One SatNav

#1 · 04.02.2024, 04:10

Quote from BiKenG on 04.02.2024, 04:10
Ideally, I just want one single SatNav app that I can use in CarPlay, on a bike or in a car. Just one. That way I can be very familiar with that one app instead of having to learn and memorise how to use multiple apps - all of which operate entirely differently. Currently I still use CoPilot for long car journeys, largely because I'm more familiar with its use than I am with Scenic. However, CoPilot is not CarPlay compatible (bizarre refusal to do so by its devs) and anyway, I'd rather just get more used to using Scenic and stick to that. But…

Contacts, or more precisely, lack of in Scenic seriously limits its use for me. Any address information I want to store, either long or short term is in Contacts. That way I have access to them on any of my devices. It's what Contacts is designed for, but Scenic is the only SatNav app of which I am aware that does not provide the facility to navigate to a stored contact and I find this omission as bizarre as CoPilot not being compatible with CarPlay.

I know this has come up before many times, but I really thought that 3.5 would bring this much needed functionality. Apparently not. ☹️ This is extremely disappointing and limits Scenic's usefulness to only when planning long bike rides, rather than as my every day SatNav app of choice.

Guido, please, when can we have this?

Now a suggestion for a feature that I want/need on almost every use of SatNav, but NO app (or built in system) that I know of provides.

Here's the thing. Most (almost all) journeys start or end at a known location, i.e. one with which the user is familiar and needs no guidance. Let's say returning home from somewhere unfamiliar. When starting, navigation will be required, but at some point in the journey the route will become familiar and known and from that point on, navigation instructions are simply an annoyance and irritating and one should never be faffing with the screen while driving, just trying to stop these unwanted instructions.

Conversely, when leaving home to drive to somewhere unfamiliar, routing instructions will only be required once having left familiar territory. So…

What I would LOVE to be able to do is on a planned route, specify a point from which navigation instructions will commence, or cease, so they will only be issued FROM or TO that point respectively. Display can remain the same as it can still provide useful info, like traffic cams and other POIs, but no more instructions issued. In either case, I do NOT need to be told how to navigate the roads within a few miles of my home. On a larger scale, I need no guidance while driving around the M25 (London's motorway ring road) when leaving or returning home. 60 or more miles of pointless instructions are simply irritating.

This seems to be an obvious and extremely useful feature to me and I would think it pretty easy to implement, but no SatNav developer has ever thought to include it (as far as I know). Perhaps Guido Scenic could be the first. 😀

Ideally, I just want one single SatNav app that I can use in CarPlay, on a bike or in a car. Just one. That way I can be very familiar with that one app instead of having to learn and memorise how to use multiple apps - all of which operate entirely differently. Currently I still use CoPilot for long car journeys, largely because I'm more familiar with its use than I am with Scenic. However, CoPilot is not CarPlay compatible (bizarre refusal to do so by its devs) and anyway, I'd rather just get more used to using Scenic and stick to that. But…

Contacts, or more precisely, lack of in Scenic seriously limits its use for me. Any address information I want to store, either long or short term is in Contacts. That way I have access to them on any of my devices. It's what Contacts is designed for, but Scenic is the only SatNav app of which I am aware that does not provide the facility to navigate to a stored contact and I find this omission as bizarre as CoPilot not being compatible with CarPlay.

I know this has come up before many times, but I really thought that 3.5 would bring this much needed functionality. Apparently not. ☹️ This is extremely disappointing and limits Scenic's usefulness to only when planning long bike rides, rather than as my every day SatNav app of choice.

Guido, please, when can we have this?

Now a suggestion for a feature that I want/need on almost every use of SatNav, but NO app (or built in system) that I know of provides.

Here's the thing. Most (almost all) journeys start or end at a known location, i.e. one with which the user is familiar and needs no guidance. Let's say returning home from somewhere unfamiliar. When starting, navigation will be required, but at some point in the journey the route will become familiar and known and from that point on, navigation instructions are simply an annoyance and irritating and one should never be faffing with the screen while driving, just trying to stop these unwanted instructions.

Conversely, when leaving home to drive to somewhere unfamiliar, routing instructions will only be required once having left familiar territory. So…

What I would LOVE to be able to do is on a planned route, specify a point from which navigation instructions will commence, or cease, so they will only be issued FROM or TO that point respectively. Display can remain the same as it can still provide useful info, like traffic cams and other POIs, but no more instructions issued. In either case, I do NOT need to be told how to navigate the roads within a few miles of my home. On a larger scale, I need no guidance while driving around the M25 (London's motorway ring road) when leaving or returning home. 60 or more miles of pointless instructions are simply irritating.

This seems to be an obvious and extremely useful feature to me and I would think it pretty easy to implement, but no SatNav developer has ever thought to include it (as far as I know). Perhaps Guido Scenic could be the first. 😀

#2 · 04.02.2024, 09:03

Quote from mbirth on 04.02.2024, 09:03
You can build the Contacts navigation yourself.

