User Manual for the Android App

With the WalkersGuide app, you can plan routes, find interesting points nearby, and record your own routes. It is available for the Android operating system from version 5.1 and is fully compatible to the screen reader Talkback.

Table of contents

  1. App Structure
    1. Toolbar
    2. Overview Tab
    3. Routes Tab
    4. Points Tab
    5. Other Areas of the App
  2. A few typical tasks
    1. Plan a route
    2. Show points nearby
    3. Import a GPX file
    4. Save current location
    5. Record a route
    6. Simulate a points location
    7. Share point or current location with others
  3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
    1. The maps of which countries does WalkersGuide provide?
    2. What are collections?
    3. How do I backup my data?
    4. Can I use the app without an internet connection?
    5. What happens with my personal data?

App Structure

WalkersGuide consists of a Toolbar at the top of the screen and three main views: Overview, Routes, and Points, referred to as tabs below.

You can switch between the tabs using the tab bar at the bottom of the screen or by horizontal swipe gesture. If you are a Talkback user, use two fingers, otherwise one.

Some tabs have their own tab bar to further structure the view. This is located, if available, in the upper area of the screen. For example, the Overview Tab has two subtabs named “Pin” and “Track”. The adjacent Routes Tab is divided into the subtabs “Navigate” and “Record”.

You can also quickly access all subtabs of the main views from other parts of the app. To do this, focus on the corresponding tab at the bottom of the screen and make a long click or swipe down through the Talkback actions.

Toolbar

The toolbar is subdivided into three parts. On the left, it contains buttons for the main menu, the current compass value, and the accuracy of the current location from satellite. As soon as you display the details of a point, for example, a back button is added, which is placed to the far left next to the main menu. This allows you to jump back to the main view at any time.

In the main menu, you can, among other things, plan a new route and save the current location. You will also find the app settings and the contact form there.

A click on Compass and Satellite opens a dialog with more details and offers additional options.

However, Talkback already informs you about their most important contents when you focus on the two buttons:

In the middle of the toolbar, you will find the title of the current view for better orientation. All the way to the right is the three-dot menu, also called the More Options menu. There you will find all settings that specifically relate to the current view.

Bearing Details

The bearing details dialog allows you to choose the source for the bearing information. As a rule, you will want to use the compass in your smartphone as the source. However, if it provides unreliable data, you can fall back on the bearing information from the GPS signal. But then you will only get updates as long as you are moving.

You can also simulate a bearing, for example, if you want to align everything to North. To do this, enter a value between 0 and 359 in the input field and make sure that the switch directly above is activated.

Location Details

The location details dialog shows some details about the current satellite signal. With the action button at the top right, you can:

Below that, you can simulate any point. Click on the button to select a point. Then you can turn the simulation on and off with the switch above.

Overview Tab

The Overview tab is intended as the home page of the app. At the top, you will find the nearest address, as well as buttons for collections and history.

This is followed by the already mentioned tab bar with the tabs “Pin” and “Track”.

Pin

If you only need a point, a route, or a profile temporarily, you can pin them and later on find them quickly here. The view is divided into two lists for clarity: The upper list contains all pinned profiles, the lower one contains the pinned points and routes.

A profile can be both a collection and a point profile. Collections are created and filled by you. They remain locally on your device. Point profiles contain POIs in your vicinity, such as public transportation stops, shopping opportunities, and intersections. You can find more details about point profiles in the Points Tab.

Pinning is done either through the buttons located on the right edge of the screen next to the subheadings or via the context menu.

Track

The Track tab is similar in structure to the Pin tab. Any number of points and routes can also be tracked, but currently you only can track a single profile due to server restrictions.

Two modes are available for tracking: Distance and Viewing Direction.

First, the app downloads all points of the selected profile for the specified radius in the background. The radius setting can be found directly under the profile selection button. Then the list is supplemented by the points and routes you added for tracking.

Both modes then access this combined result list. The information is given exclusively via voice output. Currently, the announcements only work as long as you are using the app in the foreground.

The “Distance” mode informs you at regular intervals about points from this result list when you are moving outdoors. This can be practical, for example, if you want to have all crossings in the vicinity announced during route navigation. To prevent you from hearing too many announcements at once, only the points in front of you are taken into account.

The “Viewing Direction” mode uses your compass to announce all points that are currently under the compass needle. Now turn slowly 360°. The mode can help you to get a better spatial understanding of the points in your vicinity - for example, to better memorize the location of the intersections around your apartment.

Routes Tab

The Routes tab also consists of two subtabs: Navigate and Record.

Here you can navigate planned and previously loaded routes, for example from the history, point by point. The tab opens automatically after you have selected the desired route.

A click on the route name at the very top shows you the details about the planned route. Clicks on the current segment and point below provide further information about the corresponding route segment and point. You also may access their context menu with a long click on the respective element.

