US Addresses - not found about osmand

[davew99]

Update after trying a few more addresses. OpenSuperMaps does make a very positive difference, but I still do have some addresses that are still not found. In some very quick attempts, I would say, by seat of the pants guessing, that OsmAnd now finds maybe 75% of the addresses with OpenSuper versus maybe 5% without.

[scaidermern]

OsmAnd should accept a standard address format when I want to search for an address. Such as Street number, Street Name, City, State, zip code.

There is no world-wide standard for address formats.

[yuriiurshuliak]

Kindly note that OsmAnd takes the data from an open database. If the information is missing or you noticed a mistake, you can join by registering at openstreetmap.com and fixing it. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/

[davew99]

Or, OsmAnd can switch to an address database that actually has addresses in it?

How about OsmAnd actually addressing the problem and come up with a solution? Versus workarounds that don't actually work?

Guess I am done with this, I will stick with Sygic and Google when I actually need to find an address, unfortunately.

[KenWaring]

Hi,

It appears to me that OSMAND cannot resolve/parse an address (the addresses I tested, in my area) when the address number is ahead of the street name.

I have documented below with examples for clarity.  I hope that my assessment is without error and that it helps you with your app.

I was trying to find this location using OSMAND.  It is 3.2km from my house.

17201 Peel Regional Rd 50, Palgrave, ON L7E 0K8 

1. I created an account and changed the data in Open Street Maps from "Highway 50" to "Peel Regional Rd 50" as this is how addresses are identified on this road.  Examples further down post.  Once this data is rolled out, the open street map data will match how the local businesses code their addresses.

2.  Given that Open Street Maps does not have the correct data, I manually changed the address I was searching to
"17201 Highway 50, Palgrave, ON L7E 0K8" and still it DID NOT find the address.  It should have given my search address matches what is in Open Street Maps.

What did work..

"Highway 50 17201" this worked really well.  I did not even have to finish typing the "Palgrave, ON L7E 0K8".  But this is not how businesses code their addresses

It seems that if the address numbers come first, it cannot find the location.

Here are some example addresses used by local businesses on this route...If I type "Highway 50" first and then the number they work (that matches the current Open Street Maps naming convention), otherwise they cannot be found.

Ken's Lawn Mower
14616 Peel Regional Rd 50, Bolton, ON L7E 3E3''

Palgrave Variety
17210 Peel Regional Rd 50, Palgrave, ON L7E 0L1

Elmtree Dental
17201 Peel Regional Rd 50, Palgrave, ON L7E 0K8

James Dick Construction
14442 Regional Road 50, Bolton, ON L7E 3E2

I would only speculate that the issue relates to how the address is being parsed and submitted to the query. But that is as far as I can go as I suspect this is not a simple challenge when considering global address formats.

Ken

[sonora]

In deed I can substantiate this by my own experience that for many years OsmAnd's search has performed significantly better for address formats where the house number is specified after the street name (often customary in Europe) than before the street name portion (as is conventional in e.g. the US).

Thanks for the observation, perhaps this can be exploited to improve things somehow.

[davew99]

Thank you Zyphlar over in thread #6824 for the referral over to OpenSuperMaps? And, thank you to the gentleman running that site. I downloaded the address files from OpenSuperMaps and OsmAnd was actually able to find some addresses in USA format that OsmAnd was not able to find previously. Only time will tell how much better these address files make the overall OsmAnd address search overall, but I am hopeful.
Now the question is, can OsmAnd just incorporate these address files directly into OsmAnd so that we do not need to download and install these address files all the time? I am sure that the gentleman who is running that site is eventually going to get tired of maintaining the files and site.

[goldfndr]

Related: #6824

[yuriiurshuliak]

To ensure the most accurate results, we recommend using the Online Search feature in the app. To use Online Search, please refer to this link: https://osmand.net/docs/user/search/search-poi#online-search

Additionally, we would like to highlight that the OsmAnd app functions primarily offline, which means the address search process may have its own specificities. To perform a search using Search, follow this sequence: Select city > Select street > Postcode. Here is the user guide on address search: https://download.osmand.net/docs/user/search/search-address/

If this does not help, keep in mind that we use an address database, and in your situation, this usually means that the address is not in the database.

Also please clarify what you mean by standard address link?
And provide us with specific coordinates or addresses of objects that you cannot find.

[davew99]

Thread? #6824 is expressing the same issue that I am complaining about. I did not see any acceptance in that thread that this is an issue? Let alone any resolve?

Getting to the online search is overly convoluted and does not address my primary issue.

