Suggestion: Don't require zoom to see POIs

Tim Thompson · 5 Sept 2022, 09:07

I suspect that this has already been suggested/mentioned. But on the off chance...

It would be beneficial to have an option to turn off the zoom in requirement to see POIs. Back when I was shopping for a route planner, I came across this "feature" in MRA Routeplanner and it immediately eliminated MRA Routeplanner as a candidate. It wasn't the only factor, but it was an immediate no-go.

I do however use MRA Navigation and in the off chance I need to create a route in the field, it would be beneficial to be able to turn off zoom to see POIs.

Corjan Meijerink · 2 Sept 2022, 22:35

@Tim-Thompson Thanks for the suggestion! Disabling the zoom requirement has 2 main downsides:

Longer loading times as the search area vastly increases
No clear overview. Imagine showing all gas stations on country level. You won’t be able to see a map anymore, only POI icons all over the map would be visible

Regardless, I’ll check if we can tweak the current state a bit

Tim Thompson · 3 Sept 2022, 13:16

@Corjan-Meijerink said in Suggestion: Don't require zoom to see POIs:

@Tim-Thompson Thanks for the suggestion! Disabling the zoom requirement has 2 main downsides:

Longer loading times as the search area vastly increases

No clear overview. Imagine showing all gas stations on country level. You won’t be able to see a map anymore, only POI icons all over the map would be visible

Regardless, I’ll check if we can tweak the current state a bit

Both points are understood. But trust me, there are situations where having the ability to shut this off is well worth the tradeoffs.

If you really want to make it useful... How about adding these options...

Show all selected POIs in view of the displayed map. Zooming in/out on the map determines the number of POIs displayed.
Show all selected POIs within a circle perimeter of a waypoint/stop. Allow the size of the circle to be adjusted (to a max and min size) by pulling/dragging a point (set drag points at 12, 3, 6 and 9 O'clock) on it's perimeter in and out.
Show all selected POIs within a set distance of the sides of the route. Maybe provide selectable distance options of 1, 5 and 20 miles.

When creating routes/trips, I often don't know exactly where I want to go or end up. I might just want to go a certain direction or maybe I just want to check out a certain area/state. Often POIs will be central to determining the actual roads traveled. What's interesting around here that I may want to stop and check out along the way? I may want to look at an area spanning multiple counties to see what attractions may be there to look at. What I find may determine the roads I want to travel. If I got to zoom way in around a point to be able to see POIs, then I can't really use the tool how I would like to use. it.

Here's another suggestion that could improve things. How about having a window with a POI list that you can have open (or closed) on the side of screen while you are searching around for POIs. When you click (select) on the POIs name in the list, it highlights the POI on the map. Double-clicking on the POI in the list will bring up useful information about the POIs (or perhaps links to useful info). If it's something like a place to eat or places to stay maybe have links to reviews and/or display their ratings.

Anyway... My 2 cents.

Corjan Meijerink · 3 Sept 2022, 13:42

@Tim-Thompson Thanks a lot, loving your input! Will look into it but not sure what I can achieve on a short notice. I am putting quite some work in the development of our apps and the upcoming Navigation Next

Tim Thompson · 3 Sept 2022, 17:34

On #2 above... Instead of centering the circle on a waypoint/stop, it might be better to just have a point in the middle of the circle that you can grab and drag the circle around. That way you can place the point wherever you want it and it will display POIs within the radius. In conjunction with the circle's max/min size, it should work with zooming the map in and out. Say the circle is already at it's max size, no problem, just zoom out a little bit on the map to get more within the circle.

Drabslab · 4 Sept 2022, 10:11

@Corjan-Meijerink a good thing would be to have a "speed screen" on the navigator with maximum 8? buttons that can be selected / configured by the user.

Like that everybody can reach their 8? preferred functions with a single click from the home screen instead of browsing through menus. Appears to be very handy to push eg " skip next waypoint"/"back to previous waypoint"/"switch on-off voiice/go home/etc... while driving.

