User Guide Android App. Get the most out of the MapItFast app on your Android device with this user guide.

Transcription

1 User Guide Android App Get the most out of the MapItFast app on your Android device with this user guide. Last Updated: January 2017

2 Disclaimer The use of GPS devices, tablets and smartphones with MapItFast and associated AgTerra products The internal GPS in your device can be used independently from online services to automatically set location information in the app, which is recorded as latitude and longitude. GPS accuracy may be influenced by topology, environment and equipment. Furthermore, the accuracy of the maps used in MapItFast (and its associated products: Strider, SprayLogger and TrackItFast) are not guaranteed. Please use care when using MapItFast. MapItFast requires online data transfers for some features, such as accessing online maps and sharing exported files. Accessing these features over data network services may incur costs from your provider. If you use the app and data services on your tablet, you are responsible for any fees that your service provider charges. Your service provider is not the provider of MapItFast. AgTerra Technologies makes no representations, expressed or implied, as to data accuracy, completeness, validity or suitability. The end user assumes the entire risk as to the quality of the data. AgTerra shall not be liable regardless of the cause or duration, for any errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or other defects in, or untimeliness or unauthenticity of data; or for any delay or interruption in the transmission of data to the user; or for any losses, injuries or damages arising from its display or use. 1

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Click on a topic to jump to page Introduction...3 System Requirements Installation Screen Icons Map Viewer...5 Buttons and Features Project Menu Add Objects...10 Add a Point Add a Line Add a Polygon Add a Polygon AND a Line Add a Picture Data Dictionaries Settings...16 MapItFast Login Select Project Select Basemap Display Settings GPS Settings Sync Settings SprayLogger Clear Basemap Tiles About Exiting MapItFast Frequently Asked Questions

4 Introduction Welcome to the help guide for the MapItFast Android App. MapItFast is designed to be the easiest way to gather and map point, line, polygon and camera images to create maps that may be easily shared with others. MapItFast is comprised of a field data collection component (Android smartphone or tablet) and a cloud services component for map management, sharing, and storage. With MapItFast, you have the ability to allow teams to collaborate on the same project in near real time. Maps may be shared with others and/or exported to formats accepted in third party GIS software such as Google Earth and ArcGIS. This help guide is designed to walk you through the operation of MapItFast on the MapItFast App. Please feel free to contact us at solutions@agterra.com or call us directly at if you need additional help or would like to receive assistance via a live web meeting. System Requirements In order to use MapItFast, your Android device must be an Android 3.0 OS or newer, have at least a 1 GHz processor and a built-in GPS receiver. You must also have a gmail.com account (for signing into Google Play). If you wish to take pictures and post them to your projects, your device must have a camera. Installation From your device s web browser, go to tap on MapItFast. As you scroll down, you will come to Click Here to Get Started, tap Download the FREE Mobile App. You will be directed to the Google Play Store where you will see the MapItFast Icon and a green button that says Install. Tap Install and follow the directions. When you get to the MapItFast License screen, tap Agree and your device will load the MapItFast app. Your screen should have an icon like this on it once MapItFast is successfully loaded. Tap on the app to begin mapping! 3

5 Note: It is very common to see a map of the world and the yellow arrow will be set at 0 degrees longitude and 0 degrees latitude. Seeing this means your GPS is not fixed on your current location. Exit MapItFast and go to another mapping program on your device, such as Google Maps. This should fix your GPS. Tap on the MapItFast app and wait to see that the Accuracy (in the upper left hand corner of your screen) should be improving. If you are inside a building, it may take a little longer to get an accurate location. You will know the GPS is working once the numbers next to the Accuracy get smaller. You can use the zoom feature (located in the bottom right of your screen) to better pinpoint your exact location. Screen Icons The GPS Fix (connection to GPS satellites). Tap to acquire the device location and center the Arrowhead in the middle of the screen. Layers. For registered users only, stacks on land ownership, boundaries, road lines or other data uploaded from KMZ or shapefiles. Long press to upload offline layersets in the form of MIFzip files. Settings. Tap for Project Management, More Settings, or to Exit MapItFast. The Arrowhead. Marks the location of the device. Tap once to record a Point at current position. Press longer and drag to a mark a different location on map. Optional: Name it, add a description. Tap to start a line. Lines measure distance (feet or kilometers; once you ve walked enough feet, it will start recording in miles). Optional: Name it, add a description. Tap to start a Polygon. Polygons measure area. Optional: Name it, add a description. Pause a Line or Polygon, in the event of obstruction or distraction. Resume recording a Line or Polygon. (Draws a straight line from Pause) Double tap to stop a Line or Polygon. For a polygon, a straight line will be drawn from starting point to close the Polygon. Tap to take a Picture. Save or Cancel. Optional: Name it, add a description. Save it to assign GPS location. Add a Name and description (Optional). Tap to use the device microphone to record the name of the mapped feature. (May not be available on some devices.) 4

