AllTrails is excited to announce the release of Navigator! This new feature will replace ‘Recorder’ on the mobile apps. The concept of ‘recording’ your activities will not be changing — you’ll now simply use Navigator to track and save your activity stats. With this rebrand, your ‘Recordings’ will now be called ‘Activities’. This will not affect any content in your account aside from the name change.
While much of the functionality remains the same, there are some new features in Navigator that we believe will enhance your experience of navigating routes and tracking your activities. We’ll walk you through several of the major changes in this article.
Selecting your route for navigation:
With Navigate, you’ll find it easier to identify and select any routes you wish to follow. If you tap ‘Navigate’ from any trail details page, the trail map will immediately display in Navigate for you to follow along. You can also tap ‘Navigate’ from the bottom navigation bar and go directly to the Navigate. From there, you can begin recording your own route by hitting 'Start' or add a trail from your downloads, one of your lists, or a nearby trail from our database by tapping the 'Add route' button.
If you’ve already started navigating and need to change the route you are following along, simply swipe upwards on the Navigate drawer and tap ‘Change route.’ You’ll then be presented with the same options (your lists, downloads, nearby trails) as when you first loaded Navigate. Select the route you wish to follow, then tap the back button to return to your map. Your new route will be immediately updated for navigation.
Selecting your activity type:
After you launch Navigate and choose a route to begin an activity, you’ll press the 'Start' button for your activity recording to begin. To change your activity type, swipe up on the drawer at the bottom of the screen to reveal the Navigate options. From there, you'll see the Activity menu where you can choose your activity type. You’ll select the appropriate activity type and it will automatically save and return to the Navigate options. Swipe down on the menu page to return to the Navigate.
Pausing your activity:
In order to prevent accidental pauses, we’ve revamped the process for pausing your activity in Navigate. To pause your activity, tap the ‘Pause’ button. When successfully paused, you’ll then see the option to 'Resume’ to resume your navigation or finish and save the activity with the 'Finish' option. In case you need to start your activity over, tapping ‘Delete activity’ will clear any recorded activity and planned route.
Changing your map orientation:
When using Navigator to follow along your route, you have several ways to control your map view and orientation. By default, your current location will be centered on the map and North will always be up (↑ top of phone). You can adjust your orientation by tapping the red and grey compass icon — this will adjust your view so that your direction of travel stays up. When using this mode, you’ll notice that if you move your phone around the map will adjust directions to keep your direction of travel up. Tapping the compass icon once again will switch you back to the original mode of North being up.
You can always adjust your zoom level by using two fingers to pinch the screen. Once you have adjusted your zoom level or panned around the map, you’ll see a small white arrow appear at the bottom left of your map. Tapping this re-centre button will adjust your view so that your current location is back in the centre of the map. Using this button will still respect your map orientation (see above), and will maintain your zoom level.
Navigation Info:
As with Recorder, you can view information about your location and other navigation info, including your current coordinates, elevation, and bearing. To access this info while navigating, swipe upwards at the bottom of the screen to pull the Navigate drawer open and select 'GPS details.’ Tap the 'X' button and swipe down on the drawer when you are ready to return to your navigation screen.
Viewing the Elevation Graph:
- Swipe up on the bottom navigation drawer to view your planned elevation graph
- If you are on the planned route, your location will appear on the graph as a blue dot
- Shading:
- Yellow shading represents an uphill grade of 6-11%
- Red shading represents an uphill grade of 11% or steeper
- Press and hold your finger on the elevation chart to see the grade and elevation for any point along the trail
NOTE: If you use Navigator without a specified route loaded, you will only see your recorded elevation when following these steps. Planned elevation and the associated tools only apply when a specific route is loaded into Navigator.