I was in New Delhi last month and my place is a maze of old and new buildings. The road is so narrow it’s hard for a hatchback to pass (though that doesn’t stop my can-do-minded Indian friends). It’s like walking through the old city of Lucca, without the Italian history and beautiful architecture.
It took me 3-4 days to remember the way, there was a time when I lost my way at night and had to call for directions. Little did I know, all of this could have been avoided if I had known about RouteShoot. This is an app for iPhone and Android that intelligently uses your phone’s GPS, camera, and microphone to map a route.
How does it work, does it work, and should you use it? Read along to find out.
Related: Do your friends call you every 5 minutes while you’re on the road? These location sharing apps will help you.
How to use RouteShoot
When you launch the iPhone app (the platform I tested it on), it prompts you for access to notifications, GPS, camera, and microphone. Grant permission to all if you’re interested in using the app’s full potential.
Now, the default screen is something akin to the camera app. There’s a large view finder, and at the bottom you’ll find a record button, a minimap, an icon to go to the gallery, and switch between Photos and Videos.
Use the video option to get the most out of the app.
When you press the record button, the app will turn on the flash and will start recording the video and your location. As you move, the footage from the video matches the GPS coordinates.
When you finish the track, tap the record button again.
View previously recorded routes
Tap the Library icon in the bottom left corner of the screen to display all your recordings. By default, they will be named according to the time and date they were captured. Unfortunately, there is no way to rename them.
Tap a route and the video will show up in the top half of your screen. Below will display the map. Tap the play button and the video will start playing. Now comes the best thing about the app. As the video plays, the map below will update the corresponding location in the video.
Note about video recording: If you are recording video while walking, no harm, no error. But if you are cycling or driving, you should not hold the camera with one hand. Have someone else do it for you, or buy a phone holder.
So now, you have three context points for where you’ve traveled. The map with exact coordinates, the video you record yourself showing your surroundings and finally, your own memory, restored thanks to the video.
Check out RouteShoot’s Demo
I tested this app at night with my iPhone 5’s broken camera. The quality, to say the least, is not good.
But if you want to see what the app can do, check out their demo page. The footage you can see there is exactly how the app works.
Additionally, when done, you have the option to upload the video along with GPS data to the RouteShoot website. You can do this as a fallback, but for privacy reasons I don’t recommend it.
Is the app right for you?
Did you find this app useful? Let us know in the comments below.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