6 Zoom In/Zoom Out. You may also pinch in or pinch out using fingers on the screen. The number on the bottom shows your current zoom level. GPS status icon. Do not map with the device if Unknown is displayed (Indicates no satellite fix). Tap to see more detailed GPS parameters and enable Offset. The scale bar is shown below the GPS status icon Upper Left Corner Upper Middle Lower Left Corner Displays the User name (very small). For the free version, the default is NotLoggedIn. Displays the current project name (very small). Displays login status, synchronization progress and data connection availability. For the free version, the default is NotLoggedIn. A Project Upload Report can be viewed by tapping on this text. This is the MapItFast icon displayed on the device active apps bar if other apps were switched on. Mapping tasks such as line and polygon recording may go on. MapItFast will check the server approximately every 3 minutes while the app is open and running. Remember to exit out of the app when you re not using it in order to improve battery life. Tapping the icon will make MapItFast a dominant screen again. Map Viewer The first time you open the MapItFast app, you will be prompted to agree to the terms of the license agreement. Click Agree to proceed to the login page. 5

7 Click Agree to proceed to login page. The next screen will open the login credentials AgTerra. Check the box Again if you want your log you in the next time Login to go to the map a login window. Enter provided to you by next to Do Not Show device to automatically you open MapItFast. Tap viewer. 6

8 Enter your login credentials and check Do not show again if you want the app to automatically log you in next time. Note If you forget your password, use your web browser to go to mapitfast.agterra.com. At the login page, click Forgot username or password? You can enter either your username or address associated with the account to have a temporary password ed to you. The map viewer screen will display once you ve logged in. The map will center itself on a yellow triangle; this triangle indicates your device s current location. Map viewer buttons and features are explained on the next page. Map Viewer Buttons and Features 7

9 GPS Status Tap this box for more GPS details User Name and Project Name located along top black header (small text) Scale Locate Button (Zooms to current location) Layerset button Settings button Map a point Map a line Map a polygon Device location SprayLogger Selection Menu (If applicable) Take a picture Login and sync status. Tap the text for more sync details. Zoom In/Out Zoom Level Basemap provider Search tool SprayLogger Interface (if applicable) Project Menu 8

10 When you log into MapItFast for the first time, you will need to open a project to start mapping. You can either open an existing project or create a new one. 1) Tap the Settings button at the top of the screen to open the Settings menu. 2) Tap Select Project 3) The Project Menu will display three options: List Projects on Device, Load Project from Website, and Create New Project. You can use the screenshots and descriptions below to determine the best method for starting your project. 9

11 List Projects on Device If you previously created any MapItFast projects either on the website or another device, those projects can be accessed by tapping this button. Your device will connect to the server and display a list of all available projects that can be downloaded to your device. Note you must be connected to the Internet to get a list of projects from the server. Load Project from Device Any projects previously downloaded from the server will be displayed here. You can access this list even if you are in an offline environment since the data is stored on your device. You will not see any projects here if you are using the MapItFast app for the first time. Create a New Project It s easy to create a new project in the app. Tap Create New Project to give your new project a name and description. You can even use the microphone icons next to the text boxes to speak the name and description. Note New projects will sync with the server and appear on the MapItFast website as Uncategorized projects. They can be organized into folders on the website. 10

