Great app! PRO version works great for downloading large offline maps, which is exactly what I needed. Would like the option to disable GPS – my tablet doesn’t have GPS and I don’t care for the prompts and background process. Other than that it’s fantastic and I’ve been impressed by the level of support. Error log submitted, problem diagnosed and fixed via BETA APK within 1 day. Very refreshing compared to some DEVs.
Monthly Archives: April 2012
Web site redesign
Leave a reply
I’ve been meaning to move away from the static web site that I threw together when MyTrails took off, and onto a CMS which would allow me to make updates more easily.
My main constraints were:
- good default layouts (I’m not much of a web designer)
- easy to tweak
- multilingual support
I’d already used WordPress for other projects, and I quite like the default designs and the admin UI, so that was my first pick all along.
Then I installed qTranslate and tried to translate the main pages to French and ran into so many issues that I looked harder at Joomla and Drupal. However, multilingual support in these, while less of a hack than qTranslate, is still pretty complex, and overall they’re just more complex CMSes, so I ended up going back to WordPress and applied tweak after tweak and disabled most plugins until qTranslate was working.
It’s amazing that in 2012, mainstream CMSes still ignore multilingual requirements.
Anyway, mind the wet paint and let me know if anything’s broken.
Why does MyTrails require permission X?
MyTrails requires the following permissions:
- Fine GPS Location: this should be obvious 🙂
- Full Internet Access: to be able to download online maps
- Modify/Delete SD Card Contents: to store the map cache and recorded tracks
- Prevent Device From Sleeping: to keep the screen on while the map is displayed, and to keep the device running when creating an offline map
- Access Network State: to (optionally) pause the offline map creation if WiFi is disconnected
- Read logs: to send error reports (you can disable attaching logs in the preferences)
- Receive Boot Completed: to allow MyTrails opportunity to resume recording the track after an anomalous reboot (can be disabled in the preferences)
- Access Wifi State: to allow MyTrails to resume an offline download when the device reconnects to Wifi
I want to buy MyTrails Pro, but Play Store is not available in my country or I don’t have a credit card
You can use PayPal to purchase map subscriptions or the Pro license, using your PayPal balance or a credit card, even without creating an account.
What does the MyTrails License / Pro version buy me? Is this a crippled trial?
MyTrails offers a lot of unique and refined features, and most of them are available for free, without limitation.
However, I have spent countless hours developing this application, and I am asking for a modest sum for some extended features, which can be evaluated during the initial (and frequently-reset) trial period. After the trial expires, Pro features can be enabled with an in-app purchase within MyTrails or buying the MyTrails Pro Licence application.
Here is a list of Pro features.
Why is MyTrails not immediately activated to the Pro version when I install the MyTrails License
If MyTrails License has indeed been installed, but MyTrails still behaves as the Free version, you should exit MyTrails. When you run MyTrails again, it should be in Pro mode. If that doesn’t work, you can use a task killer to stop MyTrails, then run it again.
Since MyTrails 1.2.41, a notification will be displayed when the license is installed and MyTrails will preemptively verify and activate the license.
Since MyTrails 1.4.1, the Pro license information is stored on my own authorization server, and if you’re online, activation should be immediate.
1.2.37
- Added Tour & Trail maps, a collection of premium maps covering popular tourist destinations in Spain and Portugal; try the free Graciosa map
- Added altitude correction (if available, based on NMEA, if not, via online lookup)
- Added a dedicated section for premium maps
- Offline download improvements (fallback maps are now used)
- Extended trial period for most premium maps to a week or 5 sessions
- Fixed rounding error in OSGB grid references
- Updated MyTrails.com.au API
- Removed Nearmap (now secured), Sigpac (offline), Osmarender (offline); fixed DoCeLu
- Fixes for reported issues
1.2.36
- Fixes for reported issues
1.2.35
- Offline support for premium maps; offline premium maps may be “secure” (required by providers), which means they can be used only with an offline subscription and can not be used in other applications
- Improved offline downloader (streamlined UI)
- Safer map deletion
- Italian translation (thanks Daniele!)