[OSM-talk] Released: OpenMaps for iOS v4.0. An idea how to increase OSM awareness.

[Zsombor Szabó]

Today we released OpenMaps version 4.0 in Apple's App Store. It is a free
map app based on OpenStreetMap and we believe it is the best. It is as slick
as the built-in (Google) Maps application and if you ever used Maps on an
iPhone you know that it's not a little thing to say.

But this is not the reason why I am writing this email.

I believe in OpenStreetMap. I really do. I want it to be the de facto map
that everyone uses and I think most of you feel the same way. I also believe
that OpenStreetMap is not getting the deserved user attention that we want
it to receive. I think I have a solution how we could expose it to more
users with OpenMaps for iOS.

How? Just launch OpenMaps, find your favorite bar/pub/restaurant/etc. on the
map, tap on it (yes, in contrast with Maps you can tap on POI icons in
OpenMaps without needing to search for them; innovative, isn't it?) and send
out a checkin tweet. A typical tweet will look like this:
http://twitter.com/#!/zssz/statuses/7396822796476416
Isn't Foursquare, Gowalla and now Facebook doing something similar you ask?
Exactly. And look how popular they are. I believe that tweeting (checking
in, commenting, etc.) about OSM POIs is a great way to increase OSM
awareness. And it is a great way to share places with friends as when users
tap on an openmaps:// link they will be shown the respective OSM element in
OpenMaps (if they have the app installed on their device). They can even
follow the recent Twitter conversation about an OSM element within the app.
So if they want to share with the public that they serve amazing coffee at
openmaps://n/957085286 then they can do that easily.

I am enthusiastic about this and encourage you to adopt this because I
really think it is a great idea to increase OSM awareness. Maybe it will
catch on, maybe not. It all depends on the critical mass.

Best regards,
Zsombor Szabo, CEO
IZE, Ltd.

P.S. for OSM Announce list members: If you have questions or have feedback,
then reply on the (cced) OSM talk list.
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