flipperzero-osm-logger-gps

April 19, 2026 · View on GitHub

FAP Build

Log OSM POIs in the field with a Flipper Zero + NEO-6M GPS : pick a POI type (bench, bin, drinking water, defibrillator…), save lat/lon/alt/timestamp/OSM tag to microSD in 6 native formats (JSONL, CSV, GPX with OsmAnd extensions, GeoJSON, OSM XML, GPX track).

osm_logger icon

✨ Features

  • NMEA 0183 GPS reader (RMC + GGA) over UART, configurable baud rate (4800 / 9600 / 19200 / 38400 / 57600 / 115200)
  • Auto-notification (vibration + green LED) when GPS fix is acquired
  • Battery badge displayed on every live screen
  • GPS Status screen: fix, lat/lon, altitude, HDOP, satellites, fix age, live NMEA RX counters
  • Settings menu with persisted prefs on SD: baud rate, track interval, track min distance filter, track HDOP strict toggle, preview-before-save toggle, auto photo ID, duplicate detection threshold, averaging duration, HDOP max gate, survey mode
  • Survey mode — toggle in Settings that auto-appends the canonical OSM tags source=survey + survey:date=YYYY-MM-DD to every save. These are the OSM community norm to signal "verified on site", appreciated by reviewers.
  • Averaging mode: collect N seconds of GPS samples (5 / 10 / 30 / 60 s) and save one point with the averaged coordinates and best HDOP observed. Reduces consumer-GPS noise to OSM-grade precision. OK long still gives an instant force save.
  • Duplicate detection: when saving, if a point with the same tag exists within X meters, a confirmation screen appears ("Same tag Ym away — OK=save anyway, Back=cancel"). Threshold configurable (off / 5 / 10 / 25 m).
  • Clear save-error screens when the SD is absent / full / unwritable.
  • Main menu with icons (Menu module, one dedicated icon per entry)
  • Quick Log (waypoints) mode:
    • Navigation in two levels: pick a category → pick a preset inside
    • 65 OSM presets by default grouped in 15 categories (Street furniture, Roads & signs, Parking, Sports & leisure, Waste, Shops, Services, Emergency, Tourism, Nature, Education, Religion, Transport, Address, Other)
    • SD-loadable presets: drop a presets.txt on the SD to replace the built-in list without recompiling (up to 128 presets). A helper script scripts/build_presets.py generates such a file from the official OSM id-tagging-schema (hundreds of community-maintained presets, multi-lingual translations). See docs/CUSTOM_PRESETS.en.md · docs/CUSTOM_PRESETS.md.
    • Preset variants cyclable with ← / → — alternative values or additional secondary tags (e.g. Bench → amenity=bench → amenity=bench;material=wood)
    • Short note editor via Up (Flipper TextInput), Down to clear
    • Live screen: coords, altitude, HDOP, sats, fix age, session + cumulative counters
    • Short OK: save if fix OK and HDOP ≤ 2.5, error tone otherwise (or preview screen if enabled)
    • Long OK: force save regardless of fix quality, bypasses preview
  • Track mode (auto GPX log):
    • <trkpt> written every N seconds while the view is active and a fix is available
    • Distance filter: skips points that didn't move far enough (configurable threshold)
    • Heading / course over ground displayed live
    • Live stats on screen: session duration, points count, cumulative distance, instant speed, max speed
    • Each session starts a new <trkseg> (no bogus line between separate sessions)
    • Ideal for mapping a street or path on foot or bike
  • Last points browser (main menu entry): scrollable list of the 10 most recent saves. Tap any point to see full details (time, coords, altitude, HDOP, sats, tag, note). Actions: Delete last (undo across all 4 output files), Archive session (moves the 5 output files to a dated subfolder, ready to transfer as a unit via qFlipper) and Clear all.
  • Saves to /ext/apps_data/osm_logger/ in 6 native formats (all valid at all times):
    • points.jsonl — one JSON line per point
    • notes.csv — spreadsheet-friendly
    • points.gpx — GPX 1.1 enriched with OsmAnd Favorites extensions (icons + colors + category), direct import into JOSM / iD / QGIS / OsmAnd
    • points.geojson — FeatureCollection, direct import into QGIS / geojson.io
    • points.osm — native OSM XML API 0.6, editable data layer in JOSM (pro workflow: edit + direct OSM upload)
    • track.gpx — GPX <trkseg> track, import into any GPX viewer
  • Works on stock and Momentum firmware (the app auto-disables the Expansion service to free the UART)

🧩 Hardware

  • Flipper Zero (with microSD)
  • NEO-6M V2 GPS (u-blox NEO-6) — NMEA output at 9600 bauds
  • Ceramic antenna (bundled) or external active antenna

