Trailforks App Summer Update

May 19, 2016
by Trevor May  
Trailforks mobile app for ios and android

Summer is almost here and it's time for new things! This was initially a maintenance release but we couldn't help ourselves from adding a bunch of cool new features to help you with your biking adventures.
The app launched at the end of summer 2015, so this is the first summer with the app in the wild. We've had great feedback and usage with over 98,000 installs and increasing as the biking season ramps up. We have more cool app features planned for later this year.

Updates:

1. Region marker clustering
2. Change trail color style (difficulty, popularity, status, condition)
3. Custom TF topo basemap based on OSM data. Includes 20m contours
4. Map download button when viewing non downloaded region
5. Trail supporter logos
6. View report comments
7. Toggle to exclude gps location in submitting report
8. Trail association & karma removed from unsanctioned trails
9. Send debug info for troubleshooting issues
10. International emergency 911 numbers
11. Scale bar on map
12. Long press map to see lat/lng of point and click to get driving directions
13. When viewing ridelogs or routes, swipe left or right to scroll through routes on the map
14. New Zealand and Florida unique trail ratings
15, Better handling if gps/location is disabled on phone
16. Other bug fixes and tweaks


Trailforks app feature screenshots


Stats:

App installs: 97,981
App screen views: 2,873,164
Android app rating average: 4.54 / 5 stars
Regions downloaded: 143,440
Top 10 downloaded regions: BC, UK, California, Washington, Utah, Alberta, New Zealand, Arizona, Australia, Colorado
Trail reports submitted from app: 3,605
Trail Ridden button clicked: 26,258
Route to trail: 13,819
Trail video views: 41,328
Trails clicked on map: 95,251
Call 911: 223 (I hope everyone is ok and ppl were just testing!)
Trail karma clicked: 953


Trailforks app feature screenshots


Updates from release in October

1. Support for older Android devices (4.0 to 4.4)
2. Improved app search. It should now be much faster and more pleasant to use. We've also added an "All" filter so you don't have to think about what you're searching for, you can just search.
3. Started drawing your current location on the elevation profile.
4. Can remove routes from the "My Routes" list (swipe left)
5. Saved ride plans now show an elevation profile in app.
6. Trail labels are now larger and easier to read on iOS.


Trailforks App



Swipe left & right through ridelogs & routes





Apple App Store
DOWNLOAD FOR IOS


Google PLay Store
DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID



Posted In:
Pinkbike Announcements Trailforks Pinkbike Development


Author Info:
canadaka avatar

Member since Jun 8, 2010
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59 Comments
  • 56 1
 Hands down the best app ever!
  • 9 36
flag Cheeky-Greeky (May 19, 2016 at 16:14) (Below Threshold)
 Except they forgot that some of us live in Australia, Africa and South America. The Canadians are too occupied with maple syrup to think about us.
  • 6 1
 @Cheeky-Greeky: what do you mean? The app has thousands of trails in those countries, along with support for the local trail rating systems, like New Zealands trail grades.
  • 4 33
flag Cheeky-Greeky (May 19, 2016 at 17:34) (Below Threshold)
 @canadaka: I mean that it is an update for summer. It's nearly winter for the southern hemisphere.
  • 17 0
 The only thing that is better than Trailforks is the TrailTinder joke you guys did for April Fools Smile
  • 5 1
 Yeah but there's only dudes in spandex on trail tinder. To each there own Smile
  • 3 1
 @makripper: and how is that you know that?? mmm?? jokes!
  • 1 0
 @WasabiJim: I heard it from a friend of a friend who knows someone. Hahaha
  • 23 8
 I can't seem to make this app work on my nokia 3310!! I have tried multiple times! I even put it in the microwave so the battery was fully charged!

