Waymaps on a smartphone?

I'm willing to try it.

By TallPaul on 27/07/20 at 12:13pm

You're first on my list already

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The app sounds great. Will it incorporate location services. I currently use this on the OS App to confirm where I am on a walk, but your mapping has loads more detail (paths). Any updates on release dates for the App

I am a test engineer by trade. I have just moved to the Lakes, I have been a supporter of yours for a long long time and I would love to help out and be a beta tester. Could I help out? Many thanks, Alec

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By TallPaul on 18/01/21 at 9:44am

Thank you for the offer. You have mail.

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I'll admit to not using it much since getting it because it requires mobile data on the go, so although I didn't have for my 1st big walk of last year by Claerwen reservoir it would have been useless as there was no mobile signal & the same would apply to my favoured campsite in Borrowdale. The lack of tracking is also a negative. One thing I have noticed is that in a Firefox private windows (I tend to use them by default) it doesn't work that well in terms of remembering permission for location access & often 1st press for position fails with the message you're devices GPS took to long to get position, although that could be down to my budget phone, but a second request immediately gets it. Also trying to login on the mobile version fails with no response, but if I pick forgotten password & get redirected to general website login works there.

The phone app that I have been using is Oruxmaps which does allow various maps to be accessible with some online & others offline and even has features that don’t appear on your main website, but it is heavy on the settings side due to number of options. Normally I’ll use the OSM based Mapsforge on it, but I can also use TalkyToasters for Garmin maps. My secondary app has been the OS one because I’ve got the download codes from my paper maps, but that records tracks as routes, but the maps have the most labels of places & features, plus in my less frequented place in Brittain a lot of the local footpaths havn't been mapped into OSM & therefore don't apper on waymaps.

So the 1st major advancement really needs to be having waymaps available offline although I’m sure you’ll want to add some form of time expiry to any download, but whether that's in your own app or accessible to another app or GPS unit, so you don’t have to develop all facilities that people want with a map app is down to you.. 2nd is current position always shown & 3rd tracking & recording of GPX files.

I'll admit that some of this is probably blue sky thinking but I felt I may as well but these ideas out there for everyone.

By lentilbake on 23/06/23 at 3:25pm (last edited 23/06/23 at 3:36pm)

Regarding features that might be required on a mobile version of the Walklakes mapping app:

I'm currently using (and have been for many years) Maverick Pro which is only available on the Android platform. This app is very old and doesn't get updated much, if at all, these days, but it still works very well. I would suggest having a look at the app because it does most of what I think your new app should do. Namely: Multiple map styles including OS and OSM cycling and others. Track recording with the ability to add waypoints/pictures/descriptions etc Upload/download of tracks to device Automatic and manual cacheing of maps for offline use (you can download an area in various magnifications or just browse and it'll cache the maid as you view them) The 'you are here' indicator shows which direction you are pointing your phone and which direction you are travelling.

It also allows you to export locations to Google Maps, w3w and other coordinate systems.

The main thing it doesn't do is let you plan a route by clicking to make a track/path, I do this with Walklakes and import into Maverick.

As I said, the app is a bit long in the tooth and I'm going to be devastated when it finally stops working but, hopefully, we'll have a Walklakes replacement by then!

The current Walklakes app is a great start and with the addition of track recording offline cacheing things would be going in the right direction.

Keep up the great work!

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By TallPaul on 25/06/23 at 9:24am (last edited 25/06/23 at 9:25am)

We do already have a Web based mobile mapping app which we are increasingly using ourselves on our expeditions. I'm going to take another pass at that over the summer, not least to improve the tile caching, but you can already load routes into it that you've previously prepared on the desktop version of the app.

The big thing it lacks, and I don't think it will ever have, is track¹ recording. There's two reasons for that:

1. I'm not sure it's actually possible due to the way Android (and iOS too I suspect) manage apps. So if a browser window isn't active (i.e. being displayed on a turned on screen) then any JavaScript running on that page is paused.

2. Even if I could get it working then active use of the GPS canes the phone battery and I would worry that a walker who was using their phone to record their track could find themselves in trouble with a phone with almost flat battery. The app currently only uses the GPS when you ask it where you are, and that seems right to me from a phone. If you want a track recorded then use a dedicated GPS, or a smartwatch.

1. A track records where you have been and when you were there. For more information click here.

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