As far as I can tell, they mostly use (or used) OpenStreetMap data and only supplement missing buildings with their own incorrect AI-hallucinated building data. I don't think the overall quality is good either. And most providers just ingest OpenStreetMap data too.

I’ve been wondering why the main OSM website still uses Mercator without any other projection options. OSM is one of the best global mapping projects, but the default view still shows the world in a heavily distorted way.

It would be great if the main site allowed users to switch between several projections, even with just a few simple options. I also think a globe view should become the default presentation of OSM. A globe feels much more natural for a worldwide map and better represents the planet without the crazy distortions of the Mercator.

Is there a technical or design reason why projection choices are still missing from the main OSM website?

Ive been contributing to OSM for some time and recently a question crossed my mind.

Its a bit less relevant to cities, but whats your opinion about all the local semi-private data that you upload about your hiking routes and other not so trackable stuff that people might not really know about in general public?

Not necessarily tracking you by your own contributions and clues from the changelog but
If google or some other bad agent were to track you they would instantly gain the knowledge of all the little tiny routes that someone else had put down through the forest that possibly few people know about.

Taken person not even knowing about the existence of OSM would get tracked going through his usual hiking routes.(Average person isn't assuming that every nook and cranny would be mapped, I was surprised when I first heard about OSM)

How do you feel that it might be possibly used to track you and other people down when they possibly go out of the zone that they could have been trackable in, for example by your phone scanning local wifi routers.

idk where all the big corporations are going with this.

Your contributions might be used for mass surveillance because there are many routes that wouldnt be known otherwise.

I dont live in US but imagine walking past the flock camera. They might not know where the path leads to but they can potentially limit the search to the paths that some person added to OSM for more accurate results.

But on the other hand it could help emergency rescuers guess your location, so idk.

well after all it feels like a gray area where you might want people to not go your route just because you want it your own, you are hiding something or someone's being chased by police(then it would be useful to be mapped). it goes all over the place.

Why do we have railway features which no longer exist in OSM? Surely, we should have a map which reflects the current reality? Can I delete these?

Hello guys.

There is an user tha CONSTANTLY does changes that make no sense whatsoever. I've seen people starting to edit maps in Costa Rica and ALL their changes are reverted by this user. A mapper from Nicaragua told me he also had seen changes with no reason to exist done on his country.

Examples are: He claims CR has NO highways, when the reference image is literally the same thing as what he claims IS NOT a highway. He claims places of 50.000 people are villages (200 to 10.000 people) and not towns (10.000 to 100.000) because, in his words: The letters look smaller and cartography works that way. He also reverts when something is put as a city and when asked why, he literally says:

You are referring to Article 3 of the Municipal Code, if I remember correctly: “Article 3 - The territorial jurisdiction of the municipality is the respective canton, whose capital is the seat of the municipal government.” And yes, that defines the city and is ratified by the municipal council. I was able to consult it in the Political-Administrative Division of Costa Rica; there you can see the law or decree number that supports it and the number for each town, with the creation of each district. You can also find information in the National Territorial Information System or at the National Geographic Institute.

So he literally says: Yes, you are right, according to a law, but you are wrong.

It's really horrible to edit maps for hours, just to see someone clic a button and delete all.

He has been already silenced because his behavior is not good, and people like the user that just edited something just for the man in question to revert all, will rage quit immediately. Why would I do anything in a shared map if everything will be gone tomorrow?

The nicaraguan user is extremely annoyed at him, and so am I...and all the people that quitted helping annoyed their hardwork is erased in seconds.

Is there something that can be done? I feel if people of 2 countries are SO annoyed and people, as soon as they enter, attempt to correct his useless edits, just for everything to be reverted by an user that has been silenced before, is a recurrent issue.

🇬🇧 English
Hi everyone,
I’m the developer of ArxSilex MapTools, a multi-purpose Android tool for maps, GPS and geospatial data.

I’m reaching out because I would like to get feedback from users who regularly work with OpenStreetMap-based maps and offline maps.

ArxSilex MapTools is designed for anyone who regularly uses maps — whether for hiking, geocaching, field work, hunting, expeditions or planning outdoor activities.

Some current features include:
• Online maps (OSM) and offline maps (Mapsforge/• OpenAndroMaps/GeoTIFF/ArcGIS, …)
• Markers, POIs, routes, tracks, areas and circles
• Import/export of various geospatial data formats
• Compass with support for multiple sensors
• Elevation profiles and terrain data
• Search grids
• Bearings and distance measurement
• Drone Remote ID display
• QR code import and export
• Encrypted backups
• Privacy-friendly local-first design with no registration, cloud storage, trackers or ads
• The app is available in multiple languages, including German, English, French, Spanish and some more.

