Can someone with tech skills _please_ help??

[VNwalking]

I am trying to install a kml file (from @evanlow - thank you!) on my android to use offline, and I am having two problems.
These are the instructions I am following:

You can download the overlay from here.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mzw89uucaf6qc12/Camino Vasco.kml?dl=0
To use it, on the computer, you can create a map using Google MyMaps and import this kml to a new layer.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/

Or on the mobile device download Maps.Me app (free), sent the kml as attachment on an email, open the email attachment on the mobile device and it will automatically load the route overlay to Maps.Me.

The kml file is downloaded to both my phone and my computer. Easy.
Then....................
When I tried to open the file on the android (with Maps.me installed) it told me that there was no app that could open the file. What am I doing wrong???
The overlay works fine using Google MyMaps online, but I want something that I can use offline.

On top of that (problem number 2), my phone has almost no working memory on the device - so I saved the kml file to a card; I have already deleted the maps.me app from the device as it doesn't seem to be able to open the overlay offline. So is it possible to install the app to the card rather than to the device (on Google Play?).

If you have advice, please keep it simple. I am super-stupid about things like this.

Honestly each time I try something like this the more I feel nostalgic for paper maps that need only a reasonably functional brain, rather than installation and all the attendant kerfuffle...
(Sorry...venting. There is an abundance of frustration...)

Thanks in advance, tech geniuses!

Edit...this is deja vue of a similar problem I had several years ago, but different phone, different apps (See 'similar threads' below.... The net result of that question? I followed all the advice, downloaded the apps that should have worked offline...but they didn't. And I got very lost. So I'm not wanting deja vue of that, thanks.......

 

[Jeff Crawley]

By no means a genius but the method I use to overlay on maps.me is to email the .kml to myself. Open the email and click on the attachment as previously advised. You should get a pop-up which asks you which app to open it with and whether you want to do it just once or always.
Try it and see; if that's not clear I'll do some screen shots for you.

 

[VNwalking]

Open the email and click on the attachment as previously advised. You should get a pop-up which asks you which app to open it with and whether you want to do it just once or always.

Thanks, Jeff...
I did all that, and it didn't.

 

[linkster]

@VNwalking I have downloaded .kmz files and NOT .kml files for use in maps.me. You may try to convert the .kml file to a .kmz file with an online utility like this KML to KMZ Converter Online.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

@VNwalking I have downloaded .kmz files and NOT .kml files for use in maps.me. You may try to convert the .kml file to a .kmz file with an online utility like this KML to KMZ Converter Online.

Shouldn't make any difference kml = keyhole markup language kmz = keyhole markup zipped.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Thanks, Jeff...
I did all that, and it didn't.

OK. Have downloaded file and opened in Google Earth:



So we know it works

Then emailed it to myself:



Clicked on the download arrow

and got this pop up:



You can just see the "just once" and "always" (sorry it's a bit pale)

chose maps.me and I get this:



not sure why the funny straight line appears here and not on GE.

Is that what you did too?

 

[VNwalking]

Thanks, Jeff...Yes it is.
I have the file stored on my phone in the 'my files' folder. It says no apps are installed that will open it.
Even thought there are both Google Earth AND Maps.me
And if I attach it to an email message the email cannot fetch the attachment - it just hangs.

I was marginally more successful with another file in a different format that I downloaded - a wikiloc track - and another app (osmand). But the thing is I cannot download the base map because the app will only save it to my device, and not the SD card. So I have the track, and the app that can read it...but not the detailed map.

Well...so zipped or unzipped...
My mind is what's getting zipped.

 

[linkster]

@VNwalking I have downloaded .kmz files and NOT .kml files for use in maps.me. You may try to convert the .kml file to a .kmz file with an online utility like this KML to KMZ Converter Online.

Confirmed. I just sent the kml file and opened it on my iPhone. Thanks.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Thanks, Jeff...Yes it is.
I have the file stored on my phone in the 'my files' folder. It says no apps are installed that will open it.
Even thought there are both Google Earth AND Maps.me
And if I attach it to an email message the email cannot fetch the attachment - it just hangs.

I was marginally more successful with another file in a different format that I downloaded - a wikiloc track - and another app (osmand). But the thing is I cannot download the base map because the app will only save it to my device, and not the SD card. So I have the track, and the app that can read it...but not the detailed map.

Well...so zipped or unzipped...
My mind is what's getting zipped.

SO annoying! I have both the maps.me app and the kml on my storage card. I'll have another fiddle with it when I come home later - never give up!

 

[VNwalking]

Wow, Thanks, Jeff!

SO annoying!

Yes.
It.
Is.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I haven't ever loaded a track file into maps.me but from everything I've read Jeff is doing things right.

As for the straight line, that can be partly explained by the track having two track segments marked when shown in Google Earth but only one track segment marked when maps.me reads it. Why one segment markup gets deleted but not the segment's data still needs explaining.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

By no means a genius but the method I use to overlay on maps.me is to email the .kml to myself. Open the email and click on the attachment as previously advised. You should get a pop-up which asks you which app to open it with and whether you want to do it just once or always.
Try it and see; if that's not clear I'll do some screen shots for you.

