Now available to the general public: Smugs Offline Map Kit A suitable replacment for the Location Map, with the exception that it utilizes offline maps for location display. https://www.buzztouch.com/plugins/plugin.php?pid=D1F5F60355C5F18ACE48409 Early adopters will have the added benefit of being able to complain about details I may have missed. What fun! Frankly, Android is pretty easy. iOS requires some assembly. I will assemble it for you in a single project for the paltry sum of $75 for a team viewer session. By default behavior mimics the BT_screen_map plugin. It displays a pinned location or locations on a map. The perfect companion to the Smug Location Menu. Just saying. Let me know what you think. Cheers! -- Smug

I can't wait to try it out, Smug! This adds a lot to our capacity.

Two of the best folk posting new toys today. Must be a holiday weekend.

cool I finally get to try it out

Thanks Smug, you are the fairest...

it would be great to see distance calculation from map location to the user of the app. Any chance of getting this added? Showing distance in miles and/or KM.

Epicweb,you can do that by using smugs location menu plugin with this plugin

Wow, that is a gem, decent price and both platforms too! Keep them plugins coming pretty please. Farcat

Thanks Smug, yesterday I used this great plugin for the first time. Your guides are very clear and it was no problem to run a first offline-map app. Great. I have 2 questions... 1. Letter size... Although the maps are displayed fine, the street names (and other texts) are barely readable. The text size seems smaller by a factor of 2 than in the standard map app (iPhone). Is there a way to adjust this aspect? 2. I turned on the "Show User Location" and "Show User Location Button" features in the control panel of my app, but it did not show any effect. When using the debugger in Xcode I saw that "appDelegate.rootDevice.deviceLatitude" and "appDelegate.rootDevice.deviceLongitute" both had a value of 0... The general location services are turned on on my iPhone and work nicely in the standard map app... Did I forget something here? Best wishes and thanks again Thomas

With respect to lettering on the map itself, those are images created at the source; Open Street Maps. I have no control over that. You might try a different map source. There are several available, and I haven't looked at all of them. I'll take a look at User Location and see if I missed something; I'll get back to you on that. Cheers! -- Smug usually a location of zero means that it didn't find the current coordinates. Check your App 'Core' configuration and ensure that GPS is turned on. Edit: ok, it looks like I *did* forget something. Apparently just setting 'showsUserLocation' isn't enough. I'll have to dig a little on this, but it's on the fix list. Sorry about the confusion, and I'll update it as soon as I can!

Thanks Smug, yes... the images are created by the map services. I tried different ones and the results were rather similar, barely readable text, even when using my reading glasses ;-). I thought that the final size might depend on some scaling in the XIB-file or in the way the map is presented in the view. But I have not tried to follow this aspect in the source code yet. Indeed, I had forgotten to turn on the GPS features in the Core configuration. But even after using GPS there is no "user location". So there is something missing, as you said... There is no confusion... its just the way in which such a plugin comes to life ;-) Thanks again Thomas

Perhaps the scaling is set in the route-me package? As far as I can see you did not make any changes to this part of the software...? Thomas

Hi Smug, I'm playing with your map kit too and your how-to is indeed clear, congratulations! Now... the bugs! (iOS7, as usual) Thomas is right, there's a bug with the User Location... Moreover, none of the 4 Map Behavior settings is effective (Refresh Button and Single Location Default Zoom too). And the map isn't correctly loaded in the screen, you have to swipe slightly and it comes into place, but it doesn't zoom to the chosen level. Another problem: you can use it only with hidden Top Navigation Bar, the call-out window is hidden by the bar. Some problem too with undefined symbols for architecture arm64 in libMapView.a (couldn't install a test app on a new iPad Mini). Pin Color: only your default pin, setting non effective. Puzzling: some strange gap between the pin and the actual location as long as you are not fully zoomed. And BTW... it'll indeed be a perfect match with your Smugs Location Menu!!! Keep on rockin'! Jack

I'm fast approaching the time needed to fix some of this. Apologies for the delay, but I'm not ignoring it. Cheers! -- Smug

Thanks, Smug! And... while you're working on it, check this out please: 1. You can't zoom enough (would fix the 'barely readable text' issue found by Thomas) 2. To go further with the 'offline logic', ability to embed the DataURL file in the app would be quite useful! Cheers Jack P.-S. Found where comes the gap between the pin and the actual location... The file marker-red.png is oversized (64x64px) with a non-centered pin spear. I've replaced it with a 30x30px red star and it's quite ok now.

