We love our little nook in Berkeley.
Yesterday, we quietly released a big update to the beta version of Gaia GPS for Android, and we plan to roll these changes into the main version next week, just in time for Christmas.
Most notably, this release lets you add photos to waypoints and tracks, and you can also tilt and rotate the map for a semi-3D mode. With photos, we’re getting very close to feature parity between iOS and Android, and we should get all the way there before the spring. The 3D additions on Android are also something the iOS doesn’t have at all. Here’s a peak at tilted topos:
Tilted Topos on Gaia GPS for Android
We wrote up a quick Help article to tell you how to customize the stats that show on the bottom of the map on Android. It’s easy to do, but hard to spot!
We also have a big Android release coming this week or next… stay tuned.
These days, everyone “checks in” code at Gaia GPS – all seven of us checked in some sort of technical work this month. Like many software developers out there, we use GitHub.com to collaborate and keep our code in version control, and we see “check-ins” flow in each day.
This is what we do in our office each day, and how we spend the money you spend with us:
Android – Jesse & Anna – Jesse and Anna are both hard at work on our Android app, and we’ll have a new release for Gaia for Android out today.
GaiaCloud – Anting – Between classes at Berkeley, Anting has made many improvements to cloud.gaiagps.com recently, ranging from bug fixes, to KML uploads, to improvements to the Gallery page this Monday – continuing his work from his internship this summer.
Maps – Savannah – Savannah completed two maps using CartoCSS and PostGres, via TileMill – US Inland Rivers and USGS Geology. She also leads our user support, and wears many hats in general.
GaiaGPS.com – Steve – Our website has long been in need of some improvements, and Steve has done a lot to make the site convey more information and behave like a modern website. Notably, you can now browse Gaia maps on the site, and yesterday Steve overhauled the Apps page as well. The GaiaPro page is up next.
Weather – Ryan, aka GutHook – We are working with a Gaia GPS user in Maine who develops his own trail guide apps, to work on our weather capabilities. He checked in a bunch of interesting stuff this week. Like Jesse, Ryan thru-hiked the PCT.
Bugs and Misc – Andrew – As for me, I’ve has to resuscitate trailbehind.com this week, which failed after Google Maps transitioned to API v3. I also did point releases for Gaia GPS and Skipper to address user-reported bugs.
Earlier this week, we launched a Gaia Maps page that lets people browse our map sources online – useful for potential buyers, or even users who want a convenient look at the map from their laptop or desktop.
We have also now made a few more tweaks to the page:
- search the map for addresses
- works well on mobile and tablet devices now too
- added a pop-up on first view that shows you where you can read more information about the maps
- other small tweaks
We re moving along with our development of Skipper, and we just released both an updated app, plus an updated set of Inland River Charts from the Army Corps of Engineers. I’m happy to report that Skipper has accrued almost 1,000 paying subscribers since we started in August, and Skipper is used by hundreds of boaters daily.
Our last update, v1.2, was a big overhaul, and 1.3 is limited to bug fixes and optimizations. A few hours after Skipper 1.3’s initial release, the app has been loaded hundreds of times and is super-solid, besides being packed with features of data collection and charting on the water.
Skipper also now has good charts of the Mississippi and other central rivers, along with NOAA charts, USGS topos, and satellite imagery of the world.
Jesse is off in Nepal for his honeymoon, “dog-fooding” the new version of Gaia GPS for Android. Here’s his latest trip report – he has been keeping a daily diary of the trip.
We have now added the ability to upload KML files directly to cloud.gaiagps.com/upload (in addition to GPX). You can also upload pictures along with tracks, directly on the website.
If you use Gaia GPS on iOS or Android, these uploads will automatically sync to your devices via GaiaCloud, for use in your adventures. You can also use this feature without owning the app, so you can share your tracks and view them on the website.
Here’s a note from Gaia developer Jesse Crocker, who just left for his honeymoon in Nepal, with the new Gaia GPS for Android in tow:
Today my wife Kasi and I are leaving for our honeymoon. We spent our second summer together hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, from Mexico to Canada. After a trip like that you might guess that we are not going to spend our honeymoon riding around in a tour bus. We will be spending the next month trekking in Nepal, first around Manaslu, then on the famed Anapurna Circuit.
In the years since hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, one thing has changed significantly in the world of long distance hiking – digital mapping. For this trek I will be exclusively using Gaia GPS for maps. For the last few years an iPhone has been my device of choice, but having recently completed a full rewrite of Gaia GPS for Android, I figured I had better use an Android. And what better way to test a new app than a month long trek on another continent, so for this trip I am leaving my iPhone 5 at home and bringing a Google Nexus 4.
The two treks combined are 300 miles of hiking, and almost 70,000 feet of climbing. Each trek goes over a 5000 meter pass.
The first step in preparing to use Gaia GPS for this trip was to find GPS tracks in gpx format for the trails we will be trekking, and I was able to find several different gpx files for both. After downloading all of the tracks on to my phone, I loaded them into Gaia GPS, compared them to find the most accurate, and deleted the rest. After getting the tracks loaded I shared them with GaiaCloud so friends and family could see where we are going. Check out the Manaslu Circuit and the Anapurna Circuit on Gaia Cloud.
Next it was time to download maps. My map of choice for this trip is Open Cycle Map, a topo map based on OpenStreetMap. Due to the U shape of our route, I downloaded the map in several sections, to save on storage space by not downloading areas that are not directly along the trail. In Gaia GPS for iPhone, I could have used the “download maps along track” feature to get just the maps I needed, but this feature has not yet made it to Android. I also downloaded street maps for Kathmandu, and satellite maps of the entire route. Between all three map types it was 600mb of storage on my Android.
I will be sending back tracks, pictures and stories from the trail when internet access is available.
Gaia GPS users can now use official NOAA raster charts in the app. You can add this source by going to “Add More Layers…” in the layers menu. You can also browse the charts online.