Jeff, I think you ARE a genious!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I haven't ever loaded a track file into maps.me but from everything I've read Jeff is doing things right.

As for the straight line, that can be partly explained by the track having two track segments marked when shown in Google Earth but only one track segment marked when maps.me reads it. Why one segment markup gets deleted but not the segment's data still needs explaining.

Rick, I thnk you ARE a genious!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Shouldn't make any difference kml = keyhole markup language kmz = keyhole markup zipped.

Jeff, what language is this you are speaking?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Confirmed. I just sent the kml file and opened it on my iPhone. Thanks.

Just remember, VN has an android. So do I. The two don't always seem to function the same, at least for me. I'm at the bottom of the barrel for IT smarts!

 

[t2andreo]

I know I use an Iphone, but the procedure might be similar. This is the procedure I use to copy all odd format files to my phone, .pdf, .docx, .txt, .kml, etc.

I email the file to myself as an attachment. Open the email, see the attachment.

On my smartphone, I tap once on the attachment and choose the action I want. My options are usually, open, view, print, copy, share, save file, save image...etc. I select save file by tapping on this option icon.

The next popup screen asks me where I want to save the file. It gives me as options all the apps on my phones capable of saving and using an external file. Options include Adobe Acrobat, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Google Earth, Maps.me..., etc.

Your GPS app should be listed here. Tap that GPS app to tell your phone you want to save that attached file to that app. You do this by tapping on the app in the list or icon shown.

I hope this works.

If not, check Android help to ask how to save a file attachment to an app on your device...

Good luck.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Okay. I just tried my first import of a KML file into maps.me. The steps were:

• Downloaded a KML file to my laptop (it was for a place I already had a maps.me maps of)
• Emailed the KML file to myself
• Opened the email on my smartphone.
• Clicked the attachment.
• Maps.me came up right away but was asking me to turn on location.
• Clicked "close" (I didn't want to turn it on)
• Maps.me seemed to take a long time doing anything (except spinning a widget)
• I used Android (not maps.me) to turn on location.
• Maps.me then moved the screen to my current location (home)
• I used Maps.me to zoom out and then in to the location that the KML file was for.
• The track was there.

So Maps.me opened a KML file for me but not you. So I looked into why. Remember, I'm running Android too.

• Go to Settings
• Now Apps & notifications
• Scroll to and click Maps.me
• Click Advanced (to get to Open by default)
• Click Open by default
• Brings you to Opening links
• Click Open supported links
• You have 3 choices, "Open in this app", "Ask every time", "Don't open in this app"
• You probably want Open in this app but if you have other apps that can use KML files you may want Ask every time

Let us know how this goes.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Tom wrote while I did. His post makes sense too. You can keep the KML file as an email attachment or save it to your device or a memory card attached to the device. Once you have set the app to open KML files (as I explained above) you should be able to use a file manager on the device to find the saved KML file and then click the name to open the Maps.me app and have it display the track.

 

[t2andreo]

The procedure for Android vs. iOS seems to be similar. This is comforting.

Suggest saving this as a resource, rewording it to "How to save a file (e.g. kml) to Android).

Thanks for the assist.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Jeff, what language is this you are speaking?

American.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

The procedure for Android vs. iOS seems to be similar. This is comforting.

Suggest saving this as a resource, rewording it to "How to save a file (e.g. kml) to Android).

Thanks for the assist.

So Maps.me can display GPS files in either KML or KMZ format. The OSM+ mapping app opens GPS files in GPX format. There are online converters.

BTW, the KML and GPX files are actually just text files with special text tags to indicate the start and end of sections of text that contain data (such as the Lat,Long coordinates of a waypoint or a list of them for a track.) They are actually easy to create by typing the data in your favorite text editor (disregarding the work of actually typing and typing accurately.)

