Global Mapper v25.0

Global Mapper Mobile For Android - Beta on Google Play

Rayna Winters
Rayna Winters Global Mapper UserTrusted User
edited December 2017 in Announcement and News
We are excited to announce the public beta release of Global Mapper Mobile for Android users! This mobile application offers the same field tools that are currently available to iPhone users; data collection, GPS tracking, template-based attribute collection, and camera integration. Data is transferred to the mobile app manually using the Global Mapper Mobile Package format, exportable directly from Global Mapper 18.1

Global Mapper Mobile features include:

Display of raster and vector data
GPS positioning
Manual point, line, or area data entry
GPS-based point, line, or area data entry
Automatic tracking of points, lines or areas
Data review capabilities
Template-based data collection

If you are interested in participating in the Beta process you can find Global Mapper Mobile directly in the Google Play store

 Please e-mail your feedback to beta@bluemarblegeo.com

Previously users needed to download an APK or receive a direct invitation to participate, but this update allows anyone to have beta access to Global Mapper Mobile

We are looking forward to your continued feedback during the beta period.
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Comments

  • geomannie
    geomannie Global Mapper User Trusted User
    Have you a date for the release of the Beta? I am planning a cycle tour soon and it would be interesting to ground test it.
  • Geomannie: Link here - just go to link from your device and download/install.

    http://www.bluemarblegeo.com/products/global-mapper-mobile.php

    Feedback:

    On the positive side the GMMP files are small and the exports are very quick. I have been exporting MBtiles at 2.2GB taking 30 minutes to create. The GMMP file took 2 minutes and was only 56MB.

    On the negative side, I can't get the GPS tools to work at all - I don't know if you need to set something up prior to exporting to use these features but ou. I've also found the aerial imagery rather sluggish to update - taking 6 seconds to update after zooming or panning. Also I don't see how to use the camera integration you mention.
  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User

    Sphillips,

    Thank you for your feedback!

    The first thing to check regarding the GPS issue would be your permissions. Start up the Settings App and go to Applications/Application Manager/Global Mapper Mobile. Make sure Location is enabled.

    We are aware of the performance issue you mentioned and are working on improving that.

    To attach an image to a vector feature:

    1) Enable the Feature Edit Tool, left-most button on top right tool bar of main view.

    2) Tap on a vector feature (you may want to zoom in first)

    3) Tap the Image button, center button on bottom right tool bar of edit feature view.

    4) Select Camera to attach a new photo, or Gallery to attach an existing picture.

    5) GMM will fire up the Camera or Gallery app and automatically attach the result.

    6) When you return to the edit feature view, you should see a new IMAGE_LINK attribute. Click OK to commit changes.

    Peter

  • geomannie
    geomannie Global Mapper User Trusted User
    Hi,

    Thanks for the link. GM Mobile loaded and working on my Android phone. I have exported a GMMP file and opened it. The original project was in British Grid but not seems to be in unprojected lat-long on my phone. Does GM Mobile support projections? At our latitude unprojected maps are highly distorted.

    Cheers
  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User

    GeoMannie,

    GM Mobile only supports Lat/Lon right now. Conversions take place automatically when GM Desktop creates the gmmp package file. We do understand this is an issue for some users and we plan to support projections in the future.

    Peter

  • geomannie
    geomannie Global Mapper User Trusted User
    The attached GMMP file (zipped) makes the Android app fall over. Opens fine in GM. Any ideas?
  • PShorey said:

    Sphillips,

    Thank you for your feedback!

    The first thing to check regarding the GPS issue would be your permissions. Start up the Settings App and go to Applications/Application Manager/Global Mapper Mobile. Make sure Location is enabled.

    We are aware of the performance issue you mentioned and are working on improving that.

    To attach an image to a vector feature:

    1) Enable the Feature Edit Tool, left-most button on top right tool bar of main view.

    2) Tap on a vector feature (you may want to zoom in first)

    3) Tap the Image button, center button on bottom right tool bar of edit feature view.

    4) Select Camera to attach a new photo, or Gallery to attach an existing picture.

    5) GMM will fire up the Camera or Gallery app and automatically attach the result.

    6) When you return to the edit feature view, you should see a new IMAGE_LINK attribute. Click OK to commit changes.

