On March 1, a message appeared on Twitter that Viewranger, our very strong competing app, had been shut down by its new owner, Outdooractive. VR users are now forced to use the Outdooractive application. However, not everyone is satisfied with the upgrade, so they are looking for an alternative. Many turn to us and want to know what Locus Map can do. This article is intended primarily for those.

Locus Map is what you are looking for

The Viewranger was great and inspired us in many ways. That's why you can find in Locus Map more or less everything you used in Viewranger. Whether it's basics like activity recording, route planning, navigation, use of various maps… or specialties like Live Tracking (similar to  VR’s “Buddy Beacon”), augmented reality (similar to popular “Skyline”), or wearables support (Wear OS, Tizen, and Garmin).

Let's look at each item in more detail:

Activity recording

All your outdoor activities can be recorded in Locus. Just select the type of activity and press the start button. This is available not only directly in the app on the main screen, but also in the widget or an add-on in the smartwatch.

When recording, the application generates a number of statistics. In addition to the parameters obtained from GPS (length, speed, time, elevation…), it also records data from connected sensors - heart rate, cadence, power, etc. This data can be displayed directly above the map on the so-called dashboard:

Each activity has its own record profile, which can be customized in great detail. You can have an unlimited number of profiles for different types of activities.

The records are stored in a database in an application that synchronizes with the cloud and the web library.

Route planning

You can plan routes directly in the application via the planner, with or without an internet connection. If you prefer a large PC monitor, you can plan routes in the web planner. The route from it is automatically synchronized with all devices in which you have Locus Map installed.

Route planning is also performed using profiles in which you select the type of activity - according to it, the router selects the appropriate types of routes, surfaces, and elevation of the route. Of course, there is a manual mode for planning routes outside the mapped routes or the option to have a complete round trip designed - just enter the direction and distance.

Navigation

You can navigate in Locus in several ways. The first option is along an already prepared route - planned in the planner, imported from elsewhere, or previously recorded. Furthermore, the navigation destination can be specified directly on the map and Locus plans a route to it according to the entered criteria.

Another option that you will appreciate, especially in open terrain without roads, is beeline guidance to the target. The method is especially popular among geocachers.

Choose a map according to your needs

Locus Map offers as a default a hiking/biking map of the whole world - LoMap. It is based on OSM data and can be used online and offline. In addition to map data, it also contains dynamic LoPoints, offline addresses, and elevation data.

Like the Viewranger, also Locus Map offers maps from a number of other providers - Kompass, Outdooractive (DE), Freytag-Berndt (A), IGN (FR, BE), USGS, Neotreks / Accuterra (USA), Ordnance Survey (UK), and also lots of freely accessible online maps based on OSM.

Ordnance Survey maps

Most of the Viewranger users we spoke to use OS maps. We also have them in our Locus Store, in 140 offline packages, covering the whole of the UK. Maps are not subscribed as in Viewranger but are purchased individually for one-time payments. Each package contains two map layers - Landranger and Explorer - in several zooms.

We can offer you also Ordnance Survey OpenData maps combined with OSM data, Rowmaps, and Core Path maps in JohnThornMaps covering the whole UK.

Live Tracking is the new Buddy Beacon

You can share real-time location with family and friends using Live Tracking. It works both mutually - between individual Locus users - and one-way - the location from Locus in the mobile is displayed on the website.

You can share your location publicly or in a private group. You can create groups and invite other participants, you can also chat in them and send points of interest to each other.

Use a smart watch

You can also use Locus Map in conjunction with a smartwatch. We support Wear OS, Tizen (older Samsung watches), and Garmin platforms.

In all cases, Locus Map is the main application on the mobile phone and the watch adds an auxiliary add-on that displays your location on the map, navigation commands and you can also use it to control the track recording.

Where is Skyline?

You can also try out the popular augmented reality feature with Locus, using the Augmented Reality for Locus Map add-on. In principle, it works similarly to Skyline, but before turning it on, you must first turn on the LoPoint view and highlight the mountain peaks in Locus.

Can I customize Locus Map?

Yes, in many ways.

Starting at the main screen, which can be adapted for right-handers and left-handers, you can adjust the visibility of all the main buttons, as well as the function buttons in the sidebars.