If the next route point is an intersection, there follows a description of the intersection layout: On the left is the legend with the outgoing streets and their direction, and on the right is a simple, schematic representation.

At the very bottom, you can read the distance and direction to the next route point and switch between the route points. The information is also announced to you at regular intervals while you are navigating the route. If you want to adjust the announcement interval, open the main menu, select the “Settings” item, and then look for “Interval for distance announcements”.

In the three-dot menu at the top right, you can, among other things, recalculate the route from the current location, for example if you encounter a road construction site.

Record

If you want to record your own route, go to its starting point and start the recording. Now you can walk along. The recording runs automatically. But you can also manually add a point, for example, to mark a special spot on the route. Once you have reached the destination, end the recording and enter a route name. It can then be found in the list below.

Please note that route recording is currently only active as long as the app is in the foreground. If you lock the screen or switch to another app, the recording is paused.

To walk the route:

  1. Click on the respective action button or open the context menu
  2. Select the “Load route” option
  3. Now you can choose whether you want to walk the route from start to finish or in the opposite direction.

The adjacent Navigate Tab then opens automatically.

Points Tab

In the Points tab, you can display interesting points, such as public transportation stops, shops or intersections near you.

The view consists of a list of point profiles, which is initially empty. To create a new point profile, click the “Add” button right above the list on the right of the screen.

First, give the new profile a name. Then select the POI categories that interest you. These can be any number from the categories list. For example, you could create a point profile “Travel” and select the categories “Train Stations”, “Tourism”, and “Food and Drink”.

Finally, you can decide whether you want to include one or more of your local collections in the point profile. Maybe you have created a collection with entrances and want to combine them with the bus and tram stops in your area.

After you have created the profile, you can select it in the list to display the result list. But you can also pin or track it.

The result list displays the points of the configured point profile in a certain radius around you. To increase the radius, scroll to the bottom of the list and click on “load more points”.

Please also note the following entries in the three-dot menu at the top right:

Other Areas of the App

Context Menu

You can interact with all point profiles and collections, as well as points, route segments, and routes via the context menu. You open it either via the action button on the right edge of the screen or with a long click on the object. If the latter is sufficient for you, you can also hide the action button. You can find the option in the app settings.

The content of the context menu differs depending on the selected object. For example, all profiles can be renamed and deleted. For point profiles, you can also edit the selected POI categories and collections.

Points offer the most functions. You can:

If the detail view is divided into further tabs, the app creates extra menu entries in the context menu for this and creates Talkback actions so that you can jump directly to the tabs.

For the Talkback actions, you don’t even have to open the context menu. Set the focus, for example, on a public transport stop and swipe down with one finger to switch through the available actions. A double click activates the selected action and opens the detail view with the desired tab.

In addition, profiles, points, routes, and paths can also be pinned and tracked from the context menu. Click on the menu item “Overview” for this.

Details

A click on point, route segment, or route opens the detail view. At the very top, you will find the object that you have selected. Here you have access to the context menu to interact with the object.

Below that, the view differs depending on the selected object.

For points, you first see their distance and direction relative to your current location.

Then follow many more details, such as for:

Way segments like streets and paths provide information about the road condition, the location of the footpaths, the road width, etc.

For routes, you see a summary and its route course.

If you have added a note, you will also find its content here.

Some points offer even more information. In that case, just like in the Overview and Routes, the app displays a tab bar at the top of the screen.

Examples of this are:

Collections and History

You can access the list of your created collections, as well as the history, either via the main menu or in the Overview Tab.

The collections are displayed in alphabetical order. You can rename and delete them via the context menu. Above the list is the Add button to create an empty collection or fill it with the content of a GPX file.

The history provides access to previously used points and routes through several categories. These are added, for example, when you have looked at their details or used them in route planning.

A few typical tasks

Plan a route

To plan a new route, select the menu item of the same name at the very top in the main menu. In the dialog box that opens, you only need to select the start and destination and click on “Calculate”.

The calculation takes place on the WalkersGuide server and takes a moment. The dialog box is then automatically closed and you find yourself in the Navigate Tab again, from where you can follow the route point by point.

However, you can further refine the planning of the route. Up to three intermediate destinations can be included in the route calculation. You can also adjust the weighting of the path classes to exclude major roads completely from routing, for example. To do this, open the options menu of the dialog box further down and look for “Way classes”.

Alternatively, you can also start route planning from the Context Menu of any point. Look for “Route Planner” and choose whether the point should be used as a start, destination or via point.

If you are following a route and can’t continue in the middle, for example because of a construction site, you can exclude the blocked way segment from routing and recalculate. To do this, open the context menu of the corresponding way segment and activate the entry “From route planning excluded”.

Show points nearby

You can have interesting points in the vicinity such as train stations, shops and intersections displayed. To do this, create a point profile and select at least one POI category from. Further details can be found in the Points Tab section.

Import a GPX file

The app can open GPX files from the local device memory and extract points and routes from them. They are stored in a collection.