Hi Smug! Any news about the Map Kit issues? If you're working on it and need a beta tester for iOS, you know where I am ;-) Cheers Jack

Jack, can you explain a little more on the 'embed the dataURL file in the app'...? I have provided for an embedded childItem file, so I'm not sure exactly what this means? Cheers! -- Smug

Hi Smug! In some plugins, the Screen Data URL has 2 options: pull the data from a website, or pull it from a local (embedded) file. With 2 different fields in the CP, of which you have to populate only one. I must admit I didn't try to populate the single Screen Data URL with the name of a local file instead of the URL of a remote file, as you don't mention this possibility in the Screen Data URL comment... If it's possible, my question is pointless... Cheers Jack

Oh, it's a 'dual' text field. Since you can only use 'either' a local file, or a dataURL, I just keep one text box. Just don't name the beginning of your local file 'http://' and you'll be fine ;) Cheers! -- Smug

Great, thanks! Please mention it in the next update, it may help! BTW, could you find some solutions for the issues mentioned earlier in this thread? Cheers Jack

Working on them right now. Actually, only one remains; that pesky toolbar. But all the other issues have been rectified. Cheers! -- Smug With respect to "Increasing the zoom", there's not much I can do about that; that's sort of the way it is at the source. On Android you can zoom in as much as you want, so even with a level 15 map you can zoom to level 22 and get real close. On iOS it won't zoom in any further than what the map level is. iOS has been a bit anal this whole plugin. Rarely the case, but in this instance Android was *so* much easier. iOS/Route-Me has a lot of limitations. :\

Fantastic! Eager to use it full-blown! This plugin will be a must for all tourist apps... (You wouldn't believe how much is charged for data roaming here...) Cheers! Jack

Hey hey... The plugin disappeared from the market... but v1.5 can be downloaded via my self-hosted server... Is it just a 'work in progress'? Beware: the 'blue ball' (user location) is ok, but if you tap on it you get an unwanted 'label sheet'...

I'll put it back up when I'm finished with the updates. Cheers! -- Smug

Apologies in advance; I've finished the updates, but it does not include the issue with the toolbar; it still does not display correctly. I will work on it when I have more time, but for the moment I have to return to another deadline. However, it does address most other issues on the iOS side. Cheers! -- Smug

Thanks a lot, Smug, but now I get fatal errors with @synthesize isLoading; and @synthesize isURL; Property implementation must have its declaration in interface 'SW_offlineMapKit' An error on my side or something you forgot??? Cheers Jack

probably something I forgot. I suspect it's those two properties in the .h file. Gimme a sec... Cheers! -- Smug

Yeah, just add this to your SW_offlineMapKit.h file: @property (nonatomic) BOOL isLoading; // is the plugin loading? @property (nonatomic) BOOL isURL; Cheers! -- Smug

That's it! Thanks a lot! Cheers Jack

Hi Smug! I'm almost ready to submit an iOS app that relies extensively on your Map Kit (and on your Location Menu and on LoadScreenObject)... But as there is an issue with the 64bit devices, I need Dr Smug's advice ! Everything is ok on 3 of my test devices (iPhone 4 and 5, iPad 2), but not on my iPad Mini. I've tried to change some architecture settings in Xcode to test the app on this iPad Mini. No way. Red errors. And I'm afraid to mess all settings... Just one question: if I submit the app as is, with usual settings, will Apple accept it? Will it function anyway on 64bit devices? And if I have to change some settings... which, where and how, exactly? Thanks for any clue! Cheers Jack

It should work on 64 bit devices, it won't work in 64bit mode. Not sure why it doesn't work on the mini; my mini shows just fine... In any event, I've submitted to the App Store 'as is' and have had no problems (with that, anyway, lol!) Cheers! -- Smug

Thanks a lot, Smug! I guess your mini is 1st gen, with A5 chip (32bit). The 2nd gen has A7 chip, 64bit. Sooooo... I'll submit it 'as is' and we'll see :-) Cheers Jack

What a ripoff, lol! I bought my mini in Vegas, just a few weeks ago. And it's a 1st gen. I had to look it up. So I suppose you're right. Fingers crossed! Cheers! -- Smug