Here is the KML file I used for my test (forum software might mess it up some):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<kml xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2" xmlns:gx="http://www.google.com/kml/ext/2.2" xmlns:kml="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
<Document>
    <name>Fenway</name>
    <Style id="line-000000-4">
        <LineStyle>
            <color>ff000000</color>
            <width>4</width>
        </LineStyle>
    </Style>
    <Folder>
        <name>Fenway</name>
        <Placemark>
            <name>Fenway</name>
            <description>The Fenway, Boston</description>
            <styleUrl>#line-000000-4</styleUrl>
            <LineString>
                <coordinates>
                    -71.1032634973526,42.34275332463874,0 -71.10160052776337,42.34107610925428,0 -71.10075294971466,42.34031084008987,0 -71.10007166862488,42.33978743819943,0 -71.09943330287933,42.33935523183901,0 -71.09894514083862,42.33909352746119,0 -71.09817266464233,42.33875251709215,0 -71.09768986701965,42.33867321209011,0 -71.09733045101166,42.33876441283382,0 -71.09702467918396,42.33890319632045,0 -71.09686374664307,42.33904197950078,0 -71.09632194042206,42.33968830856281,0 -71.09594106674194,42.33996587115153,0 -71.09431028366089,42.34062408610696,0 -71.09316766262054,42.34090957478859,0 -71.09275460243225,42.34104042333448,0 -71.09247028827667,42.34117523670304,0 -71.09217524528503,42.34138142129581,0 -71.09191238880157,42.34161536068807,0 -71.09174609184265,42.34185722931402,0 -71.09160661697388,42.34208720189878,0 -71.09154224395752,42.34234889381686,0 -71.09146177768707,42.34304276862979,0 -71.09134912490845,42.34330842153103,0 -71.09108626842499,42.34364544225312,0 -71.09091460704803,42.34385954859696,0 -71.09073221683502,42.34434326765223,0 -71.09078049659729,42.34448996859745,0 -71.09078049659729,42.34464063407672,0 -71.09074294567108,42.34484680730532,0 -71.09061419963837,42.34527897591745,0 -71.0906195640564,42.34548911187557,0 -71.09073221683502,42.34606004376225,0 -71.0907107591629,42.34614726901057,0 -71.0908180475235,42.34645255642662,0 -71.0908180475235,42.34655960490974,0 
                </coordinates>
            </LineString>
        </Placemark>
    </Folder>
</Document>
</kml>

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Wow, Thanks, Jeff!

Yes.
It.
Is.

Bless.

I normally have the app and the kml saved on the SD card so tried switching either and both of them to the device and reloading - no matter what combination or device (two tablets, one android phone) I tried, it always works for me.

In desperation I can only advise borrowing a 5 year old and getting them to sort it for you.

It was fun trying though . . .

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Okay. I just tried my first import of a KML file into maps.me. The steps were:

• Downloaded a KML file to my laptop (it was for a place I already had a maps.me maps of)
• Emailed the KML file to myself
• Opened the email on my smartphone.
• Clicked the attachment.
• Maps.me came up right away but was asking me to turn on location.
• Clicked "close" (I didn't want to turn it on)
• Maps.me seemed to take a long time doing anything (except spinning a widget)
• I used Android (not maps.me) to turn on location.
• Maps.me then moved the screen to my current location (home)
• I used Maps.me to zoom out and then in to the location that the KML file was for.
• The track was there.

So Maps.me opened a KML file for me but not you. So I looked into why. Remember, I'm running Android too.

• Go to Settings
• Now Apps & notifications
• Scroll to and click Maps.me
• Click Advanced (to get to Open by default)
• Click Open by default
• Brings you to Opening links
• Click Open supported links
• You have 3 choices, "Open in this app", "Ask every time", "Don't open in this app"
• You probably want Open in this app but if you have other apps that can use KML files you may want Ask every time

Let us know how this goes.

Can't find anything to quibble with there - I don't use default mapping apps because I like to choose. Sometimes IGN Espana is my app of choice for Camino routes.

Can you imagine how frustrating Tech Support must doing things like this everyday?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Can you imagine how frustrating Tech Support must doing things like this everyday?

Imagine a long, long, long version of this:
"Tech support, how can I help you?"
"My computer isn't working."
[Many attempts to straighten out the problem]
Tech support says in frustration "Is the computer plugged in?"
"I don't know. I'll have to get a flashlight."
"Why a flashlight."
"It's dark. We've had a power failure."

[Edit: A short version as remembered from a post of something that said it was an actual case.]

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Rick...as usual dry and hysterical!

 

[VNwalking]

I seem to be under a tech hex tonight. Now I cannot even quote your messages, but at least they raised a chuckle. Especially the bit about the 5 year-old. Too right.

SO, Rick, I tried all that and must be running a different, maybe older, Android version than you.
When I open settings I don't get the same things as you.
When I open Settings , then Apps, and click on maps.me, there's no choice for 'advanced' or any way to get to 'open by default.' I tried a bunch of ways.
The options are:

• Data
• Battery
• Storage
• Memory
• Notifications
• Permissions
• Set by Default

If I click on the latter, then it says
'none set as default,' and there is nothing to be done.
There is a place that asks the same basic 3 questions, but clicking 'ask every time' doesn't make anything change.
It's as if the apps are invisible when I try to open the file, even though they are sitting there in plain sight.

I wish we were sitting around a table in an albergue or something and I could just give one of you the darn phone...sigh...
But I so appreciate the help...
Any other brilliant ideas will be most gratefully received.

 

[NorthernLight]

When I tried to download one of those files to an android phone, i had to first download it to a computer which unzipped the file. I then emailed it to myself, and opened that email on my phone. Clicked the attachment.

I then had a tiny little arrow pointing downward in the top left corner of the screen. I had to fight with screen to touch just the arrow. Then popped up the question on what app did I want to download it to. Picked maps dot me and that was it. Tracks appeared.

Maybe this will work for you too.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I seem to be under a tech hex tonight. Now I cannot even quote your messages, but at least they raised a chuckle. Especially the bit about the 5 year-old. Too right.

