After two months of hard work, we are releasing a new version of your favorite outdoor navigation system. It brings again an incredible amount of modifications and improvements. We pick the biggest highlights from the changelog:

• the new route planner
• new in LoMaps
• unified system of LoPoints
• possibility to highlight selected categories of LoPoints above the map
• new notification centre

Now let’s take a closer look.

Planning routes faster and more clearly

As you already know, the planner draws a route based on the selected route profile. What is a routing profile? It is a set of certain parameters that the planner uses to plot a route on the map. It can be a means of transport, such as a car or a bike, but also a sport activity, such as walking or cross-country skiing.

Based on your numerous suggestions and our monitoring of the planner’s use, we have undertaken a major transformation of the route profile selection and planning logic. Clicking on the profile selection button will now take you directly to a menu of all profiles for the selected router. Click on the selected profile to activate it, and the entire route will be recalculated according to your new selection:

Data analysis reveals that most routes are planned with a single activity, requiring a quick modification of the entire route with a different profile to view it all in a new context. We’ve now sped this up to two clicks.

A different profile for each segment

Many of you are planning a combined route. For example, you want to drive to the start of the hike and then continue on foot. Of course, we have the option to choose a profile for each route segment separately. We just moved it to the action menu. Click “Continue with…” to change the profile for the next route segment, not the whole route.

What about custom settings?

Of course, it wouldn’t be Locus Map if it didn’t offer additional options to customize the app. Each LoRouter profile (except for manual mode) includes the ability to change various route calculation and route time estimation parameters. Just hold your finger on the profile select button, and additional setting options will appear:

TIP: As a proper geek, you can place the button to change parameters directly on the planner’s desktop. A long press then quickly changes the profile to manual mode:

Detailed instructions on how to use all the options of parameters and their settings when planning your trips will be discussed in a future article.

LoMap always on display

With the new Locus Map, you’ll never drive out of an area covered by LoMap and see a blank screen instead of a map. Once the app detects you’re off the map, it automatically switches to online mode and streams map data from the internet. You can, of course, turn this option on or off in the settings:

Bulk update

Those of you who use offline LoMaps will appreciate the ability to update multiple map packages at once. You can choose from a list or update all of them at once.

Locus Map Lite now also offline

This news isn’t Android-related, but we still want to brag a bit: Locus Map’s little brother for iPhones and iPads, Locus Map Lite, can also work with offline maps, as we wrote here. So if you have Apple friends, feel free to tell them.

Online&offline LoPoints in one

LoPoints, touristy and interesting places on the map with lots of information and photos, used to be available separately in online and offline versions, and were also switched on separately above the map. We’ve managed to simplify this tremendously – everything is hidden under one button in the content panel, and you don’t have to worry about whether you have an internet connection or have downloaded the right offline LoMap.

Of course, you can turn off the automation in the settings and display online or offline LoPoints separately. Important note: the new system only works with the latest LoMaps, so make sure you update them.

Highlight the selected category

If you arrive in an unfamiliar city and need to quickly see all the places to eat on the map, just tap the content panel and select the appropriate LoPoints category:

Since there are a plethora of categories available, you can also search them in full text:

What about points of interest from other sources?

You can also display other databases in Locus Map, for example, from OpenAndroMap. There is a separate display button for these in the content panel. Here you can also find LoPoints from older versions of LoMap:

So you don’t miss anything

We’ve created a brand new notification system for the actions the app takes – when and how it downloads maps, backs up your routes and points, syncs with the cloud, and more. You can also get a look at your notification history:

We’ve also added a button for quick access to manage system notifications, where you can set everything up so that you’re only notified of exactly what you need to know.

And now we can only wish you a nice holiday with Locus Map!