StreetComplete: Gamified OpenStreetMap Data Collection App
Original: StreetComplete: Fixing OpenStreetMap, one tiny quest at a time
Why This Matters
Gamified, grassroots data collection tools are critical to maintaining the accuracy and completeness of open geospatial datasets like OpenStreetMap.
StreetComplete is a mobile surveyor app that helps improve OpenStreetMap by presenting users with location-based 'quests' — simple questions answered on-site that directly update the map database under the contributor's name, no separate editor required.
StreetComplete is an open-source Android application designed to make contributing to OpenStreetMap (OSM) accessible to everyday users. The app identifies gaps or missing data in the OSM database within a user's vicinity and displays them as interactive 'quests' on a map. Users physically visit each location, answer a straightforward question — such as the surface type of a road or the opening hours of a shop — and the answer is submitted directly to OpenStreetMap under the contributor's account. No prior mapping experience or use of a dedicated OSM editor is required. The app supports over 40 languages, including Arabic, Japanese, Ukrainian, and Swahili, reflecting its global contributor base. The project is community-driven, with development hosted on GitHub, a dedicated Slack channel (#streetcomplete), and options for localization contributions via translation platforms. Users can also support the project through donations. The gamification approach — framing data collection as solvable quests — lowers the barrier to entry for OSM contribution and encourages regular, on-the-ground survey activity.