Lokalsinne

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Don't get lost

Lokalsinne guides you in the Scandinavian wilderness.

Lokalsinne is a navigation app that displays your location on a map of the terrain. You can save places you want to find your way back to. You can share your location or places you have saved with others. You can also record tracks of your movement and save or share them. Maps can be automatically downloaded when needed or manually downloaded in advance. You can choose between Swedish maps or Norwegian maps.

Get Lokalsinne at Google Play.

Karta

Lokalsinne is a Swedish word for the skill of a pathfinder. To have lokalsinne means having a good sense of direction and knowing your surroundings.

Map

The map is displayed north up no matter how you turn. Your location is displayed as a red circle. If a blue semitransparent circle is displayed around the red circle it means that your location is uncertain and that you can be anywhere within the blue circle. The WGS84 coordinates of your location is displayed above the map as degrees with decimals.

By default the map moves when you move and the red circle that represents your location remains in the center of the screen. But as soon as you pan or zoom the "center and follow" mode is disabled so that you can study the map without it jumping back to your location all the time. When you want to go back to the "center and follow" mode, simply tap the My Location icon.

You can name and save places by doing a long press on the map. Saved places are displayed as a location icon (the black upside down drop formed shape). If you select a saved place (by tapping it) Lokalsinne will display the name of the place and the distance to it. In the picture above a place called "Bilen" is selected. As long as a place remains selected the name and distance is also displayed on the start screen. Tap the icon again to de-select it, or tap the displayed name.

My Location

Centers the map at your last known location and follows your movements so that your location remains in the center of the screen.

Information

Opens a web page with a map legend and other useful information about the currently selected map. This requires an internet connection.

Save Place

This is used to name and save your current location. Once saved, it will be displayed in the list of saved places and appear on the map. The place is saved in your device and cannot be seen by anyone else unless you share it.

You can share the displayed map, your current location or a saved place or track with others. To share a place or track, you must first select it before you tap Share. When you have selected what to share, a list of apps will be displayed. Select the app you would like to use to share the information. When the app is displayed you select who you want to share with. Places and tracks are shared in Google Earth format (kml). Maps are shared in JPEG format.

If you select Compass from the menu, a compass rose will be displayed instead of the map. The compass rose is automatically rotated so that its long red peak points to the magnetic north pole. When using the compass, make sure you keep the device level with the ground and the screen facing up. There are scales at the side and the bottom of the screen that shows if the device is level or angled.

If you have selected a place, a location icon will also be displayed on the screen. To find the direction to the place, simply turn around until the location icon is displayed right above the center of the compass rose.

If your device does not have the necessary sensors built-in, the compass will not work. If the compass is working the rose will rotate if you turn around. Be sure to check if the compass is working before you trust it!

Unlike a magnetic needle compass, an electronic compass will need calibration from time to time. If the compass rose does not turn a full circle when you turn a full circle, it is time to calibrate. To calibrate, rotate the device around each of its three axes while the compass is displayed. You may need to repeat these motions a few times. You can also try moving the device around in a figure 8. If none of these motions help, your device might require some special calibration procedure. Check the manual of your device or contact the device manufacturer for advise.

Places

If you select Places from the menu you will see a list of all your saved places. By selecting a place from the list you can perform the following actions:

Show. Shows the place on the map.
Share. Share the place with one of your contacts. The place is sent as a KML file.
Edit. Edit the name or the coordinates of the place.
Delete. Remove the place from the list.
Open. Show the place using a different app.

By default, places are sorted by their distance to you, so that the closest place is on top of the list. You can change the sort order by pressing the icon with three bars of different length.

You can enable multi-selection mode by a long press. Select as many places as you want. Tap the check mark in the title bar to end multi-selection mode.

Tracks

If you select Tracks from the menu you will see a list of all your saved tracks.

By default, tracks are sorted by their distance to you, so that the closest track is on top of the list. You can change the sort order by pressing the icon with three bars of different length.

If you select a track from the list you can perform one of the following actions:

Show. Displays the track on the map in the same way as when it was recorded.
Share. Share the track with some of your contacts. The track is shared as a KML file.
Edit. Rename the track.
Delete. Delete the track.

You can enable multi-selection mode by a long press. Select as many tracks as you want. Tap the check mark in the title bar to end multi-selection mode.

Recording tracks

The Record button is used to start recording a new track. Your movement is displayed as a black line on the map while recording is in progress. The Stop button is used to stop recording. When you stop a recording you will be asked if you want to save or delete the track. The track is saved in local storage and cannot be seen by anyone else as long as you do not share it.

If the recording stops

Lokalsinne will continue to record until you stop the recording, even if you switch to another app, make a phone call or turn the screen off. This works fine on most devices. However, some devices stop apps when the screen is off in order to save battery. This can happen directly or after a few minutes.

If the recording stops when you turn off the screen, it is usually some battery saving "feature" in your device that stops Lokalsinne. To prevent that from happening you need to configure your device to allow Lokalsinne to continue to work even if the screen is off. Unfortunately, device manufacturers keep changing how to do that and they all have their own system. Look for something like "battery optimizing" in the system settings. If you cannot figure it out, ask the device manufacturer or your local dealer.

Select Map

If you press Select map in the menu, all maps you can choose from will be displayed. The maps are divided into two lists under two different tabs. Maps that can be selected right away are listed under Available. Maps that must be purchased or downloaded before they can be selected are listed under More.

