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Apps Poison Maps complication shows nearest POIs of any type

cfc

cfc

macrumors 68040
Original poster
May 27, 2011
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2,661
I have released a new version of Poison Maps with many improvements to the Watch app.

You can now configure the complication to show the nearest POIs of absolutely any type you wish in just one single tap. For example the tapping the “Bar” or “Fuel” icons below shows a map of the nearest bars or gas stations.
WatchStrip1.png

The complication can be configured to show any type of POI from hundreds of categories. And if you can’t find what you need then you can configure it to search using any text that you want. If you don’t like the icon shown on the complication then it can be easily changed.
WatchStrip2.png

Once you have selected a POI from the results then you get an individual map showing how to get to that POI. You can also create your own POIs, such as where you parked your car, making it easy to find your way back to it.
WatchStrip3.png

Note that the map shows a GPS trail of where you have been. Without a compass in the watch I figured the best way to give users an idea of orientation was to show the direction that they are moving in. All maps show this trail and update it as you move.

If you wish to try out the app then you can choose either the global version for $1.99 or £1.49, or one of the 10 free regional versions. All of the free versions include most POI categories, with the remainder available as a single In App Purchase for 99c / 79p.

Global version: http://appstore.com/poisonmaps
Free North American version: http://appstore.com/poisonmapsnorthamerica
Free UK version: http://appstore/poisonmapsukandireland

Note that the first screenshot with two complication icons required both the free and global versions because Apple does not currently allow more than one complication per app.

If you do try out the watch app then please take a look at the iPhone app as well, which is a general purpose maps app but very different to Apple Maps or Google Maps (there is no point re-inventing the wheel!). As the name indicates it is geared towards POIs, with an emphasis on being as useful as possible when offline.

It has many unique features, such as colour coded route maps of all types (metro, bus, cycle, hiking, skiing etc); 3D touch Gesture for Zooming / Panning; Signs to offscreen POIs; Compass Mode for offline navigation; and much more.

Please give it a try!
 
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Thanks for the kind words. I really need to properly market the app, but that takes money. And it doesn’t earn much money (less than $2 a day) because people don’t know about it, so it’s a bit of a Catch-22 situation.

About 20% of people who have tried the latest version have gone on to buy it (the industry average is about 3% to 4%), so I know that people like the app, but I just can’t get enough people to try it.

So if you are reading this then please give it a go. And if you like it then please write a review... :)
 
That's great, thanks. Please let me know how it goes, and if you have any questions.
 
Minor update of earlier post,I downloaded it,and after a few hours of testing it for fun,I found out the following:
Works perfect on iPhone,iPad and watch
Lots of POIs,but not everything,could not find some well known local services near my home,but that's understandable
The "general information" tab gives me info about the wrong places,looking up places visible on map near me (south Sweden) gives me info about similar places in Poland,North Africa or Japan,could maybe need a fix
However,the major impression is,that this is the phone app I been missing for ages,I'm sure I will use it much!
 
Stefan johansson said:
Minor update of earlier post,I downloaded it,and after a few hours of testing it for fun,I found out the following:
Works perfect on iPhone,iPad and watch
Lots of POIs,but not everything,could not find some well known local services near my home,but that's understandable
The "general information" tab gives me info about the wrong places,looking up places visible on map near me (south Sweden) gives me info about similar places in Poland,North Africa or Japan,could maybe need a fix
However,the major impression is,that this is the phone app I been missing for ages,I'm sure I will use it much!
Click to expand...

Thanks for testing out the app for so long. I’m glad that you liked it and found it fun. One of the reasons I wrote it is because I find maps fun. I thought about pushing that aspect more in the description on the App Store, but I figured people might think it odd to describe a POI app as fun!

Sorry that some POIs are missing but no app has every POI. All of the major sources of POIs (e.g. Apple, Google, OpenStreetMap etc) are missing some POIs, but Poison Maps uses two sources (OpenStreetMap offline, supplemented by Apple online) so should in theory have better coverage than most, possibly all, other POI apps.

