+user13371 Posted April 6, 2013 Posted April 6, 2013 I recently found out that Apple's mapping app defaults to "snap to road" and that many other iOS apps do also. There are ways in the API to tell the location manager not to snap to road - but if an app developer doesn't take those into account and/or offer the user options, you just get that default behavior. Motion-X GPS offers something like 16 different user-selectable activity modes, some will snap to road and some won't. Has anyone else he used OTHER apps that record tracks and know which ones do and don't snap to road? Quote
+northernpenguin Posted April 7, 2013 Posted April 7, 2013 I recently found out that Apple's mapping app defaults to "snap to road" and that many other iOS apps do also. There are ways in the API to tell the location manager not to snap to road - but if an app developer doesn't take those into account and/or offer the user options, you just get that default behavior. Motion-X GPS offers something like 16 different user-selectable activity modes, some will snap to road and some won't. Has anyone else he used OTHER apps that record tracks and know which ones do and don't snap to road? I've never noticed Placetrack, Latitudie, or Runkeeper snapping to roads. But I hike / run below the 20kph level. I've never seen my bike tracks snap to road in Runkeeper though and that's closer to 30kph. I'm not saying apps don't (I fully expect Navigon, Garmin to do so). Quote
+user13371 Posted April 8, 2013 Author Posted April 8, 2013 You've put your finger on it as pertains to speed. The only way I noticed it is when looking at some sample tracks I recorded during my morning commute. On a section of rail line that runs between two nearby roads, the recorded position followed the nearest road until the rail line diverged a bit. Then it would jumped to the other road for a while. It IS a minor thing, but to me it seems a mistake unless the app is giving turn by turn directions - otherwise the map should show the raw GPS position. Snap to road may also affect battery and data usage, since the app has to access Apple's map server data to know where the road is. Quote
+griz4b Posted May 26, 2013 Posted May 26, 2013 You've put your finger on it as pertains to speed. The only way I noticed it is when looking at some sample tracks I recorded during my morning commute. On a section of rail line that runs between two nearby roads, the recorded position followed the nearest road until the rail line diverged a bit. Then it would jumped to the other road for a while. ... I've seen the same issue, but certainly not related to my speed. It happens even when I'm stationary... see similar thread: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=309874&st=0&gopid=5254039entry5254039 Quote
+Leica Birdy Posted August 25, 2014 Posted August 25, 2014 I recently found out that Apple's mapping app defaults to "snap to road" and that many other iOS apps do also. There are ways in the API to tell the location manager not to snap to road - but if an app developer doesn't take those into account and/or offer the user options, you just get that default behavior. Motion-X GPS offers something like 16 different user-selectable activity modes, some will snap to road and some won't. Has anyone else he used OTHER apps that record tracks and know which ones do and don't snap to road? Have you tried setting the Geocaching app to another mapping program (i.e. not the default Apple yet?...) Curious I may try that and see if it solves these issues. Quote
+user13371 Posted August 26, 2014 Author Posted August 26, 2014 I haven't looked at this for some time. I'll try Google Maps this morning on the same train commute I mentioned earlier. Quote
+user13371 Posted August 26, 2014 Author Posted August 26, 2014 (edited) Well, that's a happy surprise. As I said, I hadn't looked at this for a while - but I just tried both Apple Map and Google Maps while on the train to work. No problem today with the spots that fuddled it when I posted back in April 2013. There's one spot in particular that used to consistently fool it - a spot where a tunnel causes the GPS to lose its fix. When it re-acquired it would always assume I was on the freeway and not figure out it was wrong for a very long time. Followed the track correctly today though. Currently using iPad Mini Retina, iOS 7.1.2. Edited August 26, 2014 by user13371 Quote
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