Difficult to read yellow route on Buen Camino app

[spring24]

Hello everyone, I am planning to do the Portuguese Camino Coastal route next month and have been using the Android Buen Camino app for advice and suggestions etc.

I like it very much but came across one issue, when looking at the map of the route my coastal trek appears as a rather faint yellow. It's very hard to discern which is the route especially in daylight.

I have a Samsung S24 with the latest Android version. I am running version 2.4.1 of the app and have the language set to "English", I have downloaded my particular route and have subscribed.

I have been in touch with someone called Carlos via email and he suggested a couple of things and we continue to communicate but so far no resolution.

I am wondering if anyone has experienced this and if they managed to find a "cure". Maybe a Google map setting?

Many thanks for your help.

 

[trecile]

I agree. The app has recently changed the color of the Camino route and it is difficult to see. I suggest sending a WhatsApp message to the developer at +34 654 50 43 90. Also post a review on Google Play. Hopefully if enough of us do so it will be changed.

I sent the WhatsApp message and he suggested that I turn down the brightness on my screen, which didn't help

What did help was changing the map to satellite view.

 

[Antnix1]

You are correct, it was a poor choice of colour, especially when it runs through an urban area (coloured in yellow) or along a road (also a shade of yellow)

But Google maps alao has washy colours that are hard to distinguish.

I guess it's not going to be changed without confusing 100s of app users and the changes also clashing with map colours eg blue for rivers, green for rural areas.

Gronze maps doesn't have offline support or the features of Buen Camino but the line is much easier to see.
I have both apps installed. Also very helpful for alternative routes

 

[Antnix1]

What did help was changing the map to satellite view.

I was going to suggest this but it makes roads impossible to see!

 

[trecile]

Gronze maps doesn't have offline support or the features of Buen Camino but the line is much easier to see

It's also easier to see the route in the Wise Pilgrim app.

 

[trecile]

I was going to suggest this but it makes roads impossible to see!

I know. It's a bit of a trade off.

 

[Tincatinker]

Innit funny. All this teknology to make stuff easier what only seems to make it harder.

Could always use a Brierley or even just follow the arrows but that wouldn’t be very modern would it

 

[Antnix1]

Following the arrows would be ideal but they can be feast or famine. So many arrows you think they're actually taking the p155, then no arrows for 5km. And worst is when an arrow is missing... And you check your app to discover you're in the middle of a lake

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Innit funny. All this teknology to make stuff easier what only seems to make it harder.

Could always use a Brierley or even just follow the arrows but that wouldn’t be very modern would it

Every year (minus the pandemic) from 2015 until 2022 I managed all of my various Caminos with only a guidebook for each route and info gleaned on this forum. I never really got lost with the exception of a short fifteen minutes to a half hour a a couple of times...it was no big deal.

 

[Antnix1]

Every year (minus the pandemic) from 2015 until 2022 I managed all of my various Caminos with only a guidebook for each route and info gleaned on this forum. I never really got lost with the exception of a short fifteen minutes to a half hour a a couple of times...it was no big deal.

How did you figure out you were on the wrong route after 15-30 mins?

I had a few experience like that and generally after becoming suspicious about the lack of arrows i checked an app..... Actually as a result of these experiences i unfortunately found myself checking my phone too much.

One place for example, i continued on a paved road (a bend) while the arrowless camino route actually continued straight down a laneway

====\\------
.........||
.........||
.........||



Actually there were 3 places i lost the camino within maybe 100-150km and i know this because i ended up walking at the same time as another pilgrim and he made these same 3 mistakes as i did. Twice had the above scenario where "following the road" was incorrect, another time the marker was confusing and also damaged.

That's excluding times i preemptively checked

 

[Tincatinker]

I know I’m a grumpy old bugger, frequently baffled by this modern world, but I’m having real trouble with this concept of “lost” on the Camino Frances. Between the arrows, the groove worn in to the very ground, the ever present kindness of the local people and the fact that all you have to do is walk West (toward the setting sun for those who can’t be arsed with the cardinals) I can’t see how anyone can get “lost”. Off the official track for a bit maybe, on an unplanned diversion perhaps, but lost. Lost is what happens at sea, occurs in mountainous country if you probably shouldn’t be there. Lost is finally noticing that you’re in a bit of a city where you probably didn’t oughta be.

