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I've been editing OSM for years. (896,339 edits in 3,427 changesets, apparently!) For me, it's all about the free data. I once got a thank you note from someone who worked for a city with a particularly large municipal park. I'd added almost all the trails to the park and other information, and they'd used it to produce a printed map for the general public. Exactly the kind of thing I'd hoped for!

Personally, I do a lot of dualsport motorcycling and most backcountry maps around here are subpar. I map tons of trails and 2track and put them on the Garmin so I know where I'm going.

OSM is also great in lots of Europe--tons of detail.

JOSM is great.

Someone just recommended Organic Maps for the phone--it's way snappier than Google Maps, but still not great with finding addresses.

Yeah. Story time:

In the England we have ancient rights-of-way laws but a lot of private landowners try to block footpaths that cross their land. If a landowner can argue a footpath hasn't been used in (I think) two years they can have it removed, but in 2025 all the existing footpaths will be made permanent and indelible except with explicit local government permission so between now and then a lot of landowners will be rushing to get paths removed.

I've made a point of walking every footpath in my area and making sure they're all documented on OSM. If any of the landowners try to get a path removed I have my GPS tracks as proof of use.

Edit: FWIW, I find OSM to be the best map for rambling. Google and Apple don't come close and OSM even gives Ordinance Survey a run for it's money.

https://streetcomplete.app/ is a fun way to contribute to OSM and do something else instead of just "walking" if you want to get outside a bit.

OSM is huge for backcountry. Hiking trails, skiing, etc. There is nothing better.

I regularly use OSM data through Organic Maps (mostly for larger European cities). The app is really polished and is a joy to use. So far I'm not missing any features from Google Maps.

I've also updated some faulty business hours for some restaurants so I guess I've contributed back.

E: With the recent developments in the world of free online services (YouTube blocking ad-blockers, Google lying to their customers about its TrueView ads, Twitter rate limiting free access, the Reddit API fiasco), I wonder how much longer we can take free services like Google Maps for granted. Having an open alternative may become even more important in the future.

Hi! Wrong sub? No worries, our ~~subreddit~~community ([email protected]) is right here as well!

Did you also know that Apple Maps and Bing Maps use OSM data too in some areas, for some types of categories? Bing even has cloned an OSM-editing program.

Furthermore, you can use https://mapcomplete.osm.be to add shops or other POI. (Obligatory shill as I'm the main dev of that one ;) )

pietervdvn

OSM is an awesome project I agree it is fun contributing to it but it is not as useful yet due to what you describe, details.

Finding addresses and other specific information is very hit or miss in some areas. Especially in the US where no one really cares about it other than tech corporations using it for quick info like street layouts.

My entire city has address numbers missing and for a long time I used an app on my phone (StreetComplete) to fix address numbers and other various details. But it can be overwhelming very quickly depending on how outdated or not updated your place is. Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time by the way.

I use it quite often, but only recently began contributing. And as they (very) wisely say at the bottom of the wiki (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Editing_Standards_and_Conventions ):

WARNING: OpenStreetMap is highly addictive Take frequent breaks, there is a lot to be done.

Currently at 319 contributions on OpenStreetMap since the 22 of December 2022 some part of south Italy are not mapped at all so I'm trying my best to make at least usable.

If someone want to contribute to osm StreetComplete let you add simple tags to already existing tags and let you add stores with a monstrous simplicity!

Anyway tell your girlfriend that apple maps and bing maps use data from openstreet map and are huge contributors to the project, in fact the default map when you edit in osm is from bing!

I use OsmAnd~. Mainly to analyze my skating routes (average speed, distance, etc) and planning sightseeing routes when on vacation.

For finding commute an app from local public transport is still the best and google maps are better than osmand, but for navigation on foot it's very good. And you can download the region earlier, so when you use it, you don't need that much data.

Contributed a very little. Been using it ina Top metro city for .ore than a year. Heavily reliable.

Yes. Most of my contributions are "drinking water" (public water fountains) and "restrooms"

I've been meaning to ask: what's the appropriate POI for a normal 115/220 power outlet socket?

Im currently using streetcomplete, which is an app that gamifies the experience of fulfilling OSM gaps. It's like playing pokemon go but you are hunting a street with isle. I found this recommendation here in lemmy so im passing forward, I loved it

I've thought about trying it before, but this thread is both inspiring me and giving me some info to get started (apps, etc). Is there a handy guide somewhere for a beginner that would explain some of the terminology, some of the most needed info, etc?

Yup!

I have switched from Google Maps to Here we go for years now and been loving it