MapComplete: Maps about various topics which you can contribute to
152 points - today at 2:04 PM
Sourcepietervdvn
today at 6:55 PM
Hi all! MapComplete creator here! If you have any questions, shoot!
This is genuinely one of the best tools to emerge in the OpenStreetMap ecosystem in recent years.
If you've ever tried to onboard a non-technical person to OSM, you know the struggle. The default web editor (iD) can still be overwhelming with its sheer amount of data, and JOSM (the desktop power-user tool) is entirely out of the question for casual contributors.
Thanks!
I'd also strongly endorse its on-the-street mobile app counterpart, StreetComplete. Splitting stuff into tiny tasks you can focus on really helps if you're just out on foot in an area.
This is the app I miss the most switching from android to ios. I so wish there was an ios app of streetcomplete.
matkoniecz
today at 3:46 PM
Or if you are looking for pretext to walk a bit in area known to you :)
What do you mean by this? Does the app have a way of showing you new things in familiar areas?
Similarly, `Go Map!!` is an iOS app that makes editing OSM data easy.
Adding missing features is one of my favorite things to do while traveling, and feels like a way of giving back (“take only photos, leave only GIS traces”?)
cf100clunk
today at 2:37 PM
I've occasionally used the CoMaps OSM editing capability to just get the basics in before doing the big work in JOSM, or more likely the web editor. Now I'll be looking into MapComplete much further.
ProofHouse
today at 4:36 PM
Could be but needs a serious UI/UX revamp (easy). Maximally remove friction when asking for user contributions. Like literally on the first page it puts adding public clocks, I repeat, PUBLIC CLOCKS (and other such things), on equal footing as adding a restaurant. Like, no.
nisiddharth
today at 3:54 PM
I use this app fairly regularly to locate public toilets (I walk 15-20 km daily in random directions after getting down a random bus stop in my city) and have contributed some locations as well.
I use the app "flush" for this, and it works pretty well.
Does it source data from OSM? The app store page doesn't make clear what the data source is.
voidUpdate
today at 2:36 PM
I opened this up, and immediately saw a contribution I could make. Created an OSM account and fixed it =)
matkoniecz
today at 3:20 PM
thanks!
Well, nice try, but sadly maintaining up to date GIS data takes much more than a UI. The only thing that gets close to such datalake is perhaps OSM and ESRI World Atlas... but nothing is close to huggingface or github as positioning. Besides, data is a live thing, and all such cartography very quickly dates and gets irrelevant or incorrect.
How's this compare with street complete? It seems like the categories are different and maybe wider?
just curious how the different tools the community has made stack up
PetitPrince
today at 3:41 PM
Streetcomplete can filter the map with a variety of filters for features you can edit or complete(Street lighting, Surfaces, Sidewalks, Bike paths, Street parking, Addresses, Places, Things, Buildings). Plus there's some specific "quests" where you can complete information for specific POI ("Does this bench have a backrest? Yes|No", "Where does this fire hydrant lies? On the grass | On the roadway | On a walkway | On a parking).
Mapcomplete also offers filling info about existing POI, but you can filter on specific theme (Drinking water, sports) or very specific theme (etymology) or even your own. There's also an UI to add new POIs; I don't think it's possible with StreetComplete.
Either way both are great.
What does the etymology theme do? Allow you to add the etymologies of place names?
matkoniecz
today at 3:47 PM
> There's also an UI to add new POIs; I don't think it's possible with StreetComplete.
You can do it in Things and Places layers (layers can be enabled by tapping circle in top-right)
matkoniecz
today at 3:20 PM
For start StreetComplete is an Android app unavailable (for now) elsewhere.
MapComplete has multiple in-depth layers, while StreetComplete is more general.
StreetComplete puts more focus on being usable out-of the box for newbies, while I would describe MapComplete as having focus on usability but allowing deeper dive in specific topics.
(disclaimer: I helped with developing StreetComplete)
mattw2121
today at 3:55 PM
IDK, maybe I'm missing something, but I can't do something I feel like should be super basic. I went into the Arcade category, zoomed to my city, Arcade was in the wrong location. How can I report an incorrect location?
You can login with an OpenStreetmaps.org (osm) account and edit it yourself. This app is used to add those objects. There is also an app "StreetComplete".
Hmmm, I love OSM, consume their data in my small cycling project and regularly contribute smaller fixes.
But I also shy away from anything more complex than fixing attributes and meta data of existing objects. Especially editing relations, ways and nodes - is this possible with MapComplete? I loaded the Cyclofix map, but I can't even select cycle paths or roads, just edit POIs.
jszymborski
today at 3:09 PM
I think we're hugging it to death.
cf100clunk
today at 3:29 PM
I've been in and out of MapComplete since this arrived on HN and have not had any such problems.
Yeah, it's definitely super slow right now.
ProofHouse
today at 4:36 PM
Asing users to have to navigate all those options with terrible design and UI, then putting them on zoom out of the world, having to click a bunch to zoom in to their location (95% of what people would be adding would be where they are)...I mean I could go on, but that is where I bounced. I was happy to add the cafe I am at, and others, but once I got to this point I was like ok, no sorry. Improved UI would go a long way.
I am aggravated by this post because it reminds me of how good life could be with an internet that was not enshittified.
Really great way to edit OSM and ulike StreetComplete I can use it on the web. I tried editing through OSM and found it confusing and difficult.