12 Add Objects The MapItFast app allows you to map points, lines and polygons in two ways 1) by following your device or 2) by allowing you to enter the objects manually. Because the app uses your device GPS to gather location data, you do not need to be connected to the Internet to add data. Add a Point Points are easy to add in MapItFast. To place a point at your current location, tap the point button to open the Add Point window. You will have the option to give the point a name and description. You don t have to fill out either of these fields, although it can help keep objects organized and allows you to use the Search tool. When you are finished adding your information, tap Done. A new point will be placed at your device s location: Manually Add a Point To add a point somewhere other than your current location, simply long press on the Point button. You will see small prompt at the bottom of your screen: Add a Line Once you choose your point location and tap the map, the Add Point window will open and allow you to add information. When you are done, the point will be added to the map. 11

13 Lines can help you measure distance or circumference. To create a line that follows your device, tap the line button. You will be asked to give your line a name and description. Note Up to two lines may be recorded at once! Tap Done and MapItFast will begin recording your line. Two new buttons will appear on the right-hand side of your map viewer. You will use these to tell your device when to pause and finish tracking your movements. Optional - Tap the Pause button while recording to temporarily stop drawing your line. The yellow Pause button will change to a blue Play button, which you must tap to resume. Twice to Stop. Tap the red button twice to finish your line. When a line has been stopped with a double tap of the red button, it will be saved as a new object in your project. 12

14 Manually Add a Line To add a line somewhere other than your current location, simply long press on the Line button. The Add Draw Line window will open and you can give the line a name. Hit Done to begin drawing your line. A new set of tools will appear in the top left corner of the map. Move Pauses your drawing and allows you to move around the map Draw Tool for drawing your line (activated by default) Finish/Save Marks your line as complete and saves it to your project Cancel/Delete Stops drawing and removes your line Green indicates the active tool. The Draw button will be highlighted by default when you first start a line. To draw a line, you can either hold your finger on the screen and drag the line, or you can tap the screen to place a vertex. Add a Polygon Add a Polygon Drag Method (Creates many vertices. Good for curves) Tap Method (Creates one vertex at a time. Good for straight lines) Tap the Save button when you are done and the new line will be saved to your project. Polygons are added much like lines. They can be created to measure the area of a project. To create a polygon that follows your device, tap the polygon button. You will be asked to give your polygon a name and description. Again, this is optional, but can be beneficial for organizing the objects in your project. 13

15 Tap Done and MapItFast will begin recording your polygon. Two new buttons will appear on the right-hand side of your map viewer. You will use these to tell your device when to pause and finish tracking your movements. The app will finish the polygon by drawing a straight line from the beginning location to the end location. Optional - Tap the Pause button while recording to temporarily stop drawing your polygon. The yellow Pause button will change to a blue Play button, which you must tap to resume. Twice to Stop. Tap the red button twice to finish your polygon. 14

16 Manually Add a Polygon To add a polygon somewhere other than your current location, simply long press on the Polygon button. The Add Draw Polygon window will open and you can give the polygon a name. Hit Done to begin drawing. A new set of tools will appear in the top left corner of the map. Move Pauses your drawing and allows you to move around the map Finish/Save Marks your polygon as complete and saves it to your project Draw Tool for drawing your polygon (activated by default) Cancel/Delete Stops drawing and removes your polygon Green indicates the active tool. The Draw button will be highlighted by default when you first start a polygon. To draw a polygon, you can either hold your finger on the screen and drag the shape, or you can tap the screen to place a vertex. Drag Method (Creates many vertices. Good for curves) Tap Method (Creates one vertex at a time. Good for straight lines) Tap the Save button when you are done and the new polygon will be saved to your project. 15

