Please bring back viewing direction cone

[wem...@gmail.com]

I've been using OsmAND for 2 years now and it worked fantastically. However, this cannot be said anymore after viewing direction cone has been removed. I am talking about this: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/images/a/aa/Android-osmand-pedestrian.png. This screenshot is from here: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OsmAnd.

What are the reasons for removing it? It worked reliably on my Samsung Galaxy 2 phone and Nexus 7 2013 tablet. OsmAND is now much less useful than it used to be. I don't know whether Google Maps has such feature and I don't care because I want to use OsmAND because it's open source, this is important for me. Really, viewing direction cone was *useful* as you could just turn around and know which direction you should take to a destination. Now you either have to guess or walk for a couple of seconds until blue arrow shows up.

Is viewing direction feature completely removed or is it just disabled for everybody? I am not a Java programmer but a quick look at OsmAND code shows than SHOW_VIEW_ANGLE is commented out in OsmAnd/src/net/osmand/plus/OsmandSettings.java. I need to know whether it is possible to bring back viewing direction cone by recompiling OsmAND with some parameters or, if not, whether it will be brought back. If there are no plans to bring it back I am in a desperate need to find another open source navigation program for Android, and I am afraid there are not too many out there.

[P Wat]

FWIW - Blue fan-shaped thingy? Mine is OK tonight.  PW
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[wem...@gmail.com]

Well, I have OsmAnd 1.9.5 installed from Google store and the view direction cone is totally missing. There is no option to show it.

What version do you have?

[P Wat]

Same as you. I'm using V 1.9.5. (Osmand+ (paid for)) in Android 4.4.4.
I have to admit I cant currently find he option in the menu but it shows on the screen.

[V S]

Options was deleted, now it shows all the time

воскресенье, 15 марта 2015 г., 21:46:10 UTC+1 пользователь P Wat написал:

[john smith]

Sorry guys but I have a hard time understanding what is going on here. There is definitely *no* viewing direction cone for me in OsmAnd 1.9.5 on Android 4.4.4. See this screenshot of OsmAnd running on my device: http://imgur.com/9Ltg1gK. There is only a blue dot representing my current location but no blue cone stems of it like it does here: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:Android-osmand-pedestrian.png. Understand that I am not talking about that blue arrow that shows up when you're moving. My device is Nexus 7 2013. I could try reinstallation but frankly I don't think that would help.

When I will come back home I will sit at my PC and read up on how OsmAnd works internally and maybe analyze some logs.

[Harry van der Wolf]

Hi John,

I think Victor means the 2.0.0 which is now in it's final beta testing phases. The 1.9.5 is missing the cone.

Harry

2015-03-20 22:43 GMT+01:00 john smith <wem...@gmail.com>:

Sorry guys but I have a hard time understanding what is going on here. There is definitely *no* viewing direction cone for me in OsmAnd 1.9.5 on Android 4.4.4. See this screenshot of OsmAnd running on my device: http://imgur.com/9Ltg1gK. There is only a blue dot representing my current location but no blue cone stems of it like it does here: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:Android-osmand-pedestrian.png. Understand that I am not talking about that blue arrow that shows up when you're moving. My device is Nexus 7 2013. I could try reinstallation but frankly I don't think that would help.

When I will come back home I will sit at my PC and read up on how OsmAnd works internally and maybe analyze some logs.

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[P Wat]

Hi John -
Maybe obvious questions, but I'll ask anyway.  Might possibly help: -
You said (in your initial post) you could see the viewing cone on your "Samsung Galaxy 2 phone"
Have you ever seen the viewing cone on your current phone "Nexus 7 2013"?
Does the Nexus 7 2013 have built-in magnetic compass, or equivalent?
If it does, are you certain the magnetic system is functioning, or might it have been turned off or failed?
PW.
======

[Max]

Hi PW,

maybe you overlooked the second part of the sentence:

"It worked reliably on my Samsung Galaxy 2 phone and Nexus 7 2013 tablet."

Regards,
Max

[Max]

Hi John,

just to verify if OsmAnd generally is able to use the compass:
Is the map rotated, if you change the map orientation "To compass"?
Tap on the N in the upper right corner to toggle the three possible modes ("Don't rotate (north is up)", "To direction of movement" and "To compass").

There are several threads about the missing/removed option to always turn on the blue cone.
At least for hiking (and maybe bicycle) it was one of the best features of OsmAnd, thus I'm sad that this option is gone.
I prefer a non-rotating map (north up) and a blue cone which shows my current viewing direction (it is much easier for my brain).

Now (since the option to turn on the viewing direction was removed) the blue cone is only displayed, if OsmAnd thinks (based on GPS) that the device is not moving.
But if the GPS reception is not optimal (for example in mountains or street canyons), the device always thinks I'm moving, even if I'm not moving.
Thus the blue cone is not shown in this case.

I think many users would be happy if the option to always turn on the blue cone would be reintroduced.
I still don't understand why this option was removed.

Regards,
Max

[sympa]

I miss the cone too. But I also like to see the viewing direction when the location is not known (yet). For that I like to rotate the map with the compass, but this is just too slow to be practical.

So if the map can rotate with the compass with enough speed and stability, everything should be OK without the cone as far as I am concerned.

[john smith]

On Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 12:45:44 PM UTC+1, P Wat wrote:

Hi John -
Maybe obvious questions, but I'll ask anyway.  Might possibly help: -
You said (in your initial post) you could see the viewing cone on your "Samsung Galaxy 2 phone"
Have you ever seen the viewing cone on your current phone "Nexus 7 2013"?

I could see the viewing cone on both devices in 1.8.x up to 1.9.something when it was removed. 

[john smith]

Ok guys, I now know what's going on. There is no viewing direction cone displayed on my device because gyroscope is not working at all. I have Android 4.4.4 and it's a known bug. I checked on another device with Android 5 and viewing cone is displayed in OsmAnd 1.9.5.

Sorry for bothering you! OsmAnd rocks!

[P Wat]

Hi Max
Fine - I had seen "It worked reliably.... and Nexus 7 2013 tablet", but in my closing line I asked "are you certain the magnetic system is functioning, or might it have been turned off or failed?"
However, in a sense the saga has moved on far enough not to matter.

But - Your latest post (3:35 today) is worrying - You say "gyroscope is not working ........ Android 4.4.4 and it's a known bug.".
I also have Android 4.4.4.  I've noticed that (as someone else mentioned) the viewing cone is only visible when you are stationary, or your GPS thinks you are.
I support your call to be granted the option to turn on the viewing cone even when GPS thinks you are moving.
PW
===========

[Stephan Wonczak]

Just to add my voice: Yes, please bring back the option to always turn on the viewing cone. Bonus points for making the size configurable. On my devices, the current size, when it is displayed at all, is rather small and easily overlooked.
And yes, the viewing cone was one of the best features OSMand had!
Pretty please with sugar on it!

[Max]

I created a patch which brings back the "always show viewing cone" option and makes the viewing cone bigger:
https://github.com/Zahnstocher/Osmand/commit/ad46f664e2688a296f224f98642709b5ba661a6b
But you have to compile OsmAnd yourself.

Regards,
Max