Idea: Tapiriik connection.

I’ve just got an idea and I want your opinions.

Tapiriik is a tool to synchronize actvities (or workouts) between various applications like endomondo, strava and so on.

It would be possible to add an OSM interface to it, so that when I register activity in one of the supported apps, the GPS trace will not only be copied to the rest of apps, but also to OSM.
For example, you run or ride a bike with endomondo, and when you come back home, your trace is already on OSM to use.

For me it would make life easier - I would have a trace from almost every bike ride I make. Maybe it would be less acurate than Garmin trace, but for finding paths i rode that are not marked - good enough. And I don’t always have Garmin with me on the ride.

Would you like such an interface? Or do you see any drawbacks making it a really bad idea?

Note for Strava, you can use the global heatmap. They have given permission to use that for OSM. That will show any GPS tracks for running/cycling uploaded to Strava.
You can load the heatmap as a background layer in JOSM or ID etc, so you could look for any missing paths.
Some details here: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Strava

Note on that page there is a link to Strava Slide which is a nifty fork of ID that will align a way to the heat map. I’ve found that it needs some help near trail junctions. But for sections of trails hidden in trees it is very, very useful.

Yes, I know about Strava heatmap and the iD branch, but what I propose is different in a few aspects.

First, the heatmap is updated I don’t know when and I don’t know on what rules. I have tried to use it for editing. If you click on link, you will see an area in the middle, where northern part is criss-crossed by single GPS track. It’s mine, I have been there in February. In April there was still nothing there. What’s more, I have done the same in southern part in January, and it is still not there. And yes, I have made the track public in Strava. So I consider the Strava heatmap a great tool for discovering unmarked paths, but we can’t count on it to register track with Strava and see in OpenStreetMap in any decent time. Pity, I was thinking of creating Facebook event to make people go running and biking in some poorly mapped area on one day, than using the heatmap :wink:

What I propose would register tracks directly to OSM, which means I could go biking somewhere with Strava or Endomondo or anything Tapiriik supports and by the time I come back and take a shower the track would be in OSM ready for use…

Any progress on this front? Your proposal is very good, and would ease up also my life significantly.