Wikipedia has announced this week that a new update for its iOS and
Android application will remove the Google Maps integration the apps
both use, and replace it with OpenStreetMaps technology.
As well
as adopting the OpenStreetMaps technology the new
updates rolled out to
both iOS and Android applications brings a wealth of new features and
tweaks which brings both app inline with each other.
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a collaborative project
to create a free editable map of the world. OpenStreetMap was founded
in July 2004 by Steve Coast, and in April 2006, the OpenStreetMap
Foundation (OSMF) was established to encourage the growth, development
and distribution of free geospatial data and provide geospatial data for
anybody to use and share. Wikipedia explains, that the move to remove
Google Maps is to try and support as many devices as possible:
“Previous
versions of our application used Google Maps for the nearby view. This
has now been replaced with OpenStreetMaps – an open and free source of
Map Data that has been referred to as ‘Wikipedia for Maps.’ This closely
aligns with our goal of making knowledge available in a free and open
manner to everyone. This also means we no longer have to use proprietary
Google APIs in our code, which helps it run on the millions of cheap
Android handsets that are purely open source and do not have the
proprietary Google applications.”
For more information on the new updates and features included in both the iOS and Android Wikipedia applications jump over to the Wikipedia website bog post.a
