Saturday, October 4, 2014

Camino Pilgrim App Tutorial

A personal scheduler for your Camino.  Find yourself. Find the Way.

Cool Features!  Share your location! Create your own schedule with dates! Offline maps! Automatically computed cumulative distances per day!

Important!  To use the new Share location feature which uses location services, please reboot your phone/device. (This is due to a reported bug in the latest Google Play Services update.)

FAQs (Frequently answered questions) answered here: FAQs

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Quick Start

At a glance -- Creating your own customized schedule:


  • Create your own schedule/itinerary based on a system-provided itinerary, click on:

  • Set up your planned schedule:

  • Edit days of the created itinerary -- Long-press the day/stage -- Choose among options from screen: 

  • Now you have your own schedule!


At a glance, see Albergue locations on Map

  • Click on Albergue name:
  • See albergue on map in orange! 


Please read on to use all the features!


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The Camino Pilgrim app, now ver 1.5.3, is an Android app that helps you plan and walk your pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago, particularly on the Camino Frances and Camino Finisterre.

Now you can leave your heavy guidebooks and maps behind.

In this latest version, you can do the following:
  • Check out different itineraries for the Camino Frances (31, 32, 34, or 35 days) and Camino Finisterre (3 or 4 days via Muxia)
  • Customize the provided base itineraries to fit your needs
  • Create a schedule of your Camino Itinerary with dates and cities to stop in 
  • Check distances between localities, and cumulative distances for each day, to better plan and walk your Camino
  • Share/email your itinerary or schedule to your family and loved ones
  • Check localities on the Camino, their distances, altitudes, facilities
  • See pilgrim albergues per locality, and check out their costs, opening times, facilities, addresses and contact information
  • Call albergues and visit their websites directly from the app
  • View maps online to look at nearby localities and lodgings, using either Google Maps or OpenStreetMaps
  • View maps offline, even if there is no wifi, once you download offline maps to your device
  • Find out exactly where you are on the map
  • New! Share your exact coordinates/location to your family and loved ones while you are walking the Way to free them from worry
  • See where you are relative to a simplified Camino track overlaid on the map
  • Look at basic information on the Camino.
If you like the app, please give me a rating at the Google Play Store (a good one, I hope :-).  The link is available here:  Camino Pilgrim

If you encounter any issues, problems or questions, please send me feedback/email me using the Send Feedback button in the app. It looks like this:
Please email me first before deciding to give me a lower rating.  I always answer any issues and problems and have sometimes implemented users' suggestions if they will improve the app.  I will be very happy to try and solve your issues and everyone will be happier if the app gets better.  Please kindly consider that this is a free app, and I am just relying on donations to keep up with my work.

Thank you and Buen Camino!


Showing your Location on a Map

Sharing your Location


Changing App Settings


Using Online Maps


Using Offline Maps


Tell a Friend


Send Feedback


About this App


Tutorial/Information


Donate


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The Navigation Drawer

This is accessed by swiping from the left or clicking on the 3 little lines on the upper left side, and shows you the options available in the app.





Itineraries/Schedules

Choose Itineraries/Schedules from the Navigation Drawer to look at system-provided base Itineraries and later, itineraries and schedules that you create.  The screenshot below shows you the default Itinerary -- a 35-day walk combining the Camino Frances/Finisterre that starts from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and ends in Muxia.





Browsing and Selecting Itineraries

Clicking on the spinner, the one that has "I: Cam Frances/Fin 35 days..." will show you a dropdown list of all the available itineraries (prefixed by an "I"), and Schedules (prefixed by an "S"), as shown in the screenshot below.  You can check out any of the itineraries by choosing them in the spinner.  Once you have selected an itinerary, you can follow it while walking the Camino or create your own customized schedule and itinerary based on a particular itinerary.





Creating your own Customized Itinerary and Schedule (with Dates)

You can create your own itinerary and/or schedule using the Camino Pilgrim.

