[2021-10-24] StreetComplete

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Like many people, I have a number of apps on my smartphone that I
don't use very often. I'm trying to change that habit with respect to
one app in particular: StreetComplete.

OpenStreetMap is one of my favorite open-source projects, and while
some of its data is not as libre as other movements, I still apprec-
iate it immensely more than similar projects by Google or Apple. I
also live in a part of the United States where quite a bit of data is
present, but very few people maintain it. I'd like to help end that
state of affairs.

StreetComplete is one of the best tools I've ever seen to help con-
tribute to an open-source project. The app accesses the user's loc-
ation and displays it on the map, finds unreported data nearby, and
presents it to the user in the form of "quests". The user can then
fill in the data to complete the quests, gaining achievements, adding
to a total quest score, and ranking their contributions compared to
other StreetComplete users.

I'm not typically a fan of applications that gamify tasks, since they
can be quite addictive. But StreetComplete uses that hook quite clev-
erly, to add open data to a free project. The data isn't used to
track users, monetize their interactions, or try to invade their pri-
vacy. It's simply used to make OpenStreetMap a better service for
everyone.

As of last week, I've completed just under 250 quests in Street-
Complete. I don't want to fall into the trap of simply aiming for the
"highest score", but it is quite satisfying that my efforts are also
going to a good cause.

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[Last updated: 2022-01-05]