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My two-penneth:

I rarely use my phone for tracking my rides (Garmin all the way, here), so would only use plotaroute on my phone for ad-hoc / last minute route plotting, combined with gimporter/gexporter to push down to the device. I have to admit that I originally wondered why there wasn't a native app, but to be completely honest, the mobile site is so excellent for plotting routes that I wouldn't be remotely bothered if a mobile app never appeared. I have recommended several people to use plotaroute based almost entirely on the quite excellent mobile route plotting ability.

Personally, I'd much prefer to see OS mapping for route plotting (nothing quite beats it for tricky off-road mapping, which OSM isn't quite as strong at yet) and, even better, proper integration to allow routes to be pushed directly to Garmin from the website to avoid the nasty hacks needed today to get them down to the device. Today, the combination of ViewRanger (offline OS maps), plotaroute (online map plotting), Strava (occasional ad-hoc route tracking when walking) and Garmin (long-duration bike-based tracking) fit my navigation needs pretty well, albeit not very seamlessly.

Thanks for this feedback Stuart - that's useful. It's good to hear that you're finding the mobile site works well for you   

With regards to OS maps, sadly Ordnance Survey won't allow us to use their maps together with Google maps, because of Google's Terms of Use grant Google various rights that Orandnace Survey is not happy with! The only way we could offer OS maps would be to stop using Google maps, which I don't think would not be acceptable to most of our Premium members. If this situation cbanges, we will certainly consider making them available if it is financially vaible, as lots of people have asked about this.

On the Garmin interface issue, we did used to have a means of downloading directly to Garmin device, but Garmin withdrew the interface tool that we were using due to browser security/stability issues. I don't think there's any other way to send routes directly but we'll have another look into this.

John

Thanks John.

Regarding the Garmin interface, it might be worth looking into developing a small, IQ application to run natively on the Garmin device and interface directly with plotaroute. Thus a user could open the app directly on the Garmin, receive a list of routes defined on plotaroute, select one and receive it directly down to the device. dwMap already implements something similar, but obvously not with your superior back-end capabilities!

https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/

This would remove the need to directly connect the Garmin to any sort of physical device, and would just use the native comms (i.e. wifi / BT via Garmin Connect) instead, which is much more practical for end users.

Regards,

Stuart H.

Hi. I am a complete novice. can I post my desktop route onto my iphone

Stuart - Thanks for that tip, we'll look into that. It might be something we can invest in at some point.

Martin - there is no need to do anything special to access your routes on an iPhone, just go to plotaroute.com in your mobile browser (usually Safari for an iPhone) and sign in to your account.

Hi, wondering if someone can kindly help with this query.  I’ve created a test route and forwarded the route via email to my iPhone. When I click on the route link and try to click on the “location” arrow, bottom right hand corner it says “Unable to detect your location”?  I’m really keen to be able to share my routes with friends etc and for them to be able to see where they are in relation to my plotted route so am hoping to find out why it says “Unable to detect your location”?

Many thanks in advance 

Hi John - see this forum topic: https://www.plotaroute.com/posts/1764/D/1

I plan all my routes on https://www.plotaroute.com/ and create a gpx file when I decide to walk the route. I then use https://ukmapapp.com/ which supports free offline maps and load in the gpx file. It is available on ios and android and costs £7.99. This is the only reliable way I have found to have a successful days walking. Offline maps are essential as many hiking routes are effectively off the grid. If Plotaroute.com supported offline maps then I would not have to resort to https://ukmapapp.com/ at all. As far as I am aware https://www.plotaroute.com/ does not suport offline maps. Do you have any plans to support offline maps in the future?

Offine maps would probably be quite tricky for us to implement Johnny without developing a full-blown mobile app, but it is something we would like to introduce at some point if we can. 

Unfortunately Johnny Doyle, there is no android version of ukmapapp yet. 

I have installed the mobile app however it is unable to access the gps.  Other apps access the gps OK. Phone is a Samaung s9+ running android 10. App info on the phone says "no permissions required" and that the app is downloaded from google play, which is obviously incorrect. In Settings->Location->App permissions the app does not appear as one requesting access to location.

Any ideas please.

Hi Steve,

Have a look at the following FAQ for advice on this: Why can't the mobile app detect my location?