Here is how to do it.  You first decide which itinerary you want to roughly follow, and select this.  For example, if you choose the 35 day Pinay Pilgrim itinerary, make sure you have chosen it in the dropdown spinner (as shown above) and it is showing on your device. From there, click on the Hiker with the + sign which is this icon in the action bar -- >


A dialog box will appear where the Base Itinerary is shown (in this case, "Cam Frances/Fin 35 days (Pinay Pilgrim)".  The dialog asks you to specify:
  • your itinerary name ("Camino Pilgrim" is the default which you can change by revising the User Name in Settings)
  • your start place (choosing from the options that will be shown to you in a dropdown spinner)
  • your end place (choosing from the options that will be shown to you in a dropdown spinner)
  • your start date (choosing from the date picker).   
Once you have chosen these items, simply click OK.



An itinerary and schedule are then created for you, the following screen is shown to prompt you to either Save and Edit or Discard. Click on either the button Save and Edit? (to save and continue editing the created schedule/itinerary) or Discard (to cancel the creation).


Once you press Save and Edit, your new Schedule (i.e. "S: Pinay Pilgrim - Schedule") is shown.  You may either edit this (the schedule contains the dates of your planned camino) or edit the itinerary (available under the drop-down list as an itinerary (in our example, named "I:Pinay Pilgrim - Itinerary").

Editing your created Itinerary/Schedule

To edit the generated schedule or itinerary, make sure to choose the name in the Itinerary/Schedule drop down list at the top of the app.  In our example, S: Pinay Pilgrim -Schedule is selected, as shown in the screenshot below.



Long-press on any of the lines of the schedule (representing the day of your itinerary and the start and end place for that day).  In the example below, if you long-click the first item on the list (i.e. "1 Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port  - Orreaga/Roncesvalles"), the following options will appear, as shown in the screenshot.



For example, to add a rest day in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, just Long click on day "1 Saint-Jean-Pied-de Port to Orreaga/Roncesvalles", then click OK when you are prompted if you want to stay a day in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Easy!

To make a stop between two place, say, if you want to stop somewhere between Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles, as it is too long and steep a walk, then choose "Insert in Between Day", then you are prompted with the places you can stop.  These options are shown in the following screenshot:





For example, you can choose "Orisson", as the walk to Roncesvalles is steep and long, so you want to stop after a few kilometers, you press Orisson, and the following prompt appears to tell you how long the walk would be.  If you press Ok, your schedule will be revised accordingly.



If you feel a walking day is too short, then you can combine two days. For example, in the Pinay Pilgrim Itinerary, you can combine Los Arcos - Viana nd Viana - Logroño. First, Long click on the Los Arcos - Viana stage, then you are shown the following prompt:





If you click Ok, then the final walking day in your revised schedule, as shown in the prompt will be Los Arcos - Logroño which is 27.8 kms.

If you want to stay an extra day in Santiago de Compostela, then you only need to Long-click on the itinerary stage O Pedrouzo - Santiago de Compostela, and choosing "Add Extra Day".  You will be prompted with "Add an extra day at Santiago de Compostela?" and if you click ok, then the next day will be scheduled there.

In this way, by long-clicking on the stages and deciding what to do, you will come up with your own schedule with the dates of your trip!

Please note that Generate Itinerary will create both a schedule (with dates) and itinerary (without dates). You will see this on the dropdown spinner on the top part of the screen (in the screenshot below: S: Pinay Pilgrim-Schedule - "S" means Schedule and "I" means Itinerary).

Viewing your Itinerary/Schedule

Here is a sample Schedule generated using the app (with my actual Pinay Pilgrim trip), together with the dates.   We use the same example above, where the schedule is based on the "Cam Frances/Fin 35 days (Pinay Pilgrim)" itinerary. We have added a rest day in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, inserted an in-between day at Orisson, and combined the Los Arcos - Logroño leg (not shown in below screenshot).





Sharing your Schedule or Itinerary

To share your schedule or itinerary with your family and friends, just click on the share icon.
                                   

