Deutsche Bahn API integration

[secretmango]

🚀 feature request

Description

When in a city it is essential to be able to use public transportation easily. Google maps is far better with this feature lacking, even though OSMAnd already has a public transport profile, that relies completely on OSM data, and hereby is pretty outdated.

Öffi by Schildbach accesses the API and also allows showing directions on a Map and finding the closest public transport station to you.

Public transport and switching between transportation methods quickly is important for painless travel.

Describe the solution you'd like

Integrate the Deutsche Bahn API as a choosable opion for the "public transport" profile.

here is a webpage where you supposedly get APIs

here is a library by the creator of the Android app Öffi for integrating public transport in many apps

Describe alternatives you've considered

Switching between Öffi/ proprietary app and OSMAnd

[ceever]

Oppose.

I don't understand how much more OsmAnd is supposed to cover?!? It is already doing a great job! More and more features just make maintaining the app harder and harder. It also makes using the harder and harder. Why compete with apps that are already doing a great job?

MapsMe, for instance, was a great app enjoyed by many, because it was simple and useful, kind of the opposite of OsmAnd. Don't get me wrong, I like OsmAnd ... but I am also a poweruser.

OsmAnd really needs to pay closer attention to its core strength, instead of getting sidetracked by millions of additional features.

[secretmango]

OSMAnd has a "public transport" profile that doesnt work in germany. As far as I understood all that is nessecary is to implement the APIs and the DB does everything. Its also only one, because the DB covers whole germany and even more around.

Öffi hasnt had updates for some time often, but I am not sure if there are changes making maintenance hard.

The public transport profile just doesnt work at the moment, and Öffis navigation doesnt work. So OSMAnd is the only app that could implement this to compete with Google maps.

[scaidermern]

Of course it would be really nice to have such a feature. On the other hand, this will only be of use for a rather small percentage of users. And there are several major core functions that definitely need attention (routing speed, search engine, rendering bugs) which will benefit all users.

It is fine to create such a feature request. But implementing it won't magically make OsmAnd superior to Google Maps. Especially not outside of Germany. So in my option, while being really nice to have, the importance of this feature is rather low.

Maybe it is possible to add DB API integration via an external plugin. I'm not familiar with the OsmAnd plugin API, so I can't tell if this is possible at all. If it isn't then maybe a first step is to make OsmAnd's plugin API ready to support third-party public transport plugins / APIs.

[secretmango]

good idea, haven't though of that! Plugins would be a way better solution for many problems.

[secretmango]

I saw you now have a public transport mode, but in Germany it doesnt work at all.

https://gitlab.com/oeffi/public-transport-enabler

Oeffi, a very well working public transport app for all transports in all of Germany, has this library that could be used for routing in Germany.

The DB (bahn.de) has an API and data about all the trains and busses, so you dont even need to cover all the small ones. But I think the Oeffi library allows that.