CoMaps integration with the wider FLOSS ecosystem

nobody42•about 2 hours ago

Yess!

Please make an effort to improve underlying OpenStreetMap dataset:

https://streetcomplete.app - basic task-based, on-the-ground, app for Android

https://every-door.app - intermediate on-the-ground app for smartphones

https://rapideditor.org - AI-assisted mapping in browser

https://www.hotosm.org - task-based mapping in browser

https://josm.openstreetmap.de - advanced editor for desktop

drnick1•21 minutes ago

Does this work better than OsmAnd in any way? The latter has been around for a long time and just works. Perhaps the best feature is that maps can be downloaded and used completely offline. It's the natural map app on a degoogled Android system like Graphene.

The main downside relative to commercial apps like Google Maps is that you often need to input a full address instead of entering a business name or something like "Burger King near me."

nobody42•13 minutes ago

OsmAnd is painfully slow, I keep it around just for unique features like transport routes and surface quality.

CoMaps rendering is almost instant and map palette is easier on the eyes.

diggernet•about 2 hours ago

Two things I would love to see in the FLOSS mapping ecosystem:

1. A POI/favorites app that maintains a local database with an API for other apps to access it. Apps could then store markers there instead of in their own private db, so that points added on one map app can be instantly available in other apps.

2. A shared traffic data service. Any OSM map app could contribute to the same data, helping reduce Google's advantage in live traffic data.

Obviously, both of these would need privacy protections and be subject to user choice. And there should also be some requirement that both reading and writing be supported, to ensure apps reading POI data don't lock in new data, and to prevent apps reading traffic data from freeloading.

HumblyTossed•35 minutes ago

Waze got hugely popular by gaming their maps; people would install it just to get a high score. I wish the FLOSS mapping ecosystem would do similar.

toomuchtodo•about 2 hours ago

> 1. A POI/favorites app that maintains a local database with an API for other apps to access it. Apps could then store markers there instead of in their own private db, so that points added on one map app can be instantly available in other apps.

Would an AT Protocol app or extension meet this need and requirements? By being stored in a PDS, the data can be permissioned, owned by the user, and easily migrated and/or shared.

https://atproto.com/blog/atproto-spaces-alpha

ATProto spaces: A new extension to ATProto that enables non-public data - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49379732 - August 2026

daemonologist•about 2 hours ago

Neat, I was not aware of this mechanism. Is there any way to get map (tile) data from CoMaps into another app?

mkesper•about 2 hours ago

There are converters between different OSM formats and other formats (Garmin comes to mind). It depends on the target. E.g. here: https://www.mapfileconverter.com/free-gis-conversion-tools

daemonologist•17 minutes ago

Thanks, but I was interested more in the cross-app communication aspect rather than the data formats ( https://codeberg.org/comaps/comaps/wiki/Content-Provider ).

I once looked into building an app which piggybacked on CoMaps/OSMAnd's data (saving the user from having two copies of their maps, and me from having to duplicate the UI to manage them), but found that in modern Android it was basically impossible for even the user to access data/files that "belong" to an app, without rooting the device.

CoMaps integration with the wider FLOSS ecosystem

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