You will be prompted with a grid layout of possible sharing options (like Gmail, Dropbox, Facebook -- depending on the Apps you have in your phone/tablet). Just choose the particular option, and a copy of your itinerary will be generated.

Deleting your created Itinerary/Schedule

You can delete the schedule or itinerary you created.

With the Spinner on the top of your app, go to the itinerary/schedule you want to delete.

Click on the overflow menu. This icon -->


and choose Delete Itinerary/Schedule.  Note that you can not delete the system-provided itineraries.  You can only delete the itineraries/schedules you created.

Viewing Locality Stops for the day

If you need to know more about the locality stops of your Itinerary/Schedule day, the next screen shows that.  The icons refer to the facilities available in the locality. This will make it easier for you to decide whether to stop there for the night, have something to eat, take the bus, and so on.  The bed icons with the M, R, P refers to the following: M - Municipal Albergue, R - Albergue Parroquial/Religious Albergue, and P - Private Hostel.

You can check what the other icons mean by clicking on the I (Icon Legend) on the action bar, but they are quite self-explanatory too.  The altitude, distance to the next stop, cumulative distances (added in Ver 1.5.3) and distance to Santiago (found to the right of the locality name) is also shown in this screen.  Note that the values appearing within parentheses "( )" are actually values for the alternate route.

In the following 2 screens below, we see the Localities in Stage of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port - Orreaga/Roncesvalles.  The second screen is the scrolled-down screen of the first.  We see that the stage starts in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and there is a message that "Alternate route forks here".  This message means that you may either choose the regular route (in this case passing through Huntto, Orisson, etc) or the alternate route (passing Arneguy and Luzaide/Valcarlos). Both routes will converge in Orreaga/Roncesvalles which is marked with the message "Alternate route rejoins here".  Regular route cumulative distances are accumulated from the start point or where "alternate route forks here".  Alternate route cumulative distances are also accumulated at the point where "alternate route forks".  Both continue to accumulate along their respective routes and are then shown as two separate cumulative distances at the join route marked as "Alternate route rejoins here" which in this case is Orreaga/Roncesvalles, as shown below.  The distance from last locality shows 1.6 (12.0).  This means that the distance from the last locality in the Regular Route is 1.6 kms, and the distance from the last locality in the Alternate Route (in this case Luzaide/Valcarlos) is 12.0 kms.  The cumulative distance shows 25.6 (25.0), which means that the regular route kms from Saint-Jean to Roncesvalles passing the regular route is 25.6 kms, and passing the alternate route is 25.0 kms.

Note about regular routes vs. alternate routes:  The regular routes are the traditionally followed Camino de Santiago/Camino Frances routes.  Sometimes, some routes are closed which is why you would choose the alternate route.  Sometimes, some routes are prettier to walk along and less busy, even if they are farther.  Sometimes,  there are some nice monuments or places you would see in the alternate route.  The next subsection discusses the alternate routes described in this app.






Alternate Routes

There are 6 alternate routes that are incorporated in this app as shown below.  You may decide to follow the alternate route for the reasons given below.

Alternate route 1:
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Orreaga/Roncesvalles via Luzaide/Valcarlos
(forks at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, rejoins at Orreaga/Roncesvalles)
Note: Alternate route via Valcarlos is taken when the Pyrenees route is closed due to bad weather or snow.

Alternate route 2:
Pamplona - Puente la Reina via Eunate
(forks at Muruzabal, rejoins at Obanos)
Note: Alternate route via Eunate is shown to look at the Iglesia Eunate, a beautiful Gothic church.

Alternate route 3:
Teradillos de las Templarios - El Burgo Ranero via Calzadilla de los Hermanillas
(forks at Calzada del Coto, rejoins at Mansilla de las Mulas)
Note: Alternate route via Calzadilla de los Hermanillos is more peaceful/quiet and does not pass beside the main road.

Alternate route 4:
Leon - San Martin del Camino via Vilar de Mazarife
(forks at Virgen de la Camino, rejoins at Puente de Orbigo/Hospital de Orbigo)
Note: Alternate route via Vilar de Mazarife is more peaceful/quiet and does not pass by the main road.

Alternate route 5:
O Cebreiro - Triacastela - Sarria via Samos
(forks at Triacastela, rejoins at Aguiada)
Note: Alternate route via Samos is taken to look at the famed Samos Benedictine Monastery.

Alternate route 6:
Ages - Burgos via Villafria
(forks at Orbaneja Riopico, rejoins at Burgos)
Note: Alternate route via Villafria is a bit shorter but said to be more industrialized and polluted

Showing Locality Stops on the Map

Clicking on the Map icon shows you the locality stops in the stage.  Here is the Map icon -->



The orange-colored icons are the start and end localities.  The red line is a simplified version of the Camino Trail route overlaid on the map.  Clicking on the Show my location icon-- this one -->



will show you where you are if you have the GPS enabled (even if you are not yet on the Camino :-) ). Below is a screenshot of the Localities in the Itinerary stage, from O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela, shown on an online OpenStreetMap.





Viewing Lodgings in a Locality

Clicking on a locality will show you the next screen which contains the lodgings available in that locality, including their address, a phone contact (click on the link to call them directly), a website (click on the link to go the website directly) and an email (click on the link to email them directly).

Opening and closing seasons and times are shown in the next line. The next line shows the number of beds available (there are 120 beds available in the Albergue Xunta de Arca do Pino as shown below), an icon which tells the type of lodging (M - Municipal Albergue, R - Albergue Parroquial/Religious albergue, P - Private Hostel) and the cost for a bunk bed  (and whether it includes breakfast or a meal).  The next set of icons shows  the available facilities, i.e. if you can get a pilgrim passport there, kitchen facilities, washing facilities, drying facilities, wifi, internet, vending machine, and bike space.  To see the icon legend, click on the i or information icon.  If the information icon is not visible, click on the overflow icon (the 3 dots) and then choose Icon Legend.  I think the icons are quite self-explanatory, though.




Showing Lodgings on the Map

Clicking on the Map (the globe icon) or clicking on one of the Lodging names will display a map with the available lodgings in the locality.  If you clicked on the lodging name, it will be shown in orange as in the screenshot below using the Mapsforge offline Maps setting.





Showing your Location on the Map

To Show where you are on the map, click on the Show location icon -->



 If it is not on the action bar, then look for it in the overflow menu, the 3 dots, with the title "Show my  Location",


You will then be brought to your current location on the map, with a hiker sign showing exactly where you are.


Sharing your Location

With the Camino Pilgrim app, you can Share your location or exactly where you are (coordinates and address) either by email, sms, viber or whatever is available in your device.  When I was on the Camino last Spring 2013, I used another app to share my location with my family -- I think it is important to have and so I put this feature in this app.

For this feature, location services must be enabled.

Important Note for Sharing your Location!  As mentioned at the start, you will have to reboot your device to ensure that the latest update of Google Play Services is enabled.   It may happen that the message "Location Services not Available" appears.  In this case, please reboot your phone/device.  This was also a problem in my test device but location services then worked after a simple reboot. :-)

You also need to make sure that your phone has Wifi enabled, GPS enabled and Location Services on.

How do you set location services on?

For Android 4.1:  go to Settings -> Location and Security, and enable wireless networks and/or GPS Satellites.  Then go to Privacy and check Use my Location

For Android 4.2:  go to Settings -> Location access, and set Access to my location ON
Also check GPS Satellites and Wi-Fi & mobile network location.

 For Android 4.4:  go to Settings -> Location and make sure it is on.

Now you are ready to share your location! Just click on the share location icon, and a set of different options for sharing are shown, depending on what is available in your device. i.e. Gmail, Evernote, Drive, Google+, Hangouts, SMS.  To share on Facebook, the coordinates of your location will appear, and you will be asked to write something.



