New version of Gaia GPS released

[Sunpilot]

As someone interested in this app, I have a question about the downloads. Isn't it possible to download directly to a folder on my computer and then transfer to the tablet when I need a specific map? I am abhorred when I read that it takes days and weeks to download a simple map.

 

[SportsmanJake]

As someone interested in this app, I have a question about the downloads. Isn't it possible to download directly to a folder on my computer and then transfer to the tablet when I need a specific map? I am abhorred when I read that it takes days and weeks to download a simple map.

From what I understand, you cannot.
That being said, I have never had long wait times when downloading maps. In fact, I have always been able to download maps very quickly (minutes, not hours).

 

[Superduty]

As someone interested in this app, I have a question about the downloads. Isn't it possible to download directly to a folder on my computer and then transfer to the tablet when I need a specific map? I am abhorred when I read that it takes days and weeks to download a simple map.

From what I understand, you cannot.
That being said, I have never had long wait times when downloading maps. In fact, I have always been able to download maps very quickly (minutes, not hours).

I would say minutes is vcertainly the exception and not the rule. I am assuming you are downloading maps of substantial size and detail. Otherwise, I suppose minutes is possible.

My advice is plan as much ahead as possible if you want to download large areas in detail and numerous map layers. Also, I have found downloading one map at a time seems to work much better. Changed my download times from days/weeks to hours.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[Sunpilot]

I still wonder why we are not allowed to archive the maps for future use. Seems like the cost for the app and monthly fees warrant that. Maybe I don't get it.

 

[MountainBiker]

I have the same problem and I don't think the card speed is an issue. Nothing else loads to the card slowly, just Gaia maps. That means the problem is with how Gaia uses a card in an Android phone.

I never had a tablet before buying it specifically to use for offline maps, so if I had known about this issue, I may have considered an Apple tablet. I'm heading off on my 4 week trip tomorrow, and 3 critical maps likely won't have completed their download. I'll have to try using WiFi at the couple of motels I'll be staying at (camping most nights), and hopefully the downloads will finish before I need them. I suppose I could also try tethering the tablet to my phone while driving to continue the downloads.

Update:
I still have hours long map download times. It does behave a bit better if I just download one map at a time, but still takes forever. Oddly enough, the long download time makes me download more maps so that I can be certain that I have maps loaded for any impromptu trip. If I wait until even a couple weeks before a trans-state trip, I won't be able to download the maps before I head out the door. Eventually the total size of the downloaded maps makes the app not work properly, breaking the sync function and it won't even let me delete map downloads! What happens is I can only sync one way: from the cloud to the app (additions only, not deletions), while the other direction never completes the sync. Actually, it never starts to sync from the device, as no files go from the device to the cloud. I am once again at the point where I will need to remove the app and reinstall it like I did early this year. This is the case with both my tablet and Galaxy S8.

I like putting my travelled tracks onto the cloud! The only way for me to do this now is to save each saved track individual to some location, move them to my computer, then import them into the cloud using the website!

I'll eventually either go to a different app (not Hema, although I use that as a backup for some maps), or buy a Steve Jobs tablet.

 

[AntonLargiader]

I still wonder why we are not allowed to archive the maps for future use. Seems like the cost for the app and monthly fees warrant that. Maybe I don't get it.

According to their website, the free version does not allow archiving maps but the paid versions do. Cost of the app... are you and I looking at different things?

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gaia-gps/id1201979492?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo=4

• Free Level - You can use Gaia GPS for free. You'll be limited to the default map source, and you won't be able to download maps for offline use.
• Member Level - As a Member, you can download a worldwide catalog of topo, road, and satellite maps.
• Premium Member Level - As a Premium Member, you also get access to these map sources...

 

[BigSwede]

Update:
I still have hours long map download times. It does behave a bit better if I just download one map at a time, but still takes forever. Oddly enough, the long download time makes me download more maps so that I can be certain that I have maps loaded for any impromptu trip. If I wait until even a couple weeks before a trans-state trip, I won't be able to download the maps before I head out the door. Eventually the total size of the downloaded maps makes the app not work properly, breaking the sync function and it won't even let me delete map downloads! What happens is I can only sync one way: from the cloud to the app (additions only, not deletions), while the other direction never completes the sync. Actually, it never starts to sync from the device, as no files go from the device to the cloud. I am once again at the point where I will need to remove the app and reinstall it like I did early this year. This is the case with both my tablet and Galaxy S8.

I like putting my travelled tracks onto the cloud! The only way for me to do this now is to save each saved track individual to some location, move them to my computer, then import them into the cloud using the website!

