Mobile Mapillary applications have changed to not match my usage patterns, the existing usability concerns haven’t been improved, thus I had to stop using the apps some time last year.
I’ve tried looking for an application to replace Mapillary with - something that would ensure basic GPS precision is there. It would complicate the workflow by requiring to use mapillary_tools afterwards, but I’d take that over the current app, unfortunately.
Would anybody have an idea for a simple app for this, primarily for iPhone?
So far I have tried running something like OsmAnd in backgound with track recording (to get some GPS precision) and capturing images with the built-in camera mode/app.
This kinda works, but is very convoluted, does not actually “enforce” precision, and likely eats more battery than it should. I stopped doing this after a few times and haven’t uploaded any phone images to Mapillary since then.
Have you tried an action camera? I have seldom used the app and still loaded over 2 million images from a variety of cameras and the uploader. Dead easy.
Quite a bit, and mostly using one nowadays, due to app being messed up
A working app would still be extremely useful, there are different usecases for app / action camera captures.
Like @Richlv, I tried using the app and very quickly realized it won’t fit my needs - either long recordings or sudden brief captures. I’ve seen the spontaneous captures people are able to upload with the app and it’s subpar at best. Personally, I wouldn’t want to use it for OSM mapping. So I don’t capture stuff like that myself either. And, yes, the UI is bad. But that’s true for the entire Mapillary ecosystem.
If I ever do capture individual images on my phone, then I make sure to let the phone geotag them and then upload them individually with the Desktop Uploader at home - you don’t necessarily need to use mapillary_tools. Not sure how well it works on Linux. But of course this doesn’t help with sequences and trying to capture while turning or some such.
I have not found any alternative apps except just basic camera apps that capture on a timer. Given the amount of effort I spend on getting action cam footage ready for uploading, the app would basically have to be flawless for me to consider it. Anyway, just my 2¢.
Is there a way you request a specific GPS precision then?
Because just taking photos could have no positioning data, or one of really terrible accuracy.
Not that I know of. I basically always have GPX track recording in the background, so I have the lock already when taking photos. Which is why I am describing this as a cumbersome process that needs extra steps.
That’s a great point. I am using Open Camera myself, but I completely forgot it even had that option because it has never stopped me yet. The downside I guess is that it doesn’t require accuracy, just a GPS fix/lock, which can still be very off.
The help page also says =
The on-screen display also shows the remaining battery left (green/red status bar in the corner), and optionally the zoom level (if zoomed in), the remaining free storage space on the device, and the current angle orientation of the camera. If “Store location data” is enabled (off by default), then a small GPS icon will appear at the top left when the location is available (you can still take photos when the GPS icon doesn’t show, it’s just that location data won’t be stored in the photo). A dot shows to the top-right of the GPS icon to indicate the accuracy (green for accurate, yellow for less accurate, grey if waiting for location but using a recently cached location). If the location isn’t available, a dash will be shown through the gps icon.
To know more, one should have a look at the source code.
I have recently been testing - on the android application “Droid Dashcam DVR”.
It records video (lower resolution, you know), a lot of options to configure recording settings (resolution, camera focus, FPS, bitrate, orientation, which camera to use if you have several, exposure and much more). By the way, the first thing to do is to enable in the options Create GPX file.
The only problem is that it will start recording even without GPS fix.
added :
I used to take a look at FreeDcam. Which also has options to take pictures with time interval like in OC.
But somehow I haven’t had a chance to check if and how the location is saved, and how it works.
will appear at the top left when the location is available (you can still take photos when the GPS icon doesn’t show, it’s just that location data won’t be stored in the photo). A dot shows to the top-right of the GPS icon to indicate the accuracy (green for accurate, yellow for less accurate, grey if waiting for location but using a recently cached location). If the location isn’t available, a dash will be shown through the gps icon.