Hi Smug, Hope you paid a cheap price for your 1st gen iPad Mini... Anyway, I have good news: the 64bit issue is not a rejection issue! And your Offline Map Kit works perfectly on 64bit devices! Our latest app, SwissMaps, has been validated and is available in the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/app/swissmaps/id910186379 It features the Map Kit and the Location Menu, but both plugins are fed by online webservices, so I'll go further now and I'm currently working on another app featuring both plugins and making an extensive use of LoadScreenObject (including what I call 'cascading screen objects'), with all data embedded in the app (except web pages of course). And tomorrow we fly to an island abroad to test it extensively without connection and without data roaming... It'll be a great real-life test! Thanks for all your help and for promoting LoadScreenObject... and congratulations for your great plugins, they are the ultimate for all apps focused on tourism! Cheers Jack

I am as pleased as punch! It looks really nice! I look forward to hearing the results of your test! It works great on 'my' island, I have high hopes for good results on yours! Enjoy the trip! Cheers! -- Smug PS, Be sure to leave a nice review, lol! :)

I'll leave the most appreciative review you'll ever read!

Hi Smug, It works great indeed! Only one strange thing: some maps showing one POI and the user location don't zoom automatically... Maybe some issue with the image format? I started creating maps with the default setting of MOBAC (PNG) but then I created other maps with the JPEG format to obtain less heavy .mbtiles files... Any idea about this? Cheers Jack

Hi Jack! Not sure; I'll need to look into it a little... I've never worked with jpg tiles... how does that work out for you? Cheers! -- Smug "Off the top of my head" I would not suspect image source to be an issue with respect to zooming... If you can zoom manually, then it should zoom automatically.

It works great, takes less space in the app. PNG is much heavier than JPG! E.g.: the same photo will be 1'350'057 octets in PNG but only 152'038 octets in JPG with quality 50... Unfortunately I didn't document which maps I created with PNG and which ones are in JPG... I'm stupid... The auto zoom is an awesome feature: my idea is to double all the maps, the first without user location, the second with it. When you tap a POI on the first one (which displays all POIs) and then tap on the i in the label, you load the second map, auto zooming to display only the POI you tapped and your location... Quite nice! I'm currently in the Cyclades Archipelago, in Greece, and with a double map like this I've been able to track my ferry and identify every island around me... without wi-fi and without data roaming! Moreover, with your Location Menu, I was able to know how far were all these islands... Great! Cheers Jack

That's cool to hear... It's exactly the way I envisioned it being used. I spent a summer in southern Italy once... and some friends and I went to Corfu for a long weekend. Everything that direction was just so cool. Hope you enjoy your trip! Cheers! -- Smug

Hi Smug! Sure I did enjoy the trip! Greece is a really beautiful country and Greek people could teach the world many things about hospitality and happiness... They are in a deep crisis, working very hard, but they are still laughing and singing and dancing! I never went to Corfu and I'd like to... I'm always going to the Cyclades... 25 inhabited islands to explore, each different from the other... I'm back now after extensive testing and use of what we may call the 'Smug's Location Tools Suite'... Smugs Offline Map Kit for embedded maps (no more data roaming required!), Smugs Location Menu for nice-looking geolocalized menus (good lesson of XIB twisting!) and Smugs Message Location to record POIs on site... Now... some feedback and (as usual) some ideas... ------------------------------------------ MOBAC Image Formats ------------------------------------------ I've tested them thoroughly. JPEG works great and saves space. Here is a comparison of the 4 available formats in the same map: PNG (default): 6.8MB JPEG 50: 4.5MB PNG 4bits: 10.7MB PNG 16bits: 22.2MB You save some 33% of weight with JPEG 50 and quality is quite correct. ------------------------------------------ Smugs Message Location ------------------------------------------ An option in the CP to deactivate the loading of a map when you're connected could be useful. You could then set a screen to work just as a companion compass to the Map Kit. I guess integrating a compass function in the Map Kit and in the Location Menu would be much more complicated ;-) ------------------------------------------ Smugs Location Menu ------------------------------------------ Nearly perfect! One weakness: if the user doesn't allow location reports, the list of POIs doesn't show at all. IMO it should be displayed anyway, even if (of course) the distance isn't displayed. ------------------------------------------ Smugs Offline Map Kit ------------------------------------------ You could greatly enhance it with just a little additional setting: an ability to set different icons (or no icon at all) in the right button of the label. In other words: when you tap on a marker, you get a label with title, subtitle and 2 buttons. The 'car' button on the left to load the route, the 'i' button on the right to load a screen. Both buttons are always functional, but sometimes the 'i' button is not necessary (if you just wish to display the label with some info) and sometimes it's not adequate (if e.g. it loads a photo gallery and obviously you'll wish to display an 'eye' and not an 'i'). IMO, this enhancement is essential. In the app I've been working on during my half-holiday half-work trip, I've created various maps. In the JSON of the Screen Data Source setting, I can display any marker I wish (just had to find how it works in the plugin code). In the label of each POI, I can set the 'i' button lo load any type of screen (detailed info screen, photo gallery, etc.) but I can't modify (or deactivate) the 'i' icon. So... it's puzzling for the user: sometimes the 'i' button actually loads 'informations', but sometimes it loads a photo gallery or a map displaying a single marker and the user location (etc.). Sometimes it may even not load anything at all... What do you think? I've found in SW_offlineMapKit.m how both buttons are displayed... but of course if I modify anything it will affect all Map Kit screens globally! Would it be complicated to modify the plugin so as to be able to deactivate the right button or display various icons with JSON variables? (Sorry if my language is not code-wizard-compliant... guess you'll understand what I mean!) Thanks for your advice and help! And for creating awesome plugins! Cheers Jack

