Just the bare essentials to start with ... please

[pkphi...@gmail.com]

It seems the only thing this thing cannot do is function as a GPS. 

After hours of trying (including reading the manual) I have not been able to navigate from point A to point B.

I am usually able to use most apps without reading a manual. The possibilities with this product are so fascinating (I used to be a pilot), that I didn't give up in disgust. I'm willing to put work into it, but I am almost ready to throw in the towel and delete the app.

Isn't there a simple way to say - 

- use my current position

- guide me to address xyz or point xyz on map

... and just DO IT ????

An exemplary case of what is probably brilliant programming without the ability to think from the user's point of view. There is no way anyone would use an app which requires constant reference to a manual because nothing is intuitive.

I can figure out the fancy stuff (altitude, bearing etc.) later. I just need to get voice navigation and a map with directions from A to B. 

That's all. 

Can it do that in two simple steps? (like you can with Google Maps).

,

[Michael Schollmeyer]

I agree GPS Essentials is not as intuitive as it should be. On the other hand, most apps that are very intuitive have a single use case only. For example, a tracking app can live with 2 buttons and a map view. With GPS Essentials, you can track, navigate and manage waypoints.

I should probably have a tutorial or a video that shows the basic stuff...

You asked about navigation: Again, there is more than one way to do that. As you've been a pilot you know that navigating a plane is different from navigating a car, with GPS Essentials you can do both which makes things more complex. To navigate, you always need a route. A route has at least one waypoint and an optional track line to show where to go in between the waypoints. To create a route, tap on add in routes. Tap on the title to change between different route types, select a target and an optional start point and tap create. When the type is Terrain or Roads you need an internet connection to fetch the data.

You can open any route to check its waypoints, add waypoints manually (which only makes sense for straight line routes) and start and stop a route. When you started a route you'll notice a new icon in the notification area. In a running route, a specific turn point is the current one. When you start a route, this is usually the first one. When you pass this point, the running route will automatically advance to the next turn point. You can manually fast forward or rewind the turn points either in routes or add the route control widget to your dashboard.

When a route is running you will also see an arrow on the compass that points to the current turn point and you can add all sorts of widgets that have to do with routes, e.g. distance, time to go, estimated time of arrival, etc.

When you just want to go a straight line to a specific waypoint then there is a shortcut in the context menu in waypoint list (tap and hold on a waypoint in the list). This will create an "ad hoc" route to a single waypoint and start it immediately. In compass view, tap on the bottom right button also creates ad hoc routes.

I hope this gives you an idea. Just follow up here if you run into issues.

Cheers, Michael
mictale.com/ms
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[pkphi...@gmail.com]

Thanks for the answer, Michael.

I tried again (and again, and again) to create a route, but I seem to have no control over how it creates waypoints seemingly out of nowhere (with coordinates that mean nothing to me). Basically I was just trying to specify a location, and then say "go there" but that's apparently beyond my obviously limited capabilities.....

Just in case you wanted some feedback: there is too much on the market today that doesn't require an operating manual. Since your application appears to, and I am (at least I think I am) a user of at least average technical ability, I think it will have a hard time getting traction.

Sorry if I sounded pissed off - that must be upsetting for a developer. It's just that I was just really delighted when I read what it was supposed to do, and then disappointed when I couldn't do it. 

Good luck with it.

[Michael Schollmeyer]

Well, GPS Essentials already has some traction so there seems to be a market. You are right that almost all apps run well without a manual or a learning curve, but most apps are focused on a single use case which makes it easy for them to be intuitive. Nevertheless, GPS Essentials needs to be much easier to use, I guess I need to spend much more time to design for usability, but I'm just a one-man show...

Coming back to your problem: If you have a waypoint at your designated target, tap on routes, tap on add, select "Roads" from the toolbar (it is not obvious that you can change this, it is "Straight Line" by default), tap on the lower pen on the right and select your waypoint, tap on create and there you go.

