Differences between the Android and iOS versions of Trailer

The Android version of the Trailer mobile application is designed to display user-created annotated maps defined in the same .tqz format as is used in the iOS version. An example of this format has previously been provided in this post.

The Android application allows the user to do the same things on the map as the iOS application, but provides a user interface which fits in with the Android way of doing things.  One difference is that if a map includes a message (not a URL) associated with a zone, on iOS this will be displayed in a new page, whereas in the Android version the message is displayed in the info window which pops up when the zone is clicked.

The Android application has been developed and tested on a Nexus 7 tablet, and the parts of the iOS behaviour associated with providing background notifications when zones in the current trail are entered have not yet been implemented.  I welcome comments from users in relation to whether this feature is considered useful: from my point of view, I find background notifications linke this make a lot of sense from a phone, but less sense from a tablet.  Of course the application is available for use on Android phones as well as tablets, so I do provide to add this behaviour eventually, but it will probably not become a priority unless I get a sense of a significant number of users of the application who feel that the feature is worth having.

One other difference, which also relates to the automated detection of movements across zone boundaries, is that the Android application does not automatically zoom to fill the screen with a zone when a movement into that zone is detected.  Instead, zooming in on zones is achieved by clicking on the zone (which also brings up the info window with the zone details).  Clicking a second time on a zone which has already been zoomed in will result in the map zooming out to cover the entire trail. Again, comments from users are very welcome, but my present opinion is that the automatic zooming behaviour presently implemented in the iOS application is potentially annoying, and I am considering removing this behaviour in the next iOS application release in favour of allowing the user to request zooming in or out by a click, as the Android application does now.

Trailer application for Android released

I've just released an initial version of the Trailer application for Android™ mobile devices.
The Google Play™ link is https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blogspot.tltrailer.androidapp.

The Android app accepts the same .tqz file format as the iOS application, and is similar in spirit but has some differences in behaviour.

I'll write more about how the two apps compare in the next few days or weeks.

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