Give the ability to Select Map download areas on gaiagps.com interface for Sync to iPhone
Please give the ability to Manually delineate a Map area to download..then Sync to my iPhone.
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Official comment
Following up on this thread, I have a couple of notes:
0) tl;dr; You'll be able to download maps using gaiagps.com/map sometime this year, hopefully in Q2. I'm not willing to spec an exact date yet, because of reasons below.
1) There is actually big technical hold-up on doing areas/polygons (and with them map downloads) via gaiagps.com/map that I hadn't remembered when I posted before.
Currently the web map uses a mapping framework called Leaflet under the hood, and it uses an old version of that framework to boot. We're planning to upgrade from Leaflet to another framework (Mapbox GL), for a variety of reasons, but a big one being so we can show vector maps on the web like we do on iOS.
FYI, vector maps means styling/rendering the map on the device or in the browser, as opposed to sending down pictures/JPEGs of the maps and just showing the pictures. Advantages of vector maps include things like making the text crisp as you zoom in/out, letting text size settings affect the maps, making the maps smaller to download, etc, etc.
If you want to see the difference, compare Gaia Topo on iPhone (vectors) to Gaia Topo on gaiagps.com/map (not vectors).
2) We shouldn't do the work to add an areas/download feature to gaiagps.com/map until we do this upgrade, because we'd have to redo the work. As is, we already have to redo a bunch of features on the map to support this upgrade. It is not trivial - it will take someone at least a month, probably more, and I imagine there will be follow on work to make sure it all works just right.
3) So, we are planning to do this upgrade to Mapbox GL, and then we will also set it up so you can spec map downloads from the online map to sync to your devices - that feature isn't a huge job in of itself. I think we'll start that large project towards the end of Q1 and hopefully ship in Q2, but we are prioritizing trail search above this right now, and it's not something we can just peel one person off to knock out as a feature.
And I can't put an exact date on it and feel confident because the current trail search project is big and hairy, and the Mapbox GL project is also big and hairy. So all I want to say at this point is shooting for Q2, and we do realize a lot of the community wants this feature.
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Still working on it, I don't have an updated ETA. The "map2" project is taking quite a long time, but doing a download from the new web map is squarely on the roadmap. We're also in the middle of hiring several software engineers, two of whom are slated to work on the website, so we should have a much faster pace in 2019.
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It's coming.
FYI, we have a big map overhaul project in the works, and this feature request will be the cherry on top.
You guys might like to give the new map a spin, we have a live alpha going as we develop it: https://www.gaiagps.com/map2/
Still a couple more months until this does everything the old map does and more, but you can see the vector maps are pretty sweet!
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@rescuejg The map you see at gaiagps.com/map2 is the same as Gaia Topo on iPhone/iPad. We're in the middle of making gaiagps.com/map and the Android app use the same "vector" technology, but iOS is already there.
FYI, the advantages of vector maps are:
* smaller to download
* when you zoom in/out the labels stay a consistent size
* when you rotate the map, the labels stay right side up
* we can merge the vector base map, with vector overlays like Public Land, and keep the labels on top
* when you increase the text size in your phone Settings, the labels on the map get bigger
Also FYI, vector means the app downloads the data for the map, but then draws the map on the phone. Whereas a "raster" map is turned into a flat image before it gets sent down to the device, and all the device can do is scale up or down the entire image. With our vector maps and overlays (like Gaia Topo), you'll see more features being added to the map as you zoom in, but with a map like USGS Topo only the scale changes, not the detail.
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@rene.konijnenberg for what you're talking about, create an area on your phone and then select download maps for the area instead of just for a track/route. (I realize that's not what the OP is asking for, but for your case it might be ok)
I'd prefer to be able to create areas via the web interface, too.
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Yep, I'm here. It's a little tough to respond to every feature request - though if we did move forward on a feature, I'd come back and mark it as complete so you'd get a notification in your email.
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To clarify for everyone new to this thread -- it is possible to send maps to your phone from the website, with the caveat being that you can't manually select the area.
To send a map to your phone:
1. Go to gaiagps.com/map
2. Search for a place, park, or trail
3. An area will get highlighted on the map
4. In the left panel, click 'Send to App'
It'll send a map for the highlighted area.
For this particular feature request, you're voting for the ability to manually define the area to send you to phone :)
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Yes we definitely want to be able to easily select specific areas on our computers to download to our phones..
I just tried your recommendation for a lake in Colorado which is just a short 1.5 mile hike from the highway, and it wants to download the whole Roosevelt National forest at a whopping 1.46 GB..
Just need a much smaller area for this.
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@rjthtx - shoot a message to support@gaiagps.com and we can help you with a refund. I think the apps existing features speak for themselves, but if this particular ability is very important to you, I understand.
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Maybe Gaia could provide us users with some insight as to what is going on. I'm a software development manager so I deal with competing priorities for features and projects every day. I also routinely make trade-offs on features and schedules due to complexity.
Is the issue that this just isn't a high enough priority? Or is this a particularly complex software problem for reasons mere users may not understand?
Thx...Adrian.
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@apfisterer It's not horribly complex, it's a whole feature to build, and we haven't prioritized it all that highly.
That said, I'll evaluate the exact work for this and see if we can schedule it sometime soon. I'll write back here on the thread next week after our Tuesday staff meeting, I'm supposed to be on vacation at the moment.
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'..we haven't prioritized it all that highly...
That's odd..it has the most votes of any feature request.. Arguably this conspicuous intuitive capability should have been built in from the start for a Web app..
We need to be able to quickly and easily delineate areas on the computer and put them in our Folders. Then the phone would sync up, and we would have all our areas on our phone.
We also need to be able to turn on a layer in the Main Map on the computer to confirm our manually delineated areas with the bright orange areas.
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". Go to gaiagps.com/map
"2. Search for a place, park, or trail
"3. An area will get highlighted on the map"
Yes but that only works if the app finds what I'm looking for. Half the time my searches return an incorrect result or no result. I'll bet that happens to a lot of people and that is why you are getting so many requests for this feature.
One example: The Ozark Highland Trail was cited by Outside Magazine as among the top seven winter backpacking trails, not in the US or North America but in the entire world. My search only came up with a part of the trail. The map does not have enough info to extrapolate what I need to highlight.
I can usually get the coordinates off a paper map that would cover the area I need. If I could enter those four coordinates and it was highlighted on the Gaia map then I could download it.
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Thank you. Good luck on the endeavor. Looking forward to this feature.
While I'm at it extending subscriptions from the old app demonstrates a commitment to your customers. I recognize that and others do as well. That's how you hold customers and develop trust. You don't have to be perfect if you show integrity.
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Priorities...got it backwards #1 and #2..
Still not hearing your hearing your customer's priorities on this... We don't care much for the "canned" search area the Trail Search routine would provide.
Much better to be able to search for a trail, area, peak, lake, etc. then be able to quickly and clearly delineate the area we want to download to our phone.
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