Cheers, Michael
mictale.com/ms
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[Tom Logue]

I'd like to jump on this thread based on my own confusion.  I see so much functionality here, but I seem to be missing something or perhaps it just doesn't work right on my S3.  I see the potential of using this for both driving and for hiking or walking around a different city.  I tried to setup a waypoint for driving to san francisco - a search from google maps crashed and i sent a bug report.  it happened a few times, i rebooted my phone and then it worked.  i set a waypoint.  i now have two waypoints - one an arbitrary point 10 miles away and then the S.F. one.  I go into routes and see the routes page which is empty (see attachment).  you state "To create a route, tap on add in routes".  i'm not sure what you mean by 'add' as the 3 icons at the bottom:  edit, start and stop do nothing and the menu has a half dozen items but nothing that seems like 'add' functionality.  i've tried long clicking on the page and clicking on anything i can but other than switching between list and map views i can find anything that looks like an add.  is there something i'm missing here?  i've moved beyond the 'this isn't intuitive' to 'something must be wrong here' phase.  any advice?

[Michael Schollmeyer]

Ohh, my bad. If you tap on routes, GPS Essentials will open the last route if there is one. To get to the route list, tap on the route icon.

Cheers, Michael
mictale.com/ms
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> <Screenshot_2013-11-07-16-33-20.png>

[imran...@gmail.com]

I want to create  a route, but I looking  to have no control over how it creates???Some tell me some direction.Basically I was just trying to specify a location, and then say "go there" but that's apparently beyond my definitely  limited access.

_______________________
Hotel Sheets  | Cotton Bathrobes

[jon.h...@talktalk.net]

I thought I'd resurrect this thread as my confusion seems identical to the OPs. I'm new to the app and its behaviour is a constant puzzle, taking me considerable effort to puzzle out even the simplest thing. I want to use this for hiking a new unfamiliar area, but I'm testing it on local walks to get used to it. Like others on this thread I can see the potential of the app; nevertheless, I'm nearly ready to abandon it, even though I'm sure it does what I need, because the documentation is so poor.

First question: have you created the basic video tutorial that you mentioned in your post? In my opinion you need several of them as soon as possible. 

I tried to follow your instructions and got nowhere. I can create a waypoint. I can also delete it, but as for dragging it to a new map location, that's beyond me. Yesterday I managed to get a blue line showing from my current location to a waypoint. Joy! Except I don't know how I did it. I can't create purposely create a straight-line route. I've tried both going into routes and using the waypoint list. In neither case do I actually seem to create anything obvious, and when I subsequently go into Routes, it tells me there aren't any streams. (Although if I go into streams, there they are.) When I finally figured out how to get to the "Straight Line" option you mentioned (for those wondering: the top toolbar, which just said Empty and Remote, swipes to reveal more options) and added a waypoint using the square icon that looks like a clipboard, I couldn't use the create or start as it told me that "GPS Essentials has Stopped". Furthermore I could only add the last created waypoint this way, I don't know how to add a different one.

Second question: As my Android phone has no SD card, I'm currently using internal memory (using the default com.mictale.gpsessentials folder), but I plan to use an OTG flash drive. How/Where do I tell the app the location of the memory space to use?

Third question: Every once in a while I want to check I'm on track so maybe every 20 minutes or so, I'll look at my position on Essentials. As soon as I've checked it, I turn the screen off to spare the batteries. Does GPS Essentials stops locating and tracking if I do this? If so, can I change this behaviour? I'm happy for the GPS to only locate me every five minutes, but I don't want to have to wait an age when I look for it to relocate me.

Cheers,

Jon

[Michael Schollmeyer]

Hi Jon,

There are a couple of videos on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/user/GpsEssentialsApp). "Straight line" routes are actually a leftover from older versions of GPS Essentials. With the current version, you can navigate along any sequence of waypoints, you just add them to a stream, then long tap on one of them and select the navigate icon from the menu to start navigation. You can copy or move waypoints between streams, again long tap one waypoints and select the checkbox in the context menu to mark, then open the target stream and select Selection to copy or move. IMHO this is much easier and more straightforward than working with the "+"-Button.

The GPS Essentials database currently has to be on the "external storage" device as reported by Android. There is no way to customize this at this time, but there is a feature request pending to make this adjustable in the app.

You can adjust the GPS Update Interval to preserve battery, e.g. you can set this to 5 minutes. However, this will also mean that the GPS is most probably off when you manually switch on the device to look at the map so it will take a few seconds to get a current fix then. You will need to experiment with this setting to find out what works for you.

