issues with Gaia from a professional user

if we could fix these things this software would be great:

1. as I noted in previous comments the route building feature is clumsy. we should be able to create a total multi-way route and then break it into legs and easily erase recorded backtracks

2. the snap to trail feature only seems to work on trails is finicky, it does not snap to many trails that are shown on usgs maps and/or trails illustrated, and sometimes, though less often on Gaia base layer maps

3. the map downloading process is very unclear. my issues are: a) it seems to discontinue download if my phone goes to the lock screen, so I have to monitor this entire process, b) it tries to download multiple maps at once, instead of doing them sequentially which negatively affects download speeds, c) it is not very clear which maps have successfully downloaded vs. maps that still need to download. this should be simple and straightforward to check which maps you have and don't have

4. the waypoint feature does not seem to be able to integrate into the routes, which is weird. we should be able to build a route and integrate waypoints into it. I may just not understand how to do this.

5. when following a route, it should be easy to assess how far along the route you are or distance to next waypoint (see previous point)

6. it would be cool if there was a snap to river route feature

thanks for considering it, I think you guys could have the best software out there by far, but these issues make the program less user friendly than it should be I think.

Official comment

Chris Hill

September 09, 2020 01:06

Hey Andrew,

1. We are working on some things in this area. I don't have details for you yet, but it is something we're looking into.

2. Snap-to-trail is only available for trails showing on Gaia Topo (feet or meters). Trails on other map sources may not be supported.

3a. Maps cannot download while in the background on iOS. Please leave the app open while downloading maps.

3b. Some sources can be downloaded simultaneously. The app will download up to 4 maps at a time, optimizing for speed. It's faster than downloading each one individually.

3c. You can view your maps in the Saved menu. Saved > filter for Maps. If any of your maps are greyed out, they are not yet downloaded. Tap them, then select "resume download" to start them manually.

Or if you have auto-resume enabled, you'll see that your maps resume downloading automatically when you launch the app. You can check on your active downloads here:

4. You can create a waypoint from a route by tapping and route node and then the pencil. More info here: Create, Edit, and Measure Routes

5. You can't see distance from one waypoint to another along a route, but Guide Me will give you some of these features: Using Guide Me - Get Guidance to and along a Track, Route or Waypoint

6. Snap-to-waterway is not available. Sorry about that.

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact support.

issues with Gaia from a professional user

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