Software: the perfect routing/mapping app for group rides?

[Austin David]

I was gonna ask about a "better" app for planning rides, but it got away from me and I just made something.  Vibecoded, anyway.

 

The app itself is just planning; actual turn-by-turn routing is Maps or Beeline (or anything that can use GPX export).

 

Who wants to help me test and share feedback?  The concept is a fairly straightforward maps (Google maps) experience to add a series of waypoints to build a long route.  Once the route is set up, it can be shared, edited, or navigated.  Smaller routes (<10 waypoints) can go straight into Google Maps.  Each leg from here -> Waypoint can be navigated (click -> send to maps).  The whole route can be exported, then imported into Beeline or anything that reads GPX.  For Beeline it's a few clicks to create a new ride from the export.

 

Mobile experience is the same, works surprisingly well on a handset.

 

The sample route below should be viewable here: https://route7-prod.web.app/route/Bj6Gm4GZKw3U

 

Message me a gmail address and I can whitelist for editing.

 

[Austin David]

https://route7.austindavid.com/ is open and free to use.  Cost-modeling says "always free" but usage will help tell if we approach any API usage above the free tier.

[demoray]

Very cool.

 

I put a quick route from near home to a place that has cheap burger specials.  This looks pretty straight forward to use. 

 

If it's vibe coded, care to share it on GitHub?  I'm looking to do something related.
 

I'm looking to build the other side of this, an app that shows the turn by turn akin to BeeLine that runs on Google Watch that supports GPX.

 

Can users see other people's public routes?

 

Can users import routes from other sources?

[Austin David]

Can users see other people's public routes?

 

Not implemented.  I haven't spent much time on this feature, other than the distinction between "public" and "unlisted".  Right now there's no exposure or search for the "public" ones.  The primary use-case is "past a link in the forum", which works for both public and unlisted routes.

 

How would you expect "discovery" to work?  search, browse, pins-on-map ?  (any of those should be ~easy)

 

Can users import routes from other sources?

 

Not yet... how would it work?  GPX-style import should be super easy, at least for coarse GPX without a lot of waypoints.  If you have an idea or application in mind, happy to discuss.

 

re: vibecoded: it's currently private, I'm tryin to decide what to do about it.  Are you thinking to make a Beeline-like WatchOS app with turn-by-turn?  

Gemini says:
Because it's a Google platform, Google Maps is deeply integrated into Wear OS right out of the box and gives you full turn-by-turn navigation, including a live, interactive map view on your wrist, standard text directions, and haptic turn alerts. It also works fully standalone if you have a LTE/cellular model.

 

I assume you want to simplify the experience somehow, with more like the Beeline arrow and a distance to next turn?

[demoray]

I'm looking to have the beeline like experience on my watch.   Maps has an arrow mode, which I've used, but I've not had good success importing GPX files with Google Maps in the past.

[Austin David]

Try just making a route with route7 and (I assume on your phone) click "Navigate full route".  That sends the first 10 waypoints directly to Maps, just a big 10-point URL.  Maps will automatically route turn-by-turn to the first waypoint, and when you get there it starts to the next.  I did it yesterday with Android Auto, it was surprisingly easy.  

 

Exporting GPX & importing to Beeline is like 13 clicks total.  Also very easy, but not quite as easy as the one-click Maps kickoff.

 

 

Edited 49 minutes ago by Austin David
the video