By default, maps are sorted by their distance to you, so that the closest map is on top of the list. You can change the sort order by pressing the icon with three bars of different length.

If you expand a map by pressing it, a cut-out of the whole map is displayed to give you an idea of what the map looks like. Please note, that only a part of the whole map is displayed.

Big maps are streamed directly from the source and does not have to be downloaded before use. Small maps must be downloaded before use. Some maps are free and others must be purchased. Depending on the map, different buttons are displayed:

Select. Switch to the selected map and return to the map view.
Download. Download the selected map from the server to your device. Internet connection is required.
Purchase. Starts the purchase procedure in Google Play. Internet connection is required.
Delete. Delete a downloaded map from your device.

Please note that if you are far outside the selected map, you will probably only see the red circle that shows your location and no map. Switch to a map that covers you position if you want to see where you are. If you only want to look at the map, you can press the text that appear at the bottom of the map. This will center the map on screen instead of your position.

Save Map Tiles

When you select Save map tiles from the menu, a screen is displayed where you can manually download map tiles and delete downloaded map tiles.

Streamed maps, like the map of Sweden and the map of Norway, are divided into tiles. To manually download and save a map tile, first select the tile you want and then select Download. Map tiles that you have downloaded will be saved locally in the device and can be displayed even if there is no internet connection. This is useful if you are going somewhere without coverage.

Manual and autmatically downloaded tiles are displayed in the same way and normally you will not be able to tell the difference. Automatically downloaded map tiles are only stored as long as needed. Manually downloaded tiles are stored until you delete them.

Settings

When automatic download is enabled Lokalsinne will automatically download missing tiles when they are needed. You have the option to disable automatic download. If automatic download is disabled the screen might be empty where map tiles are missing. The same thing can happen even if automatic download is enabled, if there is no internet connection or the selected map source is not responding.

Search

The search function allows you to search for towns, mountains, lakes, etc by name. Lokalsinne relies on OSM Nominatim Webservice to look up the name you search for. This means that the search function will not work if there is no internet connection.

Buy Premium

The basic version of Lokalsinne is free. You can uppgrade to Premium by choosing Buy Premium from the menu. The basic version is limited to saving 10 tracks. There is no such limitation in Premium. Another Premium feature is that you can select different icons for your saved places. There may be additional Premium features in future versions.

Maps

You can find more information about the maps here:

Map of Sweden.

New map of Norway.

Map of Norway.

Rundslingor - Walks in Stockholm.

Planning your trip in advance

Read about how to plan a trip in advance here.

Accuracy

Lokalsinne uses satellite navigation to calculate your location. This is usually called "High accuracy location" or "device only location" in Android. Satellite navigation works by listening to signals from multiple satellites in space. The accuracy of the location depends on the quality of the satellite receiver in your phone and current reception conditions. The rule of thumb is: the more you can see of the sky the better satellite navigation will work. But there is a huge difference between how good different phones are at receiving satellite signals.

Navigation using WiFi or cell towers usually work better than satellite navigation in citys. The reason for this is that in a city the cell towers and WiFi hot spots are close together and the houses block much of the sky. In the country-side the opposite is true. Since Lokalsinne is intended to be used in the wilderness it uses satellite navigation.

There are more than one satellite navigation system. The most common one is the Global Positioning System (GPS). Which system is used by Lokalsinne depends on which systems your phone supports and which satellites are within range.

Don't expect the length of a recorded track to be exactly as long as the path you followed. A track consist of a limited number of stored points. The length of the track is calculated by assuming a straight line between the points. In reality you seldom move in straight lines which means that the calculated length usually will be shorter than the real travelled distance. A difference of 10% is quite common when following a winding path.

Tips

Notifications on the start screen

If you allow your device to show notifications on the start screen you will be able to see the direction and distance to a selected place without unlocking your device. This is great if you are on your way there and want to quickly check your progress every now and then.

Conserving battery

Close Lokalsinne by "backing out" of the app when you don't need it for a while.
Download maps manually in advance and turn off automatic download.
Put the phone in flight mode if there is no phone reception (but keep Location enabled).
Don't record tracks if you need the battery to last a long time.

Migrating saved places to a new device

Make sure Lokalsinne is installed and working on both the old and the new device
Make sure email is working on both the old and the new device
Start Lokalsinne on your old device
Select Places from the menu
Make a long press in the list
Select all places by pressing the square shaped icon
Select done (the check icon)
Select Share
Select your email app
Email all places to yourself
Open the email on your new device
Open the attachement that contains all places
Select Lokalsinne to read the attachement
Done

Migrating tracks to a new device

Use the same method as for saved places, but select Tracks instead.

Privacy

Lokalsinne does not share any information about you in secret. Read the privacy policy for more information.

Miscellaneous

Warnings

Maps are downloaded from internet which can cause additional fees from your carrier.
Do not rely on Lokalsinne alone if you are going for a long hike. Always bring a paper map and a magnetic needle compass as backup.
Lokalsinne is provided "AS IS" without warranties of any kind. Use at your own risk.

Feedback

Please send questions, feature requests and bug reports via email. You can find the email address at the bottom of the Google Play store listing.

You are welcome to review Lokalsinne, but keep in mind that the purpose of a review is to help other people choose which app to install. Write something that is helpful for them.