    Peter

    Hi Peter,

    The first thing I did was check my Location Services was running and the GPS Permissions were correctly set for the app. I've rechecked that everything is running and enabled but the GPS features still don't work. In fact nothing happens at all and the current location just gives the coordinates to the centre of the screen; even if I've panned outside the data area.
  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User

    Geomannie

    Thank you for providing the test file. Very helpful! This package has a large grid layer, at least for GM Mobile, that is taking a long time to render. The mobile app is geared more for raster and vector layers, and we need to do some work to optimize grid layers. I converted this layer to a flat raster (jpg) and exported to gmmp. That file renders almost instantly on my tablet.

  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User
    sphillips,

    Build 1.0.0.14 may work better for you. I'll post back when that version has been put up on the website.

  • geomannie
    geomannie Global Mapper User Trusted User
    PShorey said:

    GeoMannie,

    GM Mobile only supports Lat/Lon right now. Conversions take place automatically when GM Desktop creates the gmmp package file. We do understand this is an issue for some users and we plan to support projections in the future.

    Peter


    Hi, Just a thought.

    I also use a mobile mapping app from an Australian company which supports both unprojected lat-long and projected UTM. Supporting a single projection, while not perfect, is good enough as it allows me have maps on my phone which are not hightly distorted.

    Cheers
  • I would love for GM mobile to add a few features:  Measurement of strike/dip utilizing phone GPS and inclinometer. There are some apps for iphone and android that do this, but I'd prefer directly to GM to take care of it.  It would be an GREAT tool for geologic field work.  The program which I like best is:  android based Strike and Dip.  Link below.   

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.shopzeus.android.majorforms_1013&hl=en

    That would be marvelous to add this feature.
  • Which versions of GM can export a gmmp file?  i am running v14.2.2 and I can only export a .gmp file.
  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User
    Which versions of GM can export a gmmp file?  i am running v14.2.2 and I can only export a .gmp file.

    Global Mapper v 18.1 is required.
  • htuser
    htuser Global Mapper User Trusted User
    I would like to know if you have a plan to allow exporting (vector) to spatial database from Global Mapper Mobile? Other, i would like to export raster to Global Mapper Mobile, does it's possible with gmmp format?
    Best Regards,
  • Very exciting stuff! First thing out of the box when I open the app, if you click the menu button on the left it crashes the app. 

    Galaxy Note 4
    Android 6.0.1
    Not Rooted

    Best Regards,
    Dan Wilkerson
  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User
    dwilkerson,

    I assume you are using GMM v 1.0.0.18. We noticed this issue right off and posted a fix shortly after that build went live on Google Play. Since you are on Android 6, the app should ask you for Storage permission during startup. Allow it. You can also use the Settings app to set the storage permission for GMM. That should resolve your issue with v 18. We encourage you to get v 19, which still requires Storage permission to function correctly, but will not crash if permission has not been granted.

    Peter
  • Worked like a charm. Thank you kindly! I granted one of the two permissions. I would have granted both but sadly cannot tell you why I didn't see the initial permission request.
  • bisenberger
    bisenberger Global Mapper User Trusted User
    Cool! Heading to the Play Store to download.
    Thanks
  • PShorey said:
    sphillips,

    Build 1.0.0.14 may work better for you. I'll post back when that version has been put up on the website.

    Hi,

    I have installed and tested build 1.0.0.20 on a different tablet today and the GPS works fine.

    Unfortunately the performance of the zoom is really bad though; particulary when zooming out. I have tested with World Imagery with approx. dimensions of 2 x 1.5 km (let global mapper choose option). Zooming in takes 10-11 seconds for each pinch, so zooming to a particular point at ground level can take 30 seconds or more. When I try zooming out the tablet freezes temporarily with a message saying 'Global Mapper is not responding - Close it?'. If I click 'Wait' it will start working again after 10 - 30 seconds. 

    I encountered a problem when my tablet went into sleep mode too. When I woke the tablet I was back on my home screen and had to re-open Global Mapper Mobile and reload the file I was using. Not sure what would happen if I was using tracking (would have tried but it is raining outside!)

    Although you can turn off Auto Rotate on your tablet it would be good to have that option in the software to stop the long delays as the software changes orientation.

