Persistent or user-selectable location when opening the app
Can we please have the app open to the last-viewed location? If this isn't the desired default behavior, can we make it a preference/setting?
While hiking, I frequently open and close the app, or switch between different apps on my phone. I would like to be able to instantly (or at least easily) pick up where I left off when I was last using the app. As it stands currently, I often have to pan or search when I leave the app and come back, even if it was only for a few moments. Love Gaia, but this behavior is quite frustrating since it interrupts workflow.
What sounds even better would be having a setting to choose the behavior when opening the app: 1) Always open to a set default location, 2) Always open to my current location, 3) Always open to last viewed location.
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Mine just opens up in the middle of the ocean, every time. I was reading issues about this dating as far as six years old… surely fixing yp the app to indicate the last or curent location, as default can’t be that hard… i mean every other app does it… does anyone in the development team care? Or use the app at all to realize the current behaviour does not help any user?
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@arkinein, I agree that is is a frustrating thing, I’m not sure though for me it’s my top priority thing to fix even if it’s “easy” because there is an easy workaround to just click the “current location” button when opening the app. But what I really wanted to share was this blog post that I found very insightful since you asked if the development team even cares. I think they very much do but they seem to have some “technical debt” in the app that they have to get cleaned up to make fixes like this easy as it seems it should be. https://blog.gaiagps.com/type-2-engineeering/
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@TakeNoSpace
Thanks for the link—it’s helpful to understand the broader context of what the dev team is up against. Balancing priorities is tough, I get that.
I just want to re-emphasize the significance of this issue for users. While clicking the "current location" button may seem like a workaround, it doesn't address the needs of users who are planning or reviewing a route/location that's different from where they currently are. For example, what if I'm preparing for a hike in the Rockies while currently at home in Utah, or if I'm editing waypoints from a trip after returning home, or even planning the next day's route in camp on a backpacking trip? In any of these cases the app’s default behavior forces me to manually navigate back to my "working area" every single time I open the app or switch apps.
Other scenarios where this issue could be even more problematic than for the casual hiker:
- Outdoor professionals planning logistics for different client trips.
- Search and rescue teams needing to revisit different search areas in the app quickly.
- Other users who might be working across multiple sites for comparison or study.
Having the app remember the last viewed location—or giving us the option to set a startup behavior—would be a significant workflow improvement for many of us. Maintaining location continuity on load seems like it would be important for any user—and maybe even more so for power-users and professionals.
As a software engineer myself, I appreciate the team’s hard work and understand that prioritization is complex, but I believe that this feature would enhance the app's usability for a wide range of users.
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Totally agree! Through-hiker here. I'm always jumping back and forth on long trails with Gaia. Not being able to easily pick up where I left off is a real pain. Quick access to my last spot would be a huge help for plotting out stretches and supply points. Keep the focus on the trail, not fussing with the app.
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My app always opens to Medicine Mountain in the Bighorn National Forest. I think it is trying to tell me something.. lol.. YES, SAME, SAME, SAME!! Was just trying to figure out a way to have it open either where I left off (ideal) as suggested here, or at a minimum, a fixed location I could pre-configure that isn't 1,200 miles away.
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Yes, this is my number one complaint of Gaia. My guess is that this a regression bug that isn’t found in their automated testing, so they don’t encounter it.
It’s super annoying. I’ve been switching apps on iOS today for about an hour, and have had to find where I was previously looking on the map like 4 times. I’m doing research, so I’m not looking at my current location, but one that’s 150 miles away. The location that it jumps back to, is where I was about a week ago where I probably returned to cell phone range. Somehow this location is getting stored and never getting updated after that. I like to speculate about these things, even though there’s a good chance I’m wrong, that this is a different code path to set last location. Or whatever test to determine whether to set a new last location fails due to something with this state.
This would also explain why they may not encounter this bug without being mobile.
Somebody go rogue and look at the code for these scenarios for 5 minutes! Be a hero!
Thanks for reading, and I do love the app.
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