Locus Map
Locus Map is a multi-functional Android navigation app adding advanced online and offline GPS capabilities to Android devices. Primarily it is designed and used for leisure time outdoor activities like hiking, biking, geocaching. Besides its leisure time utilization the app is also used by professionals e.g. for collecting geospatial data,[1] by rescue squad teams, aerial reconnaissance teams etc.
Developer(s) | Asamm Software |
---|---|
Written in | Java |
Operating system | Android |
Available in | English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and other 23 languages |
Type | Web mapping |
License | Proprietary |
Website | locusmap |
The app was developed in 2009 by Czech developer Jiří Mlavec, founder of Asamm Software company, based in Prague, Czech Republic. Locus Map development is carried out in cooperation with the community of its users-contributors and as such is partially crowd-sourced.
The application has registered up to 2 500 000 installations and has been reviewed in professional media (e.g. Computer Bild.[2][3][4] or AndroidPIT[5]). It received awards in several app competitions and polls.[6][7]
Maps
Locus Map displays maps of various providers in online and offline mode:
Online maps
- US - USGS, OpenStreetMap, ChartBundle...
- Europe - IGN (France), Outdooractive (Germany, Austria), Ordnance Survey Opendata (UK), Kapsi.fi (Finland), Turistautak (Hungary), SHOCart (Czech and Slovak rep.), Osmapa.pl, (Poland), Skoterleder (Sweden), Map1.eu (Europe)...
- other parts of the World - Visicom (Ukraine, Asia, World), GSI maps (Japan), SledMap (World), Navigasi (Indonesia), NzTopoMaps (New Zealand) and others
- support of WMS sources - meteorological maps, NASA maps, cadastral maps...
Most of the online maps can be downloaded for offline use.
Offline maps
- the World - dedicated vector maps with changeable themes - hiking, cycling, skiing, road or city use - OSM based and redesigned
- Switzerland - SwissTopo maps
- Germany, Austria - Outdooractive maps
- support of SQLiteDB, TAR, MBT, GEMF, Orux or RMAP formats
- support of other OpenStreetMap data or custom map themes
Features
Search of addresses (online and offline), coordinates or phone contacts, Google Places and Wikipedia for local places
Points of interest (POI) & Tracks - creating personal points, search and sorting of OSM based points of interest in an offline database, planning routes, sound notifications of approaching points or leaving routes
Geocaching - Locus Map is one of the official Geocaching.com API partners.[8] It enables downloading geocaches for offline use by the Geocaching4Locus add-on, navigation to geocaches with map and compass, online and offline logging, supports waypoints, PocketQuery, trackables and spoilers
Track recording - creating statistics and charts, customizable recording profiles, TTS generated audio-coached workouts, support of external bluetooth and ANT+ sensors
Turn-by-turn navigation and guidance - navigation with voice commands, line guidance to a point or along a route on map or by compass
Live tracking - real time sharing user's position with other users publicly or in private groups
Cycling computer functions - speedometer, odometer, average speed, maximum speed, elevation profile, elevation gain, customizable dashboard, digits are displayed above a map, support of external sensors for monitoring heart rate and pedaling cadence
Import/export - importing/exporting points and routes from/to the Internet or from/to other software in a wide range of formats (KML, KMZ, GPX...), exporting workouts to webservers like Strava, Runkeeper,[9] GPSies, Google Earth, Vylety-zabava.cz etc.
GPS - skyplot displaying actual satellite network, GPS status notifications, support of external GPS units
Licence
Locus Map is released in Free and Pro versions. Free version has limited features and contains an advertisement banner strip. Locus Map Free is available for free in Google Play Store, on Amazon or in Samsung App Store. Locus Map Pro version can be purchased in Google Play Store only.
Locus community
Locus Map has been developed in cooperation with its users who communicate with the app's developers via dedicated forum or general GPS or navigation discussions. The main source of users' contributions is the helpdesk with voting system - users themselves vote for changes and improvements in the app. Despite the app developers operate in the Czech republic, major part of the Locus community is located in Germany.[10] Also the application translations are crowd-sourced[11]
See also
References
- "Navigation and Mapping with Locus Map". Fulcrum. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
- "Locus Pro CBE". ComputerBild (4/2012).
- "Navi für Stadt, Land, Fluss und Meer". ComputerBild (4/2014).
- "Karten für Alle Fälle". ComputerBild (12/2015).
- "review at AndroidPIT.com".
- "Best Mobile App Awards nominations".
- "Aplikace roku 2015 (Czech App of the year 2015)".
- "Geocaching.com API partner registration".
- "Runkeeper API partner registration".
- "Locusmap.de - German Locus community server".
- "Locus — Translation Project on Crowdin". Crowdin. Retrieved 2016-04-13.