Scenic provides an API that you can leverage using Apple's Shortcuts app. This allows you to open the iOS Contacts app, select a contact, tap an address of that contact --> the address opens in Apple Maps. Then share the location from there using the Share button. This also works for any other location you select in Apple Maps.

Just open the Shortcuts app, create a new Shortcut and follow these steps:

tap the (i) tab at the bottom

from that form, enable the switch "Show in Share Sheet", tap Done

in the now inserted action at the top, tap the "Images and 18 more" variable, disable all the switches but leave "Locations" (under the Places section), tap done

(Optional:) after "If there's no input" tap the "Continue" and change it to "Stop and Respond" and set a response

Tap the big "Add Action" button

Select the category "Documents" and find the action "Text" (yellow icon, under the section "Text") and tap it to have it added to your Shortcut

in the new action, type the following into the text field:
https://scenicapp.space/Scenic/api/navigate/coordinate?coordinate=

then, in the bar just above the keyboard, swipe left until you find the variable "Shortcut Input" - tap it to have it inserted

tap the just inserted "Shortcut Input" inside the text field

change the type to "Location" and select "Latitude" as the value, tap the "X" to close the dialog - the variable in the text field should now read "Latitude"

type a comma after "Latitude"

insert the same "Shortcut Input" again, but this time, choose "Longitude" as the value

(Optional:) Add the text &name= and insert the same variable again, choosing "Name" this time

make sure the keyboard is closed and find the "Search for apps and actions" search field at the bottom

select the category "Web" and find the action "Open URLs" - tap it

That's basically it. Now tap the small arrow in the title bar at the very top to Rename your Shortcut to something like "Open in Scenic"

It should look something like this:

Press "Done" at the top right

Now you can open any location in Apple Maps and in the list of share targets, you should be able to find your "Open in Scenic" shortcut. Tap it, and the location will open in Scenic.

You could also extend the Shortcut to receive Contacts (instead of Locations), find the addresses from that contact, ask you which one you'd like to go to and then send that location to Scenic. But I wanted to keep it simple here.

You can build the Contacts navigation yourself.

Scenic provides an API that you can leverage using Apple's Shortcuts app. This allows you to open the iOS Contacts app, select a contact, tap an address of that contact --> the address opens in Apple Maps. Then share the location from there using the Share button. This also works for any other location you select in Apple Maps.

Just open the Shortcuts app, create a new Shortcut and follow these steps:

tap the (i) tab at the bottom
from that form, enable the switch "Show in Share Sheet", tap Done
in the now inserted action at the top, tap the "Images and 18 more" variable, disable all the switches but leave "Locations" (under the Places section), tap done
(Optional:) after "If there's no input" tap the "Continue" and change it to "Stop and Respond" and set a response
Tap the big "Add Action" button
Select the category "Documents" and find the action "Text" (yellow icon, under the section "Text") and tap it to have it added to your Shortcut
in the new action, type the following into the text field:
https://scenicapp.space/Scenic/api/navigate/coordinate?coordinate=
then, in the bar just above the keyboard, swipe left until you find the variable "Shortcut Input" - tap it to have it inserted
tap the just inserted "Shortcut Input" inside the text field
change the type to "Location" and select "Latitude" as the value, tap the "X" to close the dialog - the variable in the text field should now read "Latitude"
type a comma after "Latitude"
insert the same "Shortcut Input" again, but this time, choose "Longitude" as the value
(Optional:) Add the text &name= and insert the same variable again, choosing "Name" this time
make sure the keyboard is closed and find the "Search for apps and actions" search field at the bottom
select the category "Web" and find the action "Open URLs" - tap it
That's basically it. Now tap the small arrow in the title bar at the very top to Rename your Shortcut to something like "Open in Scenic"

It should look something like this:

Press "Done" at the top right

Now you can open any location in Apple Maps and in the list of share targets, you should be able to find your "Open in Scenic" shortcut. Tap it, and the location will open in Scenic.

You could also extend the Shortcut to receive Contacts (instead of Locations), find the addresses from that contact, ask you which one you'd like to go to and then send that location to Scenic. But I wanted to keep it simple here.

#3 · 04.02.2024, 09:51

Thanks @mbirth. Great workaround solution.

To answer your questions @bikeng:

- Contacts. It’s still in the list. Haven’t forgotten. But higher prio/ more requested items are on there too.
- Second suggestion is already possible (if I understand correctly). Plan your route with start and end like you want. Then, select route for navigation. And then tap this button:

If you're enjoying Scenic and are happy with the support, please leave a nice rating in the App Store. It would mean a lot to me ❤️

#4 · 05.02.2024, 03:47

That does indeed look like what I was suggesting for limiting guidance instructions. I will have to look into that some more. Thanks for pointing that out.

Regarding Contacts, the work around suggested above is certainly ingenious, as a workaround until it is actually built-in to Scenic. I still implore you Guido though to add this. I've never come across another iOS SatNav app that cannot access Contacts so it must be seen as a priority by others.

I hope your leg is now sorted - so you can get to work incorporating Contacts into Scenic. 🤣