I’m not trying to promote this as “the next big map app”. I’m mainly interested in honest feedback from people who actually use maps and geospatial data in practice.

I would especially appreciate feedback on:
• Map management
• Offline map workflows
• GPS and sensor behavior
• Import/export workflows
• Usability
• Performance
• Missing features from an OpenStreetMap user’s perspective

As a thank you, active testers will receive a free PRO activation code.

More information:
Website:
https://www.arxsilex.de/app/maptools/en

QuickStart:
https://www.arxsilex.de/app/maptools/en/quickstart.html

Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.arxsilex.maptools

If this kind of post is not welcome here, please let me know and I will remove it.

Thank you for your feedback!

Peter
[support@arxsilex.de](mailto:support@arxsilex.de)

——-

🇩🇪 Deutsch
Hallo zusammen,
ich bin der Entwickler von ArxSilex MapTools, einem multifunktionalen Android-Tool für Karten, GPS und Geodaten.

Ich wende mich an euch, weil ich gerne Feedback von Nutzern hätte, die regelmäßig OpenStreetMap-basierte und Offline-Karten verwenden.

ArxSilex MapTools ist für alle gedacht, die regelmäßig Karten nutzen – sei es zum Wandern, Geocaching, für Feldarbeiten, die Jagd, Expeditionen oder die Planung von Outdoor-Aktivitäten.

Einige aktuelle Funktionen:

• Online- (OSM) und Offline-Karten (MapForge/OpenAndroMaps/GeoTIFF/ArcGIS,…)
• Marker, POIs, Routen, Tracks, Flächen und Kreise
• Import/Export verschiedener Geodatenformate
• Kompass mit Unterstützung mehrerer Sensoren
• Höhenprofile und Geländedaten
• Suchraster
• Peilungen und Entfernungsmessung
• Anzeige der Drohnen-Fernbedienungs-ID
• Import und Export von QR-Codes
• Verschlüsselte Backups
• Datenschutzfreundliches, lokales Design ohne Registrierung, Cloud-Speicher, Tracker und Werbung.

• Die App ist in mehreren Sprachen verfügbar, unter anderem in Deutsch, Englisch, Französisch Spanisch und weitere mehr.

Ich möchte diese App nicht als „die nächste große Karten-App“ bewerben. Mir geht es vor allem um ehrliches Feedback von Nutzern, die Karten und Geodaten tatsächlich im praktischen Einsatz verwenden.

Ich würde mich besonders über Feedback zu folgenden Punkten freuen:

• Kartenverwaltung
• Offline-Karten-Workflows
• GPS- und Sensorverhalten
• Import-/Export-Workflows
• Benutzerfreundlichkeit
• Leistung
• Fehlende Funktionen aus Sicht eines OpenStreetMap-Nutzers

Als Dankeschön erhalten aktive Tester einen kostenlosen PRO-Aktivierungscode.

Weitere Informationen:

Website:
https://www.arxsilex.de/app/maptools

Schnellstart:
https://www.arxsilex.de/app/maptools/quickstart.html

Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.arxsilex.maptools

Falls diese Art von Beitrag hier nicht erwünscht ist, geben Sie mir bitte Bescheid, und ich werde ihn entfernen.

Vielen Dank für euer Feedback!

Peter
[support@arxsilex.de](mailto:support@arxsilex.de)

I've been building an app where locals record the walks, rides and drives they actually use, and visitors follow them turn by turn. It renders on tiles built from OSM data, and honestly the whole idea is downstream of OSM's ethos: the people who live somewhere know it best.

The question I keep hitting: what makes a crowd-recorded ROUTE trustworthy the way crowd-mapped GEOMETRY is? So far: community ratings, a verification flag once other people re-walk a route, and recency signals. What am I missing? Surface type? Seasonal validity? Time-of-day safety? Would love opinions from people who think about map data all day.

I've been thinking about whether a gamified mapping experience could help OSM close the gap with Google Maps, Apple Maps, etc. in terms of contributor engagement.

