Daily map updates being enabled for free to mappers - Any official document?

[Max1234Ita]

Hi, as a OSM mapper, I noticed that the Live Maps service has been activated on my device for one month after I added some elements to the map.

I know this is an OpenStreetMap policy, meant to help mappers so that they can do their work better: I'm searching for an official document describing the entire initiative and the conditions to be met in order to the service to be enabled.

So far, however, I haven't found anything but some rumors in forums/Telegram channels and a post on Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/OsmAnd/comments/thpyu2/tip_free_daily_map_updates_infinite_downloads/), but never found anything that can be traced back to OSM as an official source.

Someone can address me, please?

Thanks in advance!

Max

[Greg Troxel]

Max1234Ita <mul...@gmail.com> writes:

> Hi, as a OSM mapper, I noticed that the Live Maps service has been
> activated on my device for one month after I added some elements to the
> map.

Thanks for posting about this; I had no idea.

> I know this is an OpenStreetMap policy, meant to help mappers so that they
> can do their work better: I'm searching for an official document describing
> the entire initiative and the conditions to be met in order to the service
> to be enabled.

I think it's very nice of OsmAnd to offer free map downloads and/or live
updates to people that contribute to OSM. But I wonder why you say it
is OpenStreetMap policy.

> So far, however, I haven't found anything but some rumors in
> forums/Telegram channels and a post on Reddit (
> https://www.reddit.com/r/OsmAnd/comments/thpyu2/tip_free_daily_map_updates_infinite_downloads/),
> but never found anything that can be traced back to OSM as an official
> source.

The reddit post explains how it works, and that seems pretty
straightforward. I don't see why it has to have anything to do with
OpenStreetMap policy.


What is your actual question?

Do you mean "is there some rule in OpenStreetMap that mappers must get
free services from anyone offering OSM data, and is this enforced as a
condition of the open data license?" If that's the question, I think
the answer is simply "no".

[Max1234Ita]

The reddit post explains how it works, and that seems pretty
straightforward. I don't see why it has to have anything to do with
OpenStreetMap policy.


What is your actual question?

Do you mean "is there some rule in OpenStreetMap that mappers must get
free services from anyone offering OSM data, and is this enforced as a
condition of the open data license?" If that's the question, I think
the answer is simply "no".

Hi, thanks for replying.

my question is:  is that *documented* somewhere?

It is a matter of fact that if I add "some contribution" to the OSM Project I can have, as  a mapper, the Live Maps service for free for one month: this is confirmed by

OsmAnd itself, which says "service enabled" and allows me to downoad map updates on my device every hour.

Since I wanted to know more about that, I went looking into the app documentation to see how exactly it works... and found nothing.

The Reddit post is actually very clear but, well, it's a post on a social and not a piece of documentation: it's well written but it's by a generic user (AFAIK) and it doesn't look at all as an official communiqué by the authors of OsmAnd/the OSM Mapper plugin, so all I can do is to consider it as a rumor (a very interesting rumor, actually).
If it's a feature, I would expect to find it described in the official documentation, or in the OsmAnd site...

Cheers,

Max

[Greg Troxel]

I guess you can file a bug with OsmAnd that you would like more
documentation.

I read your earlier messages as wanting some documentation of
*OpenStreetMap* policy, which didn't make sense to me.

[Max1234Ita]

Hi there,

just for information, I've opened 2 tickets to the devs, one for the already mentioned lack of information and the other for the available documentation page being unreachable from inside the app:

• https://github.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd/issues/14437

• https://github.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd/issues/14439

Best regards,

Max