SO, Rick, I tried all that and must be running a different, maybe older, Android version than you.
When I open settings I don't get the same things as you.
When I open Settings , then Apps, and click on maps.me, there's no choice for 'advanced' or any way to get to 'open by default.' I tried a bunch of ways.
The options are:

• Data
• Battery
• Storage
• Memory
• Notifications
• Permissions
• Set by Default

If I click on the latter, then it says
'none set as default,' and there is nothing to be done.
There is a place that asks the same basic 3 questions, but clicking 'ask every time' doesn't make anything change.
It's as if the apps are invisible when I try to open the file, even though they are sitting there in plain sight.

I wish we were sitting around a table in an albergue or something and I could just give one of you the darn phone...sigh...
But I so appreciate the help...
Any other brilliant ideas will be most gratefully received.

A remedy of last resort it to place the phone/tablet in a stout, brown paper bag. Place the bag in a lockable drawer. Give the key to somebody who loves and cares about you. Go and lay down in a darkened room where nobody can hear your sobs.

 

[VNwalking]

A remedy of last resort it to place the phone/tablet in a stout, brown paper bag. Place the bag in a lockable drawer. Give the key to somebody who loves and cares about you. Go and lay down in a darkened room where nobody can hear your sobs.

What, not throwing it out the window or hitting it with a sledgehammer??

But - stop the presses - I did figure out how to move the app to the sd card. And as I write the maps are downloading. That was the second question. It's taking forever, but maybe once they're there it will make a difference?

Edit...it didn't. I can open the map.
But if I try to open the kml file it says there is no app that can open it, search Google Play...which then shows the app is downloaded. If I open it from there, then I just get the map popping back up...without the track overlain on it.
Something is not talking to something else.....

Maybe this will work for you too.

We seem to live in different tech universes. It just says 'fetching attachment,' but never does. Which is why I attached the phone to the computer and copied the file to the phone manually with file manager.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

And as I write the maps are downloading.

By maps do you mean the maps that show all the roads, cities, houses, lakes, etc. or do you mean the tracks that show you the path that you want to walk over the maps? And by tracks I also mean files in either the kml, kmz or gpx format with those suffixes attached to the file name.

 

[NorthernLight]

It didn't work right off for me either. It took quite a while to figure out I had to download it to a computer first. Lots of running around. Reading and re-reading the instructions on how to do it. Scratching my head. No sobbing though, I'm very brave.

 

[VNwalking]

By maps do you mean the maps that show all the roads, cities, houses, lakes, etc. or do you mean the tracks that show you the path that you want to walk over the maps? And by tracks I also mean files in either the kml, kmz or gpx format with those suffixes attached to the file name.

Yes, same. That's what I mean too. So at least we are speaking roughly the same language.
I just downloaded the detailed map for the Basque Country...
But I cannot get the kml file as an overlay.

 

[Former member 49149]

I seem to be under a tech hex tonight. Now I cannot even quote your messages, but at least they raised a chuckle. Especially the bit about the 5 year-old. Too right.

SO, Rick, I tried all that and must be running a different, maybe older, Android version than you.
When I open settings I don't get the same things as you.
When I open Settings , then Apps, and click on maps.me, there's no choice for 'advanced' or any way to get to 'open by default.' I tried a bunch of ways.
The options are:

• Data
• Battery
• Storage
• Memory
• Notifications
• Permissions
• Set by Default

If I click on the latter, then it says
'none set as default,' and there is nothing to be done.
There is a place that asks the same basic 3 questions, but clicking 'ask every time' doesn't make anything change.
It's as if the apps are invisible when I try to open the file, even though they are sitting there in plain sight.

I wish we were sitting around a table in an albergue or something and I could just give one of you the darn phone...sigh...
But I so appreciate the help...
Any other brilliant ideas will be most gratefully received.

Yes, Vnwalking. Wait till you get there. Someone will have something. For sure....

 

[Former member 49149]

A remedy of last resort it to place the phone/tablet in a stout, brown paper bag. Place the bag in a lockable drawer. Give the key to somebody who loves and cares about you. Go and lay down in a darkened room where nobody can hear your sobs.

 

[RumAndChupacabras]

@VNwalking I'm only laughing because I've been there.

 

[linkster]

My mouse is not working ... have you tried moving it?

 

[VNwalking]

No offense taken at all.
Meanwhile before the nuclear option of the brown paper bag and the lockable drawer, I thought 'OK, so the kml files won't work. Try again with osmand and the wikiloc tracks....soooo....going back to that old thread from last time I tried something like this:

To download your maps: Open OSMand. Select the menu button (the stack of three horizontal lines.) Next pick Download maps.

Fine. But there is no option to download the map to the sd card, and there is not enough memory on the phone, not even close.
Checkmate.

Brown paper bag time.....

One last question for the night. You guys actually LIKE this technology??!!!!
I've wasted the better part of the afternoon and a bunch of the evening too, with nothing to show for it except for a crowd of unwholesome mindstates.

OTOH:

• Buy a paper map.
• Open it.
• Make sure your eyes are open.
• If acuity is not so good, remember that you have your glasses on top of your head.
• Put them on.
• Voila.