Regards, Michael
mictale.com/ms
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[jon.h...@talktalk.net]

Michael,

Thank you for the reply. I've already looked at the You Tube videos, but there weren't any 'getting yourself started' or 'basics' ones that I could find, which is why I asked here. I've configured the GPS (and tracking) intervals, however, as I mentioned, GPS still seemed to be lost when I switch the screen off. It takes a long time to find my location when I switch the screen back on again (GPS only, no wifi), and it several times placed me at 0/0 off the west coast of Africa! I don't get anything like the same delay in finding my location from scratch using the other tool I'm trialling. Even though the pan to location isn't working, when I manually pan to where I know I am, I can see that the straight line starts from my current location, so something in the app knows I'm there, even though the pan says it's still trying to locate me.

>With the current version, you can navigate along any sequence of waypoints, you just add them to a stream, then long tap on one of them and select the navigate icon from the menu to start navigation.<

A piece of advice: never use the word "just" to someone struggling. It's frustrating. The subtext is, this is really easy and you still don't understand. But it's only ever easy after you understand it! So I've created waypoints. I've gone into the waypoints list (directly rather than via the streams icon). I long pressed one of them, which turned blue. I found which of the icons was navigate, the one that looked like the location pointer, and I pressed it. Nothing seemed to happen. The application may have started doing something, but I don't know what. I see nothing different on the local map, nothing to tell me how to get to this waypoint.

Aha! After a further five minutes it located me, and now I get the blue line linking where I am to where I selected. Hooray. Now I'll try for a two waymark track in a new stream. Perhaps I'm on my way.

Thank you again for responding. I know this is all so very easy for you, but believe me, it really isn't easy for a newbie.

I'll give this another go, because I can see huge potential in your product. I just wish you would document it better.

Cheers,

Jon 

PS. Let me tell you what happened, so you know what it's like for a new user. I successfully opened a new stream (from the streams icon). I added two waypoints using the + button. I "created" the stream (which I assumed meant "save" it) and it gave the stream a default name for me. Good. I changed the name to something else. Great so far. Then I tried to edit the stream, to add a new waypoint. There was no route information. So I tried to select and copy another waypoint from the waypoints list as you suggested and the waypoint appeared at the bottom of the screen, without the others I started with. (Select and copy/move is probably fantastic for multiple selections or route sections, but for one waypoint, I found using "+" easier). I found the reason I couldn't see the waypoints in the online help: that there are other categories of view which I could bring up by touching the title, including the route information I was looking for. From there it went much more easily. I found I could drag waypoints to reorder them. Delete ones I didn't want (it create several for me in error while I was working on the map page). Finally, I can plot a basic route and edit it. If only I can get the GPS to function as I need, I'm ready to try it on a hike again.

Then it's on to map downloading. I don't have too much internal memory (which is what android believes is my SD card), so I hope I've enough for my trip.

[Michael Schollmeyer]

I guess you have set the GPS update interval so something very long. This will affect everything. If you start navigating, there will only be a fix once in a while and auto pan will not really work. There are plans to make the GPS update interval dynamic, so that you can set it e.g. to 5 minutes when the device is off but when you open the map it runs at max speed. Until then, you 5 mins also affect map display.

I guess my "just" was intended to express that there is no need to explicitly setup routes if you want to navigate. Sorry to get you down. In fact, you can use everything that has a location in GPS Essentials for navigation, e.g. when you take a picture, you can long tap on it and select navigate.

Regards, Michael
mictale.com/ms
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[l s]

man oh man, this is the most ultra frustrating app/software i think i have ever used.  i have been tinkering with it for a month or so now, and i still have no idea how or if it is working.  for example, i am trying to map out a hike this weekend between a trailhead and a lake.  it took 3 hours just to place a waypoint at the trailhead and a waypoint at the lake.  for some odd reason, it just wouldn't add the waypoints.

i had it in map mode, using both "google maps" and "portable maps".  in the upper right corner there is a 3-vertical-dot icon which drops down a menu, which has an "Add Waypoint" option.    When I select this, it says "tap on the map to add a new waypoint or select add again to add your current location".  one thing i should point out - it only gives this message every other attempt (?????).  then, when i try to add a waypoint nothing happens.  then sometimes after an hour of trying a waypoint randomly shows up.  arrrggghhh?

i think that part of the problem is that it keeps adding waypoints at my current location, and then i am maxed out at 3 waypoints (???).

also, i just want to echo what others have said about more or a beginner's guide to using it.  the manual and the youtube videos really aren't that helpful. 

[Michael Schollmeyer]

I would recommend you use portable maps as it gives you more features. Long tap on the map until a cursor appears, then drag the cursor to the desired location, then choose add waypoint from the menu on the bottom right.

Regards, Michael
mictale.com/ms
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