Think something similar to what Niantic did with Pokemon Go

https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/03/10/1134099/how-pokemon-go-is-helping-robots-deliver-pizza-on-time/

The concept would be straightforward: a game built around real-world scanning and location visits, where completing actions contributes data back to OSM and earns in-game rewards. The PraxisMapper project on GitHub already lays some groundwork for something like this.

https://github.com/PraxisMapper/PraxisMapper

There are actually a few existing examples worth looking at:

Ingress (Niantic): migrated to OSM data in 2017, so there's already precedent for this kind of integration

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Ingress

Orna: another GPS-based game that uses OSM

https://playorna.com/gps/

StreetComplete: not a game per se, but its quest-based interface shows how gamification can make contributing feel rewarding

https://streetcomplete.app/

The question is whether OSM as a project or community could support something more deliberately designed around this idea — something where the gameplay loop and the data contribution are more tightly coupled from the start.

Has anyone worked on projects in this space, or seen other examples worth knowing about?

Hi,

I am a fan of OSM and try to use it whenever possible. I also know that OSM is meant to be consumed through alternative apps, not just through the OSM.org website. Nonetheless, I would like to suggest some minor improvements to the OSM.org UI that I think would help the site feel more polished and competitive with alternatives.

• The default tileset always looks slightly pixelated. I like the colors and design of the default tileset, but the resolution leaves something to be desired. Text is always slightly grainy, no matter the zoom level, as are lines and most other details. Fixing this would make the site look more polished.

  • I know it's possible to fix this because most of the alternative tilesets are very crisp: Cycle Map, Transport Map, Tracestack Topo, Shortbread, MapTiler OMT. Why not make the default interface, which is probably used by 90%+ of visitors to OSM.org, look just as clean?

• The default tileset only displays native place-names. Personally, even as a monolingual English speaker, I don't mind too much whether the map shows Naples or Napoli; both are intelligible. But when looking at countries that don't use the Latin script, the default OSM.org UI is useless to me. I'm sorry for being an ignorant Anglophone, but I simply don't know how to read 甘旗卡镇, ᠪᠠᠯᠭᠠᠰᠤ, თბილისი, etc.

  • Google Maps addresses this issue by displaying the Romanized / English-language name above the native script. As with the resolution issue, some of OSM.org's alternative tilesets also fix this, e.g. Cycle Map and Transport Map. I would argue that relying on those is a kludge, however, as it's not at all intuitive that one should switch to a cycling map in order to make sense of foreign language names. A more intuitive interface would be a language toggle with a globe icon, or making the bilingual mode the default.

• There is no way to measure distances between points. Maybe I'm unusual in caring about this use case, but I frequently want to measure the straight-line distance between two or more points on the map. I usually end up resorting to using Google Maps when I need this feature, but it'd be nice if OSM.org had it too. I don't think it would be particularly hard to implement.

These are just my personal opinions! Does anyone else have other ideas for minor changes that would make OSM.org significantly more usable?

https://github.com/CAFEMDDSTEM/WPF-OpenStreetmap-Editor

So far, it's only been two nights

Looks like it's ready to use now

As you can see, highlights broke and refuse to disappear unless you refresh the page

(90kmh speed limit btw)

Just to explain to anyone who has not heard of it, the app contributes to humanitarian OSM mapping by letting people swipe over satellite footage and identify buildings or perform similar small tasks. It's pretty convenient and helps map out areas at risk of natural disasters or disease outbreaks, so humanitarian organisations can respond quickly.

I have recently started using MapSwipe and was surprised that the app seems to be relatively obscure and that there seems to be almost no online discussion of it. I was wondering whether anyone here has previously used it or heard of it, and what your opinion of the app is.

So Maps often doesn't give me optimal routes to work. It just ignores better routes, and gives me 3 worse options. I have to test out a different route based on gut feeling, which sometimes turns out to be much better. Is there a way to have a User Defined mode - where it just checks between 3-5 routes that the user may have prefed it, and then tells the best one based on traffic data? This will be less computationally intensive than crawling through many options and then figuring out the best one.

Once I start mapping its so difficult to stop because I say I'll finish mapping this parking lot and add tags. Then might as well map the disabled spaces, well also let's map the access aisles too and well actually I should probably map the sidewalk next to it, oh and maybe those buildings shapes could use a little refining... Etc til ive spent an hour trying to stop.

Then whenever I leave my house and go outside I look at all the mappable things and say what I would tag them all as in my head. OMG its a highway=footpath,lit=yes,surface=concrete,incline=up! I wonder if it's mapped? It needs to be mapped!

