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Hey everybody ... I'm new to all this so I have a question that I can't seem to find an answer for in the rest of the forums.

Ok, so I want to put my iPhone in my pocket and make a trace of the path I'm walking along, and possibly over several days (so I'd like to be able to open and edit an existing trace). Then I want to go back (possibly on a another day because of battery length issues) and instead of tracing the path because it's already been traced, I just want to add POI's. Then I want to download all that info as an SVG or some form of vector imagery for editing in Illustrator or Inkscape. I want to use that edited vector image in a later app that I want to make later.

What iPhone app (or apps) might do the trick? Thanks for any info ...

asked 10 Mar '11, 14:46

brunger's gravatar image

brunger
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There seems to be two separate questions here -- one about recording traces on iPhone, and another about creating your own vector maps. Would you mind splitting your question into two so people can give you more accurate answers?

(10 Mar '11, 14:52) Jonathan Ben...

There isn't 2 questions ... I just want to know if there's a gps tracing app that allows you to trace a path, possibly over several days if necessary, and export in svg?

(11 Mar '11, 00:05) brunger
2

Does this have anything to do with OpenStreetMap?

(11 Mar '11, 07:43) Richard ♦

First of all the quality of the iPhone GPS without external antenna is not the best. If you put it into your pocket it gets even worse. I doubt that you can do tracing over several days without recharging your phone, but this will depend also on the available services (AGPS, provider coverage or GPS only) and the interval of your measurings.

(11 Mar '11, 12:24) dieterdreist

I would also like to know a good app recommendation for recording tracks on iPhone, but here's what I know:

Motion X GPS is a $0.99 iphone app which has been around for a while. I know some people use and recommend this. Used to be more expensive actually.

OSMTrack is a $0.99 app which seems to have popped up more recently. I haven't tried this app, but it's developed specifically for OpenStreetMappers by an OpenStreetMap enthusiast. Maybe good to support. Also it means you don't see your trace presented on some other evil map providers base-map background :-) ...and I see it lets you upload it direct to your OpenStreetMap.org traces, if that's something you'd want to do.

For zero cost apps...

GPS Kit Free is one Alex mentioned to me today, although he says it's not that great. I'll have to give it a try.

I guess there are probably quite a few free apps which let you record a trace as part of some other service. Popular fitness tracking apps such as RunKeeper or Strava do it I think. Haven't tried. And iFootpath would seem to be in this category. Disadvantage of these would be... you will see your trace presented on some other evil map providers base-map background. May need to register accounts on these other services. And they may make it impossible or difficult/fiddly to get a GPX file out of it, for use in OSM tools. And you're bombarded with other features, e.g. they'll probably send you emails remind you to go for a jog or some other nonsense :-)

I would love to know a good recommendation for a really simple GPS tracing app. It's the kind of thing you'd expect to see as a little open source project, but sadly there's nothing that I'm aware of. Strange given that we've seen two really awesome FOSS openstreetmap editing apps appearing recently (a much more complicated thing to develop!)

It should be that this wiki list of apps with tracking features gives a useful answer to the question, but somehow it doesn't. There's a few non-free options. Some are free apart from the track tracing feature (D'oh!). Some of those listed are not really iPhone apps, just things you can theoretically get working on an iPhone somehow.

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answered 05 Aug '13, 11:02

Harry%20Wood's gravatar image

Harry Wood
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edited 06 Aug '13, 01:19

I would like to recommend OSMSketch. The main function is to sketch on "paper map" from OSM, but it has additional function to keep trace and upload it. And it's FREE!

https://itunes.apple.com/id/app/osm-sketch/id777144672?mt=8

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answered 28 Apr '14, 04:18

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fdsimon
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Hi brunger, so that you know how good your GPS is you could do a few laps of the local park noting exactly where you went, side of road/path ect. Then upload the trace start up potlach 2 look at your trace over the bing image/map see if the traces lay over each other which will give an idea of consistency.if you put your GPS shoulder high,under hat even,top of rucksack you will get better signal.you need to know this works before solving other problems.

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answered 12 Mar '11, 08:14

andy%20mackey's gravatar image

andy mackey
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accept rate: 4%

Thanks for the advice andy ... I thought the iPhone was perfect in its tracing ability. This sortof has something to do with OSM. I own a pizza place and I was thinking of starting to deliver within a certain area around the shop. I wanted to mark where every house was that I or my employees will deliver to, plus mark where alleyways/walkpaths are, because it's an urban area with lots of tight streets.

(13 Mar '11, 01:34) brunger

Also, I want to know exactly what houses are there, so if someone tries to tell me they want a pizza delivered to a vacant lot, I know it's not legit.

(13 Mar '11, 02:38) brunger

satellite images hight help you,such as google earth as houses can been seen on it.but this is off topic for OSM help I think.

(13 Mar '11, 06:00) andy mackey

We spent some time during the summer developing a new iPhone App called iFootpath Mobile. It has a GPS tracker which records and you can upload the track to our website for editing. We have used it a lot now and it is working well. http://www.iFootpath.com

We reviewed other Apps too to see what they offer. Although they all have similar functions they are built for different uses. For example some are for walkers, joggers and those using a bike. Some are for meeting friends on a walk and some ...... well to be honest we didn't really figure it out. Viewranger looks to have the most features and probably the biggest fan base.

We have built ours so that walkers can navigate along detailed route descriptions with pictures and of course a map - all are available on the iPhone - or you can print them from the website. We hope that it will find some fans. Although we hope to appeal to serious walkers we also want to attract the casual walker that likes to explore highways and byways, river walks, etc.

iFootpath Mobile - as we call the App -also allows walks to be tracked and uploaded to our site. You can then download them and upload them to other sites if you wish. On the website we have added a GPX file editor. It allows you to trim, edit and add waypoints and then save. we have noticed that sometimes the track can go a bit wiggly. With the editor you can get rid of the squiggles. You can use the GPX editor on the website even if you don't use our App as you can upload directly. (You will have to register which is easy and quick)

So we are every pleased with our App and hope that some of you may give it a spin. Here is a link if you want to look closer at the features.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ifootpath/id460757115?mt=8[/u]

The website has some detailed user guides for the App and GPX/GPS editor.

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answered 24 Sep '11, 09:36

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WalkTheTalk
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answered 21 May '17, 01:49

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drewno
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question asked: 10 Mar '11, 14:46

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last updated: 21 May '17, 01:49

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