Which is that on my android phone I can not use a USA address link (using US Postal Service standard address format) from another app to find a location using OsmAnd. Even trying to search manually in OsmAnd is convoluted, street, number, what?

On my android phone if I am in my Contacts and one of them has an USA address that I want to find, I can tap on the address and android takes me to an option as what app to use to find the address. OsmAnd is one of the options on my phone. But, when I try OsmAnd, it will not find and display the address. This is true also if and an USA address is shown in a web page, email, etc. OsmAnd does not understand the USA standard address.

I should have stated that I was only concerned with USA address standards. Seems like OsmAnd could base its type of address search based on the map that is being shown?

I really like OsmAnd, and could use it a lot more if it would find and address based on USA standards from a link from another app.

[goldfndr]

Again, please provide an example or three of what you're seeking. It's unclear:

• If you're using USPS format (multi-line, no commas).
• If you're using a one-line format (perhaps with commas, perhaps a superfluous "USA" on the end).
• If there's an extra field (e.g. suite number).
• If the sought address exists as is within OpenStreetMap's data. Nominatim is a pretty comprehensive surfacing of OSM's data, but even OpenAddresses and other sources won't necessarily have recently created parcels and subdivisions. About 29 million house numbers are mapped in USA, plenty are missing.

Without the data, it's unclear if a simple tweak or something more rigorous would help. For me, a search from a contact for:

1801 10th Ave NW
Issaquah WA 98027

finds a nearby Costco without issues. So OsmAnd is confirmed accepting this format. But it's not much of an edge case.

[davew99]

I have also found that OsmAnd will find some addresses. In my case, it is maybe 10% of the addresses I submit. That number is just a guess, I have not tried to keep close track.

I was able to find the address you gave when I submitted to OsmAnd on my phone.

Here are a few addresses that are either a direct link from an email or I highlighted and address in an email and selected map it, then selected OsmAnd. And, OsmAnd could not find the address.

7436 Kingsmen Ave Citrus Heights, CA
1128 Raymond Drive Modesto CA
2236 PICCARDO CIR STOCKTON CA
82 Robert Court Bozeman Montana

I typed these based on what was in the search window of OsmAnd after I had selected the address from my email. All four addresses are found by both Sygic and Google Maps using the link from my email.

I do not know how many formats that might be used by various Android apps. I am not expecting OsmAnd to parse every kind of variation of and address that an app might think up. But, I do expect OsmAnd to be able to parse the four addresses I have given above, in the format they are given. Basicly, I am expecting OsmAnd to match Sygic and or Google in the it's ability to parse an address and then display it on the map.

Thanks for your help.

[goldfndr]

I tried each of the 4 addresses in Nominatim, and none of them are in the underlying OSM data. So the issue is firmly with the OSM database, not with OsmAnd. 2236 PICCARDO CIR STOCKTON CA was nearly found; OsmAnd did find a nearby (odd house number) location across the street.

A possible workaround for the absent data is https://opensupermaps.com/ replacements for maps — they include OpenAddresses addresses published by governments. After a few downloads (US_CA centrals), it successfully found your 2236 and 7436 addresses; I didn't want to download much more.

[davew99]

Sygic and google must be using a different address database, as they can find those addresses. And, from your investigation (thank you) it appears that there could be an improvement if OsmAnd switched to a different address database.

But, where does this leave my issue?

[scaidermern]

https://learnosm.org/en/beginner/ might be a better start.

[vshcherb]

As I tested on Nominatim:

• FOUND: 7436 Kingsmen Ave Citrus Heights, CA
• FOUND: 1128 Raymond Drive Modesto CA
• FOUND: 2236 PICCARDO CIR STOCKTON CA
• NOT FOUND: 82 Robert Court Bozeman Montana (FOUND 82 Robert Court Montana)

We need to retest with OsmAnd, check with other sources GMaps they are correct and fix these issues.

[Jude24to25]

Here's an example: Let's say I search for the Empire State Building using its address, "350 5th Ave, New York, NY 10118"

Expected behavior: Input the address, e.g., "350 5th Ave, New York, NY 10118", and receive an output of map markers that correspond to that address in New York.
Actual behavior: Input an address, e.g., "350 5th Ave, New York, NY 10118"; receive a list of addresses that match bits and pieces of the search address, like "5th Ave 1100 San Diego".... which is in the wrong state.

I have this problem with every address I enter into the search field on OsmAnd. However, I do not have this problem with other mapping software, like Here, Google, or Waze.

[vshcherb]

Searching in New York 350 5th Ave, New York, NY 10118 finds correctly it. Problem likely when you search from a different state.