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Gaia GPS

Gaia GPS

Issue on iOS6 update for Gaia GPS and Offline Topo Maps

by Staff Reports
written by Staff Reports

Gaia GPS and Offline Topo Maps have a temporary issue for people upgrading from iOS5->iOS6.

None of your data has been lost, but when you update your operating system, the apps misplace your tracks and maps. This is because we have a bit of fragile code, and it broke when Apple changed a “hash” function in iOS6.

To address this issue:

  • if you start fresh on iOS6, you are fine
  • if you upgraded from iOS5 to iOS6, sit tight – our next update will restore all of your tracks and maps
  • if you don’t have tracks or maps you care about, just delete and reinstall the app

Our update should be approved sometime next week. Unfortunately, we had a big release in review, but we found this bug and had to pull it. We imagine it will take Apple 2-10 days to approve our update.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. While we had been working with the new iOS6 developer kit, we totally missed this issue. As a result, we are trying to determine how to improve our QA process around operating system updates.

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Gaia GPS

Bad App Store binaries plague Gaia and other apps

by Staff Reports
written by Staff Reports

UPDATE: On Thursday July 5, around 9pm PST, Apple re-pushed out the Gaia GPS v6.5 update, and presumably updates for all the affected apps. You should now be able to download the latest release, which will fix your app if you downloaded a corrupt binary.

ORIGINAL POST: Many people have emailed to say new installs and updates of Gaia GPS are crashing. This is an issue with the App Store itself, and affects many apps that had updates on July 4.

This blog provides steps to resolve the issue, background, and links to news articles and blogs.

How to Fix

  1. Some people are still receiving corrupt binaries, and others are not. You may simply want to wait to update, until Apple issues a statement saying everything is fixed.
  2. If you already updated and Gaia doesn’t work, you can delete the app, and try and download it again. Many people report this now works, though some are still receiving bad binaries as of 11am Thursday, July 5.
  3. Some users report they can download a proper copy to iTunes on their computer, and load the new version to Gaia that way.
  4. If you received a corrupt binary, and you need to recover your data, there are three options:
    1. Restore your phone from a backup from iCloud or iTunes, and wait to update.
    2. Wait for the next release of Gaia GPS, or for Apple to push a fix to this issue directly. Your data is still there, the app is just unloadable.
    3. Contact support@gaiagps.com, and we can help you get your data immediately, in a pinch. Please have mercy, because this is time-consuming for us.

Background

Apple reviewed and approved our latest update on July 4. Soon after, we began getting emails from people letting us know that Gaia would not boot – these emails came from both new users and people who updated. These reports were mostly, if not all, from people running iOS 5.1.1.

At that point, we checked our automatic crash logger, where we did not see any reported crashes. We then loaded up the app on to 7 devices. One of the devices, an iPhone running iOS 5.1.1, received a corrupt binary and would not boot Gaia. At that point, we ran the device under debug mode in XCode, booting from the build of our code we shipped to Apple. Again, we were not able to detect any crashes.

Finally, we began to suspect the issue was with the App Store itself. Soon, blog posts and confirmations emerged that other developers were having the same issue.

As of 11am on July 5, Apple is mum on the issue.

Other Links

  1. You can read about affected apps and symptoms on the Instapaper blog.
  2. TechCrunch is calling it a FairPlay DRM issue.
  3. ZDNet is suggesting a way to get a non-corrupt binary via iTunes.
  4. An app called GoodReader is providing this guidance to users.
  5. There is also a discussion thread on Hacker News.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused during the holiday. We’ll update our blog as we get more information.

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Gaia GPS

Gaia v6.3 – issue and how to fix

by Staff Reports
written by Staff Reports

There is a nasty, but easy-to-fix, crash you might experience in the latest version of Gaia GPS. You can fix this crash via iTunes, simply by following the instructions below.

If you do not have any important data saved in Gaia GPS (tracks, waypoints, or downloaded maps) or don’t have access to iTunes on a computer, you can also fix this crash by deleting the app and reinstalling it from the App store. You will not be recharged during the reinstall.

Fix from iTunes

    1. Plug your device into iTunes
    2. Select the device in the menu on the left
FIRST STEP
    1. Select the Apps tab at the top
SECOND STEP>
    1. Select Gaia GPS from the list of apps at the bottom
THIRD STEP > SCROLL DOWN
    1. Delete the file called “newSettings.txt” from Gaia (press the delete button on your keyboard) Then tap “Delete”.
General Problem Select newSettings.txt
General Problem step two

 

After that, restarting the app should make it work fine. The only effect you will experience is your settings (metric/imperial, etc.) will need to be set again.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Gaia v6.3 was a big release, and this bug snuck in! We hope you otherwise like the improvements.