The General Information for a POI can be a bit hit or miss sometimes. If the app knows the specific website (which it does for most POIs) then a direct link to that site is available from the “Website” button. However some POIs don’t have this information and this is where the "Info" button comes in. In such a situation outside the app I would Google something to find further information on it, so I figured it made sense to put a button in the app that basically does the Google (or Bing or Yahoo) for you, and shows the results within the app.

So all it is doing is a search for the POI’s name, type and location. This usually gives relevant results, but it can sometimes list some odd ones as well (just like any Google search). As you probably noticed there are other options which vary according to the type of the POI, such as “Reviews”, “Opening Times”, “Departures” etc. These just append the appropriate word (e.g. “Menu”) to the name, type and location. As I say, most times this will give relevant results, but sometimes it does list some strange things!

Many thanks for trying the map and taking the time to respond on these forums.
 
cfc said:
Thanks for testing out the app for so long. I’m glad that you liked it and found it fun. One of the reasons I wrote it is because I find maps fun. I thought about pushing that aspect more in the description on the App Store, but I figured people might think it odd to describe a POI app as fun!

Sorry that some POIs are missing but no app has every POI. All of the major sources of POIs (e.g. Apple, Google, OpenStreetMap etc) are missing some POIs, but Poison Maps uses two sources (OpenStreetMap offline, supplemented by Apple online) so should in theory have better coverage than most, possibly all, other POI apps.

The General Information for a POI can be a bit hit or miss sometimes. If the app knows the specific website (which it does for most POIs) then a direct link to that site is available from the “Website” button. However some POIs don’t have this information and this is where the "Info" button comes in. In such a situation outside the app I would Google something to find further information on it, so I figured it made sense to put a button in the app that basically does the Google (or Bing or Yahoo) for you, and shows the results within the app.

So all it is doing is a search for the POI’s name, type and location. This usually gives relevant results, but it can sometimes list some odd ones as well (just like any Google search). As you probably noticed there are other options which vary according to the type of the POI, such as “Reviews”, “Opening Times”, “Departures” etc. These just append the appropriate word (e.g. “Menu”) to the name, type and location. As I say, most times this will give relevant results, but sometimes it does list some strange things!

Many thanks for trying the map and taking the time to respond on these forums.
Click to expand...
I tried it out some more. Still works better than other similar apps,and a few missing facts is not a very big issue.
 
Just bought your app (universal version).
I don´t need it really but I always will support enthusiasm and idealism.
And I´m a bit addicted to complications whether they are useful for me or not.

Thanks for all your effort!
 
I just purchased the universal version of the app as well. I travel a lot by motorcycle and like to take the back roads to get there. It will be interesting to see how useful the app is this summer :)
 
Thanks to everyone for trying out Poison Maps. It’s such a multi-purpose app that it's always great to get feedback from as many people as possible so that I can tailor it to their different use cases. And if anyone feels like reviewing it on the AppStore then that would be great, and would hopefully help other people to find it. It’s over 8 months since anyone reviewed it.

I am currently working on improving the map on the Apple Watch. Apple only provides limited map functionality for 3rd party apps. I have worked round that so far, but I wanted more control, so have built a new map using the 3D game technology that they provide (Scene Kit). This allows lots of extra functionality, and can even be customised according to what the user is looking at (e.g. to make paths clearer when hiking).

I will be including this new map in the next version of Poison Maps, but first I will use it in a new workout/map app that I have written. I figured there was a gap in the market because I couldn’t find any workout apps for the Apple Watch that include a map (unless anyone knows of any that I have missed?). I realise that a map doesn’t help serious runners who cover the same route every time, but I have found it great for hiking and mountain biking, and it should also be useful for skiing, cross country running, and any other outdoor exercise where you also need to navigate.
 
