alt Hacker NewsStreetComplete on iOS is now in public beta
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From the README:
StreetComplete is an easy to use editor of OpenStreetMap data available for Android. It can be used without any OpenStreetMap-specific knowledge. It asks simple questions, with answers directly used to edit and improve OpenStreetMap data. The app is aimed at users who do not know anything about OSM tagging schemes but still want to contribute to OpenStreetMap.
StreetComplete automatically looks for nearby places where a survey is needed and shows them as quest markers on its map. Each of these quests can then be solved on site by answering a simple question. For example, tapping on a marker may show the question "What is the name of this road?", with a text field to answer it. More examples are shown in the screenshots below.
The user's answer is automatically processed and uploaded directly into the OSM database. Edits are done in meaningful changesets using the user's OSM account. Since the app is meant to be used on a survey, it can be used offline and is economic with data usage.
I love the project idea, unfortunately I had bad experiences with the community. I had lots of fun walking my neighbourhood to perform quests in the app until like one or two other users started reverting my edits. I checked their comments and it was some weird pedantic arguments, like I shouldn't mark a street as not walkable because there is no official sign that prohibits walking; the fact that it's basically a highway with no sidewalk would not matter.
I ended up digging through the OSM wiki for definitions and rules to argue my case but in the end it felt very much like people on a power trip insistent on getting their way. It has ruined the fun in StreetComplete for me and I haven't participated since.
Link to the actual TestFlight beta invite, since it wasn’t easily found on the linked page:
StreetComplete is regularly cited whenever OpenStreetMap is mentioned on HN, and with excellent reason (this is a really good introduction to mapping with OSM). Congratulations to the team for the beta!
I tried both StreetComplete and EveryDoor on my Android for a while.
I prefer EveryDoor. It's oriented more towards stores and things I'm interested in on the map.
EveryDoor exist on the Apple store too.
I am incredibly excited for this -- while I love doing StreetComplete quests myself, the lack of iOS support has prevented me from grabbing my friends / random strangers and turning mapping my city into a social outing. I'm going to wait until it's officially available, but this is so wonderful... gosh, I can't wait. First style of quest I'm going to get ppl coordinated with is accurate hours on local businesses :^)
>Known caveats (we are working on it):
>forms can only be canceled with the back gesture rather than clicking anywhere on the map
Well for me not even the back gesture works, I just have to force close the app if I don't want to answer a survey lol
I have been using StreetComplete on Android thanks to a comment here some weeks ago. This is a really great tool, the barrier to contribute is brought to nearly zero.
The only one thing missing for me is a small history of my past contributions. At some point, I made a mistake and entered the wrong information (nothing terrible, the surface of a walkway, it was 30% one surface, 70% another, I gave the 30% value instead of what I think 70% would be better). I would have been glad to be able to quickly "revert" this contribution.
But else, a really great tool.
StreetComplete is great. For me it made Openstreetmap much more approachable and now thanks to me there are a few more public toilets and one small road in osm. Especially with the road it was really interesting to see how quickly Google maps also took in this path. But they still also have the old road in the app. So it's linked but not 100%
It's a great app, been using it on Android for years. It has a really low barrier of entry (except maybe OSM account creation) and makes improving OpenStreetMap really easy even for people that have no experience with map editing. There's simple questions, e.g. about road surface or accessibility, with illustrated multiple-choice answers.
I'd like to hear more about people's experiences with Kotlin Multiplatform
Maybe I don’t understand how it’s supposed to work, but the very first question I was given had three choices and none of them were correct. What are you supposed to do then?
Go mapp!! For ios is free and very good alternative as well. made by bryce cogswell previous developer on sysinternals. https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/go-map/id592990211
I'm trying to get off of Apple Maps and into OSM (using Magic Earth as my navigation app) - seeing more OSM work is exciting.
Now I need to figure out if it's possible to merge my navigation maps with the deflock maps..
You should probably link to the relevant post
https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete/issues/5421...
OSM editor Go Map!! also has a "Quests" overlay that is very similar to Street Complete (even uses the same icons). And you can also define custom quests for data you want to easily gather.
However, it's lacking the nice example pictures for each option - so, with Go Map!! you need to know what you're doing.
I feel I must warn you. It is a gateway to more heavy map editing using the online editor or tools like Vespucci.
I wonder what some experienced OSM editors think when they see StreetComplete edits.
Good app. Some feedback -
I'd like to see native Apple sign-in, as opposed to via a WebView. When I used the WebView, the password text box was obscured and fiddly to fill in.
There should be an easier way to dismiss something I've clicked on, than having to tap "uh..." and then dismiss two dialog boxes.
Things that I've submitted (e.g. house numbers) should be visible on the map, to visually show my contribution progress (even if pending review or whatever). At present my contributions just disappear into the void.
Satellite overlay would be very useful to correlate houses.
Seeing some indication of other recent local contributions would be nice, to make the app feel more alive.
There is actually an edit history, the little arrow icon on the map pulls up your recent edits and lets you undo them.
That's legitimately a good idea. I just contributed more to open street map in 5 minute than I have in 15 years.
Can you use OpenStreetMap like Google Maps?
I tried to use it to list restaurants but the UI reacted like nobody had ever tried that before
I like this project
nice to see StreetComplete coming to iOS. Its question-based approach makes contributing to OpenStreetMap feel approachable even if you’re not familiar with the underlying data model
I’ve been using EveryDoor so far, excited about trying this one out!
Is there some reason this can't be done in a browser? We need to stop feeding these app stores.
OH long overdue, glad it finally came out
The UX has some glitches... like when you click on an item, you HAVE to set the answer, you cannot go back to seeing all the markers...
> The code base of this app is written in 100% Kotlin
weird choice, from 2023, to code an iOS app. but it doesn't matter today in 2026. frontier models can manage weird software stacks
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Thank you, German government:
> Within the frame of Prototype Fund round 15 (March 2024 to August 2024), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research sponsored Tobias Zwick to work on StreetComplete for iOS (see progress report)
And NLnet.