Comment by Vinnl
1 day ago
FWIW, editing OpenStreetMap is very straightforward*, and with that, you're actually contributing to an open data set that everyone is allowed to use, rather than just propping up Google.
(To be fair, on a laptop - I'm sure Google Maps is more straightforward on a phone. But for someone already prepared to invest this much effort, editing OSM should be well within range. And if you just enjoy contributing to maps, for a phone I can highly recommend https://streetcomplete.app.)
This is what I do now, got jack of Google throwing my contributions back in my face.
They also only email if your contribution is successful. If it's declined you'll only know by looking inside Google Maps.
Contributing to an open dataset also feels really good.
I think "very straightforward" is vastly overselling how easy editing OSM is.
It feels like editing a database, without any affordances for easily making common updates.
If the hours of a store are wrong on Google Maps, I just upload a photo of their store, and it'll be corrected quickly.
On OSM, well, most things are out of date. There's no simple 'update this business' flow, just a database editor. And a map that feels like I could break anything by clicking in the wrong spot.
OSM is a cool project, but it isn't straightforward. And unlike Google and Apple maps, most of the businesses in my area are years out of date, so I can't effectively use it to find information either, so I just don't have any reason to interact with it. Plus no aerial/satellite/streetview imagery, which I understand is probably infeasible, but ultimately it just means OSM is a niche product that won't replace Google.
So yeah, I'm propping up Google, but I get way more benefit out of it than having an open data set used to power Amazon's delivery driver routes or whatever.
I'm not sure what you mean...
In OrganicMaps/CoMaps I click "edit place" > "Business hours" and get a nice vidual editor with checkboxes for each day it's open and boxes to put in times.
Same in OsmAnd, but editor looks a bit different.
Cartes.app has the "imrpove this place" screen where opening hours is one of the options, but it takes a few more clicks.
Openstreemap.org's web editor also does open hours quite well, but it does have a much complex submission process (it also asks for an edit message and edit tags).
Cartes.app has sattelite imagery as a "premium" option if you donate because they probably have to pay for it. OsmAnd also does, but I don't know if it's free because I paid for it years ago.
I feel like I addressed this in my comment. On a laptop, someone who went through what OP went through would surely be able to click "Edit" at the top of https://www.openstreetmap.org, and add a SuperCharger. If they make a mistake, it is likely to get corrected, rather than rejected.
When it comes to fixing opening hours, https://streetcomplete.app does really make that about as straightforward as can be.
Edit: ah, I just noticed I forgot to prepend the * to my remark in parentheses. I did mean to emphasise that generic edits are only straightforward on a laptop, and only guided edits are straightforward using StreetComplete.
The real issue is local business know about google maps and are often happy to update schedules themselves. The effort for them to know/care about OSM is too high and the payoff low (most clients are on google maps).
> It feels like editing a database, without any affordances for easily making common updates.
have you tried StreetComplete or EveryDoor?
Or at least GoMap!! or MaComplete ?
skill issue.
there's at least three user friendly and better than google maps UX clients.
but i guess they didn't bundle with your pixel nor have all the darkpatterns you got used to.
What are they?
1 reply →
Or you can use https://mapcomplete.org/charging_stations.html to add charging stations as well; data goes to OpenStreetMap too. Disclaimer: I make this
Between the streetcomplete and everydoor apps, it is very very easy to do almost any OSM map editing on a mobile. Osmand (the offline map & nav app) is also useful for some edits when I don't want to leave that app.
Oh, for the simpler days when not everything required an app.
You would enjoy the Always Sunny episode 'mental health day'
I started contributing a couple of months ago, and I am amazed by the fact that there's no vandalizing going on near where I live.
There are few contributions around there, mostly automated imports from like 2012.
Wasn't making street plans from satellite pictures ruled transformative? So if you get an AI to make street plans from Google maps, satellite layer, you're not violating copyright are you?
Bing Maps allows the OpenStreetMap community to trace from aerial_imagery https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Bing_Maps#Aerial_imagery Google doesn't. How much a tool helps somebody to draw the actual roads varies by editor software used, some have plugins. Using AI in bulk isn't allowed afaik.
If you obtain the satellite images directly from Google Maps, you can still have problems because you might not have permission to use the data. That's not copyright though.
> you might not have permission to use the data
Isn't it fair use, like training data?
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I would worry about trap streets. A collection of facts isn't copyrightable, and arguably the network of existing streets shown in satellite photos falls into that category. But if I were the photo licensor, I'd be tempted to Photoshop in a few fictional features that could be protected as "creative expression," or some such BS.
Trap steets (fake data with no creative expression) are not copyrightable un USA, but specific art for drawing maps is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trap_street