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:
Visitors to GaiaGPS.com will notice a new link in the header: the Maps page. One of the most common requests we receive is for a way to preview our map sources, and that’s exactly what the Maps page lets you do: interactively explore the various maps included with Gaia GPS, right in your web browser.
If you’re thinking of buying Gaia GPS but aren’t sure if it has the maps you need, now you can check them out. Or if you own Gaia GPS but are on the fence about subscribing to Gaia Pro, the Maps page also lets you view the Gaia-Pro-only map sources, including MapBox cloudless satellite and street maps, and the hunting overlays.
And if you’re a happy Gaia GPS user and want to turn your friends and family on to the app, linking to the Maps page is a great way to give them a taste of what Gaia GPS has to offer.
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.
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.
The US government shutdown has now rippled all the way into Gaia GPS! Two non-essential services we use from the USGS (their elevation lookup API and the National Map) are currently not functioning.
You can see the official notice on the USGS site. Thankfully the charts we feed into our NOAA charts app Skipper from the government are deemed too critical to take down for the purpose of political theater.
In the meantime, we’re going to switch our elevation look-ups to use a commercial API for v8.1, which will have the added benefit of working internationally. The National Map will just have to wait until Uncle Sam and all of his besuited lackeys in Washington decide to do their jobs, but there are of course many analogs for this map source in Gaia.
We are delighted to announce that Gaia GPS 8.0 is live on the App Store. Gaia 8 is our most ambitious release ever, and we have been working on it since the beginning of the 2013, even while pushing the 7.x releases for Gaia GPS.
Gaia GPS 8.0 on iPhone
Besides completely updating the design of the app for iOS7, we overhauled the UI on iPhone and iPad, made the maps more responsive, fixed a number bugs and quirks, and added a variety of new features. You can see the full release notes here, but I want to call out a few notable changes:
GaiaPro on Gaia8
The track recorder is now housed in a drawer on the map on iPhone, it can be arranged to show whichever stats you want on top (double to to arrange), and we improved the UI to make it clear when you are tracking, and to let you name the tracks as you record.
Gaia 8 Track Recorder
The team is a little bigger these days too, which has really let us do more with the app. I can say it’s been a real pleasure working on Gaia 8 with these folks. Our East Coast colleague, Steve, is not pictured.
We are going to push a small update, v8.0.1, based on your feedback. Please send any comments to support@gaiagps.com.
Over the years, we have fielded many emails about why GPS recordings are “wrong” or vary from posted trail markers or guides.
So, we put together an article about the various factors involved. It was interesting to read and write, so we thought we’d share this user manual entry on the blog too.