[CBKevin]

My favorite GPS app for the playbook finally has a much needed overhall.


All new map providers: The map provider interface has been completely redone. We had to break backwards compatibility in how map tiles are stored on the device, so previous map data will not be accessible with this release. It is best to clear the map cache so that the old tiles just don�t sit around. Map providers now include:

Map Quest (existing)
Open Street Maps (existing)
Google Maps (only map provider that is not allowed to be cached to the device because of licensing)
Bing Maps
ESRI ArcGIS
MapBox (2 standard styles available, plus you can create your own from MapBox | Fast and beautiful maps)
Stamen map series (kind of cool)
Open Cycle
Open Transport
Open Landscape
U.S. Aviation Sectional (not at lower map levels)

New places provider: Version 4 now includes Yelp, MapQuest and CitySearch. Search changed to be able to obtain low density areas better.

Improved Map Caching: As mentioned above, how data is stored changed, but not only can you cache a lot more map providers, but those map providers that provide satellite and hybrid maps can be cached as well.

Route map tiles: Much improved performance in obtaining map tiles along a route.

Long Press: The map can be pressed for about a minute to show a context menu. The menu allows the user to navigage easier, show POIs, etc.

New Layers: New map layers have been added and existing one enhanced.

Weather points (display worldwide weather icons and temperature on map)
Display GPS Tracks
KML import

More Import and Export: User can now import and export POI date from GPX files.

All the above features and more will be in the BlackBerry 10 version as well.

[thecsman]

1 minute long press? Probably it is 1 second.

[djenkins6]

Lots of improvements, found a couple of issues....
After highlighting places, there is no way to clear, you can only choose a different kind of place.
Traffic overlay still can't be kept as a permanent layer between application restarts.

[hytran]

Still can't get directions by place name - I either need to get the address elsewhere or scroll through pages and pages of, say, restaurants. Not great for someone that knows what they want, but don't know where it is.

Unfortunately I find myself always resorting to Google Maps on my 9810.

[StanWiz]

Can't delete old cached tiles.

[Boight]

No problem clearing cached files here. Seems odd.
Biggest issue is it uses Open Street Maps for navigation and OSM are seriously flawed. It doesn't matter whether the correct Bing or Map Quest maps are the displayed map either as it overlays using the OSM error riddled directions This makes the program mostly useless in my neck of the woods.
I had high hopes for this update. Had.. being the key word.

[jamesharmeling]

When opening the app and obtaining gps, I don't get a map. There's an arrow thing marking my position, but no map. Just a blank white screen. What gives?

[kjm2010]

Can't delete old cached tiles.

What happens when you go to settings and press the clear cache button?
Mine screen froze for 20 seconds or so on 200mb of cache, but then a pop up asked me to confirm I wanted to clear it. Which I did and it cleared the cache. I had some tiles pending that it also cleared a tile at a time.

[kool2]

thanks for the update

[StanWiz]

What happens when you go to settings and press the clear cache button?Mine screen froze for 20 seconds or so on 200mb of cache, but then a pop up asked me to confirm I wanted to clear it. Which I did and it cleared the cache. I had some tiles pending that it also cleared a tile at a time.

It would ask for confirmation and would freeze. Reducing the cache to 1mb would ask for confirmation but nothing would happen. I ended up deleting/reinstalling the application - that cleared the cache.Thanks

[bbaleno]

It froze on me for a while, but eventualy it came back

[stesyl]

Its ok, but detting directions is cumbersome. It should be tap here tap there and zap get your directions. Also I can't clear that blue point out.

[kjm2010]

Its ok, but detting directions is cumbersome. It should be tap here tap there and zap get your directions. Also I can't clear that blue point out.

What method are you using go get directions?

The two methods I use are:
1. On the map screen I tap and hold and the pop-up gives the option to select the start point (green) pin. Then I tap and hold another point on the map and pick the end point (red) pin. And that is it, the directions between them are found.

2. For specific a address, I use the magnifying glass search tool icon on the left side of the map and type an address, then select the stop pin and it get directions from my current GPS location. You can also enter a second address and pick the appropriate pin (start or stop) instead of using your GPS location as the start.

[stesyl]

So how do you stop it from using your current location? Also how do you clear that blue pin?

