How To Add Fire Hydrants (or Benches) in StreetComplete
Posted by Tex2002ans on 22 January 2025 in English. Last updated on 23 January 2025.In the upper-right corner of the main screen, you’ll see 3 buttons:
- Upload
- Looks like an “up arrow”.
- Layers
- This is the one we want!
- Settings
- Looks like “3 horizontal lines”.
(Note: This tutorial was created using StreetComplete v60.1 on Android.)
Tutorial: Adding Fire Hydrants
1. Click on the “Layers” button.
2. Choose “Things”.
- The icon will now turn into a green-and-white bullseye-looking symbol.
- (You can now see objects like benches / fire hydrants on the map.)
3. Pinch+Zoom in really far:
- You’ll see a crosshair appear on your screen.
- (That’s the exact spot the object will be placed.)
Now:
- Scroll on the map to move it to the exact location.
4. At the bottom-right of the screen:
- Click the big red
+
button.
5. At the bottom of your screen:
- Click on the “? Select” dropdown.
- (You’ll now get a list of objects to choose from.)
This is where you can quickly choose from the 10 most popular objects:
- Bench
- Fire Hydrant
- Choose this one!
- Trash Can
- Bicycle Parking
- Recycling Bin
- […]
6. Then:
- Verify you moved the cursor to the right location.
- Double-check you chose the correct object.
- Click on the checkmark.
Congrats. You added it to the map! :)
Tips
Tip #1: See A Bench? Take A Break!
If I’m mapping benches, I:
- Sit right down.
- Wait for the GPS to stabilize.
- Do Steps 3->6.
- Moving “the crosshair” directly over my “location dot”.
And while I’m taking a quick rest, I complete a few more quests around me too! :)
Tip #2: Other Small Things?
In Step 5, you can also add many other things by just:
- Typing into the search box.
So if you’re in a park, you may want to add:
- Drinking Water
- This will trigger the “water fountain” quests.
- Picnic Table
or some of the playground equipment:
- Play Structure
- This is the big thing with steps/slides/walls/bridges for kids to play on.
- Swing
- Seesaw
Or here are a few other objects you might come across while exploring:
- Flagpole
- Public Bookcase
- These are those “free little libraries” that might randomly appear on your walks!
Extra Info
Side Note #1: If you like fire hydrants, then check out the map at:
StreetComplete is great for filling in all those blank gaps in your neighborhood! :)
Side Note #2: If you love adding in all these little things, you may also be interested in this great talk:
@mycota did a fantastic job making parks look so much better! :)
Technical Note: These are the 2 main OSM tags discussed:
StreetComplete Name | Tag | Link |
---|---|---|
Fire Hydrant | emergency=fire_hydrant |
OSM Wiki |
Bench | amenity=bench |
OSM Wiki |
and then these bonus ones:
StreetComplete Name | Tag | Link |
---|---|---|
Drinking Water | amenity=drinking_water |
OSM Wiki |
Picnic Table | leisure=picnic_table |
OSM Wiki |
playground=* |
OSM Wiki | |
Trash Can | amenity=waste_basket |
OSM Wiki |
Public Bookcase | amenity=public_bookcase |
OSM Wiki |
Flagpole | man_made=flagpole |
OSM Wiki |
Discussion
Comment from watmildon on 23 January 2025 at 23:15
Thanks! I’ll be sharing this with some folks for a mapping party. Really really nice.
Comment from redd on 23 January 2025 at 23:31
Thanks, it seems that its not straight forward to add things with StreetComplete. I use OsmAnd to add POIs like fire hydrants or benches as OsmAnd is very convinient for this task.
Comment from Tex2002ans on 25 January 2025 at 15:36
Thanks watmildon + thanks redd. :)
Awesome! That’s great! Let me know how it goes. :)
One of the things I noticed last year, while fixing 300+ OSM Notes, was a lot of StreetComplete users were leaving Notes like:
So, as I added it to the map, I gave those users a step-by-step breakdown of how to do it right in StreetComplete!
(And screenshots are a HUGE HELP. :) )
Nice! I haven’t used OsmAnd before.
How do you add things using it? What does it do better?
Once you put the “Things” mode ON (Steps 1+2)…
You’re pretty much just doing a lot of:
I don’t see how that can be done much differently, but maybe I’m wrong. :P
As I was writing this tutorial, I was thinking of a few other potential enhancements.
Because, often, you’re adding multiple of the same type of object (for example, 3 benches)…
So maybe after adding an object:
So during Step 2, you’d have 2 buttons at the bottom:
+
to “Add New Object”That’s about the only way I can currently think of to make it faster.
But I’m definitely open to hearing new ideas.