Why can't imported routes be edited now??
So another WTF moment. Let me provide some exciting context (and this makes the Gaia "how do you use your maps" survey I just took more pertinent). First the big question: WHY THE HELL CAN I NO LONGER EDIT IMPORTED ROUTES IN GAIAGPS.COM????!! I believe we used to be able to and this made Gaia a better, centralized planning tool. This is important because: GAIA doesn't give us the option to convert our tracks into routes. NOT THAT THIS IS HARD. Alltrails (the easier option) and GPS Babel, which Gaia has pointed people to in help support, offers a route converter. It's pretty friggin' basic. So here's the use case:
1) Spent last night planning a new 45 mile cycling route using both Gaia and Google Maps, mostly gravel and bike paths for this one. Create a route in Gaia. Exported .gpx file to Garmin for use on my Edge cycling computer.
2) Rode the route. Because I hadn't ridden it, my planning route wasn't accurate to the actual ride. So IF GAIA WOULD JUST LET ME TAKE A GAIA TRACK AND TURN IT INTO A STUPID "GAIA OFFICIAL NOT IMPORTED" ROUTE, this problem wouldn't exist. But Gaia doesn't do this because, you know, changing a track from a route in the xml data is SO INCREDIBLY rocket science hard.
3) Enter the workaround. Laboriously export the Gaia track to Alltrails. Convert to a generic GPX route. Import BACK into Gaia because Gaia doesn't DO THAT. The Goal? To have a ROUTE file that can be edited. So I can edit out the dead ends and exploratory riding that's in the TRACK, turning it into a cleaner/more usable ROUTE.
4) WRONG! CAN'T DO IT. ROUTE NOT CREATED IN GAIA, SO NO MORE EDITING. When did this workaround change? and why? Really? And if this is a result of the "well we just created the awesome new feature of letting you download the offline data to create routes from your tent" so THAT somehow makes it IMPOSSIBLE to edit imported routes, then that is just LAZY.
IF YOU WONT LET ME TURN A GAIA TRACK INTO A ROUTE, and I can't export to a 3rd party and then re import to edit, WHAT IS THE FRIGGIN SOLUTION? Do you people train with your own digital ecosystem every day? What do you do? How do you fine tune a route that becomes a track from actual use into a polished route???
I can't edit tracks. I can't turn a track into a route. I guess I have to go back to the original route and edit that? Because it was created in the GAIA OFFICIAL DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM? I guess it's my fault I no longer have that route saved as I deleted it after exporting to Garmin.
This whole process is just stupid and taking me hours for what should be maybe 20 minutes.
Frustrated? Yes you friggin bet. Don't even get me started on having to delete the BS folder that Gaia forces you to create when you import a gpx track and then want to file it somewhere useful.
On a more serious note, this feels like a "walled garden" strategy of not sharing/using/importing/exporting data to/from a larger exercise/outdoor/workout ecosystem (that includes companies like Garmin, Strava, CalTopo, et al) as a way to force people to stay within a proprietary ecosystem. But this is silly (for lots of heres) E.g. Gaia doesn't do everything, we need to use and integrate with other systems such as cycle computers which YOU DON'T MAKE.
PS: Another, perhaps more significant use case: what if a user learns about a route online, downloads that route (or more likely another's track) and wants to tweak it in Gaia for their own use (shortening it, adding other info, etc. etc.)? Say you grab a file for an awesome route on bikepacking.com. HOW DO YOU USE IT and EDIT in Gaia? Can you? or not? I am SPEECHLESS. Going BACKWARDS with features (sorry workarounds) is just, just ridiculous. Are we really only supposed to use Gaia for everything? It clearly doesn't fulfill so many additional needs.
PPS: I found the gpx route I originally created IN Gaia and exported FROM GAIA for use in the Garmin ecosystem as a "course" (of course no problem doing that). Get this! I tried to solve the problem by re importing this route file, created IN Gaia back INTO Gaia. Did Gaia recognize it? Could I edit the route in Gaia, because, you know, it was originally created in Gaia? OH HELL NO, OF COURSE NOT! That would indeed be rocket science. I am baffled and amazed. Baffled and amazed and I can't figure out if it's incompetence or some new corporate "strategy" ("our digital ecosystem only! we won't play with others!") pushed by CEO and privacy pirate Robin Thurston and various Pocket Media cronies or what.
-
Hi,
looking for a better trekking tool , i went into this pb and have a similar feeling.
With about 200 routes i did in the past years (mostly in France as i'm living there) i have for now dropped this idea . asking to the help desk i had twice the same answer " butée".
in case something change , Gaia, just tell !
regards1 -
"anyone, anyone?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA
Yeah, no responses these days, thanks everyone!
0 -
you can edit a track on the app
0 -
I got the same issue. I imported a route from Alltrails (it is easier to find a trail on Alltrails). Since routes in Alltrails are basically user-based, they tend to include unnecessary diverts etc and I would want to clean them up or change the route slightly. But it turns out that I can't edit them.
I also agree that Gaia GPS should offer a track-to-route converter, which Alltrails does.
1 -
Just a heads up that this is still an issue (at least for users, the company doesn't seem to care). What's funny is they've removed the message saying you can't edit imported routes....trying to hide the issue? When you click edit, it lets you edit the Name and the Notes forms. But not the route, so we as users get to have fun by importing a route and then retracing it in Gaia just so we can edit it! Amazing.
0 -
Well i just subscribes to gaiagps today and this issue makes the whole app useless for my use case. I create DRIVING routes in Google Maps, export as gpx and import them in gaia. I want to convert what looks like straight lines between waypoints to an actual driving route again which i can't. Tracks do not work well with how i use the android app, i need a route.
1 -
This is still an issue. Does anybody know why imported routes cannot be edited?!
2 -
Yep, still an issue. I'm looking for a different mapping solution because of this idiotic lack of a basic feature that all mapping programs should have. *sigh*
1 -
Well I discovered today that this is still an issue. Using the web version of GAIA I imported a GPX track.
Then I found out that the mobile app does allow for a track to be converted into a route, but the imported route first needs to be duplicated. However, this newly duplicated then converted route cannot be edited using the web version of GAIA as I get an error Imported Routes Cannot Be Edited. There is some limited ability to edit this newly converted route using the mobile app, but the editing is very limited as it messes up the track. I can only seem add points to the end of the track and trying to change any points in the middle of the track cause the whole track to disappear. Once this mobile app edited track is saved it can then be further edited using the web version, but with the same issues as the mobile app version. So in a nut shell, after two hours of trial and error, it's still a no and imported tracks cannot be edited in GAIA.
This is a huge disappointment as how does one edit and tweak community tracks or even one's own tracks recorded using another device?
3 -
I'm a brand new user to GAIA, came here in search of an alternative to Garmin Base Camp for planning an a SATNAV app. I do a lot of moto camping, touring and Back Roads riding and so looking for something a bit more intuitive than base camp. I also have A LOT of gpx tracks already created. I also just purchased a CHIGEE to get away from Garmin ZUMO limitations.
So spent some time learning how to create routes - ok nice.
Then I imported a route for editing - SLAM BRICK WALL.
News flash to the product management team - people like to share GPX files so we don't have to reinvent the wheel.
Good thing I'm still in the evaluation period.
Hard stop - sorry folks
0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
10 comments