You can set the style of routes at all the levels - for the whole application, route folders, navigation, route recording, and in the planner.

Customize the number and layout of items in the main menu, set units, coordinate systems, auxiliary graphics, coordinate grid, even the appearance and size of map and navigation cursors.

What do I need to pay extra for in Locus?

The application is in the basic version after downloading from the Google Play Store for FREE. It basically contains everything you need for everyday outdoor use - track recording, route planner, navigation, cycling/hiking map of the world online, and much more.

You can extend the functionality and remove restrictions on some features of the application by purchasing Premium Silver and Gold packages.

Premium Silver offers a larger map screen without ads and includes a suite of features for sports use as an audio coach or sensor connection manager. There is also a package of map tools for calibration, overlays, and map offsets.

Premium Gold offers maximum - all functions including data synchronization with the cloud, built-in offline router, all offline LoMaps of the world, satellite map, live tracking with private groups, etc.

Detailed comparison of premium plans can be found HERE >>

Maps of our commercial partners are not included in Premium packages. So everyone can buy just the map they really need.

Welcome to Locus Map!

Článek Viewrangers, welcome! se nejdříve objevil na Locus Map - mobile outdoor navigation app.

by John Thorn, UK

First, some history...

Twenty years ago, when you wanted a map for outdoor activity, the choice was between Ordnance Survey paper maps in either 1:50000 scale (“Landranger”) or 1:25000 (“Explorer”). Consumer GPS devices were just becoming available and smartphones were unknown. Fast forward and dedicated GPS devices are past their peak with a general move to smartphones with moving map displays that show you where you have been and where you are.

Raster or vector?

The digital maps used by these devices are either raster maps where the image is held on the device as a picture (more often a set of picture tiles) or vector maps where map features are described by their coordinates and type with the image being created by the device as it is being displayed. If you zoom into a raster map everything gets bigger; if you zoom into a vector map the places move farther apart but the width of the road between them stays the same.

The major OS maps, even digital versions, are still raster maps but the OS also releases vector data, some of it free.

Base - OpenStreetMap and Ordnance Survey Opendata

Open Street Map was formed as a project to map the world and make the result available for free. The data is collected by volunteers who input the descriptions and data for buildings, woods, rivers, roads into a vast shared database. Anyone can access the database and there are organizations that provide regular extracts in different formats such as Garmin and Mapsforge (as used in both LoMaps and mine).

The good thing about the Ordnance Survey is that the country is mapped thoroughly, regularly, and consistently. Set against this the price - which has dropped a lot in the past few years - and many features - shops, ATMs, street names - are not on the maps, and many topographic features are revised over a period measured in years.

The good thing about Open Street Map is the speed of update - days or less - and the wealth of data held in the central database but this has to be balanced by its inconsistencies. Just because Joe has mapped all the lanes in his supermarket car park does not mean Jill will do the same for hers. In towns and popular areas this is not much of a problem because there are many who will contribute but in remoter areas - see the screenshots for Stow Hill below - there is a lot of missed data. Another issue with OSM is that footpaths are included but they are rarely defined as Rights of Way.

Stow hill on a LoMap and on a JohnThornMap:

When the OS started to release free map data with an open license I decided to try to create a ‘best of both worlds’ map.

The OS Opendata contains many products but the ones I use are “Local”, “District” and “Terrain 50”. But property boundaries and footpaths are not included in any of the Open data so I looked for other sources. There is a site “www.rowmaps.com” that aggregates rights-of-way information from most local councils in England and Wales; for Scotland (where the law is different) I have sourced “Core Path” data from some of the councils including Highland. (I believe that these are the only digital maps that show and identify Core Paths.) But in private lands such as Forestry and Nature Reserves, there are permissive paths that can be used but are not official rights of way. So I source footpath data from Open Street Map as well as other map features like Pubs, Toilets, Airfields, Abandoned Railways, and Viewpoints. Rights of way are in green or mauve, other paths in red. See the Legend for more details.

My maps

My maps include every building, road, railway, river, and wood known to the OS supplemented by the other data described above. Contours and spot heights are in meters. With the rights of way data, you can be sure that you are allowed to be where you are and you will not find your way blocked by an unmarked river. Sadly, though, there is no source of property boundaries that I can use.