    Steve

    Tablet: Vodafone Tab Speed 6 Android Tablet VF-1397
    Android version: 5.1.1
  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User

    Steve,

    Thank you for your input! Good suggestions regarding device orientation, and we will check out the sleep issue. The controlling factor in redraw time is the number of pixels in the source image. You will see much faster redraws if you can work with smaller areas or reduced resolution. Hardware places rather tight constraints on how much "ready to draw" image data we can keep in memory, and thus, we must resample the source data from file when the display bounds change significantly. That accounts for most of the redraw time you are seeing. Performance concerns are definitely on our radar, and we will be working to improve this going forward.

    Peter

  • kfroese
    kfroese Geotechnical Engineer Trusted User
    I have just started playing with GMM (android and iOS). One thing that I find irritating is that my LiDAR data is exported as color ramp with no hill shading. Doesn't matter what shader I have turned on. I prefer the slope shader myself but I have to export it to a raster first and then bring it back into GM to export it into the package. Any chance of improving that work flow?
  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User
    edited June 2017
    kfroese said:
    I have just started playing with GMM (android and iOS). One thing that I find irritating is that my LiDAR data is exported as color ramp with no hill shading. Doesn't matter what shader I have turned on. I prefer the slope shader myself but I have to export it to a raster first and then bring it back into GM to export it into the package. Any chance of improving that work flow?
    Thank you for your feedback.

    Global Mapper Package files (gmp & gmmp)  do not contain any application configuration information such as the selected shader. One must select the desired shader after importing a package file in GM desktop, or work with workspaces which do persist various display options such as the shader. 

    Currently, the only shader implemented in Mobile is the atlas shader. There is an open enhancement request to add other shader options to Mobile (ticket 21861). I have added your name and request for the slope shader to the ticket.
  • kfroese
    kfroese Geotechnical Engineer Trusted User
    I've also found that some GMMP files have load errors when they get truncated: "...of side 26295378 at offset 290816 would go beyond end of file. Successfully loaded 1 of 4 layers."
  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User
    kfroese said:
    I've also found that some GMMP files have load errors when they get truncated: "...of side 26295378 at offset 290816 would go beyond end of file. Successfully loaded 1 of 4 layers."

    Would it be possible to email us one or more of these files? Please send to: geohelp@bluemarblegeo.com
  • kfroese
    kfroese Geotechnical Engineer Trusted User
    I didn't think to save those files for bug submission. I've already overwritten them when I exported-and-re-imported my LiDAR into an image so it would be useful. And now I'm having troubles reproducing the problem. If I manage to, I'll submit it to that email.
  • htuser
    htuser Global Mapper User Trusted User
    Dear Global Mapper Developer Team,
    I would like to know if you have a plan to allow exporting (vector) to spatial database (Postgis) from Global Mapper Mobile? Thanks in advance for your response
  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User
    htuser said:
    Dear Global Mapper Developer Team,
    I would like to know if you have a plan to allow exporting (vector) to spatial database (Postgis) from Global Mapper Mobile? Thanks in advance for your response

    Thank you for your interest in Global Mapper Mobile. While we do not have plans to add Postgis export in the near future, we are considering adding import/export of some other data formats in the next major version of the application.

  • keeyen
    keeyen Global Mapper User
    Dear Development Team

    I'm using 1.0.0.23 beta. Isn't it better to keep the location indicator at the center of the screen by moving the map like most other GPS navigation software do ? Thanks 
  • PShorey
    PShorey Global Mapper Developer Moderator, Trusted User
    keeyen said:
    Dear Development Team

    I'm using 1.0.0.23 beta. Isn't it better to keep the location indicator at the center of the screen by moving the map like most other GPS navigation software do ? Thanks 

    Thank you for the excellent suggestion. We will make this change in a future version of GMM iOS and Android.

    Peter
  • keeyen
    keeyen Global Mapper User
    Dear Team
    Thank for your attention. I'm using a Samsung J1 ACE as a test device. I select this model because it has GPS function and very affordable price. Since this is a test platform, I do not install any other apps except those pre installed. I also not install a SIM card. While testing the unit, it function well displaying vector map and position. Even my UAV raster map also no issue. But when I am using the template function ( learn from your Webinar ), the apps always crash while I input field data. When it crash, sometime it can not  load data when I re launch the apps and I have to restart the phone and all data lost. I think an auto save function may worth consider.  I understand that the apps is still under beta, just to report my issue. Thanks