Scenic Map 1.5.1

Scenic Map and You Need A Map version 1.5.1 is now available for download on the App Store and iTunes. This is a minor bug fix version. In addition to fixing all known bugs, it includes an update of the Open Street Map data.

There are two small new features. The names of waypoints are now displayed on the map and other text will no longer cover up the waypoint icons. When you scroll or track off the edge of the map you will be ask if you want to switch to another version of Scenic Map that covers your location if it has been loaded

Waypoint names are now displayed on the map.

There is also a hidden feature you may like. If you tap with three fingers at once on the map, a short string of text is created in the clipboard which represents the map's center location, scale, course and tilt. You can past this into another app such as Notes. This text is actually a smart app link. Tapping on it will relaunch the version of Scenic Map you were running and return the map to the way it was when you created the text link. You can even put this text onto a web page. For example here is a link to Scenic Map Western USA showing Mt. Saint Helens:

ScenicMapW://view?lat=46.191190&lon=-122.194410&tilt=59.311462&zoom=3.618397&course=24.809677

Copying the link can sometimes take a few tries. I use the three finger tap gesture several times in a row to make sure I have copied the link before I switch into Notes or some other app and paste it in. This is an experimental feature currently and just for fun. Please let me know if you find some good uses for this feature

Scenic Map 1.5 & Canada Coverage

Scenic Map 1.5 has been released on the App Store!

There are three new apps: Scenic Map Western Canada, Scenic Map Central Canada and Scenic Map Eastern Canada. Using data from Canada's GeoBase and CanVec, these maps have amazing amounts of detail. They include streams, rivers, lakes and glaciers. There are two versions of the roads, one from Open Street Map and the other from GeoBase. You can switch between them in the Settings menu. Great care was taken to merge the features of the various data sources to produce the best possible map.

The new ability to merge data sets was used to improve the quality of the parks and other polygons in all versions of Scenic Map and You Need A Map. In version 1.5 you will see many more parks and other smaller polygon features.

The biggest new feature of version 1.5 is the revised Waypoints screen. You can now tap on a waypoint and get a list of options. You can export the waypoint as GPX and send it to another app or e-mail it. You can send the waypoint directly to Apple's Maps app where you can get directions to that waypoint.  There is also a new button in the tool bar that will let you do the same thing with the entire lists of waypoints. You can also access the entire list of waypoints as a GPX file via iTunes on your computer. There is also an organize button in the tool bar of the Waypoints screen. Tap it and you will get the option to sort the waypoints newest to oldest, ascending names, north to south or west to east. You can also reverse the direction by tapping the organize button and selecting the same sort option again.

When the app is first launched, by default the joystick gestures have been disabled. This is because these gestures are unfamiliar and can confuse first time users. The Joystick Gestures can be enabled near the bottom of the Settings menu. The tilt and scale of each preset are now unified. When you modify the tilt or scale of the map in one preset, it now updates all of them. If you prefer a different map tilt and scale for each preset turn off Unified Tilt & Scale near the bottom of the Settings menu.

GPS tracking has been improved for version 1.5. You will notice that the velocity and heading updates more smoothly as you drive. If you have iOS 6 installed, the apps will take advantage of the automatic tracking feature. This turns off the GPS automatically when you have stopped moving for some time. This will save batteries if you forget to stop tracking. If you prefer to manually stop the tracking (by tapping the track being recorded at the top of the Tracks menu and selecting Stop Recording Track) turn off the Automatic Tracking near the bottom of the Settings menu.

Scenic Map and You Need A Map version 1.5 require iOS 5.1. This change was made because first two generations of iPhones and iPod Touches are no longer supported by Apple's XCode development software.

A walk through tutorial of Scenic Map 1.5 has been added to the online documentation. It covers the basic features of the app.

Scenic Map 1.4.3

Scenic Map and You Need A Map version 1.4.3 have been released. 1.4.3 has the ability to display an existing track while recording or playing back a new track. The existing track will be displayed as a bright green line while the track you are recording or playing back will be displayed as a white line. You can use this feature to retrace a previous trip or hike.