 

[Former member 49149]

No offense taken at all.
Meanwhile before the nuclear option of the brown paper bag and the lockable drawer, I thought 'OK, so the kml files won't work. Try again with osmand and the wikiloc tracks....soooo....going back to that old thread from last time I tried something like this:

Fine. But there is no option to download the map to the sd card, and there is not enough memory on the phone, not even close.
Checkmate.

Brown paper bag time.....

One last question for the night. You guys actually LIKE this technology??!!!!
I've wasted the better part of the afternoon and a bunch of the evening too, with nothing to show for it except for a crowd of unwholesome mindstates.

OTOH:

• Buy a paper map.
• Open it.
• Make sure your eyes are open.
• If acuity is not so good, remember that you have your glasses on top of your head.
• Put them on.
• Voila.

Ah, no, Vnwalking,. You have a lot to show for it. Some folks are going to bust their gut to make sure you never again lose your way. ISn’t that something?!!!

 

[VNwalking]

Oh, wait. You're right, @kirkie, that's absolutely true.
Thank you everyone...help most gratefully received.
Even if the phone is presently in the drawer on a time-out...

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I just downloaded the detailed map for the Basque Country...
But I cannot get the kml file as an overlay.

I really do think that the problem is associating the maps.me app and kml and kmz formats. I did show you how for the latest version of Android but since you don't have that version you've still have the problem. I did make an attempt to find installation instructions for older Androids but so far no luck. But, rather than trying to find someone close at hand knowing maps.me you might be able to find someone knowing how to do a file to app association.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Buy a paper map.
Open it.

Be sure it is compatible with the latest version and direction of your wind operating system or it won't run (but you'll have to.)

 

[VNwalking]

I have a few days in Santiago before setting off. So I might be able to find someone who could figure it out. But this is my last opportunity to use a printer for a while and so I thought I'd better print some screenshots in case the software remains a mystery....
(And Rick...your last post....Hahahahahaha!)

And - edit - I am not the only one with this version of Android who's had this problem:

[SOLVED] Getting "no applications to perform this action" when there IS an application to do so. | Why can't I access my account in Google Play?

Hi Folks,Long-time lurker, first-time poster!I just got a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (model SM-T850 with Android version 6.0.1) to supplant my Samsung...

www.inetalatam.org

Poor guy got no answer...and look at all the help I've gotten here. The Forum is an amazing place.

 

[evanlow]

Basically, it works others but not for your Galaxy Tab. You can try one more thing.

1. Delete the Maps.me app from your Galaxy Tab.
2. If you have a file manager, look into main storage. There should be directory still there with the name 'MapsWithMe'. Remove the whole directory too. This clears all maps.me traces from the device.
3. Reboot the tablet.
4. Install Maps.me again.
5. Now try to see if it the kml will load.

 

[Albertagirl]

I do not know whether this can be of any help, but I have just discovered that use of an alternate offline map can sometimes help when maps.me is not working for me. I have the IGN maps, with the camino routes overlay. I do not often use this app, but have decided to do so as maps.me does not give as much detail for a detour which I am planning to take from the Camino Madrid this fall. I want to go to La Granja de San Ildefonso, but maps.me, with the camino route overlay, does not provide any road or trail which connects with the camino overlay and goes to La Granja. However, minor roads and trails are marked on the IGN map for the same area, which can be used offline. One such minor route connects to Valsain, and on to La Granja. As far as I know, the IGN maps are only for Spain. So I am not able to confirm whether my current location is visible on the offline maps. This is certainly desirable information, but to at least be able to see on a map where the route connects to the camino is also useful for me and reassures me that I can find and follow the desired route. Good luck to all pilgrims whose competence with such current technology is as primitive as my own. And Buen Camino @VNwalking.

 

[VNwalking]

Basically, it works others but not for your Galaxy Tab. You can try one more thing.

1. Delete the Maps.me app from your Galaxy Tab.
2. If you have a file manager, look into main storage. There should be directory still there with the name 'MapsWithMe'. Remove the whole directory too. This clears all maps.me traces from the device.
3. Reboot the tablet.
4. Install Maps.me again.
5. Now try to see if it the kml will load.

Thank you @evanlow but no luck, I'm afraid.
I'm going to delete it all...I give up.

Good luck to all pilgrims whose competence with such current technology is as primitive as my own. And Buen Camino @VNwalking.

Thank you, @Albertagirl , on both counts!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I do not know whether this can be of any help, but I have just discovered that use of an alternate offline map can sometimes help when maps.me is not working for me. I have the IGN maps, with the camino routes overlay. I do not often use this app, but have decided to do so as maps.me does not give as much detail for a detour which I am planning to take from the Camino Madrid this fall. I want to go to La Granja de San Ildefonso, but maps.me, with the camino route overlay, does not provide any road or trail which connects with the camino overlay and goes to La Granja. However, minor roads and trails are marked on the IGN map for the same area, which can be used offline. One such minor route connects to Valsain, and on to La Granja. As far as I know, the IGN maps are only for Spain. So I am not able to confirm whether my current location is visible on the offline maps. This is certainly desirable information, but to at least be able to see on a map where the route connects to the camino is also useful for me and reassures me that I can find and follow the desired route. Good luck to all pilgrims whose competence with such current technology is as primitive as my own. And Buen Camino @VNwalking.

