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Messages - twil69

#31
Troubles & Questions / Re: Add point position
April 17, 2017, 10:07:29
This has been changed recently, because - unlike you - the majority of users prefers to create a new point at the GPS position (instead of the map center). This is the intuitive behavior that also traditional GPS receivers have.
But you can tweak the default to your needs: Settings-->Maps-->Points&Tracks-->Location source for new point (may slightly differ, I have translated it on the fly as my menu is in German)

Hope this helps.
#32
Quote from: menion on March 29, 2017, 14:03:59
Understand, thanks for additional information.

Did you tried to change cursors over settings > Map objects > Map cursors? You will probably have to download some from Locus Store. You may increase it's size and if not satisfied you may draw some own ( more here : http://docs.locusmap.eu/doku.php?id=manual:advanced:customization:icons#map_navigation_cursors ) or just modify downloaded.

Thanks for hinting to the customization option, menion.
Looking at the manual entry above it seems the easiest option to set the same .png file for basic and navigation cursors.
I will give it a try. Only concern is that my customization may be overwritten by the next Locus update...
#33
Quote from: menion on March 29, 2017, 12:49:46
hello guys,
@twil69 are you able to make a screenshot for example in the evening on the couch? It should help here, because I'm not perfectly sure about all these cursors you talk :). Thanks

No need to wait until tonight, it's lunch break time  ;)
Not sure how to embed an image into the text, instead I have attached one....

In that image you can see from left to right (map always in night mode)
1. My position is on the navigation route, nicely visible cursor
2. I left the route, my position is indicated by a cursor that is just outlines and hardly visible when cycling
   (Navigation cursor still visible, locked to the route)
3. Still off-route, navigation cursor out of map view, lock to position disabled and map center indicated by cross cursor

There is a fourth option, when I am not moving.
Then, instead of the moving-but-not-navigating cursor I just have a dot with an accuracy circle aroung it.

Desired behavior is to have a clearly visible cursor while moving, regardless of navigation active or not.
#34
Quote from: balloni55 on March 29, 2017, 11:31:00
Settings->Navigation->Advanced settings->Snap to route - enabled
should help ;)

Ummm,no.
If I take a detour while leaving original navigation active I want of course to see my current position.
Fixing my position to the route is certainly not helpful here.
#35
I was on a nightly bike trip the other day. Since I have automatic night mode enabled the map was rendered with inverted colours.
As long as I was on my navigation route all was nice and clearly visible. But then I decided to take a detour and get back to the calculated route later. Consequently, the navigation indicator turned into a question mark, which was expected. What was not expected was, that I had a second cursor now. The navigation cursor stayed at the next/latest navigation point, while my current position was indicated by another, barely visible  :( cursor.

I am not even sure whether this would be different without navigation. I have a crosshair cursor while I am stationary, and it turns into an arrow as soon as I am moving. I guess it was that one I was seeing then. So there seems to be a cursor for stationary, moving and navigation state. What I would like to have is a moving cursor that is equally well visible in night mode as is the navigation cursor. Which one can be recommended?

Thanks!
#36
Quote from: Andrew Heard on March 09, 2017, 23:23:43
@twil69 - the notification button is not permanent - I'd complain too if that were the case. Easy to dismiss any new items and button will hide. Don't stress too much.

Well, technically you may be right.
But lor74cas described quite nicely what will happen most of the time: this thing will disturb you when you have no time to deal with it and just want it to go away. And when you do have time you will not remember.

So it is more about the perception as something useful or something annoying. And since there are established notification alternatives (that most apps seem to agree upon) I dont see why Locus needs something different.

I always prefer pull mode (deal with things when I have time for them) instead of push mode (being interrupted).
The status of a download is visible in the Android status bar and when I want to read the Locus blog I go to feedly. Everything is already there. I personally dont need more. But let the user community decide.
#37
Quote from: menion on March 09, 2017, 10:17:35
All settings in apps has it's unique key and value values. These has nothing to with texts that user see on screen. These texts are generated on the fly in moment, they are needed.

Hmmm, but at some point you need to associate the key-value-pair with the user visible text.
If this association was bi-directional you could use the user text for looking up the unique key, right?

I like the idea of having  a settings search field as we know it from many applications these days (my reference is Eclipse here).
#38
You eventually added Profiles/Presets!  ;D
Garmin has this in the Oregons since almost a decade and I was always hoping that this would be offered for Locus as well. Given the overwhelming plethora of settings this is only a logical step. How often did I find myself roaming the settings tree to find a particular knob. Worse, the settings tend to move every now and then, so you need to memorize where they currently are. Since I use locus for geocaching, bike riding, running and hiking each time I changed the activity I needed to tweak the settings. Now consider you are e.g. on a geocaching tour by bike.... :-\
Definitely will give (custom) presets a go.

What I dislike is the notification center. I bought Pro to get rid of ads and now it sneaks back in by the app itself. Other apps also manage to notify you without cluttering the main application. I am fine with the Android notification bar, I dont want to waste precious real estate of my screen with a permament button. Please make this an opt-in instead of an opt-out.
#39
After switching to a new Android device I decided to switch from c:geo entirely to Locus with G4L.
I used to use both in parallel before but felt, that then information is too distributed and also the workflow/handling in the field was a little clumsy.

With continued use I start to miss some things in Locus. Maybe they are there already?

There is one c:geo feature I really would like to see also in Locus:
When Live Map is active, in c:geo you have the option to display the currently visible caches as list.
This lets you select individual list entries, easily review D/T, type etc. and save them for offline usage in one go.
Is this possible in Locus, too?

