Feature - display destination bearing in degrees

[Paul S]

Hi Folks, is there a possibility of adding the destination bearing in degrees to the screen? I know someone will probably say do it yourself but I think ths feature would be useful for others too:) and I've paid for the play version. I use OsmAnd for hillwalking and I can roughly set the bearing on my compass using the red arrow or, a slightly better method is using the line from straight line navigation but it is still a rough setting not to mention neither the compass or the device like the close proximity while carrying out this action. If the bearing in degrees was displayed similar to distance on the screen I would have a much more accurate way to set it.

[P Wat]

That could also be useful for supporting nautical navigation.

(Not sure I'd use it on land because (IMHO) one usually follows the line of least resistance, dodging obstacles, etc, aiming for a distant landmark, rather than staring at a compass to follow an exact bearing. - But each to his own...).

PW
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[Narayan]

Won't be of much use in any form of navigation.

1. In nautical navigation you have to account for current and wind
2. In trekking you have to plan along treks/ridges (you cannot walk in a straight line)

So the red arrow is there only to give you a sense of general direction, not for setting course.

[Paul S]

Well I guess neither of you (Narayan or P Wat) have ever had to navigate your way out of a sudden low visibility situation such as cloud or fog with a low battery. New gadgets are great but I'll never throw away my compass or map and rely solely on an electronic device. Watching my device fog up while having little or no visibility ahead and surrounded by jagged rocks makes me check immediately for my real map/chart and compass:) Of course you have to plan to avoid ridges etc. but that's the whole idea of the bearing in the first place - to take you safely from one point to another before moving on to the next point rather than over (or into) a cliff. The bearing can be taken from a map but it would just be much easier and faster to be able to set the compass from the device rather than having to take out a map each time to do it.

[stf]

Definitely! I've got my Garmin GPS setup so that one of the items displayed is bearing to destination and I can use that to set my hand held compass. Much easier than locating both my current location and destination location on a paper map and then determining the bearing from that (though I do keep a paper map and practice that so that I can still navigate if the inevitable electronic/battery failures take out all my gadgets). I'd up this request from a suggestion to a mandatory item for anyone who is is actually considering using OsmAnd for hiking or other backcountry navigation.

[Paul S]

Yes stf, that's what I'm talking about:) -I think it would be a great feature to have.

[P Wat]

Hi Paul S.
"....navigate ... out of a sudden low visibility situation " lost count of the occasions, on land and sea.
"....low battery" - No never.  Always got battery back-up
And always got low tec navigation resources.
That said, I support your concept.
Narayan's point has some validity, but (as a frequent & long-term sailor) I'd still say a compass or true north in Osmand would be useful.
What we don't want is so many knobs and whistles that the battery is eaten up rapidly!
PW
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[Paul S]

Hi P Wat,
 Good point about the battery usage but surely that red pointer uses power so I'd like it as an alternative to that. I think the red pointer can be turned off and I'd see the bearing as a screen option as well. Perhaps it would be better to display bearing on poi's or waypoints but I expect that would be a lot more development work and so unlikely to happen.
I get what Narayan was saying and appreciate the response but isn't that how it is done in the absence of an electronic gadget..I disagree that it won't be of much use in any form of navigation. I believe the device could be kept in low power mode for much longer if the user could just turn on the screen long enough to take a bearing and move on. I know this may not be for everybody but I still think it would be a useful addition to the software and allow the app to be taken more seriously as a navigation tool.