(sarcasm)
  • 3 3
 woah from +10 to -5 in a matter of a minute? so wierd :s
  • 13 0
 This app has saved my ass on more then one occasion
  • 3 0
 This app saved me getting lost in Dublin city!
  • 9 1
 As a Software QA guy I really appreciate the quality of the app so far. Very stable and fairly user friendly from a UX perspective. Keep up the good work!
  • 9 0
 Stoked you guys are committed to this app! Keep it up!
  • 7 1
 Any chance of a Windows Phone App? I know the user base is small in comparison, but it would make my day. You can even employ me to build it if you want Wink
  • 8 1
 probably not, our app uses the Google Maps SDK which is not available on Windows Phone. We are also a small dev team and sadly the market share just doens't make it worth while for us.
  • 1 0
 Does it help if I tell I'm running MS Windows 8.1 (for phone) on a Nokia as well? It is my first touch-screen cellphone and I don't see myself getting another one in the near future (these touch-screens are shite to operate in wet/muddy conditions) though I get your service won't work on a regular cellphone and a full lap- or desktop computer would be unpractical out on the trail. That said, if you can somehow make it run on a regular computer (I've got access to OSX, linux and MS Windows here) it could still come handy just to prepare a ride. But don't waste your time if I'm alone there.
  • 1 0
 My joke was going to be either that or bb10 lol
  • 4 0
 @vinay: you can use the website directly on the computer to browse and research what to ride
www.trailforks.com
  • 1 0
 @canadaka: Fair enough, technically a PITA and a small market share a pretty legit reasons. It's almost enough to make me buy a cheap 'droid for use on the bike. Would there be any chance of an open sourced/forked version built with something like ionic that would be slightly more portable? Even if it was slimmed down version?
  • 3 0
 @kingtut87: the problem still comes down to the Google Maps SDK. would be a lot of work porting the map code to another mapping framework. There is always the mobile website m.trailforks.com
  • 2 0
 @kingtut87: We actually do use Ionic but it's not something we are going to look at for the Windows Phone.
Windows Phone is even more in a market share free fall than ever. Last quarter was one of the biggest drops in sales than ever before. Writing on the wall is that MS is going to pull the plug. I don't have a dog in this fight, and maybe WP is awesome for some, but it seems the market is not responding.
Source: Windows Phone sales plunged 70% in Q1 2016
mspoweruser.com/gartner-windows-phone-sales-plunged-70-q1-2016
  • 1 0
 @radek: Totally understand. It's a shame that WP is dying a death, cheap phones and very very user friendly.
I guess there isn't an API that's publicly available so the community could develop something? Not sure how we'd get around the lack of Google Maps SKD though... Either way, top work and it's always great to see devs respond to the users.
  • 5 0
 @kingtut87: Yeah it's a shame. lol - it would probably be more economical for us to buy a new iphone/android phone for anyone that requests the app on WP, instead of developing an maintaining a WP version Smile ( dont hold me to that though)
  • 2 0
 They aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I can understand the fact that it is quite some work to change from google maps' framework, but I can also tell you not having this app on my phone is quite frustrating, and it'll take a whole lot for me to buy an android or iPhone.
  • 1 0
 @radek: Thanks, I should have noticed that at the top of this page! It pretty great as it is. The only thing I could think of would be, is it possible to download routes from Trailforks (the website version) in .gpx format? This would allow me to send it to my watch (Suunto Ambit). I don't see myself ever strapping a computer or phone to my bike, but the watch seems to keep up fine under moderate abuse and is just good enough to keep me on track.
  • 3 0
 @vinay: yes trails or routes can be downloaded from the website at the bottom of the route page is buttons to download in GPX or KML. You must login to the website.
  • 2 0
 @canadaka: Therese is a possibility to port ios apps to Windows 10 mobile through some tool That microsoft has developed. But i'm not sure it's been released yet...
  • 1 0
 @canadaka: Thanks! Well now it is complete enough for me Smile .
  • 1 0
 @radek: Microsoft is currently not putting much focus on WP/WM, but they are going to next year. Still, I understand why you wouldn't want to develop a rather niche app for it. It's a shame about the Google Maps SDK dealio because otherwise you could port the iOS app pretty easily.
  • 4 0
 This app has saved me from missing so many turns on trail systems I don't know well. Its the best app on my phone.