Jack, Thanks for the indepth assessment! Great stuff! I'll respond one by one, if that's cool. :) Mobac: How do you get them as jpg? Do you have the tiles created, and batch convert? MsgLoc: I should probably add a control panel setting to just leave it on compass. LocMenu: In some ways I agree, in others I don't. But the bottom line is, I should probably add some kind of 'fall back' in case locations aren't available. Map Kit: I can probably do that. I'm still not entirely thrilled with the balloons, and have been planning a kind of 'update' as soon as I could anyway; I'll add this to the mix. Thanks again for your kind words and in depth information! Cheers! -- Smug

My Mobac is in French but it should be same place in English: http://www.fusions.ch/downloads/mobac-map-tiles-format.jpg Map Kit: 'balloons' = 'labels'? IMO, they are ok, except for the 'i' button... I'll show you screen captures of what I'm doing in a few hours, you'll be thrilled ;-) Cheers Jack

Hello again, As promised, a peep on what I'm currently creating (and why the 'i' button editing option is so important)... Let's start... http://www.fusions.ch/downloads/screen-mapkit1.jpg and then... http://www.fusions.ch/downloads/screen-mapkit2.jpg and then... http://www.fusions.ch/downloads/screen-mapkit3.jpg and then... http://www.fusions.ch/downloads/screen-mapkit4.jpg and then... http://www.fusions.ch/downloads/screen-mapkit5.jpg and then... http://www.fusions.ch/downloads/screen-mapkit6.jpg Are you feeling proud of your fantastic plugin? Sure you can! Cheers Jack

Very nicely done! I can imagine the wheels turning when you generate the json for this! Nicely done indeed! That kind of data cascading doesn't appear overnight. You've put some good work into your scripts! :) And you've made a good case; the icons should be developer configurable. Well, if you want to get started, what'll end up happening is that I'll create properties for both the driving and info buttons. All that really needs to be done is change the info button from a disclosure to a custom (see the code around line 514. The 'driving' button code can almost be duplicated) and have some json provide the names. Of course it needs an 'if there is a value, do this, otherwise act as default' sort of code in there too. I'll put it on my to do list. I'm sort of trying to decide whether to install xCode 6 and see what'll break, but I've also got a project to finish up, and I don't want to mess with my mojo. But I'll get to it for the next update to be sure. Cheers! -- Smug

Lines 460 to 479, in fact ;-) Sure I've seen that! And sure I can change it, but only globally! Set the same icon everywhere, not screen by screen... Unfortunately, the remaining ('if there is a value, do this, otherwise act as default') is beyond my abilities! Except of course if you give me the required code snippet :-) Cheers Jack

... and on the other side of the 'Smug's Location Tools Suite'... http://www.fusions.ch/downloads/screen-mapkit7.jpg Cheers Jack