Niantic, in a quiet Pokemon Go update, has moved the game’s overworld mapping from the popular Google Maps over to the open-source mapping program OpenStreetMaps. Unlike Google Maps, which uses Google’s own private data, OpenStreetMap allows anyone and everyone to edit and add buildings and streets to the map. Check out the difference below.
Visual comparison showing Pokemon Go’s use of Google Maps now OpenStreetMap via /r/TheSilphRoad
While this opens up the opportunity for Pokemon Go’s maps to be more accurate, the opportunity now also exists for people to add in houses and roads that don’t exist to clutter the map. Hopefully OpenStreetMaps and Niantic are aware of this possibility and plan countermeasures for the future.
