This is just an initial review and test of the Every Door mobile OSM editor. If you ever added stores and POIs with either a piece of paper and a camera you know that it is a long pain to add all the information to OSM. Even worse is that all your efforts can end up stale and you have to re-fix all the closed or new stores. Enter Every Door, the perfect tool that makes micro mapping or adding / updating POIs a breeze and not just simple things but adding handicap status, telephones, websites, payment information and other fine details are all there. It also has the easiest and seamless Opening hours editor which with a few taps you have it set quickly.

I went back to fixup and remap some shopping centers and places today and it was a breeze. I am able to quickly remove closed stores, quickly add new stores with the easy iD editor presets search and it does everything to streamline the process and give you just the right fields for the given. Adding the phone number is as easy as dialing it, and website as quickly putting in the url no need to worry about the http prefixes it does it for you. This app makes me want to do more field mapping as it takes out all the tedious parts and gets to the exploring and mapping right away with near instant gratification.

If you haven’t already download and try the app. It is for Android and iOS and is even on the F-Droid app store. So try it out I want more people to know about this as I am glad I found out about the app.

https://every-door.app/

OSM in many areas has a complete street network and has for quite some time. What it is lacking compared to many map sources is a comprehensive POI index. Stores could be there but the data likely is outdated, even then you could have a major chain business that isn’t even shown on the map. So what do we do?

We don’t need some complex editor, just a stripped down editor that can leave a poi and has a search for presets and chains that makes adding one as simple as possible. From there you can add more information but by default it should just show the basics. No distractions and dead simple so anyone with a phone or on the web can easily add a tone of POIs for even a simple quick walk.

Secondly, POIs need to expire and autodeleted; to keep the information from getting stale POIs need to be checked into or deleted automatically after a year if there is no new activity. Mappers should be able to subscribe to an area and get emails warning of pending expiration. The checking API could be open to app developers.

Thirdly, we need a TEMP layer for maps a temp data layer that can be deleted daily that basically is the dumping ground for temporary data such as road obstructions, traffic and events. Basically a meta database that allows apps to share and make use of more realtime data. This can allow for more uses of the OSM map and by contributing to this could reveal closed bridges and other obstructions and improved the map. The more data that is shared between apps the more that can be improved.