17 Add a Polygon AND a Line There may be a time when you will want to record both Lines and Polygons, i.e. when you need to know the perimeter and the area of a place (or there may be a time when you want to record two lines or two polygons simultaneously.) This is very easy to do. You will follow the same instructions for both as listed above. Controls for both objects will display on your screen and you can begin recording both at the same time. Remember to double-tap the red Stop button for each object to stop recording. Add a Picture At any point while drawing a line or working in your project, you can add pictures or add points of interest. If you want to add a picture, tap. The device s camera will open and you can snap a photo. After taking the photo, you will be asked to Save or Discard. Save will place the photo at your location and Discard will take you back to the camera screen where you can take a new picture. Once you save a picture, you will get the option to give it a name and description. Once a photo is added to the map, a blue camera icon will appear on the map. Your photo is now attached to that icon. 16

18 Data Dictionaries If you created a data dictionary on the MapItFast website, it will be available in the app when you add a new point, line or polygon. You can find the list of available data dictionaries by tapping Default underneath Name and Desc. This will expand a dropdown list of choices. Note - The Default data dictionary will save any names that have been manually entered. Commonly-used names will move to the top of the list. After a data dictionary has been selected, a list of available object names will appear. By selecting one of the names, your point, line or icon will change to match the data dictionary icon or color setting. Settings Menu The settings menu contains a variety of options for the MapItFast app. To access this menu, tap the settings button at the top of the map viewer: 17

19 Click a topic to jump to the description! MapItFast Login You can log in to a MapItFast account or change user accounts by selecting MapItFast login from the Settings menu. Once logged in, all changes you make to a project will be synced with the cloud. 18

20 Select Project A project must be selected before a user can add or modify map data. The settings menu allows users to load a project from the website, open a project already on the device, or start a new project. See more information here. Select Basemap MapItFast provides several different web-based basemaps that can be viewed on your device. These basemaps can be used in an online environment as well as offline if the map has been pre-cached. Pre-caching Map Tiles As you zoom and pan around a map, online basemap tiles are automatically saved to your device storage. This means that any tiles you viewed while online are also available to view offline. You may wish to use this method of pre-caching tiles when you know you will be working offline in a specific area. MapItFast also has the ability to display custom offline basemaps uploaded directly from an SD card. This method eliminates the need for pre-caching. AgTerra can provide documentation and support for creating your own custom basemaps as well as basemap-processing services upon request. 19

21 Display Settings The Display Settings menu allows you show or hide certain objects or features of the MapItFast viewer. For example, you can hide all points, all polygons, all photo points, or all three at once. This may be helpful on maps that have become busy with multiple objects. Line colors can be changed here. If this option is selected, point, line, polygon buttons will auto-hide when not in use. Show or hide all point objects. Show or hide all line objects. Show or hide all polygon objects. Show or hide all picture points. Show or hide all user locations Show or hide all assets (for TrackItFast users) Use metric measurements You won t be asked to name a new object if this box is unchecked. Good for users who wish to map quickly without messing with dialog boxes. The coordinate system list allows you to change how latitude and longitude are displayed in the MapItFast app. Decimal Degrees is the default. GPS Settings The GPS Settings menu allows you to customize how the app utilizes the GPS signal to track and record your location when mapping objects like polygons and lines. 20

22 Position Accuracy Set the lowest accuracy allowed for GPS position capture (the higher the number, the lower the accuracy). If this value is set too low, your position will not be updated. Minimum Distance Choose the minimun distance the device must travel before the location is logged on the map. A higher number will reduce the number of points recorded and will create a less accurate object. Minimum Time Set the time interval for points to be logged by MapItFast. A shorter time interval will use more data from the device but will create more points and return a more accurate object. Sync Settings The sync settings menu provides customizable sync options for your MapItFast data. For example, if you are in an area where your data connection is weak or spotty, you may wish to uncheck Enable Synchronization. When you get back to a reliable Internet connection, you can check the box again and MapItFast will sync all your collected data to the server. MapItFast will use an available Internet connection to sync new data. If a lot of data is collected offline or in an area with a weak connection, it might be a good idea to uncheck this box to pause syncing until you are in an area with a strong connection. Uncheck the box to make your location no longer visible to others within the project. Additional status information will display in the lower left hand corner of the map viewer when this box is checked. Uncheck the box to send data over an unencrypted connection (generally used for troubleshooting purposes) SprayLogger If you are using SprayLogger units alongside the MapItFast app, the SprayLogger user interface (UI) will be displayed at the bottom of your map viewer. 21

