General orienteering (allmän orientering)

ORoute: en ny app för att dela din rutt snabbt, allt på mobilen!

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Det är ganska svårt att göra tävlingsrecension eftersom QuickRoute (av Mats Troeng) har ingen mobilversion. Det betyder att man ska göra det hemma. Eller inte heller (p.g.a. prokrastinering).

Nu har en orienterare från Kina skapat en Android-app som hjälpa dig måla rutten, ange kommentarer och dela på nätet inom minuter, på plats i tävlingscentrum! Tyvärr finns det bara på förenklad kinesiska och bara i form av APK-nedladdning (dvs. INTE på Google Play): https://www.facebook.com/groups/647618042241873?view=permalink&id=684041575266186 (Glöm inte att tillåta APK-installation på mobilen—läs extern guide på engelska)

Här är en genväg till att använda den kinesiska appen:

1. Menyn

Klicka på (+) för att starta en ny bana.

2. Om banan

Välj när tävlingen hände.

Datum, tävlingens namn, ort, bana, ev. kommentarer. Klicka på pennan.

Hur vill du importera kartan?

3. Måla rutten

Zooma till starten, och klicka på pennan.

Måla rutten på skärmen. Klicka på cirkeln däruppe när du ankommer på kontrollen.

Du har ankommit på kontrollen. Klicka på A för att kommentera. Click A to add comments.

Ange kommentarer och sträcktid.

Repetera fram till du ankommer på målet. (Det finns inget “mål” i appen. Om din bana har 15 kontroller, så visas målet som den 16:e kontrollen)

Klart med rutten!

4. Dela

Klicka på kartan för att gå in sidan nedan. Du kan dela din karta som bild.

OBS! Molnen fungerar INTE för tillfället. Ses ut som serverproblem.

Klart!

Tillbaka till menyn: din nya bana står där!

Appskapare kommer från Kina förstås, och i Kina använder man Weixin, QQ osv. som vi i Sverige har nästan aldrig hört om. Det finns dock mejladressen som kontakt (163.com, erbjuds av NetEase i Kina), och en Facebookgrupp (Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/647618042241873 med exportexemplar)!

Min kommentar…

Det är mycket bekväm att ha en mobilapp där du kan recensera din tävling snabbt—en “game changer”, som vill man säga—men några saker bör förbättras:

  1. Det behövs åtminstone en engelska version
  2. Appen bör ha GPX-import (från GPS-ur) såsom i QuickRoute
  3. Fixa molnen; ännu bättre om det finns integration med severmjukvaror såsom DOMA

De goda saker—

  1. Allt på mobilen, absolut!
  2. Kommentar får anges och visas på bilden som exporteras
  3. Lätt att exportera bilder, redo för uppladdning till Instagram, Facebook osv.

Prova nu—och besluta om det är bättre än den “vanliga” QuickRoute!

China (mainland)

Orienteering app tutorial: ORoute Share

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One headache I have after every orienteering event is that QuickRoute (the popular route drawing software by Mats Troeng) doesn’t have a mobile version. Which means that I have to wait until back home to draw my route. Which means I’m not gonna do it (read: procrastination).

An orienteer from China, Xian Chengbin, has written an app to help you share your route on your Android mobile phone! Now you can draw your route, complete your evaluation and share it online just minutes after finishing (or after getting back your map, whichever comes latter). For the meantime, however, it comes with only a Simplified Chinese version and only via private APK download (i.e. you won’t find it on Google Play). Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/647618042241873?view=permalink&id=684041575266186 (A handy reminder for APK downloads: you need to set your phone to allow APK installations first—see this external guide)

To guide you through the sometimes confusing sea of Chinese characters (for many Westerners, I suppose), here’s a tutorial to guide you through the app:

1. The menu

Click (+) to start a new course.

2. Basic course info

Choose date and time of event.

Date, name, place, result, class, comments. Then click on the pen.

Choose how you will import the map.

3. Draw route

Zoom to start, then click on the pen.

Start drawing your route on screen. When you reach the next control, click on the circle at the top.

You have reached your first control. Click A to add comments.

Comments and splits.

Continue above steps until you reach the finish. (There is no separate finish symbol in this app. If your course has 15 controls, your finish will be Control 16—don’t cringe!)

Done with the route!

4. Share

Click on the map to enter the page below. You can share your map as an image.

NOTE: The cloud option does NOT seem to work at this moment. (Appears to be server connection problem)

Done!

Back to the menu: there’s your new course!

The author of the app is from China, so the contact links are all Weixin and QQ which you might not use. Still, there’s the Facebook Group from the download link at the top! (Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/647618042241873 with export examples)

Now my comments…

It’s a very handy app which might prove to be a real game changer—provided that some of the following improvements are done:

  1. There needs to be an English version
  2. Add GPX-import capability from GPS watch, like what QuickRoute has
  3. Fix the cloud; if there is integration with map server packages like DOMA, that’s a plus

The best things about this app—

  1. All done on mobile, of course!
  2. Can add comments to each leg, exported with the map
  3. Easy export of images that are upload-ready to Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Give it a try—decide if this is better than your usual QuickRoute!

Okategoriserade

Why Asian orienteering?

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This post explains the rationale behind this website. You can also find the text at About us.

Orienteering has traditionally been centered on Europe, with the highest concentration of orienteers in Scandinavia and strong activity across Europe. Unfortunately, orienteering on the other continents have not yet been able to match that of Europe whether in activeness or in performance. European ways and terrains continue to dominate the definition of orienteering to this day.

Things are changing, however. In Asia, the Americas, Africa and Oceania, orienteering activity has increased and performance improved. Asia, in particular, is the most exciting place for orienteering growth—as adventure sports and travel gain momentum in Asia, so has orienteering become one of the newest trends in many Asian countries. In places where orienteering has been around for a while (like Hong Kong), the dynamics of the sport have been reinvigorated by a new generation of innovative orienteers. New championships are started and international events are springing up quickly.

Orienteering in Asia is very different from in Europe. While European-like forests can still be seen in the temperate areas of Asia (which China, Korea and Japan are privy to), the particular focus of orienteering development in Asia has been sprint orienteering. The cosmopolitan and urban-savvy populace in Asia’s metropolises are eager to take on the sport and discover their cities in a fun and engaging manner. The speed of sprint orienteering also has what it takes to make the sport trendy in fast-moving Asian cities. Trail orienteering is also seeing much growth in Asia, extending beyond its traditional base of masters and disabled persons. Not to ignore forest orienteering—places like Hong Kong are known to offer thrilling orienteering experiences with complicated terrain and breathtaking scenery just steps away from the city!

Just steps away from the city
Just steps away from the city

With more and more Europeans choosing Asia for holidays, among them orienteers, there is much potential for orienteering to grow even further in the cities, towns and resorts where the sport has not yet been a hit. Moreover, by encouraging interflow between orienteers far apart, we can make orienteering a truly worldwide sport with competitive events in all corners of the globe. ORIEN.ASIA aims to achieve this by bringing Asian orienteering to European orienteers online. We hope you will come and enjoy a unique orienteering experience in Asia.