I second that.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

@VNwalking you could try OSM+. The free version allows 5 (?) map downloads and that should be enough to cover your path. The two apps build their maps using the same Open Street Map data, although they have maps covering slightly different areas (e.g. NE Spain versus Navarra) and a map downloaded for one won't work for the other. OSM+ needs tracks to be in the GPX format but the app and track mechanism should work the same way as described earlier. Yeah, I can read your mind.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

@VNwalking you could try OSM+. The free version allows 5 (?) map downloads and that should be enough to cover your path. The two apps build their maps using the same Open Street Map data, although they have maps covering slightly different areas (e.g. NE Spain versus Navarra) and a map downloaded for one won't work for the other. OSM+ needs tracks to be in the GPX format but the app and track mechanism should work the same way as described earlier. Yeah, I can read your mind.

Is that the same as OsmAnd? I've just taken a look at that - much more detail in the maps but might need a while to get used to it. GPX version of route attached.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Is that the same as OsmAnd? I've just taken a look at that - much more detail in the maps but might need a while to get used to it. GPX version of route attached.

Yep, one and the same. You might see it with both names. It is somewhat more complicated to use with some of the features but not the part of showing you whether you are on the track you want. And it works LOTS better than maps.me if you don't have maps.me installed on your device. Thanks for taking the time getting the GPX file. V can use the saved time I'm sure.

 

[peregrina2000]

I take some solace when I read posts like this. Not that I enjoy seeing you suffer, VN, but it makes me feel less stupid.

I have made great strides to get my GPS skills to a basic level. I use a separate GPS Garmin device. Based on several posts on the forum, I had been mildly tempted to try my phone this year. This thread has sniffed out that thought. That will be next year's project, so by then you will have it all figured out and can help me.

Your post and all the comments have raised a lot of questions in my mind, but I will start another thread rather than hijack yours.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I take some solace when I read posts like this. Not that I enjoy seeing you suffer, VN, but it makes me feel less stupid.

I have made great strides to get my GPS skills to a basic level. I use a separate GPS Garmin device. Based on several posts on the forum, I had been mildly tempted to try my phone this year. This thread has sniffed out that thought. That will be next year's project, so by then you will have it all figured out and can help me.

Your post and all the comments have raised a lot of questions in my mind, but I will start another thread rather than hijack yours.

I'll keep an eye out for it! Love my Garmin

 

[C clearly]

Try one more time, VN... Email the file to yourself. When the email arrives, touch on the attachment and it should download and Save itself somewhere mysterious. Don't be clever and think you should find it and "Open" it. Instead, carefully look at the place where you get messages about recent activities such as "Download Complete." (I swipe down on my home screen and see such Notifications.) Touch that message and you will be magically transported to maps.me and your track will be there. Maybe.

 

[VNwalking]

@VNwalking you could try OSM+. The free version allows 5 (?) map downloads and that should be enough to cover your path. The two apps build their maps using the same Open Street Map data, although they have maps covering slightly different areas (e.g. NE Spain versus Navarra) and a map downloaded for one won't work for the other. OSM+ needs tracks to be in the GPX format but the app and track mechanism should work the same way as described earlier. Yeah, I can read your mind.

You're read right, Rick.
I'd installed it and deleted it twice by the time I had read this. I can't figure out how to save downloaded maps (it allows 7) to the sd card, and I don't have enough memory to put them on the phone.

I am told:
"In order to move the OsmAnd home (maps) folder to an external SD card:

• Go to Settings (on the start screen) — General — Data storage folder.
• Change the value to a path pointing to the external SD card, on many Android systems it may contain "/storage/extSdCard" or similar. Please note that some versions of Android strictly limit your choice of which path will be write-accessible for apps.
• Then you can move the contents of OsmAnd's data folder from the internal memory to the external SD card , either using the built-in "move" option the OsmAnd app provides when changng the data folder, or using a built-in file manager app on the device, or via connecting the device to a computer as external storage and performing the move from there."

But I can't even get to square 1, since the only settings that I can find has no General/Data storage folder menu. So now it's installed a third time, but with no base maps, which take about 1000mbs of memory...

It should download and Save itself somewhere mysterious.

It's weird. It didn't download at all...the widget just spins...I had to use file manager and copy it from my computer.

This thread has sniffed out that thought. That will be next year's project, so by then you will have it all figured out and can help me.

By then my aim at open windows and with sledgehammers will be 100%.

Your post and all the comments have raised a lot of questions in my mind, but I will start another thread rather than hijack yours.

Welcome - hijack away. We might learn something useful as a result.....