Another thing:
During a multi-cache I frequently need to add new waypoints to a cache. These are cache waypoints and no regular Locus WPs. So I am using the G4L user interface to add them. On a longer hike my current position is at some point far off the original start location. I may be in map view or in guiding view. Now: In order to add a new WP to the cache description I need to go back to the map location of the cache WP symbol, bring up the details, select add WP. This is pretty cumbersome. Is there a more convenient way to achieve this right from my current location?

Thanks!
#40
Hmmm, this is the "official" Locus forum, right? And this is the "troubles and questions" section?
As I am not aware of any other way of reporting problems/bugs I would appreciate any kind of feedback, at least something along the lines of "yes, we have received your issue and will be looking into it". Or is no one of the developers monitoring this and the only thing you may hope for is some helpful co-user of Locus who may or may not have a solution. This would be pretty unsatisfactory for a programm which I learned to appreciate for its fidelity and vivid development activities.

So why does no one react? Wrong forum?Wrong topic? Wrong expectations?
I really would like to have this fixed, such hiccups should simply not happen for an otherwise quite stable and robust tool like Locus.

#41
I was eventually able to reproduce the problem:
(BTW, meanwhile my device received an update to Android 6.0)

There is even no connection to the G4L addon, reproduction is possible with native Locus functionality:

These are the steps:

- Check the timeout settings of Android, until the standby mode of the display is entered
- In Locus enable the "Disable screen lock"
- Create a waypoint
- Save and go back to map view
- Switch off the display
- Wait for a time >= the Android timeout value
- Switch the screen back on, you should see no locked screen but the map view
- Select the WP and select "Edit"
- The name is selected, the keyboard comes up
- Close the keyboard, select the location origin icon next to the coordinates
- BANG! The popup briefly flashes up, then disappears, leaving a dimmed screen
(this is new in Android6, in v5 display was only frozen/not responsive)
- Select back button without any effect
- You only get out of this via the home button
- Once done you see the lock screen
- Unlock and start Locus
- You end up in the WP edit dialog with the popup open

Interestingly, all works okay, if the "disable lock screen" in Locus is disabled.
Then you get the lock screen, when you switch on the display with the HW button
Once unlocked you see Locus and WP editing works without freezing.

#42
An yes; I am using a stock Android 5.1.1 on a Moto G 3rd gen.

As for the notes: Dialog is fully operable otherwise. Just when I hit the input field no keyboard pops up.
#43
Troubles & Questions / Locus freezes sporadically
February 14, 2016, 11:06:00
First of all:
I am going to describe a problem, for which I cannot really fully pinpoint the conditions yet.
So the purpose of this post is mainly to ask for pointers where to investigate further and probably also for similar experiences.
Of course, ideally there would be a solution already.

What I can say so far:
- I did not try it with Locus 3.15.3 yet, used the previous version, G4L is up to date
- it only happens when I am using the geacaching addon
- it only happens when I am prompted for input
- when it happens the phone is frozen, after some time I get a dialog whether I want to wait for Locus or want to close it
- once Locus was closed and restarted, I am immediately ending up in the same dialog, this time it is responsive and I can make inputs
- sometimes several dialogs of the same type are open
- it mostly happens when I want to add a new waypoint to the cache or edit an existing one
- it does not always happen
- sometimes after exiting Locus I am ending up in the lock screen, even though unlock is disabled and I just need to swipe up to unlock
- As an aside: When I want to edit the personal cache notes I am getting the input dialog but no keyboard opens

I know, that this is pretty fuzzy. But be assured: this is extremely annoying when in the field. All I want to do is change some digits and then I am ending up struggling with my phone. I suppose, that this has to do with interdependencies of the Android screen lock settings, Locus' overrides of the same (disable lock screen) and the geochaching addon. But this is just guessing from the symptoms, I am not a developer and I am not aware that there is some debug tracing feature to record what I am doing and which system state is present at that time.

Does anyone have similar experiences? And even more important: is there a solution?

Thanks!

#44
I just noticed that there is a correlation with the track format/origin.
I am using a mixture of recorded tracks, tracks from gpsies and tracks that were created natively with Locus as a result of route planning.
What I can say so far: when I use guiding along a track that was recorded with Locus it works as expected:
I see blue point icons where a direction change will be reported and upon approaching it the configured notification occurs.

For all other formats there seems to be a problem, not sure about the details yet.
One thing that all problematic tracks have in common: I dont see those temporary blue point icons that are visible only during guiding and that indicate direction changes.
#45
Quote from: Andrew Heard on October 26, 2015, 09:59:57
My comment here does not address your overall issue, but it could help a little with your testing. Instead of having to test "in-the-field" you can just disable the GPS - tap the GPS icon/button then tap the GPS circle to turn off; then you start your navigation from your armchair ...

Now this was an useful hint  :D
I was not aware that it is that easy. Always thought I will need something like FakeGPS for this type of dry run - which I considered too cumbersome for using it with this problem.

First test results
1. Observation:
I can see that guiding switches to the next trackpoint before I get a proximity notification.
Well, this makes sense if I consider that the "proximity distance" parameter is set to 30m and the "switching distance" parameter to 80m. On the other hand: the behavior I want is that I will get a 2-beep notification if I approach a track point and after that guiding shall pick the next point, which usually is further away than the track point I just passed. What are proposed settings here?

2. Observation:
There are absolutely no notifications of direction changes. Example: I approach one point before a  crossing and the next point is right of the crossing. Guiding will change to this next point and displays me a bearing line to it. But I dont get a notification that I have to turn right. Changing the number of commands doe not change anything.

3. Observation:
I see guiding picking the next point based on the settings, e.g. 30m. But there is no proximity notification when I approach this point. Only notification I got was the "off track" vibrations, which I set off for now to ease debugging. This at least indicates, that sound is working in general, but not for all events.