By the way, if you encounter a new albergue, it would be great if you could send me the coordinates using this share your location option (email: feedback@camino.moemke.com). Then I would be able to add this albergue to a new version.  The place has to cater to pilgrims with beds costing less than 20 euros. Please remember to add the name of the albergue, and other information such as address, telephone, website, email, opening times and dates, number of beds, and information that is specified in the app.


Changing App Settings

You can also change the App settings by clicking on the Overflow Menu (the 3 dots on the lower right hand side), and choosing Settings.



In some smaller devices, this icon does not appear and the overflow icon may look like the icons described in this link: different menu/overflow menu icons.  If so, just click on whichever overflow icon is used in your device and choose "Settings."

The settings that can be changed are as follows:
  • User Name, defaulted to "Camino Pilgrim"
  • Measurement units (defaulted to "metric")
  • Map Type (defaulted to "Google Maps Online").
You can see the settings that can be changed in the screenshot below.





Note that Settings may be found in another place in different phones.

The User Name becomes the prefix default name for your itinerary or schedule, with a number added on (for example "Camino Pilgrim 1").  The measurement units are used for the kilometer totals.  The Map type can be one of 3 types:

  • Google Maps - Online
  • OpenStreetMaps - Online
  • Mapsforge - Offline

You may choose which one you prefer.

Please note that the online maps requires wifi or a data connection/mobile data enabled in your mobile phone. If you are using your phone, it may use up your bandwidth.  Warning! Please remember to turn OFF mobile data on your phone if you do not want to use it! Maps take up a lot of data. This can be done in Android by choosing your phone or device Settings, choosing Data Usage, then going to Mobile tag, then setting Mobile data OFF.

When using the online option, you may notice that when you have browsed over an area of the map, even if you are offline, you are still able to see the sections of the map you had browsed. This is because these areas are cached.  What I suggest is that while you are in a place with Wifi, browse over the map sections you will need to use. This caches the particular map data on your phone and will show the map sections even if you are offline (note that even if you choose this option but you have mobile data on, the online maps will be downloaded, so again, please remember to turn OFF mobile data on your phone!)

The Offline Map option allows you to browse maps even without wifi or a data connection.  For more on offline map usage, please see the next section.


Using Online Maps

Camino  Pilgrim has 2 options for online maps, either Google Maps or OpenStreetMaps.  This can only be used if you have a wifi connection or have Mobile Data enabled on your phone.  Please ensure that your mobile data is disabled if you do not want to use it for loading map data, as it may be expensive with your carrier.  To disable mobile data in Android, go to Settings -> Data Usage and set Mobile data OFF.


You need to choose which online map you want to use by Changing App Settings as above.

Here is an example using Google Maps





Here is an example of using OpenStreetMaps




Using Offline Maps

Offline maps are extremely useful when you do not have a wifi or mobile data connection, which probably means most of the time that you are walking on the camino.

Important Note!  Please note that offline maps may be unstable on devices with low memory.  If this happens on your device, please just use online maps.  Browsing to maps/areas you need will save these areas into a cache which you can look at when you are offline or have no internet connection.  I am trying to work on this issue.  If you can, please send me feedback via the send feedback link telling me your experience with using offline maps -- this will help me fix issues (please note what phone/device you have, the android version and the problem you encountered).

Currently, there are 3 Map Types provided in the Settings of Camino Pilgrim:

  • Google Maps - Online
  • OpenStreetMaps -  Online
  • Mapsforge - Offline

If you are using Wifi and/or have no limitations in mobile data, then using the online maps, i.e. Google Maps - Online and OpenStreetMaps - Online -- is not a problem. You may notice, though, that OpenStreetMaps (OSM) online maps may load a bit slower than those of  Google Maps, so please just be patient.  The OSM tiles are provided by the Mapquest.  You may also notice that if you use the online options, if you have browsed through certain areas online, these areas will also be visible even if there is no data connection.  This is because the map tiles you have browsed are sometimes cached.