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cfc said:
Thanks to everyone for trying out Poison Maps. It’s such a multi-purpose app that it's always great to get feedback from as many people as possible so that I can tailor it to their different use cases. And if anyone feels like reviewing it on the AppStore then that would be great, and would hopefully help other people to find it. It’s over 8 months since anyone reviewed it.

I am currently working on improving the map on the Apple Watch. Apple only provides limited map functionality for 3rd party apps. I have worked round that so far, but I wanted more control, so have built a new map using the 3D game technology that they provide (Scene Kit). This allows lots of extra functionality, and can even be customised according to what the user is looking at (e.g. to make paths clearer when hiking).

I will be including this new map in the next version of Poison Maps, but first I will use it in a new workout/map app that I have written. I figured there was a gap in the market because I couldn’t find any workout apps for the Apple Watch that include a map (unless anyone knows of any that I have missed?). I realise that a map doesn’t help serious runners who cover the same route every time, but I have found it great for hiking and mountain biking, and it should also be useful for skiing, cross country running, and any other outdoor exercise where you also need to navigate.
Click to expand...

I like the idea of it. My guess wife and I are always looking for new routes and paths to walk our dogs. A change of scenery for both us and the dogs. We also look for routes to walk while traveling and off the motorcycles, so having a mapped route, may be useful. I will be interested to see how it develops.

Edit: I added a review of Poison Maps. I will be interested to see what functionality SceneKit adds to the App in a future release :)
 
Last edited:
SDColorado said:
I like the idea of it. My guess wife and I are always looking for new routes and paths to walk our dogs. A change of scenery for both us and the dogs. We also look for routes to walk while traveling and off the motorcycles, so having a mapped route, may be useful. I will be interested to see how it develops.

Edit: I added a review of Poison Maps. I will be interested to see what functionality SceneKit adds to the App in a future release :)
Click to expand...

Many thanks for the review. I really appreciate you taking the time to write that.

Using Scene Kit to write my own map has been a revelation. I have to draw every part of the map (mostly using triangles because it is a 3D API), but that also means that I have control over the look of every part of the map. Poison Maps is as much about providing a configurable map as it is about POIs. For example when you switch from leisure to transport then different routes are shown as well as different POIs. Being able to control the background map as well allows me to take this much further and completely customise everything to reflect the type of data that the user wants to see.

It’s funny that you should mention dog-walking because that has formed the bulk of the testing for my workout app. It’s not possible to test workouts properly indoors, even using the simulator, so it’s quite handy that I have to go out for a walk at least once a day!
 
I downloaded the North American version. On my watch, I get the message "Please enable location services on iPhone." I chose to enable location services when the app is open when I first opened the app. How do I get the map to open on my watch?
 
I am sorry that you are having problems. I haven’t heard of that issue but it might be worth restarting the watch app. To do that press the bottom side button for a few seconds until the “power off” screen appears, and then press the top button (the crown) until the app is killed off. If you then restart the app on the watch then hopefully it will detect that location services have been enabled for Poison Maps on the iPhone.

If that doesn’t work then check that location services have been enabled on the iPhone by going to Settings / Privacy / Location Services / Poison Maps. Failing that then try restarting the watch and the iPhone, but hopefully it won’t come to that.

Apologies for just suggesting the usual “restart” fixes but it is not something I have heard of before. Please let me know if you still can’t get it working and we will try something else.
 
cfc said:
I am sorry that you are having problems. I haven’t heard of that issue but it might be worth restarting the watch app. To do that press the bottom side button for a few seconds until the “power off” screen appears, and then press the top button (the crown) until the app is killed off. If you then restart the app on the watch then hopefully it will detect that location services have been enabled for Poison Maps on the iPhone.

If that doesn’t work then check that location services have been enabled on the iPhone by going to Settings / Privacy / Location Services / Poison Maps. Failing that then try restarting the watch and the iPhone, but hopefully it won’t come to that.

Apologies for just suggesting the usual “restart” fixes but it is not something I have heard of before. Please let me know if you still can’t get it working and we will try something else.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Restarting the watch app did the trick.
 
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