How do I import saved places from Google Maps?

[kaspar42]

I have been using Locus for a while now, and I just love the way you can select map sections to download.

But how I import my saved (starred) places from Google Maps? I know that there is an option to import data, but that just opens a file browser.

[Menion]

Hi,
  I sorry but I don't know google maps more then to view maps . Anyone to help with this?

Anyway, to import data to Locus, I'm sure you ahve to export data from google maps to any of supported format that Locus should load (gpx, kml, loc, ...)

[cythraul]

!. Go to My Maps in Google Maps and open the list of places you want to have in Locus
2. Click the "View in Google Earth" link in Google Maps to generate and download a KML file
3. Copy the file on your phone
4.  Import it in Locus.

At least that's how I always do it.

[kaspar42]

I am afraid that doesn't do it. I can get GM to save a kml file to my computer, and when I open it in GE, all the points are there. But when I try to import it with Locus, it says "Imported 0 points".

The kml file is actually not a list of points, but rather a long URL to maps.google.com/####, so perhaps Locus can't download the points? Any ideas how to get this to work?

[cythraul]

sorry I missed a step. Try copying the Google earth URL and look for the part "output=nl" and change it to "output=kml", then use that new URL to download.

[kaspar42]

But it already says that. Here is the file I downloaded by pressing "view in Google Earth":

Code Select Expand

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<kml xmlns="http://earth.google.com/kml/2.2">
<Document>
  <name>mymap</name>
  <description><![CDATA[]]></description>
  <NetworkLink>
    <name>mymap</name>
    <Link>
      <href>http://maps.google.com/maps/[......]&amp;output=kml</href>
    </Link>
  </NetworkLink>
</Document>
</kml>


[cythraul]

I mean the url the "View in Google Earth" link leads to. It should be something like maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&vps=1&jsv=314b&msa=0&;output=nl&msid=(....)

Right click on that link, choose copy URL, paste it to the address bar, change the part I mentioned and click Enter to download.

[kaspar42]

Yes, that did the trick. Thanks!

[gonnesouth]

if you create an "import" folder in locus, you can drag and drop from locus to google earth, and visa versa, but you need to make sure it is a KML file when D+D from earth to locus

[one1]

In a huge change in policy Google decided to develop the Google Local listings within what was referred to as Google Maps last year Google's goal was to turn into a dominant force in the world of regional directory listings, a medium that society was utilizing offline for many years mainly by means of publications like the yellow pages, more lately Yelp and Yahoo.
The main situation in this introduction of Google Places Local Listings as the big player has been reviews as ruthless organization owners have manipulated the system to get an unfair benefit, either through false negative evaluations of their competition or false positive evaluations of their own enterprise.

[ben72]

Cythraul's instructions didn't quite work for me because I couldn't copy the URL given by "View in Google Earth", but the following tweak did:

1. Click "Send", not "View in Google Earth"
2. Copy the URL given after "Hi, I'd like to..." and paste it into Notepad or Word
3. If you see a ">" at the end of the URL, delete it. Then add "&output=kml" to the end of the URL
4. Copy the whole URL and paste it into your browser address bar

The downloaded file should be full of GPS points.

Good luck!

- Ben

[shuyinxiao]

Yes, that did the trick. Thanks!

agree with

[berkley]

Why don't you use built in Locus support for MyMaps? Does all the same but much easyer. And you can import your MyMaps for offline access. All within Locus. No need to do something with Google Earth and/or Google Maps!

[Gone2Plaid]

Why don't you use built in Locus support for MyMaps? Does all the same but much easyer. And you can import your MyMaps for offline access. All within Locus. No need to do something with Google Earth and/or Google Maps!

Displaying a map from My Maps works great, but I couldn't see how to save those points to a category for offline use.

So, I just clicked the "KML" link next to the name of the "My Map" that I wanted to download.  I looked at the URL, and it had the text "output=kml" already, so it's possible the Google defaults have changed in our favor.  I plowed ahead making no changes to the URL text.  The save file dialog said it was going to be a 1.4 kb file, and that made me concerned it would just be the URL that was saved.  Then to my surprise the resulting file it saved was 7.9 kb (20 points in the map) - so far so good!  I opened it up, and sure enough, it was an XML file with coordinate fields (most importantly) and others.  I moved the file to my phone, went into Locus and tried the import function.  SUCCESS!  It prompted me for a category and showed the tally climbing from 1 to 20 points as it loaded.

If there is a way to do this all internally within Locus, I'd love to hear about it, but at a minimum, the save file, transfer and import approach works perfectly.

[Menion]

try just click on your map in My Maps list and select "Export"