Maps.me Voice

[woody66]

Hi!
Hope this is OK to post here.
Just spent a day and a half trying to get tracking on the Portuguese Coastal for Maps me once done found it does not support voice for walking (only for bikes,cars!)
As i am visually impaired i need pretty much accurate voice information regarding what to expect; getting lost when you cant see properly is a bit more of an issue than for most.
Anyone got any ideas other than google maps (as i set that for walking mode, from my home into town and it told me to walk down the main A road that had no footpath( and that's a mile from home). I know the easy walk to town and this was nothing anywhere near it.
Does anyone use a purely walking sat nav app that is accurate.(obviously i don't expect it to tell me where steps ,slopes and other obstacles are thats down to me)
Bit of a long shot but thought asking on here was worth a go! Are the paid for apps of a better quality some one on here said trail smart was good.
I appreciate any help given.
All the best
Woody.

 

[SabsP]

@woody66 I hope someone can help out...maybe @wisepilgrim or @SYates can?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Hi Woody.
I am personally of no help either, but am confident that there are others who will most certainly be able to step in with some good advise for you.
In the mean time I wish you a very warm welcome to this forum!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

OsmAnd+ has voice support for walking between points. It is a free download so you can try it out. It allows you to download a certain number of base maps (5? 10?) before you need to pay a reasonable fee ($6?). It can do much more than maps.me but that comes with a more complicated user interface. Both apps use Open Street Map data to generate their base maps but they display differently in style and detail. I've always seen more detail in OsmAnd so it may even display stairs.

While in the popup window setting your start and end points pick the walking icon and the settings icon in that window. Turn on sound in the settings popup. The first time I did that it prompted for a language.

Bad news for you though. Maps.me requires its tracks to be in the kml or kmz formats only. OsmAnd requires its to be in the gpx format only. You will have to convert your files or find new ones in gpx format. There are a lot of online sites that will convert the files for free.

On youtube search for "bart eisenberg osmand" (no quotes). He has about 10 videos on OsmAnd.

OsmAnd also allows you to change the style of the map. This allows you to pick a style that is easier for you to see. You might like one style for cities and another for country roads and maybe another yet for trails.

Good luck.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Rick, you are always so capable and helpful with anything techy related to phone/computer things. What would the forum do without your input...just saying.

 

[woody66]

Hi! Thank you all very much for your replies.
Rick thanks for your efforts on my behalf, i will definitely give OsmAnd a go(sounds promising). As far as GPX i have a GPX viewer installed and i can access the files for the Coastal Camino from the Dutch Society of Saint Jacob. I like the fact it offers the chance to modify the look of maps. I use assistive tech to listen to and view content;choice is everything (as even with this paid for software, sometimes i think; who thought this was useful for a severely sight impaired person.they never work straight out of the can!!)
Thanks again
Alan.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Rick thanks for your efforts on my behalf, i will definitely give OsmAnd a go(sounds promising).

I am usually hesitant in writing a lot about a topic on this forum as perhaps it may not end up being helpful and I would have wasted a lot of finger tapping. Since you do have an interest let me tell you about another useful OsmAnd feature. Besides downloading base maps to your phone those with paid products can also download Wikipedia articles as points of interest. So as you walk by a church you may see a W icon on the map. Click the icon and read a short copy of the article (with a link to the real thing if you are connected to the internet). You can get the English version and also the local version in the local language. There may be many more in the local version than in the English one. Perhaps small battles where the English version only discusses a war or maybe the history of a town or a guide to a transport stop. These might only be in Portuguese but you can translate with a good app.

Post if you need some help. There are lots of things I don't know about the app but checking them out teaches me more (like seeing how to turn voice guidance on and off).

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I like the fact it offers the chance to modify the look of maps.

The main menu is the "hamburger" icon of three stacked horizontal likes. From there pick "Configure map" then scroll down to "Map rendering" and the "Map style" option just below. Radio buttons then allow you to choose the style. Try various styles for different sections of the camino.

Other features under rendering that may be helpful for you are "Text size" and a few features you can pick after choosing "Details" (which I haven't used, like "Road surface" or "Street lighting").

