Hacker News Reader

No, you can contribute photos directly in the Google Maps interface. It's consolidated with other contribution features like reviews and map editing (many people don't know that Google Maps has a public map editor). It's all part of a program called "Local Guides" that awards badges and points and perks like free Google Drive storage. The incentives seem designed to reward quick reviews much more than high quality photography though.

View on HN

Google Maps keeps pestering me to add my personal photos to various locations.

That is I would take some pictures on my Android 5.1 phone and Google Maps would pop a notification. Not sure when it started but this kind of camera/Google Maps "integration" was not present in 4.4.

The places of interest that Google detects are generally correct but I have zero interest in adding personal pictures to their public/private DB.

I keep declining but my anger grows.

Especially in the restrictive and rights-thieving T&C. The OS is badly compromised, and I'd like a better, proper open source option

Turn this off in the Maps app: Under the hamburger menu, Settings → Notifications → Your contributions.

I understand that unsolicited notifications are annoying but all of the notifications can be very easily turned off. There's no need to seethe.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com