GPX file import has been improved. It should be compatible with more apps and has its name set to the one saved with the GPX file instead of the name of the GPX file. Multiple tracks in the same GPX file will generate multiple tracks in Scenic Map. Routes are also converted to tracks. It should be possible to create a route in a third party app and then display it in Scenic Map to represent the boundary of a polygon on the map.

The Open Street Map data has been updated. OSM has had a recent change in its license agreement that forced them to delete a small amount of data that was still licensed under the old agreement. You may find areas in the map that are missing roads and other features in this version. You can report these issues on the Open Street Map forums or, better yet, download the Java Open Street Map editor (JOSM) and fix the problems yourself. This is actually quite easy and fun to do and seeing your improvements show up in the map is very rewarding.

In Scenic Map Alaska and You Need A Map the US Census Tiger data has been updated for 2012. This is the best version of the Tiger street map data I have seen. Most of the major highways and freeways have been updated. I also did not notice any small roads set as primary roads in this version. The Tiger data already had more accurate local roads in many areas than Open Street Map but this version makes it usable for primary and secondary roads as well. Open Street Map still has more up to date primary and secondary roads than Tiger. For example Tiger is missing the new ring road around Las Vegas that was completed a few years ago.

A bug that prevented Scenic Map from running on an iPad 2 with iOS 4 has been fixed. As part of this bug fix and to prevent future issues, the Large Map option is now available for all of the more recent iOS devices. This will allow you to opt for a smaller map which renders faster and uses less memory in cases there are any compatibility problems in the future. Some users may also prefer the faster map updates. Large Map defaults to On in the Settings menu. It is near the bottom so you will need to slide the menu upwards to see it.

As always, your reviews of my apps are greatly appreciated. Whenever a new version is posted, the App Store hides the existing reviews by default so a few good reviews would really help after an update.

Special note for owners of the first two generations of iOS Devices (the original iPhone, the iPhone 3g, the first and second generation iPod Touch):
The next version of Scenic Map and You Need A Map will require iOS 5 and will not be compatible with these earliest iOS devices that cannot run it. Apple's development tools no longer support those early devices. In order to support the new iPhone 5, I must use the latest development tools and so must also drop support for those devices. Please back up Scenic Map and You Need A Map version 1.4.3 using iTunes because this is the last version that is compatible with all iOS devices.

Converting Garmin and other track files to GPX

A user asked me how to import track data from Garmin Basecamp software into Scenic Map and You Need A Map. It turns out that Garmin's software does not export standard GPX track files so they must be converted first. I located a free app on the web that should do the job. It is called "TCX Converter". It is free and runs on both Mac and Windows. It is able to convert between a large number of track file formats and export them to GPX and other formats. By default it runs in German but you can switch it to English using the language pop-up menu in the top right corner of the main window.

TCX Converter web page

Scenic Map version 1.4.1 has been released.

Version 1.4.1 of Scenic Map has been released on the Apple App Store. This version fixes the incompatibility with the Verizon iPhone 4. The GPX track export has been improved for compatibility with other apps such as MotionX GPS. When editing waypoints, the next button will now loop around all the edit boxes. This is another change that makes waypoints easier to edit while in the field.

Mount Saint Helens Zoom

I made an animation of Mount Saint Helens volcano by simply zooming out in Scenic Map Western USA. I found a trick that lets me zoom in or out while I rotate or move the camera. To do this, first be in joystick mode (touch and hold for two seconds to switch to joystick mode). Next I did a small pinch gesture to begin the zoom. I then can release one finger and use the usual joystick gestures. In this case I gave the map a slow rotation while it zoomed out. I did modify the app slightly to allow it to switch zoom levels during the zoom (this feature will be in the next update of Scenic Map). The original animation was recorded at 30 frames per second and 1024x768 but the iPad renders the same animation at 60 frames per second at 2048x1536. I also reduced the resolution of the animation to fit into 720p for YouTube. The sound track is a clip named Spotter from Ghost In The Shell which was the inspiration for the look and feel of Scenic Map.

Scenic Map Gestures Video Tutorial

I posted a tutorial video on YouTube to demonstrate the gestures in Scenic Map. This video will become part of the online documentation. The frame rate is not as smooth as it would be on an actual iPad. I also recorded the video using an iPad 2 because the retina display of the new iPad has too much detail for a YouTube video. I added white spots to show the actual touch gestures I was using.