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Going back to maps.me (never give up, never give in) . . .
The thought occurred (late last night) that I'd had a problem with uploading maps to the app last year. They would start to load then crash out before completing. I eventually worked it out that my VPN app was blocking it. Switched the VPN off and woosh! All done, good!
Do you have a firewall/virus protection/VPN on your machine? You could try switching it off for a short period to see.
You might still need that 5 yo though

 

[VNwalking]

Good idea, but no luck, Jeff. I got all excited for a moment.

The easiest thing at this point would be to find a way to turn on the general settings in Osmand, which is now downloaded with a wikiloc track overlay, but no base map...that is too big for my device.
But if I can configure the app to download their maps to my sd card...well...problem solved.

Does anyone know how to do this? It seems so stupidly basic, but 'general settings' is not in the menu that I get when I open the app. Not anywhere.
I've googled it and no-one says how to get there...they just say,

Go to Settings (on the start screen) — General — Data storage folder.

Fine, I'd love to. But where the heck is it!?

 

[mjal]

"On top of that (problem number 2), my phone has almost no working memory on the device - so I saved the kml file to a card; I have already deleted the maps.me app from the device as it doesn't seem to be able to open the overlay offline. So is it possible to install the app to the card rather than to the device (on Google Play?)."

VN,

I may have missed something, but no-one seems to have picked up on your phone's lack of functioning memory. My feeling is that you need to borrow a (similar) phone with a decent amount of working memory and then try the various manoeuvres to load and use these apps.

When my old phone was short of memory, it would refuse to do something as simple as opening Picture Gallery (and no amount of deletion of content helped). The only cure was a new phone...

Mike.
Ayrshire.

 

[VNwalking]

VN,

I may have missed something, but no-one seems to have picked up on your phone's lack of functioning memory. My feeling is that you need to borrow a (similar) phone with a decent amount of working memory and then try the various manoeuvres to load and use these apps.

When my old phone was short of memory, it would refuse to do something as simple as opening Picture Gallery (and no amount of deletion of content helped). The only cure was a new phone...

Thanks, Mike. I am coming around to beginning to let that in...
Gulp.

 

[NorthernLight]

Try sending a message to the folks at maps.me. They might know how.

 

[VNwalking]

Thanks so much, everyone, for all this great input. It's way more than I was expecting.
STOP.
THE.
PRESSES.

I have Osmand workng with overlays. (Dancing a little jig... )

The only remaining hang-up is how change the settings so it downloads maps to the sd card - see the top of post 53, above...
(If I end up getting another phone, that memory crunch will be less of an issue.)

 

[JohnMcM]

Having read this entire thread looking for useful tips. I have decided to re-sharpen my old pre-school crayons and get a good notebook upon which to draw my maps.

Buen (understanding this strange tech language) Camino

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I have Osmand workng with overlays. (Dancing a little jig... )

Great. In your case you will only want to do the following if you can load the maps onto the memory card but when you do load OSM+ maps of an area you will see that the area also has both contour and Wikipedia extensions. They might count against your free downloads though. What the contour extension does is obvious. The Wikipedia extension allows you to see special waypoints (a W in a circle) that if clicked bring up a copy of a Wikipedia article for that location (sometimes in English but maybe in the local language if there is no English article). Wikipedia articles often have GPS coordinates marked in them. Read about churches, dams, battles, etc as you pass them.

 

[VNwalking]

The Wikipedia extension allows you to see special waypoints (a W in a circle) that if clicked bring up a copy of a Wikipedia article for that location (sometimes in English but maybe in the local language if there is no English article).

Ok, ok...so I have to concede that there may be something technology can do better than (most but not all) maps. That is pretty cool, I have to say.....thanks, Rick!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Ok, ok...so I have to concede that there may be something technology can do better than (most but not all) maps.

Well, you could buy a guide book when you get the map.

As memory serves me you can be offline and still get the text of the article.

 

[VNwalking]

Well, you could buy a guide book when you get the map.

Which would be my go-to tactic, if there were a guidebook.
But it's never a bad thing to learn something new...I figure this is just teething woes.

 

[Former member 49149]

Now, then, Vnwalking: feeling slightly better? Believe me, I understand tech stress and helplessness. look at all the great ideas shared as a result of saying: Help!!! Sid the Sloth, Ice Age! Yes!

 

[David Tallan]

If it has all been solved and is working perfectly, this may be a waste of typing, but I was wondering if the problem might have been that the kml file that VNwalking had downloaded was not itself a map but an overlay that was designed to sit on top of a map. That would explain why it worked over the online maps but not without the offline maps that you didn't have.

 

[VNwalking]

Now, then, Vnwalking: feeling slightly better? Believe me, I understand tech stress and helplessness. look at all the great ideas shared as a result of saying: Help!!! Sid the Sloth, Ice Age! Yes!

Yes, And in case it all goes kerfluey, I've printed out the basic maps from Gronze (oh ye of little faith....).

 

[Jeff Crawley]

If it has all been solved and is working perfectly, this may be a waste of typing, but I was wondering if the problem might have been that the kml file that VNwalking had downloaded was not itself a map but an overlay that was designed to sit on top of a map. That would explain why it worked over the online maps but not without the offline maps that you didn't have.