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Gaia GPS

Gaia GPS to the Rescue

by Staff Reports
written by Staff Reports

I got this email from a user on an search and rescue team, and I wanted to share what he said. It makes my day to hear Gaia really make a difference.

Our group S&R group was actually out this evening evacuating a snowmobiler with a broken femur from miles back off the trailhead.  I am a huge proponent of your software and I think I’ve gotten at least a dozen people our team using it now.  The area we were in this evening, is an area we were in last year, past midnight in a white out blizzard.  It is on top of a ridge where you have to thread your way down through various rock bands without actually going off the ridge.  Last year, after we found a lost snowmobiler we used my phone and your app to guide about 10 of us and the subject through the white out conditions and safely down through the rock formations while we couldn’t see more than 10 feet around us.  The others with their GPS units had horrible version of topo maps, and it was too cold and windy to break out the actual maps.  Using the GPS overlayed onto the actual USGS topo maps was key in getting us out safely.  So, with all sincerity, thank you for this app!     

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Gaia GPS

Topo Maps are Back

by Staff Reports
written by Staff Reports

Despite all the shenanigans this week, we’re back online with topo maps now.

In Gaia GPS, go to Settings->Help to show topo maps in the app. The default topo map source no longer works, but you can use topos by activating them in Settings->Help.

In addition, the new versions of Gaia GPS and Offline Topo Maps should be live next week, and they include our new topo server as the default source.

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Gaia GPS

Trimble-MyTopo Kills Topo Server, Intentionally Cripples Gaia GPS and Other Leading Apps

by Staff Reports
written by Staff Reports

Update, March 2016: Trimble has discontinued all of their apps as of March 26, 2016. They list Gaia GPS as a recommended replacement for all Trimble and MyTopo apps.

Update: We now have our own USGS topo server. It’s live in our Android app now, and we’re pushing an update to Apple today. Thanks to all of our users for the flood of supportive emails, and thanks to our partner EarthNC (maker of Marine Charts) for standing up the topo server literally overnight.

I’m sorry folks, but as of today the MyTopo maps are dead in Gaia GPS. We should have an alternate topo source up later this week, but for now, users will be limited to the OpenCycleMap topos.

This was a competitive move by Trimble, following their acquisition of MyTopo this summer. We were given no warning, and they did this intentionally in order to cripple our app, as well as a leading outdoor app on Android, Backcountry Navigator. We found out when maps stopped showing up in our apps – no email, no phone call, no nothing. Their purpose was to mow down the competition, so that they could dominate with their line of inferior apps.

I understand the cold-blooded reasoning that would lead to this course of action, but I could never imagine making such an unprofessional move, regardless of the money at stake. And it’s much worse than just not warning us – they went as far as to lull us into believing this wouldn’t happen. When MyTopo was acquired, we were told that we would be warned about impending changes in the usage of their tile server. Furthermore, I have spent the last month and a half discussing my company being acquired by Trimble, all the while they were systematically plotting to ruin us instead.

What is even more disturbing about this is that Trimble is jeopardizing people’s lives, for money. I doubt it will work out that way, and I hope with all my soul and being that it will not, but it is simply irresponsible to pull maps from circulation with no warning. Despite our disclaimers and Terms of Use telling users that Gaia GPS can’t be relied on, people still use the app for critical navigation. If this move strands someone in the woods or gets a traveler lost overseas, Trimble will regret these machinations dearly.


And look at this scummy image they are serving up instead

If Trimble thinks this is the end of Gaia GPS, they are sorely mistaken. I don’t think they realize that my friends in the industry can replace the MyTopo server in a matter of days, and that they are coming to our aid to do just that. As we speak, our allies with expertise in maps and GIS are taking time away from their families and evenings to help us respond to this emergency and stand up a new topo server. While we’ll take some lumps over the course of the next few days, in the end we’ll go back to beating the tar out of Trimble on Android, iPhone, iPad, and everywhere else they try and compete with us. The end result of this move will simply be a black stain on the Trimble’s corporate name and the wicked corporate suits who dreamed it up.

The sad truth is that despite having vast marketing resources, and tons of money to spend on development, Trimble makes inferior apps. They brand them with well-known logos (Backpacker and Cabella’s), outsource development to people who don’t care, and then use vicious moves like this when their apps get dominated by Gaia GPS. So if they want to fight dirty, bring it. It just makes me want to redouble my efforts and beat them all the more.

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