To start the import, switch to the Overview tab, click on Pin and look for the “Add Profile” button on the right edge of the screen. Then select the entry “GPX file”.

After selecting the GPX file, the import dialog opens. There you can see the number of found points and routes. You can also give the new collection a more appropriate name.

After the import was successful, you will find the collection with the points and routes from the GPX file in the pinned profile list.

You may alternatively start the GPX file import as follows:

  1. Open main menu
  2. Collections
  3. Add button next to the views heading
  4. GPX file.

Save current location

If you want to remember the current location for later, open the main menu and select the menu item “Save current location”.

In the dialog box that opens, you have to give the point a name and decide whether you want to pin or track it or if you want to add it to a collection.

Please pay attention to the accuracy value for your current location. The smaller the value, the better, because the more accurate is the fix from the satellite.

Record a route

This is explained in the Record Tab.

Simulate a points location

If you want to take a look at a remote location in advance, you can simulate this place. The app behaves as if you were actually there.

You can activate the simulation in two ways:

  1. Open the Location Details Dialog, select a point for simulation at the very bottom and activate the “Enable simulation” switch directly above it.
  2. Go to the Context Menu of any point and look for the entry “Location Simulated”. The option informs about its selection status and can also be activated or deactivated.

The simulation can also be ended in the same way.

Share point or current location with others

Export

To share a point with others, open its Context Menu, scroll to the end and select the “Share coordinates” option.

You can also share your current location. To do so, open the location details dialog in the Toolbar. There you will find the actions button for the current location at the top right. Then select the menu item “Share coordinates”.

Now you can choose which map service you want to use. Links to OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, and Apple Maps are offered. However, especially with the latter two, it may happen that the URL has changed in the meantime and the link therefore no longer works. In this case, I would appreciate an email.

Afterwards the link is created and you can share it - for example via text messenger.

Import

You can also import shared coordinates links. If someone sends you a Google Maps link with tomorrow’s meeting location, then go to the app’s main menu and look for the entry “Open shared location link”.

Enter the link and an optional name in the opened dialog. The latter makes it easier to find the point again. If the link was already in the clipboard, it is automatically inserted.

If the parsing was successful, you see the points Detail View with its latitude and longitude and the distance to your current location. Furthermore you have, as with all other points, access to the Context Menu. For example you may select the point directly as the destination point for route planning or track it.

Alternatively, you can pin the shared coordinates, if you don’t want to open them directly, but want to keep them for later on.

  1. Switch to the Overview Tab and select the pin sub-tab
  2. Look for the button “Pin Point or Route” above the corresponding list and
  3. Select the option “Import from Shared Link” in the dialog box that opens

Then proceed as described above.

If the import was successful, you will find the point in the list of pinned points and routes. Since this is sorted by distance, you may have to scroll down a bit to find it.

After you’ve clicked OK, the app tries to extract the coordinates from the link and convert them into a point.

Unfortunately, this is quite error-prone because the shared map link must first contain the coordinates at all. This is not always the case, especially with Google and Apple Maps, for example when a POI is shared. In addition, as already mentioned above, the URL schema may have changed in the meantime.

If you have no preferences regarding the provider, I recommend using OpenStreetMap for both import and export. This is most likely to work.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The maps of which countries does WalkersGuide provide?

Currently, maps of most European countries and a few other states outside Europe are available.

More detailed information can be found on the status page.

You can write me an email if you have map requests. But please understand that my server currently offers little free storage space and I may not be able to fulfill your map request directly.

What are collections?

Collections expand the concept of favorites. Each collection can include points, paths and routes. This allows favorites to be better grouped - for example into a collection for work, one for vacation and one for all kinds of entrances.

A separate collection is also created for imported GPX files.

How do I backup my data?

Create backup file

  1. Open the main menu and go to the app settings
  2. Scroll all the way down and select “Export settings”
  3. Decide where the backup should be saved.

The app then creates a zip file with the current date. You will find it in the folder you selected in your local device memory.

Restore settings from a backup file

  1. Open the main menu and go to the app settings
  2. Scroll all the way down and select “Import settings”
  3. Select the previously created backup file (Zip archive) and confirm the file import.

Please note that:

  1. everything you have created in the app since the relevant backup is lost. This affects planned and recorded routes, as well as created collections and point profiles.
  2. the backup files are not backward compatible. A backup from WalkersGuide version 2.3.3 can be easily imported into WalkersGuide version 3.0.0 but the other way around it fails.

Can I use the app without an internet connection?

Some parts of the app can also be used without an internet connection. This includes recording your own route and working with GPX file imports.

However, a connection to the WalkersGuide server is absolutely necessary for the calculation of start-to-destination routes and the display of interesting points nearby. Address resolution also takes place online.

But you can plan routes in advance and then follow them without an internet connection. Only changes to the route are not possible on the way.

What happens with my personal data?

Please see the Privacy Policy for that.