dualsportmaps.com - Android App

Sorry as I have not been keeping up with your development as closely as I had been Crafty, but I wonder if you have added turn by turn directions yet for predefined routes?

Thanks in advance.

Not yet. It is something I'd like to see though.

Crafty,

What path do you recommend for someone to get proficient at Android App programming? You seem to have come a very long way in a short time.

I'm an old (67) programmer with over thirty five years of mainframe, PC & embedded coding experience and am now wanting to play some in the phone app world. But just seeing that a "Hello World!" Android demo app project took 33 files and 43 directories makes the process look incredibly intimidating!! How did you go about it?

Thanks!

Nick

I've only been doing this since 1983 or so, but it was a bit intimidating to me as well. Just go with the flow, don't fight it and everything will work out. I have a lot of OOP experience as well as Java experience so in that regard Android was easy. I just took on an iOS programming job though and I've never done Objective C programming and it was still a pretty easy transition. In Android I don't use any of the graphical layout tools for setting up screens. I just do all the GUIs in code. For the iPhone I do the exact opposite and I actually think it's easier. Android tools may not be as good as the ones from Apple, or I may just think I am too smart to use the tools in Android. I'm not sure...

My suggestion is to get Eclipse installed. Successfully compile a hello world app. Then create some trivial problem to solve and do it. Pretty soon you will come up with more and more complex problems to solve and you will have the tools to do it. Then, one day you will say "I need a better GPS cause my Garmin sucks" and then you will have a new full time job that pays $500/month like I do. Doh!

sorry if i missed your reply cc -


i'm having trouble with my tracks disappearing when I zoom in to see where i've traveled. if the map is zoomed out enough to show the entire track, it will display fine (but basicly useless). the moment the start or finish locations are off screen, the track disappears.

hints or clues please ?

It sounds like you are using very low res tracks. Add more track points to confirm that hypothesis.

hmm, that may be... but I viewed it on (unnamed mapping app) and the resolution looks ok ?

That does not look low res to me. Can you link up the map for me so I can check it out.

Thanks Crafty, greatly appreciated.

I have done mostly asm, pascal & c. Oop only a tiny bit. Although Java is beginning to make some sense..

I hadn't realized you had been at it for so long. Knowing that will help me be a bit more patient.

You've left a lot of tracks all over the net (pun intended) so it is easy to conclude that your SW & HW progress has come quick and easily. Even if has been a struggle, you still remain an inspiration.

Thanks!

Nick

The hardware is all new to me. I took an electronics course in college '92ish but that was the last time I used a soldering iron until I decided I needed a remote for the app. I like the electronics stuff. Really satisfying!

Some pics of my setup:







I was able to dump all the cached files from my Nexus to the Droid X2, so there was no need to redownload anything. Now I'm looking for an app that will keep the folder synced between the devices so I won't need to download anything twice.

The tracks you download from the website cannot synced like that, but everything else can. I want that garage. Nice!

My phone got auto-updated to Jelly Bean last night, and now the checked list don't work correctly (like you noted). Any plans to fix this in the future?... kind of annoying. Thanks again.

It's a Jelly Bean problem that Google already says they plan to fix.

gah, I deleted it while trying stuff. ill go geocaching today and pull another one... is email ok, or just upload to dsm site with a flag ?

None of what I said is relevant outside the context of a file uploaded to the website. So, please upload a file that exhibits the behavior you believe in error to the website and send me a link to that map on the website. I will download it to my phone and tell you what I learn.

For those of you that are using this, I'm curious what you're using to hold your phones? It seems like you would need them to have some power, but being that a phone is very expensive, I would want it in a waterproof/dustproof type of thing. I can't find a decent box that is big enough for my phone (Galaxy S2) plus a power cord that doesn't end up huge. I've looked at Pelican (the ones big enough for the phone + power are WAY too deep and would end up being huge) otterbox (don't allow for water/dustproof power).

Any other suggestions? How are you all mounting your phones + power?

I use an otter box and a RAM-B-149Z-PD3U. If it gets wet, I have an aqua box but I usually just stick the phone in my pocket.

With my previous phone (not a smartphone) , I bought an Otterbox that was intended for an iPhone and it had a built-in power socket. That would have been pretty much water proof. However the iPhone's power socket did not match my Nokia 6710, so I drilled out the power socket and replaced it one that did fit. I potted that with silicone adhesive. It seemed successful. However the project was a failure as the phone was too hard to use in "closed" configuration. I ended up using gaffer tape to stick it to the outside of the box! Obviously not waterproof at all - I had to put it in my pocket when it rained.

I intend to use a a similar approach with my new smartphone.

You may have mentioned the answer to this I haven't went through all the pages of the thread- but is there any reason this app wouldn't effectively tracl long sport touring trips, such as cost to coast? Or is there a distance/time limitation?