posted in Technology
CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in the Venezuela Response
hotosm.org/en/news/comaps-the-offline-app-that-guided-rescuers-without-a-signal-in-the-venezuela-response/
Replying to @inari@piefed.zip
It’s great in many ways, and maps are great. You can get Ordnance Survey style maps.
BUT it desperately needs traffic information in its route finding. It frequently makes terrible decisions in the absence of this data.
Replying to @jabjoe@feddit.uk
How does an offline app get traffic data
Replying to @lazynooblet@lazysoci.al
It could download time based averages alongside the map date, not perfect but decent most of the time.
Really though this is an OSM wrapper so it would likely need to be integrated there
Replying to @lazynooblet@lazysoci.al
To be honest, even a static DB of recorded road speed using time of day, day of week, time of year, averages, would be a lot better than nothing. It would mean it knows you can’t really go 60 down a bendy, narrow, stone wall lined, single lane, country road. Not and live anyway. So it would stop trying to use them all the time.
But hey, if there is internet, why not query it for the latest?
Replying to @jabjoe@feddit.uk
I don’t think you should be using satnav to determine if you can power around a blind bend. That’s a quick way to the grave