cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/33407329
We’ve all already talked about switching away from google/apple maps to something like openstreetmaps, mapy, tomtom amigo, etc. But all of these services use openstreetmaps (UK non-profit) as a source and they still miss a lot of local data even for bigger cities!
If you have some spare time, think about adding a bit of data to the map with your local knowledge. There’s a lot of business data missing that is on google maps like websites, phone numbers and opening hours but also stuff like parking lots and whether they’re publicly accessible and free or not. Adding these makes the competition of ALL services using OSM as a source better.
I also use the mobile app https://streetcomplete.app/ and https://every-door.app/ to add data while on my walks, these make my walks more engaging and I actually take longer ones + see new places because of it. Streetcomplete also has a focus on important and easy to collect data with their default filters, and you can choose what you want to contribute.
If you really want to get into the thick of it and contribute more than just simple data you can always check out https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/How_to_contribute and see in which of the many ways you can contribute!
Another who loves Street Complete. Makes my evening walks less random. I love the idea of using open street maps, but the one thing keeping me on google is the real time traffic redirecting 🫤 I do use organic maps for hikes, it’s great for offline. I just wish there were some better option for traffic.
Tomtom Amigo also uses traffic data! Although their dataset is ofc smaller than google maps as less people use it. (Still not FOSS, but at least not google)