Long-press “magic”

Locus Map as one of the most versatile and flexible navigating apps is packed with features and settings. All those need controls, buttons, panels and dialogs and making them all accessible for the best user experience is a great challenge for us. We are doing our best to place, structurize and visualize all items for first-hand usage but from time to time there is a situation we need to use our long-press magic.

Let’s summarize all of them here for you – we’re sure you’ll appreciate these hints for more fluent Locus use in the field.

The main screen

Centering button

By long-pressing it you can turn on the “hold-center” option. When you browse the map and shift your GPS location out of the visible map crop, it returns your location at the center automatically after 5 seconds:

Zoom button

Long-press at one of the zoom buttons displays a zoom slider indicating the zoom range and the selected zoom level:

Track recording button

Long-pressing the red button of the active track recording immediately stops the recording without sliding the recording panel out:

Top panel with coordinates

The top panel on the main screen can display various information. When it is set to display coordinates on the position of the cursor, you can easily copy the coords to the clipboard by long-pressing the panel:

The main menu

Main menu button

Long-pressing it opens a hidden menu of bug fixing options and further “expert” settings:

Tapping the expert settings adds them to the main settings section:

Buttons in the menu grid

You can set up features you need in the main menu by long-pressing any of the grid buttons. A complete list of the features shows up and you can select which one should be placed on the button position:

Panels of functions

Long-pressing any button on the function panel opens a popup offering information about the feature triggered by the button and the panel’s modification. Some of the buttons, however, offer more options:

GPS indicator/button

This multi-purpose item indicates Locus GPS status and also opens GPS/compass screen with the skyplot and data of the device’s motion sensors. Long-pressing it you can quickly activate/deactivate Locus access to GPS:

Tracks, points or data manager button

By long-pressing one of these buttons you can quickly hide all tracks/points on the map and also clear all other temporary items on the map:

Dashboard toggle button

If you need to select a different dashboard quickly, just long-press the dashboard toggle button in the function panel and open the dashboard selection:

Tracks/routes and points manager

Track/point bar

If you tap the track bar in the folder you open the track detail screen with stats, elevation profile, waypoints and so on. When you long-press it you get quickly to the tool menu with the track checked for other actions – copying, moving, exporting etc.:

The same happens when long-pressing a point bar in a point folder.

Track preview thumbnail

Sometimes it happens that the thumbnail is not rendered properly. You can re-generate it by long-pressing it:

Point

Detail screen

The same as in the main screen topbar, when you long-press the point’s coordinates, they are copied to the clipboard to be shared or sent via e-mail or SMS:

Guidance panel

When you want to stop guidance to a point quickly, just long-press the guidance panel:

Route planner

The route planner provides four long-press magics!

Drawing mode button

When planning a trip, sometimes it happens that you need to make a shortcut leading across a meadow without any path. To do this, it is necessary to switch the router off and use the manual drawing mode. To make it as fast as possible, just long-press the drawing mode button.

Routepoint removal button

Don’t you like the route you’ve just planned? Just long-press the “-” button and clear the planner quickly:

Routepoint adding button

Long-pressing this button opens the location selector for a particular way of adding another routepoint. Obviously, there are many ways:

Distance indicator

Last but not least… nevertheless another proof of Locus’s versatility. When you need to quickly measure the area of a spot defined by your route, just long-press the distance indicator:

So, get out there to test it! But remember, the real magic is the spring which is now in full bloom. Enjoy!