Current Location is a web app that lets you explore geotagged pictures from Flickr and Wikimedia Commons, nature observations from iNaturalist, and nearby Wikipedia landmarks — all shown on an OpenStreetMap map based on your current position. It is a fun and easy way to see what a place looks like — around the corner, on a road trip, on holiday, or anywhere in the world.
It’s easy! Open current-location.com and you will see your current position on the map marked by the red balloon, along with the nearest geotagged Flickr and Wikimedia Commons photos, iNaturalist nature sightings and Wikipedia points of interest. Use the search bar, the toolbox and the + and – buttons to move around and discover new places.
The search bar is at the top of the page, next to the toolbox. Type a place name or a pair of coordinates (for example 47.4979, 19.0402) to jump straight there. As you type, a list of matching places appears — just click one to move the map. Place search is powered by OpenStreetMap’s free Nominatim service.
The toolbox is in the top-left corner of the page, next to the search bar. It shows the number of markers currently visible around your location, within the search radius (1000 m by default). The orange “Where am I” button re-centres the map on your current location, and the “Info & F.A.Q.” button opens these tips. Below them, a date selector lets you limit results to a time interval — today, yesterday, the last 7 or 30 days, this month, last month, the last year, or the last 3 years (the default) — or set a custom range. The date filter applies to Flickr and iNaturalist; Commons and Wikipedia results are shown regardless of date. Next to it you can set the radius of the circle within which markers are searched. Under these you will find the Flickr, Commons, Wikipedia and iNaturalist buttons: tap them to switch each source on or off. A blue button means those markers are shown. The little left-pointing arrow in the top-right of the toolbox hides it, giving you a bigger view of the map.
Use your mouse wheel (or a pinch gesture on touch devices), or click the + and – buttons in the bottom-left corner of the map.
Hover over a marker to see a small preview of the picture. Click a marker to open its full-size version. You can move between photos with the left and right arrow keys, or by clicking the arrows floating over the photo; the viewer steps from marker to marker around your location. Under each photo you can read its title, the author’s name and a link back to the original on Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia or iNaturalist. Close the viewer with the × in the top-right corner, or by clicking anywhere next to the photo.
Click the red balloon that marks your current location to open a small box with information about your location: the nearest address, your latitude and longitude, and how accurately your position was determined. From there you can also share your current location on Facebook or Twitter.
When you open current-location.com your browser asks for permission to share your location with the site. You are not obliged to share it — but if you decline, simply type an address or coordinates in the search bar to see what is around that spot.
If you declined earlier and would like to allow it now, it only takes a few clicks. In most browsers, click the padlock (or location) icon in the address bar and set “Location” to Allow, then refresh the page. In Mozilla Firefox you can also manage this under Settings → Privacy & Security → Permissions → Location. In Google Chrome go to Settings → Privacy and security → Site settings → Location, then allow current-location.com and refresh.
To explore a different spot than your current position, move the red balloon: double-click anywhere on the map, or simply drag the balloon where you want it. The markers reload around the new position.
Current-location.com uses a process called geolocation to estimate your position from your mobile, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. The red circle around your marker shows how accurate that estimate is. Geolocation is usually more accurate on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets than on desktop computers.
The yellow circle marks the area within which photos and landmarks are searched. You can change its radius using the toolbox.