You already know that Locus Map is a versatile and flexible tool that enables a wide range of uses. That it can serve hikers, bikers, geocachers, runners and cross-country skiers is a given. That it can also help rescuers, conservationists, and the development of new technologies we wrote about a year ago.

This is because of the plethora of features and gadgets the app offers. Often these options are somewhat hidden, as you had a chance to see in the article about the “magic” of long pressing some buttons. Today, we’re going to look a little deeper into the menu and bring to light a few features you may not have known about in Locus Map.

Map specialties

Maps are essential and Locus Map can display a plethora of them – online or offline, of different types, dedicated LoMaps, or maps from various third-party vendors. Now we’ll take a look at a few features that further enrich the map.

Automatic zooming

With autozoom, you don’t have to manually zoom in and out if your hands are on the handlebars or steering wheel – the map zooms itself depending on your current speed. When you’re going fast, the map zooms out, and you can see more of the landscape and get an overview of the overall context and progress along the route. Conversely, when you slow down or stop at an intersection, the map zooms in and you can see all the details you need, such as the shape of the intersection.

Unlike conventional navigation apps, in Locus Map, you can set in detail which zooms to display at which speed. This way you can tailor the auto zoom to any activity, from slow walking to driving, and use the presets to activate it when needed.

Auto zoom can be found in the map screen settings. Details here >>

All maps magnification

Many middle-aged people are losing the ability to focus their sight at short distances. For them, Locus Map offers the ability to enlarge all maps from 125% to 800% of the original resolution. You can enable map magnification in the advanced map settings. Details here >>

Terrain shading

The classic map shading, which increases the plasticity of the terrain and aids orientation, needs no introduction:

However, Locus Map offers something extra again:

Slope gradients for ski mountaineering

The popular activity on the snow plains of the mountains brings with it one crucial aspect to watch – the slope gradient. The risk of an avalanche increases with a higher angle. Based on elevation data, Locus Map can color-code slopes exceeding 30°, which is critical for safe movement in open terrain. Steeper slopes are further distinguished by a darker color:

Slope colouring by cardinal directions

Landscape photographers and other hunters of sunrises and sunsets will appreciate being able to tell from a map which slope leans in which direction. The cardinal points are color-coded so you can guess fairly accurately where the shade will be at what time of day:

Quickly turn shading on or off in the map content panel on the left. Details here >>

Auxiliary graphics

The rather generic title in the map settings menu hides some real treasures that can be very useful to you as you wander through the countryside. This section is worth exploring in more detail, but we’ll just list the highlights here:

Dynamic elevation

The height of the location on the map is displayed above the cursor. You always know what elevation you are at and the elevation of your surroundings:

Time circles

Intuitively and quickly show us where we will get to in half a minute, a minute, etc., at the current speed:

Cursor to position line

A very fast tool to measure the beeline distance between your current location and any other location. You can also add other values to the line such as elevation difference or azimuth:

Course line

This element highlights the direction of your movement. Useful for water sports on a larger body of water:

Heading line

Highlights the direction of rotation of the phone. For example, it can help you find the names of peaks on the horizon or other landscape features you can see from a viewpoint.

Show view

Particularly helpful for those who have trouble orienting themselves on the map – it shows the viewport you are currently looking at:

More about auxiliary graphics here >>

Specialties for athletes

The primary goal of the Locus Map app is to help people who enjoy being active in the outdoors. In addition to the main functions such as track recording, route planning, navigation, or connection to external sensors, there are also a lot of auxiliary functions that can make these activities even more enjoyable.

Audio coach

The audio coach is appreciated by runners and everyone who needs to know their performance data first-hand, so to speak. When recording an activity (running, cycling or other trail training), Locus Map reports the current statistics of the ongoing activity to the headphones at a selected interval.

A range of parameters is available – in addition to the usual data such as distance, speed, or pace, Locus Map also provides information on elevation, heart rate, cadence, or energy consumption. The reporting interval can be selected as distance or time, and the parameters can also be layered on top of each other. And don’t worry that you won’t hear your favorite music while running – Locus Map only sounds when it needs to.

You can set up as many audio coaches as you want and use a different one for each sports activity. Connecting audio to a specific route recording profile and starting it automatically is a matter of course.

You can configure the audio coach in the route recording settings. Details here >>

Track naming automation

Locus Map offers several options for naming a recorded track when you save it to your library. The default format is a timestamp, however you can further enrich this or replace it with something else. There is the activity type, start and finish location, country, name of the route you are navigating, start time, and distance traveled.

Everything is set using tags in the track recording profile settings. Here are the details >>

And now something for the experts

As if the primary settings in Locus Map weren’t enough, there are other settings that are rather hidden from the general user. We refer to these as “Expert” and they can be used to set up almost anything you can imagine. Just to name a few:

• colors and styles of all possible auxiliary lines above the map and graph curves
• colors and fonts of titles or labels
• detailed settings for hardware drivers
• various tweaks and shortcuts

However, there are also settings that may not work properly on all phones, such as fullscreen, as well as a few options for developers, so it’s best not to touch them at all. Either way, you can customize Locus Map in many, many ways.

And how do you activate the expert settings? You can find everything here >>

Locus Map LITE – iOS cherry on top

What does iOS have to do with the unknown features of Locus Map, you ask? The “unknown”. This time, however, not for users, but for us developers – until recently, the iOS platform was an unknown and unexplored place for us.

We admit, throughout the history of Locus Map development, we couldn’t imagine developing an app for another platform. However, as they say, “Never say never”, and so, after less than two years of intensive work, we created our first iOS app – the Locus Map LITE.

Not to be misled – this is not the equivalent of the Android Locus Map. Locus Map LITE is so far just a Locus baby that can only do a fraction of what its “adult” Android brother is capable of. Anyway, we want to teach it as much as possible in the future to make it as much the same as the Android app.

And what can Locus Map LITE do now?

• display your location on an online LoMap or satellite map
• record your activity
• import your route in GPX format
• view your route and waypoint library and synchronize it with the web

You can learn all about it on its brand new page at www.locusmap.app/ios.

Enjoy your summer!