If you are walking on the Camino and do not have Wifi or do not want to use Mobile Data, then you would need to have an offline capability to view the maps.  In the latest version, version 1.20, Camino Pilgrim now allows you the option to view the Camino offline.

To use the offline maps option, go to the Settings screen as shown here. The Settings Screen is accessed by pressing the 3 dots on your action bar and choosing Settings.  Set your Map Type to the Mapsforge -- Offline option. Under Manage Offline Maps, press Download Offline Maps and you will be prompted to download maps.  The maps (Spain and France Aquitaine) are downloaded from the Mapsforge servers and total about 300 MB, so use the offline option only if you have enough space.  The downloading is done in the background, and you will notice this in your notifications.  You may continue using the app even while the offline maps are being downloaded.

If you do not want to use the offline maps option or need the space, just press Delete Offline Maps. Once in a while, the maps are updated on the server, so just press Update Offline Maps if you would like to get the latest offline map versions. Make sure you have a stable and fast internet connection when downloading offline maps.  If you are downloading, but want to cancel download, then click on Cancel Download of Offline Maps and your ongoing download will be cancelled.  This means that if you decide to abort your download, you may just click on this option.

Once the Mapsforge - Offline option is set, you can use the maps even without an internet connection, as long as you set your GPS on in your phone.

Here is a map of Logroño (great tapas here!!!) using the Mapsforge - Offline maps. (Screenshot from a 7" tablet)




Notice that there is a red line drawn on top of the map -- this is actually a simplified version of the Camino route.  It gives a general direction of where you should go, but please do not depend on it completely. When in doubt, ask your fellow pilgrims, or even better, pay attention and follow the yellow arrows that will lead you to Santiago de Compostela.


Tell a Friend

Tell a friend about this app!


Send Feedback

Feedback is very important to me as it is very difficult to find out how the app reacts across so many different types of devices with different Android versions, different sizes, different setups, different memory and storage space and different resolutions.  I have tried my best to create layouts for different resolutions but I may have missed something.

I would very much appreciate your feedback!  You can also put comments here on this blog. I assure you that I read them and am always very happy when someone writes to tell me that this app has been useful to them! Or even to tell me how it is going on your Camino. :-)


About this App

Choosing this option in the Navigation Drawer tells you information about the app, particularly:
  • About this App
  • Terms of Service
  • Attribution and Links

Tutorial/Information

Clicking on Tutorial/Informations shows links to useful information, particularly a Tutorial for the Camino Pilgrim App and easy links to other useful posts that can be found in my blog called Pinay Pilgrim.


If you like the app and have found it useful to you, and would like to donate to the developer towards the maintenance and development of the app, please click on the Donate button (shown below). Please choose any amount you would like to donate.

Thank you very much for your donation!






All set and Buen Camino!

Ok then, I think this is enough to get you started.  Try out making a schedule with my app, and just email me or comment here in the blog if you have questions, and I will be very happy to answer them!

Have fun and Buen Camino!

Here is a link to my blog which I used as the basis for the 35 day itinerary listed here. Check it out at  Pinay Pilgrim Blog.

8 comments :

  1. Greeting!
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    ReplyDelete
  2. Any app you have done for the Mozarabe and the Levante Caminos?

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for the app... I wish to download maps, to use offline. But I cannot find the 3 dots. Please instruct me, thanks...

    "To use the offline maps option, go to the Settings screen as shown here. The Settings Screen is accessed by pressing the 3 dots on your action bar"

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good App, has been very helpful for me. FYI the Albergue Mensón El Acebo costs 7€ now, not 5€. But price is good and dinner was very good, too. Very friendly people.
    Greetings from the Camino!

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  6. Any news on this app being developed for Apple? I used it on my android device in 2016 but now changed.

    ReplyDelete
  7. How often is the Albuergue info updated?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I own a Samsung S10 and am unable to download maps, any ideas? Thanks Wildman

    ReplyDelete