I'll eventually either go to a different app (not Hema, although I use that as a backup for some maps), or buy a Steve Jobs tablet.

When I download the Gaia topos, my old very cheap tablet used to take like an hour to download one area, depending on how big. My newer Samsung Tab A (2017) downloads much, much faster, only a few minutes for the same map as before. So it might just be your device.

 

[AntonLargiader]

I'm thinking about going with one of the memberships, but one of the things I'd want is decent satellite imagery. The GAIA web app has a very low-res map from seven or eight years ago that would be useless. Does the regular membership have a better satellite map? Could someone post a sample that I could compare?

 

[MountainBiker]

I'm thinking about going with one of the memberships, but one of the things I'd want is decent satellite imagery. The GAIA web app has a very low-res map from seven or eight years ago that would be useless. Does the regular membership have a better satellite map? Could someone post a sample that I could compare?

Even with the subscription, the satellite imagery is useless, at least on Android (just in case there is a difference.)

 

[MountainBiker]

When I download the Gaia topos, my old very cheap tablet used to take like an hour to download one area, depending on how big. My newer Samsung Tab A (2017) downloads much, much faster, only a few minutes for the same map as before. So it might just be your device.

That could be, but I also have a Tab A which was new in late 2016. I suppose there could be some hardware difference to the 2017 model. Of note, when I download the first several maps, it is very fast (onto the SD card), but then the more I load, the slower it gets. Eventually the device won't upload during sync. I get the same phenomenon on my 2018 Samsung Galaxy S8.

I'm thinking it may be a combination of device and platform. Many features are rolled out to Apple products that are not available on Android for a year or more. I know that it is a small company, and it is clear that Android is not a focus for them.

 

[trailbehind]

Android is a focus for us, and this increased big-time this year.

1. One of the new folks listed here, Andy, is an amazing Android developer: https://blog.gaiagps.com/gaia-gps-welcomes-5-new-team-members/. He left Facebook, where he worked on massive Android projects for billions of people, to come work on Gaia GPS. He's a longtime Gaia GPS Android user who personally wants to see Gaia GPS Android be the best it can be, for his adventures and yours.
2. Andy has done some bug fixing on Android so far, but his main feature product has been the new search tech. Here it is on the website, soon in Android: https://www.gaiagps.com/hike/united-states/washington/mount-baker-snoqualmie-national-forest/. We're launching this search feature simultaneously on iOS and Android, and we plan to launch in December. It works really well already, and if you are a beta tester on either iOS or Android, you can be using it now as we finish polishing it.
3. The next big Android project is maps and map downloads - bringing that up to par with iOS, including vector maps! You're going to see map download sizes cut by more than an order of magnitude, impacting time to download and size on disk. Plus the maps look awesome, and you can do stuff like effect the text size by changing your device settings. I hoped to this this this year, but it's looking like 2019Q1 now. This project involves my partner Jesse, my partner/wife Anna, and Andy, so you might say we have our top guns are going to be pointed at Android maps. Some work has already been done, but this is mostly queued behind the search project.
4. The Android vector maps project is similar to a project happening on the website too. You folks might like to give the new "map2" for a spin, we have a live alpha going as we develop it: https://www.gaiagps.com/map2/ - notice how the zooming and text works when you use the vector-based sources like GaiaTopo. Android will be like that. The web version of this product is captained by another person mentioned in that blog post (Lucas). And there literally couldn't be a better person for it, since Lucas is one of the authors of the vector mapping technology/framework that he is implementing for the web map (i.e. he last worked at Mapbox on creating mapboxgl, and now he's implementing mapboxgl for /map2).

I'm not sure if Android can be 100% as good as iOS, especially on the universe of all Android devices. But we're certainly going to close the gap a metric ton over the next 6-12 months, so bear with us. We do share some values spoken here, that Android/iOS should be more at par, and that Android/iOS should get new features at mostly the same pace (except when we want to stagger releases so we can test/iterate before building on iOS+Android+web).

p.s. We're still hiring engineers. If you are a sick programmer (or have a friend who is), send them our way: https://www.gaiagps.com/company/jobs/

Our most recent customer support hire (blog post imminent) is a guy named Erik, who stood out to us because he's in the process of publishing an Android app (plus he's a good writer and did the PCT thruhike). We hope to see Erik eventually transition from support to engineering (as did the person he was brought on to replace, who transitioned from support to GIS/maps engineering). We're also likely to make one of the new engineering hires in 2019 Android focused, assuming we can find the right background.

