Please help us improve the Web app
Thank you for trying the first test version of the web app. It’s been fantastic to hear such good feedback for the app, but also so many ideas and features. We’ve already addressed a lot of the feedback, and will continue to work through the rest.
Please share any more feedback, ideas and features by clicking ‘Share Feedback’ above
Comments10
An Anonymous User
Aug 20
I'm having an issue uploading gpx files to the web app. When I export routes from the OS maps app to Google drive it doesn't seem to save them with gpx file extensions, although the OS app doesn't seem to have any problem locating them, and Google maps will happily recognise and import them without the file extension. However the Good Ways web app will not recognise them. Furthermore, if I manually rename with a gpx extension the Good Ways web app will not successfully import them from Google Drive. If I copy the renamed file to a local folder on my phone (android) however, the Good Ways app has no problem importing them.
Andrew
Toby Twigger
Aug 20
Hi Andrew,
Thanks so much for your feedback - I'm glad you got it working eventually, but you should certainly be able to upload a GPX without having to worry about the file extension!
We'll have a play around and see what we can do to improve the experience here.
Thanks again for giving it a test!
An Anonymous User
Aug 23
Just commenting here to add to my comments on the Android App.
Found the whole process of designing the route on the web really straightforward. What I feel is missing (which may be coming) is the ability to alter the geographical locations of comments/ photos on the route. The current thread of updates might (if lots of individuals walked the route) become a bit crowded over time.
The only thing I noticed as I continued my walk after walking a part of my route using the app (and that is relevant for the web and android version) is that the Good Ways app OSM layer wasn’t completely accurate when it came to footpaths. I had to use Where’s The Path 3 (my OS needs renewing) as between that and the original Slow Ways app. I don’t think this is an issue as such, but worth noting for those creating routes (might be worth a disclaimer or pop up on a later version?)
Toby Twigger
Sep 21
Hi, and thank you for your feedback!
It’s a great point that editing the location comments/photos is currently missing - we’ll get it into the web version as soon as we can! It feels like we may need some better filtering around the update thread once more people start using the route, so we’ll keep a good eye out for it and please do tell us if you feel there’s too much there!
Thank you for letting us know about the missing paths on the OSM layer. Richard has kindly let us use the cycle.travel tiles temporarily (which are geared more towards cycling than walking), and we’ll be designing our own maps using OSM data hopefully soon to make sure you see all the paths you need to for any mode of travel. Watch this space!
Thanks again for the feedback 😀
David and Caroline T
Aug 29
Overall creating a route on the web app work well, but I do have a few observations.
1. I like having the list of waypoints that can be re-ordered, as Komoot does, but without the WPs being numbered it’s hard to relate the list to the map, so knowing which WPs to move where is tricky.
When adding a additional WPs to a route, they are being added to the end of the route. Maybe have the option to add to the end or not, in which case some best fit location would be used?
The route snaps to grid, which generally works, but each time a new WP is added the route goes back to straight lines between WPs. Not a big problem, but it is a bit more cumbersome than automatically snapping to see the effect of adding the new WP.
Going back to an existing route and into edit mode, I have found that if I add an additional WP and snap, the new WP shows on the map but isn’t included on the route. Or at least not usually, it did once but I don’t know what I did differently. See attached screenshot.
When moving WPs in the list of WPs, the list isn’t scrolling up or down as the WP being moved goes up or down, with the result that if a WP is being moved beyond the visible range of the list it needs to be done in stages.
Creating a small route yesterday, I couldn’t get it to follow a particular footpath that I wanted to take (https://app.goodways.org/routes/14122). Slightly odd that it wouldn’t, but I know that it’s early days for the routing. But the ability to have what Komoot calls ‘off-grid’ legs would be useful to force routes to go certain ways.
V minor preference, but I was going to say that the app could do with an undo button, which I see now that it does have. I’m not sure if it’s been added since I made a note of this point or, more likely, I didn’t see it. Maybe it could do with being a bit more prominent?
The routes that I have created pulled through to the Android app well.
Great job!
David
Toby Twigger
Sep 21
Hi Mum and Dad!
Thank you for the feedback - I’ll spend a bit of time on the route editor later this week or next to make some of those improvements. The waypoint editor could certainly do with being improved, as well as having off-grid legs. That section around Baker’s Park should definitely count as a real footpath!
Thank you again for testing out the app - looking forward to joining you on a walk with Good Ways soon!
An Anonymous User
Aug 30
When I’m on the Explore page of the website with published routes, I can see some of them have a photo which is nice. I didn’t find a way of adding a photo to my route on the Explore page even though my route has several photos under it when I view the details.
Toby Twigger
Sep 21
Hello!
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. We’ve noticed how good some of the routes look with photos - hopefully we can make it easier for everyone to add or suggest photos for routes.
We currently distinguish between photos in notes or reviews, which appear below a route, and images you as the author upload when editing the route on the map. Only the latter will be shown. This is so the author, or those you invite to contribute, have control over how the route looks to others.
I’ve just looked more into it, and there are times where none of the images will be shown as the ‘hero’ image, which is a bug - good spot! I’ll fix that today.
Thanks again for the feedback!
Hugh Hudson
Oct 2
Just created and walked a quick one mile circular route from my front door, in order to test the Android app. All worked pretty smoothly but because my start point was not quite on a path the loop to start didn’t quite link up, leaving a small gap. Not a problem for a private route but I’d be less happy if I wanted to make it public.
Toby Twigger
Oct 7
Hi Hugh. Thanks for this feedback. I’m happy to hear everything mostly worked quite smoothly!
We have a few tools that may help you curate the route if you wanted to make it public.
First, you can switch on ‘Loop’, which should join the gap between the end and the start of the route.
Next, if your starting point is off the path, you can use an ‘Off-Route Segment’. This tells the system to draw straight lines between points, rather than trying to follow the paths Good Ways knows about. Very useful if you start from somewhere that isn’t on Open Street Map!
And finally, we have plans to make it even easier to start and finish a route at a ‘trailhead’. I’ve found that all the routes I tend to create start and finish at my front door, which is great for me, but less useful for others. The hope is that most public routes start from a few main places in a town - all easily accessible, and you’ll be able to create your own start places if there aren’t any near you.