Or maybe I’ve lost the plot

 

[Antnix1]

I know I’m a grumpy old bugger, frequently baffled by this modern world, but I’m having real trouble with this concept of “lost” on the Camino Frances. Between the arrows, the groove worn in to the very ground, the ever present kindness of the local people and the fact that all you have to do is walk West (toward the setting sun for those who can’t be arsed with the cardinals) I can’t see how anyone can get “lost”. Off the official track for a bit maybe, on an unplanned diversion perhaps, but lost. Lost is what happens at sea, occurs in mountainous country if you probably shouldn’t be there. Lost is finally noticing that you’re in a bit of a city where you probably didn’t oughta be.

Or maybe I’ve lost the plot

Seems like it

No one mentioned the Frances!

 

[Tincatinker]

Post 5?

 

[Antnix1]

Ah. That's just demonstrating how the line looks on the app. The original topic!

Actually today i made a detour to Lalín (not somewhere I particularly wanted to see - a guide suggested it as a way to break up a stage, but in fact it just saved me 3km that I'll have to walk with interest tomorrow - nice town. Plenty of places for tapas).. no sooner did i step off the path, I'd say 200m and a motorist pulled up to tell me.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

How did you figure out you were on the wrong route after 15-30 mins?

I had a few experience like that and generally after becoming suspicious about the lack of arrows

I usually have walked with my son, who is an avid backpacker, and he has a very keen sense of direction. It didn't take him long to sense a "missed step" and we'd backtrack. I now plan stages with Gronze and he sometimes will double check on google maps.

 

[David Tallan]

One can certainly complete a Camino with no apps, no Internet, no mod cons. Such was my experience in 1989. One can also complete a Camino with no backpack and no trail runners. Many, many pilgrims have done so in previous centuries. Yet I find myself appreciating my backpack and shoes. And I also find myself appreciating my apps. If someone asks my advice with an app, I'm generally inclined to try and help them use the app (as trecile has done so well) rather than advise that they just do without. Just as I don't respond to questions about trail runners or backpacks by saying that centuries of pilgrims did without and so should they.

But that's just me. YMMV.

 

[spring24]

David thank you for saying that so eloquently and mirroring my thoughts exactly. Thanks to those of you who actually tried to help with advice on the specific question I had posed.
If I manage to get help with this from the programmer/developer or from Carlos I will fill you in later.

 

[Antnix1]

I think Camino Chrissy's advice is worth listening to.

"I've managed without apps. How? I walk with my son, he is an avid backpacker, has a keen sense of direction and he occasionally uses Google Maps."

 

[trecile]

I think Camino Chrissy's advice is worth listening to.

"I've managed without apps. How? I walk with my son, he is an avid backpacker, has a keen sense of direction and he occasionally uses Google Maps."

How do we get @Camino Chrissy's son to walk with us?

 

[Gerard Griffin]

Try Outdoor Active. Free, works offline, elevation profile with locator, very clear

 

[JerryStroebele]

I added the mapy.cz app before my last Camino and found it very useful navigating through cities. Cities are where I loose the Camino. Buen Camino

 

[lt56ny]

There is one sure fire way to know where you are going on the Coastal CP. If the ocean is on your left you are going in the right direction!

 

[Rita Flower]

I use Camino Ninja exclusively for my route map which is marked in bright red.
I started using this app before the owner died. I’m sorry I can’t remember his name.
It became unavailable but previous downloads still worked - just weren’t being updated.
It’s up and running again. You might try it just for the map.

 

[CWBuff]

I usually have walked with my son, who is an avid backpacker, and he has a very keen sense of direction. It didn't take him long to sense a "missed step" and we'd backtrack. I now plan stages with Gronze and he sometimes will double check on google maps.

Can I borrow your son next time I venture out?

 

[Camo]

I know I’m a grumpy old bugger, frequently baffled by this modern world, but I’m having real trouble with this concept of “lost” on the Camino Frances. Between the arrows, the groove worn in to the very ground, the ever present kindness of the local people and the fact that all you have to do is walk West (toward the setting sun for those who can’t be arsed with the cardinals) I can’t see how anyone can get “lost”. Off the official track for a bit maybe, on an unplanned diversion perhaps, but lost. Lost is what happens at sea, occurs in mountainous country if you probably shouldn’t be there. Lost is finally noticing that you’re in a bit of a city where you probably didn’t oughta be.

Or maybe I’ve lost the plot

As usual tincat you are on the right track (pun intended)