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Hi!
Hope this is OK to post here.
Just spent a day and a half trying to get tracking on the Portuguese Coastal for Maps me once done found it does not support voice for walking (only for bikes,cars!)
As i am visually impaired i need pretty much accurate voice information regarding what to expect; getting lost when you cant see properly is a bit more of an issue than for most.
Anyone got any ideas other than google maps (as i set that for walking mode, from my home into town and it told me to walk down the main A road that had no footpath( and that's a mile from home). I know the easy walk to town and this was nothing anywhere near it.
Does anyone use a purely walking sat nav app that is accurate.(obviously i don't expect it to tell me where steps ,slopes and other obstacles are thats down to me)
Bit of a long shot but thought asking on here was worth a go! Are the paid for apps of a better quality some one on here said trail smart was good.
I appreciate any help given.
All the best
Woody.

You are being a little unfair to Google Maps by comparing apples with oranges.

Your example asks G Maps to show you a walking route from X (presumably your home) to town and then you compare that with a specific route that you know of using criteria of your choice (your opinion about "easy to walk").

In general, the G Maps routing algorithms favour shortest estimated arrival time although you correctly note that the cycling routing algorithm can also favour for least effort by avoiding hills when possible.

This least effort algorithm isn't yet available for walking routes.

When you use other applications you download specific routes (as opposed to asking Google or someone else to recommend a route).

If you want to know how to download routes to G Maps then check out this topic: Helping Albertagirl with Maps:
AlbertaGirl Link:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/helping-albertagirl-with-maps.68461/#post-872368

 

[Thomas1962]

Hi! Thank you all very much for your replies.
Rick thanks for your efforts on my behalf, i will definitely give OsmAnd a go(sounds promising). As far as GPX i have a GPX viewer installed and i can access the files for the Coastal Camino from the Dutch Society of Saint Jacob. I like the fact it offers the chance to modify the look of maps. I use assistive tech to listen to and view content;choice is everything (as even with this paid for software, sometimes i think; who thought this was useful for a severely sight impaired person.they never work straight out of the can!!)
Thanks again
Alan.

Hi Woody, I was involved in making the tracks of the Dutch Society of Saint James,. Please be aware that in many places there are not specific tracks for pedestrians. Often the track, and also the route is going along a road which is used by pedestrians and by cars. Also, sometimes there might be a pedestrian road near to a road for cars, but this pedestrian road is still not on any map. In this case it means that the track itself will lead you on the road. For most people it will be no problem, but if you visible impaired it is might be not exact enough. This will not be only with the tracks of the Dutch associations, but will be with any track I'm afraid. Maybe not with tracks really meant for visible impaired people.
Hope this helps a bit with making the right choices.
Wish you all the best and a wonderful camino.

If you know of any improvement for visible impaired people which can be made on the tracks of the Dutch association, please let me know. We will be happy to improve.

 

[Laundoner]

Try Komoot. It has turn-by-turn voice navigation. One single £30 payment unlocks the whole world and you don't need to keep paying. You can try before you decide

Komoot | Pricing: Because Exploring the World Shouldn’t Cost the Earth

Komoot’s prices let you benefit from better planning, turn-by-turn voice nav and offline maps wherever and whenever you need them. Prices start at $2.99.

www.komoot.com

 

[woody66]

Hi everybody!
Thanks for info Komoot has no Portuguese caminos.
I will find a solution;never give up i have patience in abundance and a very small brain ha ha !
Woody

 

[Laundoner]

Thanks for info Komoot has no Portuguese caminos.

Hi Woody,

You can import the GPX route. You have some on the link below, but you can import any other if you already have into Komoot. The paid version will give you voice navigation of that route.

Best of luck

Laureano

Camino Portugués

Camino Portugués, 632 km, 392 miles, about 25 days. From Lisboa to Santiago de Compostela. Traildino grading: MW, Moderate walk, backpacking trail; Hut tour grading: T1, Walk. Find walking maps and guidebooks, self guided walking holidays and hiking tours. This trail is also known as Caminho de...

www.traildino.com