Corjan Meijerink · 4 Sept 2022, 10:41

@Drabslab Thanks for this suggestion! I don’t really see how it’s connected to the topic but I’ll write it down. Please post suggestions like this in the appropriate channels so we can keep track of them!

Drabslab · 4 Sept 2022, 16:48

@Corjan-Meijerink said in Suggestion: Don't require zoom to see POIs:

@Drabslab Thanks for this suggestion! I don’t really see how it’s connected to the topic but I’ll write it down. Please post suggestions like this in the appropriate channels so we can keep track of them!

it isn't connected to the topic but reading this topic just made me think of it.

Another one, comparing to the menu of the TomTom rider 400. In that TomTom all menu opitions such as "drive to", ride home", "my routes", "current route" etc... are in a single row and you can scroll from left to right or right to left with a few buttons. . This is a good system and very handy with gloves on but it would be better if that menu would be in a circle so that pushign beyond the last option would bring you back the first one if you understand what I mean.

Drabslab · 4 Sept 2022, 16:41

@Corjan-Meijerink said in Suggestion: Don't require zoom to see POIs:

@Drabslab Thanks for this suggestion! I don’t really see how it’s connected to the topic but I’ll write it down. Please post suggestions like this in the appropriate channels so we can keep track of them!

extra question: what are the appropriate channels?

Corjan Meijerink · 4 Sept 2022, 17:07

@Drabslab As a new post Or in the suggestions in the Navigation Next forum section. But this obviously is not related to the app.

Just makes it easier to find topics / messages as a whole rather than a single comment somewhere. But nevertheless, thanks for your input!

Edit: it might be smart if we actually create a suggestions section for the website exactly for this purpose. I’ll see if that can be arranged

Willem Polman · 4 Sept 2022, 18:06

@Corjan-Meijerink I understand your problem, but the same question could be made for use at PC or tablet. Right know I am looking at a 24" window on a iMac, but to see a camping in Spain for instance, you can not see anything around in a area, but a few. You could try to look around Avila and in an overview you can not see on camping in a circle of 50 km. Zooming in will show you a few but you have to be pretty handy with searching and scrolling. One moment you see the icon, the other it is gone. If you zoom out you loose the location and heave to zoom in again very far, but you really need to know where you were at the moment of zooming. I don't know if I explane it well enough, but in countries as Spain and Portugal it is a pain to search. On a smartphone it is worst.

Corjan Meijerink · 4 Sept 2022, 18:43

@Willem-Polman I understand your reasoning! I’ll take a look into possible changes. However I can’t promise anything about actual changes or when they are made. Hope you all can understand that. Trying to put quite some work in the Mobile app and the Navigation Next project.

In general I totally agree that the POI’s can use some finetuning!

Drabslab · 5 Sept 2022, 06:57

@Corjan-Meijerink said in Suggestion: Don't require zoom to see POIs:

In general I totally agree that the POI’s can use some finetuning!

And potentially a combination with favorites that could be seen as the most personal set of POI?

Corjan Meijerink · 5 Sept 2022, 07:23

@Drabslab Who knows

Drabslab · 5 Sept 2022, 07:50

@Corjan-Meijerink said in Suggestion: Don't require zoom to see POIs:

@Drabslab As a new post Or in the suggestions in the Navigation Next forum section.

where is the "Navigation Next forum section."

Rob Verhoeff · 5 Sept 2022, 08:51

@Drabslab you get access to that part of the forum as an "early adaptor" when you purchase a lifetime subscription to the new MRA Navigation Next app.

More information

Corjan Meijerink · 5 Sept 2022, 09:16

@Drabslab I just had a discussion about this with the team. Whenever you feel like sharing a new suggestion, create a new topic in General Discussion so it can be discussed. The Administrators can then tag the thread as a Suggestion (like we did with this thread)

Drabslab · 5 Sept 2022, 09:17

@Rob-Verhoeff

Thanks a lot, I missed that.

Now I only have to consider whether or not to buy a product without having a clue where it will end up

But then, that routeplanner is excellent so ...