The maps are designed for most outdoor activities - hiking, biking, equestrian, canoeing. The maps are revised with the latest data every year.

Below are a number of screenshots comparing my maps with OS and LoMaps (which are derived from Open Street Map):

If you want to explore further - and I hope you do - the Lowlands map covering the area from the Tyne to the Tay is free for download.

My overall message is that the OS provides the best topographical detail at the highest price. If your trips are to places that are well mapped by OSM then LoMaps are fine but if you are going "off the beaten track" then my maps are probably the best value.

I would be happy to receive comments or suggestions: john@the-thorns.org.uk

Článek JohnThornMaps – why you might want to use them on your travels in UK se nejdříve objevil na Locus Map - mobile outdoor navigation app.

Recently, besides never ending improving of features and fine-tuning of Locus UX, we've been focusing on enlarging the portfolio of maps. Let's remind - in a few recent months we added terrific trail maps of the USA by NeoTreks, satellite images by USGS, Great Britain maps by Ordnance Survey, European maps by Kompass, Polish hiking maps by Compass or very detailed maps of Belgium by IGN. The map offer, therefore, grew significantly and besides the Locus Store where you can view and purchase these maps we haven't presented the maps much. It's about time to change it - we're introducing a new web page with  Locus premium maps.

Premium maps for free

When you call something "premium" it usually means that the thing is pricy and has some extra value high above the standard. We took a slightly different point of view at this term and among the maps we'd like to present we included also the basic maps of the OpenStreetMap project that we offer for FREE both for online viewing and downloading for offline use. OSM maps have come through a great development over its short history, they are growing in detail and are very accurate. Locus Map has offered them since its very beginning, they are still widely used and we don't see a single reason why not to include them in premium maps too.

FREE are also first three packages of vector Lomaps, that we generate from OSM data. LoMaps are the only maps fully optimized exclusively for Locus Map application - their content can be changed according to the user's activity and they contain offline addresses and a vast database of points of interest.

Old friends

Besides the news mentioned at start, the web page, of course, presents also already introduced map makers. Maps of the German Outdooractive, Austrian Freytag-Berndt, Czech SHOCart, French IGN or Swisstopo can be found in Locus for quite a while.

Each map producer or provider is presented by a large graphic depicting the map on a mobile and tablet screen, and an article informing about coverage, available scales and content of the map. All maps can be obtained in our Locus Store that is an inseparable part of Locus application.

We hope that the new web page will help you find the map you need for even better experiences with Locus!

Článek Brand new page introducing premium maps in Locus is on se nejdříve objevil na Locus Map - mobile outdoor navigation app.

Not long ago we teased you about the Christmas giving by the 50% sale of the best outdoor navigation in the World - Locus Map Pro. We promised that it would not be all these holidays. Despite the promises should be fulfilled on the Christmas Day, we would rather fill them now, a few days before the feast. New Locus Map 3.21 is just coming. And what awaits us? There's a big lot of it, again, but let's go step by step:

And again the maps!

Ordnance Survey

We're beginning with the icing on the cake of this year: it's made of great hiking maps of the largest British cartography publishing house, Ordnance Survey. Their paper alter ego is supplied as Landranger an Explorer series. Landranger in original is in 1:50 000 scale and it's very suitable for long track cycling, multiple days on a hike, vacations or car tourism.

[caption id="attachment_10048" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Sherwood in Landranger[/caption]

A bit more detailed Explorer is in 1:25 000 scale and you'll welcome it on your running workouts, hiking, mountain biking or horseback trips. In such a large scale you'll miss no path.

[caption id="attachment_10049" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Sherwood in Explorer[/caption]

We in Locus team have prepared more than 400 map packages with the same mapsheet layout as Explorer maps, containing also Landranger and a few more overview zooms. Maps can be purchased in our Locus Store and used offline without internet connection.

IGN Belgium

The mosaic of the European countries coverage by premium maps has been enriched also by Belgian Institut Geographique National and its accurate and detailed topographic maps. After purchasing monthly or annual subscription the maps are available both for online viewing and for unlimited downloading of any area of Belgium for offline use.

U.S. National parks by NeoTreks

Awesome trail maps by NeoTreks, known also as AccuTerra maps, have been available in Locus since October 2016. We wrote about them when we were releasing the version 3.19. Until now the maps were available in so called free selection mode. It means you defined the map crop yourself. Now, for your better comfort, we've prepared 89 ready-made packages with maps of National parks and other recreational areas (national recreation areas, rivers, shores and preserves) in the United States. And if you would want more, we'll broaden the offer even more.

[caption id="attachment_10052" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Národní parky Kalifornie[/caption]

I share, you share, we share

Sharing is a mantra of today. Everything is shared, beginning with music, videos, funny gifs, cookies recipes, newborn babies photos to GPS location. And that's our domain. There are loads of sharing options, you know them from your smart mobile phone. Locus offers even more, and on the top, all in a new design and under one button:

Quick share of my current location

Tap the first item and all icons of your installed sharing apps appear. Locus can send a message through them, containing free Geohash.org link, displaying your location in several services at once, among others Google Maps, OpenStreet maps or Geocaching map:

Text message

This option can share location of your map cursor and of course also your location if it's the same (i.e. you have GPS fix). It offers more options of the text editing, it inserts your address and coords automatically. You can add your altitude, direct link to Google Maps or your GPS accuracy.

Facebook

You know well, sharing belongs to Facebook from the core of its definition. Locus can enhance the Facebook post by your address and a map and you can attach also description. We've also improved the track sharing:

What3words

Have you ever heard of What3words? If not, you'll hear soon. It's the newest coordinate system in the World, utilizing a network of 3x3 m squares. Each square is defined by three words and the network covers the whole World. Any place on Earth, therefore, has its own simple three-word address. And not only in English. Also Arabian, Russian or Mongolian and others are available. It's simple, genial and very quickly growing system and we couldn't stay behind with its implementation.

Screen sharing

You know this from before. Locus removes all buttons from your map screen and creates an image of it that you can send anywhere by mail, via messenger, Twitter or whatever sharing you've got installed on your mobile.

Sharing a KMZ file

This is  a bit geeky stuff. All you can see on your display, i.e. map, points, tracks, caches, all of it is packed in a file with KMZ suffix and can be shared. KMZ files can be visualized in other map tools, for instance in Google Earth.

Obligatory question - and that's it?

And an obligatory answer follows, of course not. The list of changes, modifications, improvements and fixes takes quite a lot of lines today.   Anyway, have a look yourself in Menu > About app. Just at random - a completely new 3D skyplot with satellites above your head:

Plus option to import GPSies.com routes directly to your own route folders and many minor things.

And finally, find a Christmas surprise in Locus and win 1000 LoCoins!

At midnight CET from 24th to 25th of December a Christmas surprise activates in Locus. Who is the first to find it, takes a picture of it (by screeenshot or a camera) and sends the picture to pr@asamm.com, wins 1000 LoCoins! That's  quite a bundle of maps under the tree isn't it?

The whole Locus team wishes you all beautiful and merry Christmas amongst your most beloved ones. And if we don't see each other then because we'll be also having rest during the Holidays, we wish you also a happy New year 2017!

Článek And finally, the best gift under the tree – Locus Map 3.21! se nejdříve objevil na Locus Map - mobile outdoor navigation app.

Have you ever been to England? No? It's a high time you packed a few things in your rucksack and check internet for nearest flight departures. The spring is coming and Great Britain offers thousands interesting places full of history and outstanding landmarks.

Locus Map provides the best maps for your UK travels - Ordnance Survey Opendata. They are ideal for hiking and cycling an are used offline without need to be connected to the internet. These maps are based on real Ordnance Survey mapping at a scale of 1:40 000 enhanced with additional data including footpaths and points of interest from Open Street Maps.

Ordnance Survey is a traditional trademark of quality maps in the UK for centuries. They are produced by a government-owned company since the beginning of the 19th century and its paper leisure time maps are well known not only in the UK. During its 220 years of history Ordnance Survey evolved from a venerable mapping company into a big data powerhouse. More about Ordnance Survey >>

Association of Ordnance Survey detailed and accurate maps and Locus Maps features secures easiness of your orientation and enhances you travel experiences in the UK. Just try it!

Článek Check amazing Ordnance Survey maps for UK travels! se nejdříve objevil na Locus Map - mobile outdoor navigation app.