mapping housenumbers

Hi everyone,

I just found this subforum by accident. I got my new phone some weeks ago and tried to start mapping on it. I was surprised not to find the perfect app for me yet.

My focus is on mapping housenumbers, so I’m looking for an app which can easily add waypoints. I already red http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Android and tried some of the mentioned apps.

I liked the way to add points in Osmand (by just clicking the map), but it takes too many clicks to save them with a name (or number). I tried to customize the source of OSMand for me needs (directly open the name field and the keypad after clicking the map) but I didnt manage it.

Is there anybody who can do this? Or is it possible to add a macro to OSMand to reduce the number of clicks?

Maybe there is someone who can help me.

Thanks and cheers,
zorque

Have you tried KeypadMapper? It is an Android app designed for mapping housenumbers quickly. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/KeypadMapper

I’m currently working on keypadmapper. Until now I’ve added some more letters (g-l) and common combination characters (,-/).

Screenshot (click to enlarge):

Download: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31535737/KeypadMapper/KeypadMapper2_1.1.apk
Github: https://github.com/cobra/KeypadMapper2

Not yet done (note that this is just a rough plan, some features may not be implemented now or at all):

  • adapt to android guidelines (add action bar+settings, file storage)
  • add settings, e.g. adjustable distance of the nodes from the current position
  • optional output format: gpx for both tracklog and housenumbers
  • landscape layout
  • “advanced” mode for mapping street names as well, completing the address information with addr:street, addr:postcode, addr:city, addr:country
  • increment/decrement the housenumber by 1 and 2 (when mapping both sides or just one side), maybe a possibility to skip some numbers
  • generic sharing possibility (e.g. mail, bluetooth, dropbox)

I don’t have any smaller devices (I’ve got a 4,65" screen) to test the usability, reports from users of devices with smaller screens and lower resolution would be nice.
Feel free to add comments, suggestions or patches.

I also tried to develop such an app, mainly to become familiar with all that mapping stuff: Numbers (and street) can be tagged directly on the map and a resulting .osm-File can be sent by mail for further editing with josm. Map tiles can be displayed online or be downloaded in advance.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.oaky.OsmPad&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImRlLm9ha3kuT3NtUGFkIl0.

Hi,

@all: thanx for your answers

@keypad mapper: I didnt try it but I red about it. I like your approach, ieichens, its an easy and straight forward tool. But in my area the buildings are quite chaotic (houses in first and second row, small paths to the buildings. Houses numbered 7, 7/1, 7/b in one building with 3 entrances). So I like to see the map and set the position of the node myself, not based on current position and an offset.

@ieichens: I’ll try your app, maybe it’s what I’m looking for.

Cheers

I have the same situation concerning chaotic housenumbers here. With OsmPad you have to place nodes yourself. GPS position is displayed and can be used to position the map but is not used to place nodes or move the map automatically. Instead you have to move the map in such a way that the target is under a little cross in the middle of the map and place the node there.

I’ve uploaded OsmPad to Google play for more convenient installations.

Hi ieichens,

many thanks for OsmPad, it’s EXACTLY what I was looking for. What I really like is that you can send the osm file by mail, so you dont have to plug the cable.

May I add one point?! It would be nice if the Standby mode was deactivated while mapping.

There are some other suggestions, but I don’t want to diminish your work.

Thanks again!

Hi zorque,

standby never was an issue for me because i ever set the time to 10 minutes, but i’ve included that as an option now. Let me know about your other suggestions.

hi,

somehow my answer yesterday wasnt submitted. I just posted my wishlist :slight_smile:

I would appreciate a function to automatically follow the currnet position. Until you move the map by hand - and return to auto-follow after adding a housenumber.

Is it possible to store the gps-trace to the osm file? I still find some streets that are not in Osm yet.

Cheers

z.

hey ieichens,

locking at the entry on play.google.com shows that your OsmPad seems to be qute newly published.

Do you wish to become more public?

