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Hi! Today I was integrating OSM to an App and it's already working, displaying my location and allowing me to move the map and control zoom by finger taps and pinches. BUT, now I need to add some elements to the map to be displayed, as POIs. Should I use external editors like OpenLayers or can I use OSM maps editors (Potlatch & JOSM) and then display the edited map in the App?

I'm developing the App in Unity, for iOS and Android, and accessing the map via:

///string dlUrl = String.Format("http://tile.openstreetmap.org/{0}/{1}/{2}.png", zoomLevel, (int) tileId.x, (int) tileId.y);///

so I guess I could access an edited map using it's URL, but I don't know if OSM give the URL to an edited map.

Any help will be welcome, Thanks in advance!

asked 09 Jan '13, 21:57

Alchemy3D's gravatar image

Alchemy3D
1112
accept rate: 0%

Just to clarify, when you say "now I need to add some elements to the map to be displayed" do you mean you want to display POIs from some non-OSM source, or do you mean you want to add these POIs to OSM (and then display them)?

Because OpenStreetMap is just one giant lump of data, anything that you add to it needs to (a) really exist in the real world and (b) be licence compatible.

Perhaps if you could give a few more details we'd understand a bit more about what you're trying to do?

(09 Jan '13, 22:06) SomeoneElse ♦
1

Sure! sorry. I'm working in a medical App that will show institutions where professionals can renew their medical certificates. OSM doesn't have those entries and it will be a list of hundreds/thousands of them so I'm not sure it would be useful to add them to OSM, so if only the App can display them I will be more than satisfied.

(09 Jan '13, 22:35) Alchemy3D

Several points about what you are trying to do:

  • you cannot simply reuse OSM tile server resources for your mobile app. There is a "Tile server usage policy" defined in the wiki. Rendering and delivering map tiles is not free and OSM is a non-profit organisation with limited resources. You can find alternative OSM tiles providers on the referenced wiki page.

  • be careful about the OSM license ODbL. Don't mix your dataset with OSM dataset. Check the Legal FAQ and related wiki pages about the license.

The best for you is to create an overlay either rendered locally on the mobile or through your own web server and with OSM map in background.

permanent link

answered 10 Jan '13, 13:09

Pieren's gravatar image

Pieren
9.8k2083157
accept rate: 15%

edited 10 Jan '13, 14:29

Thanks Pieren, I found the alternative tile servers you are talking about and I will use a free one for sure. When you say to create an overlay to be rendered on top of a OSM map you are coming back to my question. I don't know how to do it, could you give me a clue? All the documentation I found is about using layers in websites by html, but I need those layers to be displayed inside an App in Android and iOS devices. That's why I was wondering if it could be done with OSM editors. Thanks!

(10 Jan '13, 15:08) Alchemy3D

That's going to depend on the toolkit that you're using. There's an example on the switch2osm site using Leaflet (a JavaScript-based toolkit). Since you're using Unity, perhaps there are some support forums for that (or a help site somewhere)?

(10 Jan '13, 15:13) SomeoneElse ♦

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question asked: 09 Jan '13, 21:57

question was seen: 4,899 times

last updated: 10 Jan '13, 15:13

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum