Summer holidays have passed like nothing, autumn is slowly knocking on the door, but the outdoor sports season is far from over. On the contrary, we are all looking forward to walks and rides full of autumn colors. So here we are again with a new version of your favorite outdoor navigation. It is full of major or minor improvements, of which we would like to highlight a few of the most important.

The map rotates, the names and labels remain

You all know how to rotate the map according to the compass or direction of movement, it's a basic feature of the map in the app. If you have rotation turned on and your phone has a built-in compass, the map rotates according to it, even when you're standing still. If you don't have a compass, Locus Map rotates the map in the direction of motion detected by GPS and other sensors. Until now, everything that was part of the map data rotated too, including local names and labels.

By updating some parts of the machine that renders offline vector maps in Locus (LoMaps and OpenAndroMaps, for example), we were able to apply the option to keep the titles in a horizontal position so that they are perfectly readable in any orientation of the phone:

The labels of objects such as streets, hiking or cycling routes are still aligned with their lines, but when flipped over vertically they switch to the other side, again for better readability.

The only labels that do not change their position are the elevations on the contours, as they are always written "top to bottom" to convey the direction of the slope.

Texts in online maps continue to rotate - online maps are technically different, being composed only of raster images in which the text is part of the map layer.

Search 3 in 1

Locus Map's main plus (and some say minus) is its lavish selection of features and settings. Even many advanced users used to get lost in the plethora. That's why you can search the functions and settings in full-text - you can find the "magnifying glass" both in the menu of all functions and in the main settings menu.

Now we've made this search even more accessible - we've linked it to the main online search for places and addresses. So when you enter the first few characters into the general search, toggles appear with results in the functions and settings categories, if Locus Map finds a result for the query.

But the work on the search doesn't end here - we are preparing a new Library for you, which will include a new search in your routes and places. We'll also add the results to the main search results list.

Even better planning and navigation

More accurate route time estimation

When planning a trip with the family or a brisk ride with friends, estimating the time spent on the route is always very useful. For example, we still need to catch a visit to grandma's or we don't want to return in the dark. However, general estimates of return time do not always correspond to the actual reality, which can be very individual.

That's why we've added to the LoRouter profile settings the ability to define a custom average speed on a flat surface, typical for a given activity or bike type. This allows Locus Map to calculate a much more accurate estimate of how long you will be on the route. We've added this option to both walking profiles and to all bike types except road bike - road cyclists have a setting based on wattage, which our research shows they track more.

The setting ranges vary by activity type. So, for example, for walking you can set a time corresponding to a relaxing walk to a fitness run, for gravel you can choose between relaxed and sporty riding, etc.

Two routes at once, why not?

Until now, you have only been able to generate alternate routes using the GraphHopper online router. Now our offline LoRouter can do this without needing to be connected to the internet, and offers many more activity profiles and personal settings. Just turn this option on in the router configuration.

You can easily switch between the options by tapping directly on the map in the planner. Of course, the variations are not just for the complete route, but for segments of it, so you have a little more room to experiment when planning, and very quickly choose the most optimal route for your trip or training.

Are we going uphill for a long time?

This intrusive question is familiar to every parent who has ever gone on a bike trip with their kids. However, the remaining elevation figure is also of interest to more sporty riders, who can better distribute their forces according to it. You can now insert it directly into your favorite dashboard that you use for navigation:

Finally, something for Garminers

For Garmin smartwatch users, we have a great add-on to quickly get a Locus Map route to the device on your wrist. However, it's not available for all devices. If you have a Gamin Edge or other device that is not on this list and you want to get routes planned in Locus Map into it, just tap Share > Share as GPX in the route details and then tap "Open". Garmin Connect is also in the apps menu. Select it, choose an activity on your route, save and sync with your device. And you're ready to go!

Článek New Locus Map 4.26 – Dynamic offline LoMap rotation and other features not only for cyclists se nejdříve objevil na Locus Map - mobile outdoor navigation app.

The new version of your favorite navigation app brings again some essential improvements. The most changes have been made to the app's online LoRouter, the “generator” for route planning and direct navigation to the destination. We've finally revived the Locus Map project for Garmin devices and although it’s already fall and the swallows have long flown away, we have the first one in the area of e-bike support.

Warning!

No, this wasn't meant as clickbait (hahaha). Take it more like a joyful exclamation - yes, online LoRouter in the app can now generate warnings for various pitfalls on the route - for challenging terrain, heavy traffic, barriers, tunnels, unprotected railway crossings, and so on. And that’s both in the route planner and in the quick route calculation for direct navigation to the destination.

Some warnings have three color-differentiated levels - from the least to the most serious warning:

If a warning concerns entire sections of the route, e.g., challenging surfaces or heavy road traffic, it also has a zonal variant, so you know exactly which part of the route to be careful on.

The degrees and types of warnings depend on the chosen activity or vehicle you plan to use on the route. If the route goes over cobblestones, it’s not a problem if you’re walking or biking. It’s worse on a road bike, and in such a case, Locus Map will display a warning.

For example, a route through the center of Prague is teeming with such warnings.

Warnings are typically displayed on the route on the map. During navigation along the route, the symbols also appear under the main navigation window:

If you tap on any warning symbol on the map, a list of all warnings on the route opens, sorted by distance. The length is also displayed for zonal sections. By tapping, you center the selected place or section on the map.

The warning system is so far available only in the app - in time, of course, it'll also be available on our web planner. We believe that it will greatly contribute to better comfort in planning your outdoor activities, as well as to greater safety in their operation.

For example, thanks to Locus Map, you already know that this section will require rubber boots... :) :

Do you have any tips on what else you would like to be warned of when planning your route? Let us know in the comments!

I Want My Own Routing Profile!

Yes, we know that many of you secretly (some very loudly) desire this option, however, for now, we can’t offer you such a variant. However, with new customization options for existing profiles, we are much further ahead.

First and foremost, we’ve enriched Online LoRouter with switches, which you’re already used to from its offline variant. For car profiles, these are standard options to omit toll sections, highways or unpaved roads. For walking profiles and trekking bikes, a “wet conditions” parameter has been added, which adjusts the route selection more to paved surfaces with a smaller risk of mud.

The most changes have been made to the MTB profile. Here our routing guru Radim finally had fun and compiled a sophisticated algorithm for route calculation based on the choice of terrain difficulty level. 

There are five levels and they reflect both the surfaces of roads, trails, and footpaths, as well as their slope, elevation, and other properties. So if you choose the lowest level, Locus Map will serve you the smoothest progress with the gentlest available ascent. 

The most difficult level, on the other hand, will dish out a line with a proper dose of adrenaline, where you’ll really give it your all:

Although the mentioned changes concern the online variant of LoRouter, we are already working hard on their introduction into offline - there is really a lot of work ahead and we still haven't left the "experimenting" level in the router development. Anyways, if you have any particular wishes regarding the customization, let us know.

Garmin Add-on for Locus Map Lives!

And now a fantastic piece of news for all the holders of these beloved rugged watches. Despite all the adversities that Garmin constantly throws at independent developers, our colleague Honza has accomplished a formidable feat - he has operationalized the add-on for the latest models. More details revealed by the creator himself:

"The existing functionality of the addon is "saved" again for now, so we can continue to extend the compatibility with devices or develop it further. Unfortunately, the feature of streaming maps from the phone to the watch display is no longer available and, after unplanned restrictions by Garmin, cannot be offered any longer for technical reasons. However, other features continue to be available, including "1-click" route export to supported watches.

This has given me a new impetus to think about integration with Garmin products further and I hope we will be able to pleasantly surprise you in the future. For example, we are well aware of the lack of the ability to easily export routes with Locus Map to Garmin Edge bike computers, but more on that next time."

The First Autumn Swallow - integration with Specialized e-bikes

No, we haven’t gone mad, we have indeed just launched the first swallow in the field of Locus's communication with e-bikes.

In the trial run we launch support for e-bike really fancy - all-suspension Specialized Turbo Levo, on which we first tested the possibilities of connecting the bike software with our application beyond the previously supported sensors of speed and cadence or power… The new sensor not only reads from the bike in aggregate the already mentioned information but also adds data about the currently selected mode of assistance of the e-bike and the status of its battery. We can add all this to our dashboard and keep it all in sight when riding with Locus Map on the handlebars!

The sensor should work with most Specialized e-bikes, including road bikes, but for now, the names of the assists will appear as they are named on their mountain bikes. We will then adapt this further according to interest.

News in LoMaps

The hike/bike theme of our offline LoMaps has gained a lot of improvements over the last months, of which we especially like to highlight:

• the return of road numbering - we managed to solve a stubborn technical mystery and especially long-distance cyclists will again appreciate the road numbers on the map

• marking of ferratas - adrenaline lovers will welcome on the map clearly visible challenging mountain, iron-secured paths (hence ferratas). And soon also with difficulty marking!

• more accurate contour lines - in the new LoMaps we generate more detailed drawn contour lines from 1'' height data, while maintaining the volume of map files. We have completed Europe so far, but the machines are running at full speed, so you can look forward to further additions soon.

And finally, goodbye, Munzee…

Unfortunately, after eight years, we have to say goodbye to this interesting outdoor game. Its creators have terminated the operation of the API, thus cutting off the possibility for the game to develop independent applications. We have therefore also ended the support of the Munzee add-on for Locus Map and removed it from Google Play.

Článek New Locus Map 4.19 Heading for Even Better Route Planning se nejdříve objevil na Locus Map - mobile outdoor navigation app.

Winter has not been very good for snow sports so far, so all those who like to work out in the fresh air are looking for substitutes. One of them is cycling, especially road cycling, as the fields and forests are now knee-deep in mud. However, getting out on a bike in winter is quite a challenge, not only because of the right choice of clothing but also for safety. January weather fluctuations usually bring poor visibility, fog, and showers. It also gets dark early, so the cyclist has to think first and foremost about being seen. Locus Map is now making a major contribution to this.

Warnings directly on the map display

When riding on a road with car traffic, it is essential that the rider is clear about what is happening behind him. Many road cyclists, hobbyists, and cyclists use the increasingly common bike radar, which is mounted on the seat tube. The most famous of these, the Garmin Varia, can now be linked to Locus and display its outputs and warnings directly on the map screen:

The latest RVR 315, RTL 515, and RCT 715 models are supported and communicate with Locus via Bluetooth. Just connect them using the sensor manager and set the notification method:

If a car approaches you from behind within 140 m, a colored stripe with a vehicle count indicator will light up on the display and an alarm will sound - orange - low threat, red - high threat. Everything works even when the display is switched off - it automatically switches on in the event of a threat. Other Locus functions such as navigation or route recording run as standard, of course.

In addition to the dashboard function, which turns your smartphone into a fancy bike computer, Locus Map also brings another gadget for cycling enthusiasts.

What will the weather be like?

The global weather forecast has been in Locus for years, but the feature has been due to a revamp, and a change of data provider. In fact, the original DarkSky is heading exclusively under Apple's wing and will no longer be available as a standalone service.

After a lot of testing, we finally implemented the open service OpenWeatherMap, which perfectly matches the accuracy and complexity of the original provider. It offers 16 days of long-term forecasts and 6 days of short- and medium-term forecasts in three-hour intervals. It offers both a pictorial forecast and precise data - real and sensed temperature, wind strength and direction, pressure, visibility, relative humidity, and the amount and nature of precipitation. Of course, it also displays the progress of the weather during the day on a graph:

You can view the forecast for any location on Earth, Locus gives you all the options to select the location - place on the map, coordinates, cursor position, etc.:

You can also now view the forecast for LoPoints as well as for caches or your other user points of interest:

Other minor improvements

Of course, the new version also brings a bundle of other minor improvements, such as a more rounded panel design, or the ability to move the sidebar to the center:

So get on your bike and remember to ride safely!

Featured photo by Garmin

Článek New Locus Map 4.14 works with bike radar se nejdříve objevil na Locus Map - mobile outdoor navigation app.

Despite very nice summer-like weather in October here in mid-Europe, we've continued working hard on tuning and improving Locus Map. You know, you're still supplying us with loads of ideas and inspiration. Thank you for that! For example, one of the most frequent topics is navigation. In the new version of Locus Map, we are introducing a couple of nice improvements you've been asking us for a while.

Navigation line style - choose what you like

All navigation devices and apps use one type of navigation line. Most often, it is a kind of thick pink or velvet stripe stretching along your way. Until now, the same it was in Locus Map. However, as the route/track line styling in Locus is very flexible, a lot of you wanted to have the possibility to change the style of the navigation line too. Or more precisely, to have the option to maintain the style of your route that you want to be navigated along.

To be true, we resisted your nagging for quite a long time. And then we realized the maintaining of the route line style makes sense. Especially, when you use elevation or gradient coloring of the line. Therefore, now you've got three options for styling your navigation line.

Basic - good old classic line

The contrast and width of the line are optimized for the best visibility. The part of the line that was driven through (i.e. behind you) changes into lighter and thinner one for better differentiation. Line color and width can be adjusted:

Custom - style your navigation as you need

Enjoy all ways of styling your line Locus Map offers for routes and tracks - multiple colors, patterns, outlines, data coloring (according to speed, altitude, slope, etc.)

Keep original - do NOT change my line style!

You're used to your route styling and you don't need any style changes during navigation. You'll do with the navigation arrow and commands. Okay, no problem, keep it!

Set your navigation line style in Locus settings > Navigation > Line style.

More about linking to presets

In the previous release, we introduced an option to link your most used navigation profiles to your app presets. Nevertheless, this linking was available only for "Navigate to..." feature, when Locus rendered a route to a selected target after you chose the means of transport. Now, you can link the navigation also when you want to navigate along an imported, planned route or recorded track. You can find the setting directly in the navigation box:

Enjoy Locus maps on your Garmin

Our partner Wearsoft released version 2.0 of their addon connecting Locus Map and Garmin devices. Besides many other improvements, this addon displays Locus maps on your wristwatch screen!

Of course, including navigation commands, geocaches, and other layers. So if you are a Garmin user and fan,

DOWNLOAD the add-on at GOOGLE PLAY >>

Photos by Andrew Preble, Unsplash and Jan Čapek, Wearsoft

Článek Custom navigation line and further improvements in the new Locus Map 3.41 se nejdříve objevil na Locus Map - mobile outdoor navigation app.

Using your favorite hiking navigation via a wearable device is welcome by more and more outdoor fans. There are, unfortunately, loads of wearable platforms and each needs its own add-on to communicate with Locus Map running on a mobile phone or tablet. We have already released Locus Map Watch add-on for Android Wear/Wear OS and for Samsung watches running on Tizen operating system.

Now, here comes the long-awaited result of our cooperation with guys from Wearsoft - an add-on for Garmin!

What can I do with it?

Navigate...

Select a place to go in Locus Map. Plan your own route comfortably on the smartphone big screen or import a trip from GPSies. Start navigation - the main process is running in Locus Map in your mobile, you see navigation instructions on your Garmin.

Guide to a geocache...

Hunting for a hidden treasure? Pick your geocache on the map and start guidance to it. Your Garmin will lead you to the very spot.

Plan the route in Locus, export it to Garmin...

...and leave your smartphone at home! Enjoy the freedom of being without the phone for a while and go for a ride just with your rugged Garmin on your wrist (not all Garmins, however, support import of courses).

Monitor your Locus track recording...

Do you like Locus track recording with all its options of setup and recording profiles? Then run and monitor it directly from your Garmin. When your trip is finished, export it directly to Garmin Connect. Or, if you prefer recording your activities directly by Garmin, do so. You can simultaneously be navigated by Locus.

How does it work?

So that you can enjoy all of these features you just need to install Locus Map for Garmin in your mobile phone or tablet running OS Android 4.1 and higher:

Download Locus Map for Garmin >>

When you launch the add-on it takes care of everything else you need:

• Locus Map Android outdour navigation (if not installed)
• Garmin Connect Mobile Android app
• Garmin Connect IQ application Locus Map installed on your watch

Does it run on my Garmin?

Garmin produces a vast range of devices with many levels of functionality. Locus Map for Garmin is compatible with a lot of them and many are still under consideration to be added.

Check the list of compatible Garmins >>

How much does it cost?

Download and install Locus Map for Garmin for free - you can try it in Preview mode. To unlock all its features, go to Locus Store (part of Locus Map Android app) and purchase Premium functionality for cca 4 €.

Enjoy!

Článek Navigate with Locus Map on your Garmin! se nejdříve objevil na Locus Map - mobile outdoor navigation app.