23 If you would like to hide this display, you can go to Settings SprayLogger, then choose Hide SprayLogger UI. The SprayLogger option in the settings menu has two functions. 1) You can choose to show or hide the SprayLogger UI and 2) You can download lists from the SprayLogger server. An Internet connection is required to download lists from the server. Layersets Layersets that have been uploaded to the MapItFast website can be accessed through the MapItFast app via the Layersets button at the top of the screen. When a layerset is activated, it will display as an overlay on the map. Layersets may be used with any project and can be turned on or off as needed. Note Unlike map objects, layersets are not interactive (meaning they can t be tapped on for more information or modified in any way). Layersets are designed to provide additional basemap reference only. Clear Basemap Tiles MapItFast will automatically cache basemap tiles as you pan and zoom around the map with an Internet connection. Cached tiles are saved to the device s storage and are made available for viewing when the app is offline. You can use the Clear Basemap Cache tool in the Settings menu to check the cache size and clear it out if necessary. When you tap on Clear Basemap Tiles, MapItFast will begin analyzing the size of the tile cache on your device. Once complete, a window will display the file size of your cached tiles. 22

24 You can choose to Clear Cache or Close the window and keep your current cached tiles. Tile Caching and Storage Cached map tiles typically don t take up a lot of storage on a device, but if you notice the app or your device running slowly, it may be helpful to clear the cache. Keep in mind that once the cache is cleared, you will have to re-cache any map tiles you may need for offline mode. About The About page displays the app version along with a link to the help guide PDF file and additional licensing and privacy policy information. You can use the About page to verify that you have the most recent version of the app or to find additional help on a topic in the help guide. Exiting MapItFast To better preserve the battery life on your device, it is necessary to do a hard exit when done mapping. Closing out of the app with a hard exit will stop the app from regularly checking the database for updates, which can drain the battery. To do a hard exit, simply tap the settings icon and choose Exit. Then tap Yes to confirm. 23

25 Note If you do not perform a hard exit of the app, MapItFast will continue running in the background and will gradually drain your battery! Frequently Asked Questions I just downloaded MapItFast to my device and when I opened it, there was a map of the world and the yellow arrow was in the Atlantic Ocean. What do I do? This is very common when you first download the MapItFast app. You need to exit MapItFast and go to another program on your device that uses the GPS function, like Google Maps. Allow that program to acquire your position and then exit. Go back to the MapItFast App and allow the GPS to acquire your location. This may take several minutes. (If you are in a building, this could take a bit longer.) How accurate is MapItFast? MapItFast is accurate to 5 to 20 feet. If absolute accuracy is needed, an external GPS like the one shown here can be linked to your device via Bluetooth for pinpoint accuracy. How many projects can I save on my device? Registered users can have unlimited projects. Most devices will have enough storage to handle a large number of projects and map objects. Remember, MapItFast also stores basemap tiles as you pan and zoom around the map, so these will be stored on your device as well. The free version of MapItFast will allow up to two (2) projects on your device at a time. How many pictures and points can I save to a project? You can save thousands of pictures and points to a project. The typical user will not run out of memory on their device with numerous photos and/or points. Lines and polygons are essentially objects made up of multiple points, so these will take up more space on a device. A project with thousands of lines or polygons may become slow or less responsive because of the amount of points saved to the device and synced to the database. The battery on my smartphone and/or tablet does not seem to be lasting very long since I have started using MapItFast. Why is this happening? 24

26 It is very important that you perform a hard exit when you are done mapping. To do this, go to the main menu, and tap Exit MapItFast. If you do not completely exit the program, the program will run in the background of your device causing battery life to be diminished. I want to add a form to my map. How do I do this? Forms must be uploaded to the Strider website before they are available on MapItFast. Forms are built in Excel and can be built from scratch or by using one of AgTerra s available form templates. Contact AgTerra for more information. My question still isn t answered here. Is there a person I can talk to? Yes! Please call Monday through Friday, from 8 AM to 5 PM Mountain Time. You can also solutions@agterra.com. For more information, please go to 25