Your Gaia GPS team now includes 14 people (and some contractors), and if I have my way, it will be 20+ full-timers by the summer. We've been working on Gaia GPS for 10 years now, but we somehow had overnight success in 2018, and now the company is growing and the product is evolving faster than I've ever seen it go, not just marginally so either, it's warp speed now. We're still boot-strapped, and we have neither debt nor investors, so what you can expect is another decade of earnest work with the company focused on the community.

 

[MountainBiker]

Android is a focus for us, and this increased big-time this year.

1. One of the new folks listed here, Andy, is an amazing Android developer: https://blog.gaiagps.com/gaia-gps-welcomes-5-new-team-members/. He left Facebook, where he worked on massive Android projects for billions of people, to come work on Gaia GPS. He's a longtime Gaia GPS Android user who personally wants to see Gaia GPS Android be the best it can be, for his adventures and yours.
2. Andy has done some bug fixing on Android so far, but his main feature product has been the new search tech. Here it is on the website, soon in Android: https://www.gaiagps.com/hike/united-states/washington/mount-baker-snoqualmie-national-forest/. We're launching this search feature simultaneously on iOS and Android, and we plan to launch in December. It works really well already, and if you are a beta tester on either iOS or Android, you can be using it now as we finish polishing it.
3. The next big Android project is maps and map downloads - bringing that up to par with iOS, including vector maps! You're going to see map download sizes cut by more than an order of magnitude, impacting time to download and size on disk. Plus the maps look awesome, and you can do stuff like effect the text size by changing your device settings. I hoped to this this this year, but it's looking like 2019Q1 now. This project involves my partner Jesse, my partner/wife Anna, and Andy, so you might say we have our top guns are going to be pointed at Android maps. Some work has already been done, but this is mostly queued behind the search project.
4. The Android vector maps project is similar to a project happening on the website too. You folks might like to give the new "map2" for a spin, we have a live alpha going as we develop it: https://www.gaiagps.com/map2/ - notice how the zooming and text works when you use the vector-based sources like GaiaTopo. Android will be like that. The web version of this product is captained by another person mentioned in that blog post (Lucas). And there literally couldn't be a better person for it, since Lucas is one of the authors of the vector mapping technology/framework that he is implementing for the web map (i.e. he last worked at Mapbox on creating mapboxgl, and now he's implementing mapboxgl for /map2).

I'm not sure if Android can be 100% as good as iOS, especially on the universe of all Android devices. But we're certainly going to close the gap a metric ton over the next 6-12 months, so bear with us. We do share some values spoken here, that Android/iOS should be more at par, and that Android/iOS should get new features at mostly the same pace (except when we want to stagger releases so we can test/iterate before building on iOS+Android+web).

p.s. We're still hiring engineers. If you are a sick programmer (or have a friend who is), send them our way: https://www.gaiagps.com/company/jobs/

Our most recent customer support hire (blog post imminent) is a guy named Erik, who stood out to us because he's in the process of publishing an Android app (plus he's a good writer and did the PCT thruhike). We hope to see Erik eventually transition from support to engineering (as did the person he was brought on to replace, who transitioned from support to GIS/maps engineering). We're also likely to make one of the new engineering hires in 2019 Android focused, assuming we can find the right background.

Your Gaia GPS team now includes 14 people (and some contractors), and if I have my way, it will be 20+ full-timers by the summer. We've been working on Gaia GPS for 10 years now, but we somehow had overnight success in 2018, and now the company is growing and the product is evolving faster than I've ever seen it go, not just marginally so either, it's warp speed now. We're still boot-strapped, and we have neither debt nor investors, so what you can expect is another decade of earnest work with the company focused on the community.

That is great news! I look forward to seeing the improvements.

 

[ultraclyde]

Glad to hear you guys are bringing more to the table for us Android users. The app seems like the best bet going but it always seems more awkward than necessary when in use. I default back to RideWithGPS for route planning. It's a cycling app but its route planning interface on the web is easy to use and accurate, plus it's easy to transfer to mobile. Gaia still has more features and info available though, so I'm hoping the updates whip it into shape.

 

[lacofdfireman]

Is there a way to make the map as track up when it shows you moving on the map? I hate when I’m doing an out and back route and coming back and looking at the map my brain thinks I need to turn right when it’s actually left. Seems like the orientation is always North up. Can you do track up somehow? I can’t figure it out.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[e60ral]

Is there a way to make the map as track up when it shows you moving on the map? I hate when I’m doing an out and back route and coming back and looking at the map my brain thinks I need to turn right when it’s actually left. Seems like the orientation is always North up. Can you do track up somehow? I can’t figure it out.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

touch the crosshair looking icon at the top