What is the one top feature you would like to see in OM?

[Off-Track1234]

I use OM 7.4.28, but I have checked up to 10.5.3beta18, and (if I can use a Titanic analogy) the changes seem to be mostly rearranging the deckchairs, with few added iceberg avoidance features. But unless users tell Orux, he can not know what they really want. Hence this thread.

What one feature would you most like to see added to OM? Not your wish-list, just the top wish.

Would you pay (more) for it?

If you agree with a feature request, +1 it. How else will Orux know if it is a popular wish?

I will start the ball rolling:

When creating a route on the map screen with waypoints loaded, can we please have an option if we 'hover' over a waypoint to use that waypoint instead of some nearby map location as a route point? Garmin Basecamp does it well. This is very useful for waypoint (= direct, = straight-line) navigation when off-track hiking (so we can see the distance and magnetic bearing to the next waypoint if we choose that in the top dashboard). The current method of creating a route from an ordered list of waypoints (without seeing them on a map) is very difficult for users who have lots of waypoints and use complex routes.

Yes, I would pay (more / again) for this feature.

[Tronpo]

Hello, I would like to finish understanding your proposal well to support it
There is the "direct to" option that offers the information you request (capture), the idea would be that this happens to the first waypoint of the list and that when it passes it will automatically change to the second waypoint and so on until the end?
There is also the option of the next waypoint icon.

[Off-Track1234]

Hi Tronpo, thank you for your interest. (I have noticed that your inputs and feature requests are typically very well reasoned.)

The limitation in OM comes before the steps that you mention.

As far as I can see, OM can not create routes from waypoints on the map screen. It requires the user to put the relevant waypoints in a separate (or filtered) list, and order them, without being able to see them at the same time on the map. As mentioned above, this method of creating a route from an ordered list of waypoints (without seeing them at the same time on a map) is very difficult for users who have lots of waypoints and use complex routes.

If the user instead tries to create the route on the map screen (even with the user's waypoints displayed) OM always creates a new waypoint/routepoint (with a default icon) at some nearby map location and ignores the user's waypoints (which of course are at the location that the user really wants). Then when the route is loaded for waypoint navigation along with the users waypoints there is a big mess - with superimposed icons and names.

Incidentally, something similar happens even if the route is imported from a GPX file. Because OM looks in the <type> field for waypoint icons, whereas most other mapping programs use the <sym> field, the default waypoint icon is assigned, and the same big mess follows on screen, unless the user each time modifies the imported route waypoints to use the icons already assigned to waypoints of the same name and location in OM. There are several ways to do this editing, but all take time, and all have to be repeated for each imported route.

I appreciate that the concept/model for use of waypoints, routes and tracks is somewhat different in OM vs Garmin; but it seems to me that what I requested would improve OM for many users (and hopefully it is not too hard to code).

[Tronpo]

Hello again, I think I'm getting the idea, what matters is to be able to place the waypoints on the map and create the route directly, right?
And then we would use for example waypoint navigation or follow the route to see the directions to the next waypoint

I've prepared a couple of videos to show what I've understood
I've used the new beta planner.

Here I've created a route starting from the waypoints of a list, using the straight lines option.

And here I've created the route directly and then I use the waypoints, then I can edit them.

Am I getting closer to understanding your request?
Can you show a video of how Garmin does it?

Best regards!!

[Off-Track1234]

Here are some screengrabs that might help to show the problem:

1. Just the waypoints (nice and clean).

2. With route made on map-screen in OM. Note the added default-symbol waypoints and overlapping names (yuk).

3. With route imported to OM from GPX. Note the added default-symbol waypoints and overlapping names, even though they are the same as the wpt names and map positions already in OM (yuk).

4. Garmin (BaseCamp) allows the route to be made on map-screen, using the existing wpts, so it is nice and clean (no duplicates, let alone overlapping ones). Seems like this should also be an option in OM?

[Ype]

I maybe want to buy OM, I'm unfamiliar and want to test before buying. for example if it can import KML to waypoints and is it handles the background colours of the citynames in de maps well enough to read it. etc.

A trailversion would be a nice feature.

[Tronpo]

I maybe want to buy OM, I'm unfamiliar and want to test before buying. for example if it can import KML to waypoints and is it handles the background colours of the citynames in de maps well enough to read it. etc.

A trailversion would be a nice feature.

Hello there is the free version 7.4.28 on the forum fully acta for 90% of a user's needs
And the Beta Testing Version Future Improvements to Oruxmaps GP
You have several free options to try Oruxmaps before you buy.

[Off-Track1234]

Ype, OM is designed to work for many users with different needs, so the learning curve for any one use is steep - but worth the effort.

The 'free' version is no longer highlighted on the OM home page, but it is still available (in v 7.4.28) at https://www.oruxmaps.com/cs/en/more/downloads. It is fairly dependent on use of (non-intuitive to many people) icons, which can change between versions. It is part-way between the description in the manuals for v7 and v8. But the manuals are missing many features, so you have to discover them by experiment, or ask questions in this forum where expert users like Tronpo (who some members call Trompo for reasons unknown) are very helpful. If you like it you should donate, which is made easy on the homepage. The main drawback is that the developer seems to be lately more occupied with Versions released for payment on places like Google Playstore, so if you find a fault in 7.4.28 you may be waiting a long time for a response or a fix.

To find the latest (and available) beta, look under BETAS on this forum. It will be much more like the current version on Playstore (and much more menu driven). The disadvantage is that it respects the new Android requirement for scoped=private storage by apps. This makes it harder to do some of the File Management in OM, especially in Android14. It also corrupts some existing user files when it tries to move them from the old (root>oruxmaps) to the new (Android>data>...>oruxmaps). But it is probably the way to go for a new user. There seems to be no user manual yet, but the app now has more inbuilt help. Ironically the version on Playstore (for which you must pay via Google, probably much less than you would otherwise donate via OM) is dubbed the "donate version" (go figure). If you go this way you can get automatic updates via Playstore, and probably a better chance of a fix if you find a fault.