That being said I like to track how many km's I'm doing so I have to use strava too but its a pain using both apps and strava has been locking up my phones gps and other stupid things(I also do not like the way they exposed so many sensitive trails with the heatmap, you guys are way more respectful and subtle with your use of heatmaps and hiding sensitive trails etc) so my feature request to you guys is to build in offline map recording and overlays(able to overlay old rides on the fly while riding in an area) this way I could easily keep track of what trails I've ridden in an area. I'm sure strava wouldn't like it if you crept into their paid app features but I feel strava is stagnating and the paid app is super over priced(6$ a month). would rather pay you guys than strava if it came down to it, but I know you are trying to keep the app fully free and I respect that too. sorry for the wall of text but just some of my thoughts on trailforks
  • 3 0
 we have been getting a lot of requests for adding our own tracking, we are considering it. As for viewing your past ridelogs, you can already do that. Goto the "My Routes" page in the app menu, then there is a tab along the bottom for "Ridelogs". If you are logged into the app, this will show a list of your ridelogs, click one to view on the map. And with this update there is a yellow bar at the bottom you can swipe to the left or right to navigate through your ridelogs on the map.
  • 2 0
 @canadaka: this is great I didn't know this feature was here. Just tested it offline and it looks like it requires data to work. Would love to save my ride log offline on my phone as I don't have data most of the time when I'm riding.

Good to hear you are considering the recording gps! You guys are the best I will bring you a case of beer if I ever am close to squamish
  • 4 0
 @RedRain32: you need to be online to get the initial list of your ridelogs, but then you can go offline. Also if you have any yellow route loaded on the map, it will work offline, even if you close and re-open the app it will remember you had that route open.
  • 1 0
 @canadaka: I'm tech illiterate, but could a solution be for Strava or Garmin info/data to be linked?
  • 2 0
 The worst part about Strava is land managers can easily see where new unauthorized trails are. Pretty sure one of my favorite trails in my area got shut down in part because of Strava. That and the dude that comes barreling down behind me missing all the jump lines trying to set a PR, I don't even get the fun in that, hit the jumps ride the gnarly lines like they are supposed to be ridden.
  • 2 0
 @iantmcg: yeah, idiots tend to screw just about anything up it seems.
  • 6 0
 Sweet app. Wish it could give out audio directions at forks.
  • 3 0
 It works on my old Android phone!! You guys are the best! I was planning to get a new phone just to have the Trailforks. Now I can keep my crappy phone and buy more bike parts that I don't need!
  • 1 0
 Really stoked on this app! Particularly how well it handles being out of network coverage.

In google maps I have downloaded the maps for the maps for where I ride, and the user experience between online and offline is seamless.

Could I put in a feature request for the ability to have "private tracks" viewable in the app from GPX files saved to your device?
  • 1 0
 @canadaka Such a great tool. I'll be using it frequently this summer when I visit New Zealand, BC and the States. Big thanks to you and your team for all the hard work!
  • 4 1
 I still can't believe it is free
  • 2 0
 Not even another app out there to consider once you get this one!
  • 1 2
 cool! What about adding exposure ratings, in addition to difficulty? Or is that supposed to be included in the trail difficulty? For example easy singletrack but near a steep cliff where falling would mean imminent death?
  • 4 0
 that is something probably best left to the open-ended description field.
  • 1 0
 @canadaka: I think it works really well at singletrack.fr, with 1-5 technical, and 1-3 exposure rating. It's easy to plan 100+ km singletrack epics without riding any of the trails before. If you plan to bring friends with limited experienced, or children (maybe not 100 km... Smile ) etc. it's really good/crucial to know about exposure.
  • 1 0
 Great work guys!! Me and my crew have been using trailforks tons when riding new areas - so helpful!
  • 1 0
 Will this version finally work on BlackBerry? The previous one asked me for a Google Play account.
  • 1 0
 it is technically possible if you manually patch the app with a tool for blackberry and also install a patched version of the Google Play Services APK.
  • 1 0
 @canadaka: please elaborate. I am dying to know how to get it on my blackberry
  • 1 0
 @canadaka: Which tool? Also, I don't want to install Google Play, that's my whole point. No other Android app required it and I'm using many of them. Even Google Maps works without it, just moans about GPS accuracy but it's as accurate as it was on my previous Android phone.
  • 1 0
 If only it would run on BB.....i know whats a BB.
  • 1 0
 yesss only better now !! i love trailforks !!
  • 1 0
 Does the new update work with Boost?
  • 2 0
 I laughed because at first I was thinking Boost hubs. You meant Boost Mobile?????
  • 1 0
 @bizutch: Damn Boost Mobile, messing up my shitty PB joke
  • 1 0
 I wish it would work on my Nexus 6.
  • 3 0
 Google released a patch for the Nexus6 two months ago, it should work. Make sure you run any Android updates as well as any Google Play store updates to the Google apps like, Google Play Services, Chrome, Webview.
  • 1 0
 I meant hubs, damn you Boost moble!







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