Wiring (3.3 V, 3 wires)

  Flipper Zero GPIO                          NEO-6M GPS
 ┌────┬──────────┐                          ┌──────────┐
 │  9 │ 3V3      ├──────── 🔴 red ────────▶ │ VCC      │
 │ 10 │ SWC      │                          │          │
 │ 11 │ GND      ├──────── ⚫ black ──────▶ │ GND      │
 │ 12 │ SIO      │                          │          │
 │ 13 │ TX       │                          │ RX ◁ ── unused (no command sent)
 │ 14 │ RX       │◀─────── 🟢 green ─────── │ TX       │
 │ 15 │ C1       │                          └──────────┘
 │ 16 │ C0       │
 │ 17 │ 1W       │
 │ 18 │ GND      │
 └────┴──────────┘

Only 3 wires are needed because the app only reads NMEA frames from the GPS — never sends commands back.

⚠️ Use 3.3 V — never 5 V. See docs/HARDWARE.md for details, first-fix tips and troubleshooting.

🔧 Build & install

This app uses ufbt (micro Flipper Build Tool) — the official tool for external apps. Python 3.8+ required.

# 1. Install ufbt
python3 -m pip install --upgrade ufbt    # macOS / Linux
py -m pip install --upgrade ufbt         # Windows

# 2. Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/simongrossi/flipperzero-osm-logger-gps
cd flipperzero-osm-logger-gps
ufbt                    # produces ./dist/osm_logger.fap

# 3. Deploy (Flipper plugged via USB, qFlipper closed)
ufbt launch             # uploads + starts the app

💡 If ufbt: command not found, add $HOME/Library/Python/3.9/bin (macOS) or the equivalent to your PATH.

Alternatively, drop dist/osm_logger.fap into /ext/apps/GPIO/ via qFlipper.

▶️ Usage

  1. Launch OSM Logger from the Apps menu.
  2. Main menu → Quick Log (waypoints).
  3. Pick a preset (Bench, Pharmacy, Defibrillator, …).
  4. Quick Log screen — wait for a fix (fix=Xs shows the age of the last fix).
KeyAction
OK shortSave if fix OK and HDOP ≤ 2.5 (error tone otherwise)
OK longForce save despite missing fix or high HDOP
← / →Cycle through variants (if the preset has multiple values)
UpOpen the note editor (Flipper TextInput)
DownClear the current note
BackBack to the preset list
  1. At the end of a session, grab the files via qFlipper (File Manager) or USB mass storage:
    • /ext/apps_data/osm_logger/points.jsonl
    • /ext/apps_data/osm_logger/notes.csv
    • /ext/apps_data/osm_logger/points.gpx
    • /ext/apps_data/osm_logger/points.geojson
    • /ext/apps_data/osm_logger/track.gpx

The main menu also has GPS status (dedicated diagnostic view) and About.

Quick Log screen at a glance

     < Cafe 2/4 >           <- preset + current variant (if >1)
     amenity=pub            <- effective OSM tag
    48.43123, -0.09321      <- live coords
    HDOP=1.3 sats=9  #12    <- fix quality + session counter
    alt=45m fix=3s  t=247   <- altitude, fix age, total in file
  OK save  Up:note  <>:var  <- key hints (or "note: ..." when set)

📷 Screenshots

Main menuCategoriesPresets
main menucategoriespresets
Quick LogNote editorPost-save toast
quick lognote editorquick log saved
Track modeLast pointsSettingsAbout
track modelast pointssettingsabout

📚 Documentation

📖 Bilingual docs index: docs/README.md — pick English 🇬🇧 or French 🇫🇷

Direct links:

🗺️ OSM workflow

  • JOSM / iD: import points.gpx directly (waypoints named with their OSM tag).
  • QGIS / geojson.io: import points.geojson directly.
  • OSM Notes: notes.csv is a text base you can post manually.
  • GPX track: import track.gpx into JOSM, GPX Viewer or Gaia GPS to visualise your route.
  • Alternative: python3 scripts/jsonl_to_geojson.py points.jsonl > points.geojson if you prefer to start from JSONL.

🚧 Roadmap

See docs/ROADMAP.md for the full list of planned features with implementation hints.

Short summary:

  • Preset variants as additional tags (not just alternative values)
  • Sub-categories in the preset menu
  • Distance filter in track mode (skip points that didn't move)
  • Persistent notes across sessions
  • Persistent notes across sessions
  • Support for other GPS modules (PA1010D, BN-180, etc.)

🖊️ License

MIT — see LICENSE.