I like your thinking but maps.me has a global base map; as you zoom in you're advised to download the map of the specific area you're hovering over.

The C Vasco kml shows up fine on top of the base map though.

You're right - it is an overlay - imagine a line drawn on tracing paper and placed over the map in your atlas - hey, I think we might be onto something here! .

 

[Bombero]

I am trying to install a kml file (from @evanlow - thank you!) on my android to use offline, and I am having two problems.
These are the instructions I am following:

The kml file is downloaded to both my phone and my computer. Easy.
Then....................
When I tried to open the file on the android (with Maps.me installed) it told me that there was no app that could open the file. What am I doing wrong???
The overlay works fine using Google MyMaps online, but I want something that I can use offline.

On top of that (problem number 2), my phone has almost no working memory on the device - so I saved the kml file to a card; I have already deleted the maps.me app from the device as it doesn't seem to be able to open the overlay offline. So is it possible to install the app to the card rather than to the device (on Google Play?).

If you have advice, please keep it simple. I am super-stupid about things like this.

Honestly each time I try something like this the more I feel nostalgic for paper maps that need only a reasonably functional brain, rather than installation and all the attendant kerfuffle...
(Sorry...venting. There is an abundance of frustration...)

Thanks in advance, tech geniuses!

Edit...this is deja vue of a similar problem I had several years ago, but different phone, different apps (See 'similar threads' below.... The net result of that question? I followed all the advice, downloaded the apps that should have worked offline...but they didn't. And I got very lost. So I'm not wanting deja vue of that, thanks.......

I suggest using the app Total Commander (free). In Total Commander, locate your .kml/.kmz file. Long press on the file, then tap Open with. You will (should) then have the option of opening your tack in maps.me. BTW .kmz is simply a compressed .kml - you can uncompress in Winzip or similar to extract the .kml.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I suggest using the app Total Commander (free). In Total Commander, locate your .kml/.kmz file. Long press on the file, then tap Open with. You will (should) then have the option of opening your tack in maps.me. BTW .kmz is simply a compressed .kml - you can uncompress in Winzip or similar to extract the .kml.

Not that you need to unzip a kmz file with maps.me - the app accepts both kml and kmz.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I am trying to install a kml file (from @evanlow - thank you!) on my android to use offline, and I am having two problems.
These are the instructions I am following:

The kml file is downloaded to both my phone and my computer. Easy.
Then....................
When I tried to open the file on the android (with Maps.me installed) it told me that there was no app that could open the file. What am I doing wrong???
The overlay works fine using Google MyMaps online, but I want something that I can use offline.

On top of that (problem number 2), my phone has almost no working memory on the device - so I saved the kml file to a card; I have already deleted the maps.me app from the device as it doesn't seem to be able to open the overlay offline. So is it possible to install the app to the card rather than to the device (on Google Play?).

If you have advice, please keep it simple. I am super-stupid about things like this.

Honestly each time I try something like this the more I feel nostalgic for paper maps that need only a reasonably functional brain, rather than installation and all the attendant kerfuffle...
(Sorry...venting. There is an abundance of frustration...)

Thanks in advance, tech geniuses!

Edit...this is deja vue of a similar problem I had several years ago, but different phone, different apps (See 'similar threads' below.... The net result of that question? I followed all the advice, downloaded the apps that should have worked offline...but they didn't. And I got very lost. So I'm not wanting deja vue of that, thanks.......

Are you any further down the path to resolving this? I dug out an old Samsung, recharged to and still manage to download the kml ☹ I even got Daughter No1 to try on her phone!
Which phone are you trying to load it on; can you see how much memory you have in total and how much is left free?
I refuse to give in!!!

 

[VNwalking]

Dogged determination will get you everywhere, Jeff! Thank you for this kindness...
So I gave up on the kml files - something was preventing the file from opening properly or talking to maps.me. Instead I downloaded osmand...and wikiloc tracks work perfectly.
But:

I have Osmand working with overlays. (Dancing a little jig... )

The only remaining hang-up is how change the settings so it downloads maps to the sd card - see the top of post 53, above...
(If I end up getting another phone, that memory crunch will be less of an issue.)

I have a Samsung, with only about 250 MB free out of 8 GB. The undeletable bloatware is totally annoying. It was not expensive and now I know why.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Dogged determination will get you everywhere, Jeff! Thank you for this kindness...
So I gave up on the kml files - something was preventing the file from opening properly or talking to maps.me. Instead I downloaded osmand...and wikiloc tracks work perfectly.
But:

I have a Samsung, with only about 250 MB free out of 8 GB. The undeletable bloatware is totally annoying. It was not expensive and now I know why.

Sounds like my J5! Glad you got what you needed in the end - I shall stop fretting now

 

[VNwalking]

Yeah. Same family - J2 Prime here. Grf. Live and learn...
And thanks again!

 

[loeu]

Hi VNwalking

If you're still out there: I've had the same problem on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite with Android 11.

The solution for me: install a different file explorer than the default Samsung file explorer. I picked Total Commander to try it out and it worked right away.

Hope this is going to help someone...