The Bruce Trail - Official 1.2.7

Reviews

3 ★, on 2018-11-25
Some mixed opinions on the official Bruce Trail app. It took a long time and a lot of mucking around to get it to track location properly. The app kept telling me to turn on location services when in fact it was on. Suddenly it started working mid-hike. When the phone is put in the pocket, it does not record a breadcrumb of your route. It draws straight lines connecting points when you last had the map open. I was under the impression that it would properly record your track. Also, a lot of side trails of Rattlesnake Point and Crawford Lake weren't marked on the map. What seemed to be a simple loop actually had multiple trail paths - I assume all the other maps are missing side trails as well. Those side trails would come in handy for variety or for taking shortcuts. What I did like was the ability to quickly measure trail distances. What would be nice would be marked sections indicating distance and travel time, just like how Jeff's Maps are done for Algonquin Park. The camera did not work in app at all. It would have been nice to see a collection of photos properly geotagged on the map. It would be cool if geographic and historical notes were provided, or have crowdsourced photos/stories/notes from other hikers to share detours or points of interest. On the whole, it is a promising app but it could use some improvements. It's worth it when it is on sale (usually half priced at $10 in April). Have you tried the app? If so what are your thoughts?

2 ★, on 2018-09-21
I mainly use this app to have mobile access to the maps. However, the hike recording functionality is completely broken. After tapping the footprint icon, then the plus icon, it just takes you back to the map screen and doesn't do anything. And it's not my device as I have tv is problem on both my s6 and s8. Please fix this or at the very least, open source the app so that I can fix it myself. I love hiking the Bruce Trail and as a mobile developer, I would gladly donate some of my spare time to improve the app.

2 ★, on 2018-09-28
I used the app semi-successfully this past weekend and was planning on testing it out again this weekend on some new trails. Now the app will not open at all. I have cleared cache and even uninstalled / reinstalled. Disappointing for an app this expensive.

2 ★, on 2018-09-27
EDIT: About 2 weeks into using this app, and it won't even open now. I have attempted clearing the cache etc. with no luck. The strong point of the app is really giving you the Bruce trail guide book on your phone, and tracking yourself on the trail. As far as it's logging and photo features, they aren't very useful. I tested the tracking on 3 trails and it didn't log properly, whereas another app I was testing at the same time ran perfectly. I feel the app is overpriced based on its feature set and poor UI. But I hike the Bruce trail a lot and I purchased it to support the development of the app. From my testing so far, I would not rely on it as my primary navigation method while hiking though. I also would like to suggest a serious discount on this app be available for people who have purchased the physical guide book. The cost is just plain gouging if you have bought the book as well.

1 ★, on 2018-05-23
I have the Sept 2017 update to version 1.2.3. It is missing the Bennett Heritage Side Trail(and maybe others). Reported this to the BTC in July 2017 and again in Oct 2017. NOTHING! Is that why only ratings/reviews of the old versions are shown? Selling new version, but only showing reviews for the old version. Not cricket, mate. UPDATE: The version 1.2.4 of May 14, 2018 shows the Bennette Heritage Side Trail FINALLY after almost 1 year.

2 ★, on 2018-04-05
After finding a parking lot, there should be a way to open Google maps and navigate to it.