We're pleased to announce that we're working with Bike Hub to create a new circular (A-A) leisure routing mode for the Bike Hub app for iPhone and Android.
Bike Hub is a joint initiative of the Bicycle Association and the Association of Cycle Traders via the Bike Hub levy scheme. The objective of Bike Hub is to generate funds from within the cycle industry to support the future of cycling in the UK.
The Bike Hub app for iPhone and Android is the 'cycle satnav' for the UK – with a 3D mode for planning and following cycle journeys anywhere in the UK. CycleStreets provides the routing behind the app.
When CycleStreets first went live, we began by offering a choice of A to B routes for the everyday cyclist. In feedback we receive we've frequently been asked to provide support for routes that go through intermediate points. We've meshed these requests with Bike Hub's desire to help people discover attractive cycle routes where they live.
The result will add a leisure routing mode to the app that can suggest circular routes or construct a circular route through several places of interest. On mobile this will be exclusive to the Bike Hub app. Leisure routes will be available on the main CycleStreets website so that they can be transferred to the app.
Together with other funds we have recently raised as part of our funding drive, this work should enable us to take on a developer to enhance the routing in various ways. We'll shortly be hiring – stay tuned!
8 thoughts to “Circular leisure routes – coming soon to the Bike Hub app”
Looking forward to it!
A to A routing has been a top request from users and, with the 'stickiness' feature for PoIs, such as National Trust properties, the new version of the app will be a cracking tool for iPhone and Android cycle tourers.
Will BikeHub also be fixing it's "feature" where it unnecessarily hemorrhages battery power even when you quit it? (It leaves the GPS on…) Also, the place look-up has no caching, so takes about 5 minutes of standing in the cold while your internet struggles to find your destination. And it could just be me, but the program crashes at the start of the route about 5 times out of 10. PLEASE Cyclestreets, don't give up on your own app!
Do drop Bike Hub a line to point these out, on their forum at: http://www.bikehub.co.uk/forum/
Our own app will be getting an update soon, don't worry! The apps focus on different things, and we're really looking forward to having the circular routing added to the Bike Hub app.
David
It is an unintended feature but is easy to reverse. The hard way is to click out, double click and then press the minus button on the icon. This fully quits the app. The easy way is to hit any of the non-GPS functions, say the calendar. This knocks off the GPS in a micro-second.
In the next build there will be an option to keep or kill this feature. However, I like it for long rides. It means I can take pix without leaving the route.
All apps crash sometimes. I've not noticed Bike Hub crashing any more than others.
Thanks for your feedback.
Carlton and Martin, thanks for the responses and sorry for the outburst, but BikeHub is just so close to being brilliant that it is a shame about these three pitfalls.
The crashes are I suspect a memory issue, which I guess is not easy to solve. When you hit 'ride this route' it crashes 50% of the time. The trick I've found is to press the star to save the route as a favourite, so that if the program does crash, you don't have to go through the massive pain of telling it your route (which it is – please add basic caching of places and please make the 'find me' cross hairs button much bigger – it is so hard to click on!).
The GPS being left on is a serious problem, I really am dismayed you are still trying to spin it as a "feature". All my other map programs turn GPS off when you quit – e.g. Google, Cyclestreets, Atlas, OffMaps, Travel Guides. GPS receivers are quite capable of getting a fix quickly if they are switched off for a period of minutes (assuming you don't move to far), because the satellite positions follow the ephemeris data pretty accurately, so there is only fractional benefit of keeping it on in the background. Thanks for the tip for clicking away from the map, but still if you forget then your phone dies in under 3 hours, which for someone who just cycled it work is a serious inconvenience, and someone who is cycling around countryside using their phone for maps or wanting to make a call is rather more serious problem. I'm afraid I have reccomended my dad doesn't use BikeHub as he is not techy enough to avoid it running down the battery, despite him being a keen cyclist and me raving about the satnav function. It can't be that hard to get it fixed can it?
Hi there, Thanks very much to Carlton & martin for their responses to my emails.
Regarding the GPS staying on after exiting the app, I saw a few reviews complaining about this, so I have left feedback on the iTunes app store to help people until the next Bike Hub app update.
I really hope you can sort the ability to drop multiple pins as waypoints, as I just wrote to Martin:
"I tried the Bike Hub’s multiple waypoints feature on a cycle last weekend, but only one of these waypoints can be a dropped pin on the map. I think a key addition would be the ability to drop multiple pins, thereby manually overriding the automatic route calculation should you wish to take a slightly different route… and also allowing correcting of any mistakes in the automatic routing."
Thanks again for two excellent FREE apps!
Kind regards,
Al
This is an old thread but I’m desperate for GPX uploads for bikehub and wondered whether this plotting thing here was any nearer completion. I’d like to join the bikehub forum but can’t as I keep getting error invalid letter and Sabre not allowing it no matter what a type in. Very frustrating
Hi Mickey
Yes, GPX uploads is on the way.
I have no idea why you can’t access the forum, it’s open and others post there.