A new app, provisionally called simply Topo Maps 2, is currently in development. Ultimately this app will replace the existing app, but they will co-exist for the time being.
A test version of the new app is now available to anyone who has the current Topo Maps or Topo Maps for iPad installed. The test version is distributed using an Apple system called TestFlight. To get started, Click Here. (If you are subsequently asked to enter a code or link, come back here and click the same link again.)
Please try it out and send your feedback. But do please read the notes below!
The new app will include significant new features, many of which have been frequently requested over the years, including:
Much of this functionality is shared with my other apps for the UK and New Zealand. See below for some preliminary screenshots.
There have been some bug fixes related to importing GPX files; if you attempt to import the same file a second time, its name will have -1, -2 etc. appended to distinguish the versions (and avoid crashing).
It's now possible to mark significant points during a track recording.
Filtering stats now include climb.
Names are now optional for most GPX items.
Most of the changes in this update are internal, related to GPX tracks and routes.
Some significant bugs related to the location filtering feature added in the last beta should have been resolved.
A new "Actions" button with a wrench icon now makes available some actions on tracks and routes that were previously accessible only in the Files screen, namely filtering, deriving speeds, reversing the order of the points, and estimating times.
The filtering screen now shows the effect of the changes on the number of points and the length of the track.
Tapping on the header of a scrollable area will now scroll to the top.
See below for older versions.
It's probably best to send your feedback by email. Please attach a screenshot if you think it will help describe what you are seeing.
TestFlight does provide a couple of mechanisms to send feedback. If the app crashes, you can send the crash report along with a description; you can also send screenshots. Note that if you use either of these features I probably don't see your email address, so I have no way of replying. Consider putting your email address in your comments.
I would especially appreciate feedback about any of the following:
The following are areas where I know that work is required before release; you don't need to send detailed reports about these:
The app that you install using TestFlight will work much like an app installed from the App Store, except that it will expire and cease to work after about 90 days. When I release updated test versions you should be notified that they are available; they may be installed automatically if you have enabled that in the TestFlight app.
Eventually, when the final version is ready you'll be able to install that from the App Store. Note that I believe there is no automatic notification about that from the TestFlight system, as far as I can tell.
I have not yet decided on the business model for the new app. It may include a subscription element. It won't be free.
All subject to change.
There have been further improvements to text input, though it still has some bugs.
Graphs should now show local time when the date/time axis is used.
This update adds more features for filtering the GPS locations in recorded tracks.
For existing tracks, view the track in the Files screen (e.g. by selecting the track on the map and tapping "info"), tap "ACTIONS", and choose "Filter". In screen that's presented you can adjust the settings and see the effect on the track immediately. Tap DONE when you're happy. (Note that the user interface for this is not final.)
Note one important bug with this: the track metadata, including the name and style, is lost during filtering. This will be fixed in the next version.
For new track recordings, tap "Options" in the track recording bar at the bottom of the screen and similar controls will be shown.
By filtering the recorded locations using these features, the reported lengths of recorded tracks should more closely match your expectations, especially for hiking and other low-speed activities where the "jitter" inherent in both the GPS data and your actual movement can make the raw tracks longer than they should be.
Text entry now uses more standard iOS features including selection and the loupe (magnifier) - though there are some known issues with this, including the loupe being off the top of the screen when used with the search box, and name suggestions not working, and the menu not showing the most appropriate items. Let me know how well this works for you.
The "record" button is no longer in the Location panel, but is a regular button by default in the "more..." button box at the bottom of the screen.
The button layout settings now allow you to entirely hide buttons that you never use.
As always, assorted bug fixes.
A location spot is now shown in the graph window, which could be useful if you are trying to follow a route. There have been various minor changes to the user-interface. Downloads might start a bit more quickly.
If you turn off Location while recording a track, the track recording should now continue. There is now more flexibility in the button settings; you can move any button to any of the button bars. A crash-on-start bug has been fixed.
This update makes the app look a bit more like the old app, if you adjust the settings. Specifically, you can change the crosshairs style to look more like the old app, and you can move some of the buttons from the popup that's shown when you select a point to the top of the screen. This makes it possible to place a waypoint at the crosshairs position with one fewer tap.
Please let me know what you think, especially if you're one of the people who said "I like the old app as it is, please don't change anything"!
This update has removed some of the bogus items from the Canadian search data, has tweaked some details of the user interface, and has adjusted the appearance of the placeholders shown for detailed maps when you zoom out.
This update has updated the "Maps" screen and the associated map grid overlays. In particular, the "synchronize terrain" button has been replaced by a "download terrain" action which requires that you select the (old app) maps for which you want to get the corresponding terrain data.
Please try downloading and deleting a few maps of different types and tell me whether it works, and whether the experience is easy enough to use.
This update has made some changes to the Maps screen; you can now select more than one map type to download at the same time, and by default it will select maps appropriate for the current map mode.
When you zoom out, detailed maps are now replaced by dark squares rather than disappearing.
And there are numerous bug fixes.
Important: your existing 1:63k maps of Alaska will be removed by this update. You will need to re-download those maps.
Alaskan 1:63k maps are now shown as a separate category in the Maps screen and hence have a separate grid, making it possible to select the maps that you want where both 1:24k and 1:63k maps are available. Canadian maps are now also shown as a separate category, for consistency.
The app now has a mechanism for presenting "hints"; any suggestions about where hints would be useful would be appreciated.
Please tell me what you think! For example, what do you think of the maps and imagery? What about the hybrid map mode? Have you tried recording tracks? Did that work well? Thanks!
This is a bug-fix update.
This update is primarily a bug-fix update to resolve crash-on-start issues in the previous version on some devices. There are also some minor fixes elsewhere.
This update adds:
This update adds downloads for "traditional" USGS topos.
I have processed about 56,000 maps and I think most are OK, but there are some glitches:
Please report any other issues not listed above that you spot with these maps! I obviously can't inspect all 56,000 of them myself. Please check a few of your local maps and see if they align properly with adjacent maps, etc., and make sure that they are at least as new as the same quad in the old app.
This is a bug-fix update which should resolve many of the visual glitches seen in 3D mode.
Not an app update, but today I've made a change to the server, currently only for US Topo map downloads. Please let me know if you have any problems with US Topo downloads. I'll extend this change to the other download types eventually.
New in this version:
There have also been plenty of tweaks to the user interface and bug fixes.
This is primarily a bug fix release.
This is primarily a bug fix release.
New features in this version:
This is a primarily a bug fix update, with some improvements to the "fly" feature.
I believe that yesterday's update did resolve the crash-on-start issues for some users, though not all. This is a further bug-fix update.
Update x3: build 23857 is a further attempt to resolve the crash-on-start issues that many have seen over the last week.
New features in this version:
New features in this version:
New features in this version:
Bug fixes include issues crashes when the system language is set to something unusual, e.g. Chinese.
New features in this version:
Bug fixes include issues when US Topo and traditional topo maps are adjacent, and crashes when US Topo, traditional topos, and imagery are all shown simultaneously.
This is another bug fix related to downloads. If you previously found that the "Synchronize Terrain" button or other downloads failed, please update and try again.
This update is a bug fix; the previous version was downloading more terrain data than necessary.
This update has the following new features:
First beta release.