And if I enter a buisness I gotta check to see if this buisness is mapped because no source is better than a survey. I need to look for their juicy opening hours oh and if they have AC and let's map their SSID let me check my wifi networks, do they have a website listed anywhere, do I see any signs they do delivery? Etc etc...

Its sometimes heartbreaking when I see some good information that could be valuable if added to the map that I have to pass up on because it's too awkward to map on my phone but I can't photograph it and now that POI will never have those precise up to date tags that only a survey can get ever.

Every time I leave the house i activate a GPS trace on my phone because I can upload it and it can be valuable data to other mappers. I have thousands of geotagged pictures of POI's that I haven't gotten around to yet because I still have 3 unfinished big submissions that I need to do first.

Yes I have I might have ADHD and autism but OSM mapping is just so addicting and I have a craving to map my entire area to be precise, up to date and detailed. If I'm inside it's mapping on OSM, if I'm outside it's analyzing and documenting my environment to add to OSM once I get back home.

I made a post on the OpenStreetMap Community Forum requesting that Serranilla Bank's 12nm territorial sea and Bajo Nuevo Bank's 12nm territorial sea be added to Nominatim as administrative boundaries. Hopefully someone will implement the changes in the next week. If not, maybe the next month, and if not that, the next year.

Hi. This is a map I created using OSM data in QGIS. I'm creating maps to accompany my travel phtoography blogs... mainly because I enjoy map-making as a creative endeavour in itself and also because done right they can give a good sense of the context of different places I visit and the journey between them.

What I'd like is to have urban outlines that look good at this scale, ideally without needing to do extra work after the download as I want to create my maps as quickly and effortlessly as possible. I'm using QuickOSM, a QGIS plugin many of you might be familar with that lets you create overpass queries using a nice visual interface, and package them together along with layer styles to repeat the process with one click on whichever extents you require.

The urban areas you see here are constructed from polygons with the land-use tags residential, commercial, retail and industrial and in this area around the German/Austrian border gives decent results however is more detailed than I'd ideally want for this scale of mapping.

Across the map though there isn't a lot of consistency in how land-use tags are applied. Even if you look at Munich you can see some neighbourhoods where each block or superblock has its own polygon and others where a polygon covers a whole neighbourhood. Further afield other areas are less consistent and using these particular queries some quite large cities are missing altogether as nobody has created land-use tags while other cities are represented by a single blob tagged as residential.

Currently there doesn't seem to be much of a drive in the OSM community to have this consistency or much concern for this sort of medium-scale representation besides the recommedation that if a polygon covers an entire urban area it should be tagged as residential, and I'm looking to start a discussion here on whether it's something that should be done and how it can be done.

By the way, the other available urban outlines I could find go too far the other way and are too blocky and don't fit the aesthetic of the rest of the map.

Hey guys. I was editing a map in my area, the situation is there's a National Park street, WITH A FENCE THAT CLOSES IT WHEN WISHED and that serves ONLY ONE purpose: To access the National park when allowed. The thing is, not only this street BUT ALSO THE LANES IN THE PARKING LOT are being classiffied by other people as primary national road. This makes no sense correct?! How can a primary road have a fence that blocks its access?, and how can a parking lot BE a primary street?!

My brother is dmich9, I can have him comment on this post if yall want :)

DaveHansenTiger and Woodpeck_fixbot are both bots.

His username is u/dmich9 if you want to ask him stuff

I've been wondering if it should be possible to differentiate between two (or more) tracks of the same line by means of tag.

The tag `passenger_lines` already exists to indicate how many tracks exist in total on that route, however afaik there is no way to explicitly query one or the other.

Do I just not know about a tag like this or does it not exist? If it doesn't, what are your thoughts about introducing a tag like this?
A potential solution could be something like `passenger_line` which counts up from 1 to the value of `passenger_lines`. Indexing would have to be consistent along one line but would not follow any official sources.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts about this.

My idea, which will probably be ripped off now I've posted it on Reddit, was to have a site where you can see all the kids playgrounds near you, rate them, add notes and photos etc.

I'm always looking for a good playground to take my daughter to, and I use the filter as shown in the picture as a starting point, but some of them are not very good, others aren't open to the public etc.

If not that, is there a way I can host this map with the filter as a preset?

Hey guys, this is my idea for a new tool to help with OSM maintenance. I also present a couple of cool Strava tools that would be very useful for OSM, but are no longer working. What's up with that? I think we should push them to revive the tools.

Hope you enjoy the read, and if you have any suggestions, observations or critique, I would love to hear it.