Then I would recommend an own entry in the OSM wiki for your app.

With the right template in that wiki page, it even gets listet on the android app collection in the OSM wiki automatically. See other apps how to get this.

We can also hype your app on any OSM related news and blog sites. Do you dream of that? :slight_smile:

Probably it could help gathering house numbers if the app becomes more public. I considered writing an entry in the software section but wasn’t able to find an entry point quickly.

Currently i’m working on an iPhone/iPad version of it which is nearly ready. There i’ve included the possibility not only to load map tiles but also some osm data. This helps entering the street names since the app is able to display a list of streets sorted by distance from the current location. I’d like to add that feature to the android version also in the near future. I’m also thinking about the suggestions from zorque which sound interesting and reasonable.

Hi,
I 'm using “My Tracks”. Because it can run in the background (standby).
Disadvantage is that it displayes a google map, not OSM map.

Chris

Probably not the right thread but OsmPad is now available for iPhone/iPad also

what about making an entry in the OSM wiki in the News section about it?

Hi ieichens,

last weekend I mapped a larger number of houses using OSMPad and it worked pretty well. Let me make two more suggestions (or develop an old one). I wrote about an auto follow function. I’m note sure anymore if thats a good idea. Maybe the actual way is better, but could be extended by an indicator for the current position (flashing cross or something). And the other one is a autorotation map, alway heading in direction of travel.

Thanks once more for this app :slight_smile:

Hi zorque,

the auto follow function should be available since the last two or three updates. I myself mapped a lot of housenumbers and found it useful. The actual position should always be indicated by a blue point as long as GPS signal is available. If not this should be investigated. Most helpful for me was the new feature to get street names selectable by distance. To use this, address data has to be downloaded in advance. The current implementation uses pre rendered map tiles from the OSM server. These tiles are not well suited for rotations. I’m considering to switch to vector graphics instead but this would be a major upgrade or probably new app.

I love your App and i’m using it since some time now, it’s easy and really fast to tag numbers with it. The only thing i miss there is the Accuracy of the GPS like in OSMTracker for Android. (And maybe an Optimal OSM Map on a extra Screen)

The Only Disadvantage i see is that it automatically puts an “null” after every number, for example addr:housenumer=24null. I still don’t know why it does this, but it does it :confused: And the Threshold for ne L and R Keys should be set a bit Higher, i found the nodes sometimes to close together and had my Problems to map them Proberly on the map (A Source:Note=Left/Right/Forward Tag would solve this in a Instance)

But yes… I think it would be nice if you could (not must) enter the Street Name before you actually Tag the Numbers, and all the nodes would get the housenumber and street Tag.

@ieichens I tryed your App and i find it sometimes really useful, for example when you get a screwed up Lettering on the houses. But i think you should make the Number Posistioning by Hand to a Optimal Feature because in most cases the Lettering is straight forward and the automatic Node Positioning after the gps fix fits to 80% in most cases. (At least in my Area in Germany)

So to come to my conclusion a Combination of Keypadmapper and OSMPad would be the Best thing to tag the Housenumbers.

I currently don’t have the time for working on it, but there will be more features in the future.
I just noticed that I somehow forgot to announce the current release here, so I opened a separate topic for it: http://forum.openstreetmap.org/viewtopic.php?id=18398

Please use the current version. If you still see “null” anywhere, try to find a way to reproduce this and report it. I couldn’t observe this, so I can’t fix this yet.

Hello!

In my opinion waze has found the optimal solution for this problem: you have to set the start and end house number on both sides of a street, and in lack of further house numbers the system makes an interpolation which can be improved at any time. In this way the mapping of house numbers is really quick. You donʼt have to be on the spot. The are urbanisation planning maps for all big cities, so you can look for house numbers on them. (E.g. for Budapest, Hungary here.)

Hello Mazarin,

what licence is that viewer you linked in your post? Is it displaying free data that we are allowed to use for OSM purposes, according to the OpenDatabase Licence?

Where is the permission or its licence in detail?