How To Open Street View On The Google Maps App

How To Open Street View On The Google Maps App – If you’re a GeoGeek, cartographer, programmer, or just need to find a specific place on a map, you have two main mapping media to choose from: Google Maps and OpenStreetMap… and I think you might be asking yourself, “Why what would I use OpenStreetMap if there is Google Maps?”

There is no definitive answer as to which one is better. These two have as many similarities as they do differences. They are based on different foundations but solve the same basic human need to know “WHERE”. The key difference between these two mapping environments is an “open” versus “closed” philosophical approach to how data is collected and distributed.

How To Open Street View On The Google Maps App

How To Open Street View On The Google Maps App

OpenStreetMap was born in 2004 in the UK, at a time when map data sources were controlled by private and government actors. They were expensive and very restrictive, making them accessible only to large companies. The idea behind OSM was to solve this problem using a Wikipedia model and create a free, editable world map made entirely by the voluntary efforts of the internet masses. The ease of use and the need for open data sources for maps has been so great that today OSM has over 2.2 million registered users who manually create a detailed map of the entire world.

Please Open Street View For My Village Kalivia Skidras 58500 Greece 40.753662,22.220078

This crowded approach has been recognized by Google, which has also turned to users to improve its maps. In 2008, the company released Google Map Maker, which used a similar approach and interface to OSM to collect local data from people willing to contribute where map data was difficult to acquire.

The main difference between these two services is that every change you make in OSM is owned by you and the community, while every change you make in Google Maps… will be owned by Google.

The OSM community is what makes the project so special. Thousands of volunteers around the world update the map as their world changes around them. Each update is immediately visible to all other users and is version controlled. There are no releases, approvals and KPIs typical of large organizations.

One could argue that this approach could make OpenStreetMap vulnerable to map vandalism, but in reality closed source maps are just as vulnerable. On the other hand, the active OSM mapping community responds quickly to such actions by educating users and turning them into contributors. The strength of the CSO community is especially visible when a humanitarian crisis strikes somewhere in the world. In 2010, when the island of Haiti suffered a magnitude 7 earthquake, the OSM community needed only a few hours to map the entire island from satellite images, which allowed collaborators to properly coordinate rescue missions and save many lives, while trade maps had no way to respond in such a short time. The most recent Nepal Earthquake saw the contributions of over 2,000 volunteer mappers to respond to the crisis within 48 hours.

How To See Street View In Google Map • Justin.my

It is also this community that ensures the high quality and granularity of OSM maps. Although Google devotes a lot of time and resources to keeping its maps up-to-date, the quality of its data is not necessarily better than OSM. In many areas, especially less developed ones, the OSM community has been able to achieve even greater data granularity than any other map source.

Commercial map data providers typically focus on updating the map features that are most profitable to sell. Because the OSM community doesn’t have to worry about selling maps, it allows the community to be creative and make maps focused on hikers, cyclists, the physically challenged, sailors, and just about any interest group. You can map crops, the number of windows on the Empire State Building, or even the age of a particular tree. Even when it comes to routing and navigation, OSM is no slouch. Telenav has started using OpenStreetMap data in its Skobbler navigation app.

In fact, more and more large organizations are choosing OSM for their maps. In February 2012, Foursquare switched to the Mapbox platform powered by OpenStreetMap. In March 2013, Wikipedia also started using OSM. Craigslist uses it for apartment searches and even Apple has used OSM data in their maps… Other popular platforms that use OSM based maps are Github, Pinterest, Roadtrippers and Strava to name a few.

How To Open Street View On The Google Maps App

There are two main reasons for this. First, flexibility. OSM is ready for any style you need to apply to your project, whether it’s a Sci-Fi rendering or one of Mapbox’s great preset styles. The second reason is that OpenStreetMap is and will always be freely available to users, developers and companies. It even lets you download the entire map offline if you need to and play it in your own language

Google Maps Street View Car Cruises Through Saginaw

In addition to the maps themselves, the OSM project is supported by a number of mature open source software that evolve much faster than any closed competitor. Some notable examples are the mapnik mapping library, the osrm routing engine, the nominatim geocoding engine, the flyer js map library, the lawn geospatial analysis library, in addition to the many experimental services and tools offered by mapping platforms such as Mapbox and Mapzen.

Don’t get me wrong, I use Google Maps almost daily for real-time traffic information and as my primary navigation app. It’s a great mapping service. Undoubtedly. But even though it’s free, there is a certain cost associated with using Google’s mapping services. The cost of privacy and the loss of control over what we see on the map. Finally, Google is an advertising company and uses our geographic search results and location information for marketing purposes. It also selects what data is relevant to you, rather than showing on the map what is actually around you.

I’m not saying that OpenStreetMap is perfect. There is no map. But when you consider all the pros and cons, maybe Google Maps isn’t the best solution for all use cases. There are many applications where the map should be treated as an important public good rather than a commodity controlled by large organizations. Finally, why would you trust a global corporation to tell you the name of a street in your neighborhood?

Open source has gained momentum in recent years with the giants of the tech industry – Google, Facebook and others releasing their code for the world to use. Even Microsoft uses Linux to run some of its applications and operations.

Google Street View App Hi Res Stock Photography And Images

In the geo world, Mapbox, CartoDB and other startups have invested heavily in Open Source, with great results so far. Esri – The Microsoft of the GIS industry, with its strong enterprise market, is also the de facto GIS software in universities, seems to be slowly warming up to the idea of ​​Open Source. They have a new landing page titled Open “esri/open”.

Interestingly, while the page seems to focus heavily on the company’s vision for interoperability and open standards, there is no separate tab for Open Source. Although if you navigate to the Get Involved page there is more information on the GitHub page and other ideas.

Given that Esri has started to embrace (and use) Open Source libraries like Leaflet for its products, it’s interesting that the word Open Source is still somewhat muted. Esri or any other tech giant isn’t expected to open up its entire warehouse, but sooner or later the “Larry Ellison effect,” as Wired likes to say, could make it necessary for accelerated innovation and as we have seen with the cloud computing industry. , Open Source seems to be the best way to go about it.

How To Open Street View On The Google Maps App

However, it is important to recognize that the world’s most famous GIS company is starting to make strides in its Open policy. Only time will tell what else is in the works!

Google Streetview 360

To provide the best experiences, we use technologies such as cookies to store and/or access device information. Consent to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique identifiers on this website. Non-consent or withdrawal of consent may adversely affect certain functions and features.

Technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of communications over an electronic communications network.

Technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of maintaining preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.

Technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a warrant, voluntary compliance by your ISP, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved solely for this purpose cannot be used to identify you.

A Decade Of London In Google Street View

Technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising or to track the user across a website or multiple websites.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *