[OSM-talk] Introducing SwiftAddress, an highly efficient way of collecting housenumbers

[ndrw]

Vespucci is a good general purpose mobile editor but there is definitely 
space for something more specialized and lighter. I've been using 
Vespucci on a couple occasions and, frankly, it takes far too much time 
and effort to be used on the go, both due to poor performance and 
complex workflows. It works well when I am stationary for an extended 
period of time but not when I'm walking and looking around.

To be fair, my preferred method of collecting addresses is still a bike, 
a camera and an in-helmet mic. But for walking surveys a tool like 
SwiftAddress could be useful.

> - allows you to directly enter address for upload, aka enter once, no 
> 2nd pass needed at home
>
That's a disadvantage to me. When on the go, I don't want to be bothered 
with uploads or data correctness. Anything that can be postponed, should 
be postponed or deferred to a non-mobile tool like jOSM, which is far 
more comfortable and faster than any mobile app.

> - automatically will download data (so that you don't accidentally 
> duplicate existing addresses)
>
Good, provided it doesn't download all data, only relevant ones. Here, 
that would be only nodes+ways with addr: tags, buildings/building parts, 
nodes with shop, amenity tags etc.

> - can highlight missing tags, for example addresses
>
Good
>
> - has all the background and overlay layers from ELI available
>
When I'm walking around I can already see the "imagery" with my own 
eyes. Some background (OSM tiles are fine) could be useful for reference 
but it should be light and/or preloaded ahead of time.

> - has address prediction that will automatically detect odd / even 
> address schemes and increment and is street side aware
>
Good. But only as a way of speeding up entering the house number. If I 
have to operate the UI I'd prefer not to have this feature and simply 
pre-populate the entry with the most recently entered value.
>
> - allows you to configure which address tags should be set on 
> addresses (this tends to be a question of national preference)
>
Postprocessing in jOSM
>
> - handles addr:street and addr:place
>
Postprocessing in jOSM + perhaps an ability to record an audio note or 
enter a custom tag as a fallback.
>
> - seeds address tags values from existing data
>
Postprocessing in jOSM
>
> - and many other things like conflict resolution and so on.
>
Postprocessing in jOSM
>
> All since more than half a decade (actually 7 years).
>
It is an impressive list of feature, for sure. Technology development 
will address some of the above issues (5G, faster CPUs, larger screens) 
but limitations caused by poor matching of the workflow and the task 
will remain. During the survey I don't want to stop to operate the app, 
even for a moment, and I don't want to look at the screen for more than 
2s per entry to have time to look around (surveying and staying safe in 
traffic).

-ndrw6