Street Maps. It isn't just the money making aspect it's the secrecy too.

If StreetComplete starts asking road width and loading capacity for bridges and viaducts... start to get suspicious :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bqzwsM6eoQ

Street complete does load width - it can be quite useful for example for the fire fighters. They can try to plot some routes based on OSM data, then check if the narrow places are actually there and reach out to the city to address them, so their fire engines can get through.

That's a fair use for the data, but it would be hilarious if StreetComplete asked users to get a trundle wheel and measure the width of roads around embassies or seats of government...

There's a companion app, StreetMeasure, that uses Google's AR measuring capability on compatible phones. Personally, I carry a laser distance measure.

how am i just hearing about this, wow

[Surprised Pikachu Face]

Niantic would sell your children’s social security numbers if they thought they’d get away with it.

Every business would sell your actual children if they could.

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.

FYI someone else has probably already traced this through Strava, which is allowed to be used for tracing: <https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Strava#Data_Permission_-...>

Strava doesn't have complete coverage, especially on newer trails, but more importantly: doing the trace via Street Complete attaches it to an OSM note with an optional (but encouraged) photo. This additional context makes it a lot more useful for editors than an ordinary trace, which can just as easily be an actual trail, a desire path, or someone deciding to improvise a shortcut through some brush. Even if the note just contains the word "trail", that helps us (though more detail is greatly appreciated, of course).

StreetComplete doesn't have satellite overlays, but both Vespucci and EveryDoor support viewing satellite overlay tiles!

Though if you like StreetComplete and want aerial/satellite, there's SCEE, a fork of StreetComplete. I tried both Vespucci and EveryDoor, but neither is nearly as easy to use in my opinion.

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/SCEE

I have my mapping spells where I do OSM mapping for a week or a month and then I might not map for a year or two. For mobile mapping I have all those you mentioned installed. They all are useful for something, except perhaps StreetComplete which is just a crippled version of SCEE for me. I also have OSMFocus Reborn installed which I use if I want to inspect ways and nodes in an area when I'm not in the middle of editing/adding anything with one of those other apps. That app is good for quickly checking some things out.

I think adding things, instead of updating existing things with missing data is where you get into needing a more serious app. I keep Vespucci for when I want to initiate an edit, and StreetComplete for fun filling in missing information tasks.

I love the app idea but I don't think it's beginner friendly - for example it starts zoomed out of the globe and there is no button to zoom to the location; also it's unclear what the hatched lines until one zooms in.

There's a button to zoom to the location at the bottom right, the same spot as Google maps (and the same icon too).

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