[kjm2010]

So how do you stop it from using your current location? Also how do you clear that blue pin?

The Blue pin disappears when you select the start AND stop address or point on the map. I desribed two methods above, just make sure once you pick your start and stop locations to pick the Green and Red pins. You can also go into the menu for directions, and use a more conventional address lookup, get directions and save approach. The PDF manual is pretty comprehensive.

[hytran]

Down around Bloomington, IL today. Started the app and it found my location pretty quickly. 6 bars of GPS. Then about a minute later it said it received no updates from the GPS, leaving me with a correctly moving pointer but only half the map tiles. This never happened in the previous version.

Back to Google Maps for the day...

[cbvinh]

Tested with a PlayBook 16 GB with OS 2.1.01314 and a BlackBerry Torch 9850 on Sprint with 3G. The internet connection was supplied with the PlayBook bridged to the 9850. Data rates were good enough for the tiles to update in real-time as I went on the route.

My previous experience with Magellan Compass 3.1.2 did not go well. The route was computed correctly, but on stretches of the route where I only needed to go straight, the GPS signal would be lost and Magellan Compass would tell me to turn around, i.e. make u-turns. This was unacceptable and caused me to set Magellan Compass aside. If it couldn't deal with a route I knew well, could I trust it on a real trip where I didn't know the route?

I was very excited to test out Magellan Compass 4.0. Will it do a better job? Magellan Compass 4.0 did a much better job. It performed as I would expect. Perhaps part of this was with the improvement of the GPS with the current PlayBook OS, which seems to sync faster with the satellites and hold onto the signal better. For the entire route, there were no issues with the signal getting lost and being told to do a u-turn. However there were some issues:

- When first started and the GPS signal hasn't been sync'ed yet, Magellan Compass doesn't show a map. The display is blank. Even when the map is zoomed, the titles aren't loaded.
- On the second start up, Magellan Compass started fine, though only with Google Maps as the map service. Using Bing or Open Street Maps left blank tiles. (Google Maps cannot be cached, but that didn't matter as I was bridged through the 9850 and wanted to test real-time updating.)
- Turn approaching announcements are announced too close to the actual turn, which may cause the driver to miss the turn.

At this point, version 4.0 is very promising and I will test it some more with different routes and see how well it deals with re-routing.

[djenkins6]

Magellan Compass 4.1 for the PlayBook released

I managed to track down their blog describing the changes Magellan Compass 4.1 for the PlayBook released | o2 interactive blog

Version 4.1 of Magellan Compass has been released to App World for review.* This release is for the PlayBook and people can expect the BB10 version to be released in a few days.* This release includes:

Addition of USGS maps
Addition of Nokia maps
Minor fixes to KML import
We are working on finishing up 4.x for BB10 since RIM has some deadlines approaching fast.* Lots of exciting things happening for BlackBerry in the next few weeks!

[djenkins6]

I tried to subscribe/sign up so i could tell them it still doesn't remember the traffic setting in 4.1, and still no way to clear places once you select one type, but couldnt find a sign up on the website.

[Boight]

I use [email protected]

[djenkins6]

I use [email protected]

yes, i sent them an email to that address explaining my couple of issues. At the end of the blog entry it says log in to leave comment but there is no way to sign up to log in. i pointed them to this thread also.

[jtegen]

If you are getting errors when trying to navigate between two places, it is probably because the OSM data is incomplete in some way along the possible route. You can edit the OSM data from MapQuest. There is a link in the user's guide for the app.

[jtegen]

We're totally redoing our support and website. We're in a bit of a transition. We added that comment to our list.

[jtegen]

When opening the app and obtaining gps, I don't get a map. There's an arrow thing marking my position, but no map. Just a blank white screen. What gives?

Try reinstalling the app.

[jtegen]

Its ok, but detting directions is cumbersome. It should be tap here tap there and zap get your directions. Also I can't clear that blue point out.

As kjm2010 pointed out. You can do a long press to set the start and end points of the nav. By default, once GPS is found, that is automatically added as the start point, but will be replaced if you define a fixed start point. You can also pick a POI for navigation points, KML, or pretty much anything else displayed on the screen. You can also be more exact by adding addresses, POI locations, and lat/lon. Lastly, you can drag the start and end points to new locations and you can add intermediate points to route through. Hope this helps.