bbTracker

The Bente and Buffy tracker (bbTracker) is an easy to use application for recording positions on your Android device. Recording is started by simply pressing the record button, and the recorded positions will be stored in a track. Multiple tracks can be recorded and shown on the same map, and various functionality may be performed on them including labelling, hiding and deleting

Google Play link: http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=no.daeco.bbtracker

Note: bbTracker uses the internal GPS to get positions, and stores the data on the Android device external storage. The app will fail to run if it is unable to access the Android location service or have no write access to the external storage. Also without internet access it will not be able to download maps.

The app has a multitude of usages, for example

• Store tracks to keep a record of where you have been walking, driving etc.
• Show others the best route to get to your house, a restaurant, the airport etc.
• Show others what exercise routes you take
• Record positions when taking taxi in unfamiliar cities to ensure you are not taking the long route
• Record tracks to ease finding your way back to your car, hotel etc.

Maps and satellite images provided by Google Play Services.

Support

For support please email androidapp@daeco.no.

Functionality

• One touch start and stop recording of positions
• Continue recording positions when app is closed, allowing the device to be used for other things while recording
• Positions are stored in tracks (positions stored between pressing start and stop is one track)
• No limit on number of tracks stored
• Adjust frequency of recorded positions to fit the speed of movement and device capacity.
• Three map modes: Normal map, Satellite image and Hybrid
• Map support all normal map operations like zoom, pan and follow user.
• Maps available in all countries/areas supported by Google Maps
• A separate track list mode is available to get an overview of tracks
• Each track
• Can be given a name - names can be freely chosen, and are displayed on the map
• Can be hidden - hidden tracks can be made visible again
• Can be deleted - deleted tracks are removed from the device
• Has a time of recording
• The app provides a simple online help (link to this web page)

Requirements

• Android version 3.0 (API version 11) and above
• Access to the device GPS sensor
• Write access to Android external storage (a memory expansion card is not required)
• Internet access for downloading maps and satellite images
• Works on any Android device from med-res phones to high-res tablets

The app will use the network position if GPS is not available, but this position will be inaccurate.

Usage

At startup the app will connect to the internet, download the map for the current location and zoom in to it. All previously recorded tracks will be loaded and displayed on the map. It is possible to set a "hide" flag on the track to avoid it being displayed.

Main window

The main window shows a map containing all previously recorded tracks, the current user position and the current track as it is being recorded.

Standard Google Map functionality for zooming and panning is available by dragging, pinching and pressing the +/- buttons. Focus map on current user location by pressing the icon in the top-right of the window.

The current location will at any time be marked. By default the bbTracker logo is used, but this can be changed in the app settings (see below).

Change map mode

bbTracker supports several map modes which are selected from the options menu.

• Show map: Typical road map. Roads, some man-made features, and important natural features such as rivers are shown. Road and feature labels are also visible.
• Show satellite: Satellite photograph data. Road and feature labels are not visible.
• Show hybrid: Satellite photograph data. Road and feature labels are not visible.

Recording a track

To start recording a track, press the recording button in the top-left corner . When the recording starts, the button will change to .

To stop the recording and end the track, press again. Note that tracks with less than 2 points will not be stored.

As soon as the recording starts, a new track icon will appear at current location, and a track will start building up. Positions are recorded as often as specified by the "Position Interval" setting (see below). The track icon will always be placed at the first position on the track.

Continue recording after app is closed
If positions are being recorded ( is on), the recording will continue to run even if the app is closed (for example if Home button pressed). This allows the user to use the Android device even if bbTracker is working.

Note that Android may decide to (temporarily) stop the background recording task if the device is under heavy load, for example while running games. It is therefore recommended not to use the device for very heavy tasks while recording is running.

A notification will be put into the Android notification list, and an icon will be visible in the notification bar. The notification will read "bbTracker running. Positions are being recorded". Tapping on the text in the notification list or on the bbTracker app icon will open the app back up and show the progress of the recording.

Stopping the recording will remove the notification and allow the app to terminate.

Note that the track recording will continue until it is cancelled by the user! If left running it may fill the storage and drain the battery.

The app will use the network position if GPS is not available, but this position will be inaccurate.

Change name of track

It may be useful to give a track a name. By default the track will be labelled with just the time and date of creation.

Changing a track name can be done in several ways:

• Double tap on the track icon .
• Tap on the track marker info window text. The info window will open when the track icon is tapped once.
• From the track list window, tap on the name of the track. For tracks without a name, <NO NAME> will be listed. See "Track list window" section below for more info.

Performing any of the tasks above will bring up a dialog where a new name can be specified.

App settings

The app settings window is opened by selecting "Settings..." from the options menu in the main bbTracker window.

The following settings can be adjusted:

• Position interval: The distance in time between stored positions on a track. The default is to record a position every 30 seconds. The interval can be any integer from 1 and up.
  
  Adjusting this value will change the amount of data stored for each track. If you experience your device being slow or fill up with data increasing this value may help the app run faster.
  
  If the tracks are very coarse because you are moving fast during recording (for example by using a car), you may want to reduce it from the default 30 seconds to for example a position every 3 seconds. It is not possible to reduce it below 1 second.
• Current location marker: Change the icon used for the current location marker. The following options are available:
• BbTracker icon (default)
• Aim icon
• Blue blob icon
• Default GoogleMap marker icon
• Follow User: If set, the map will automatically be centered on the current location as it changes.

Tap on the Android Back button or the bbTracker icon on the top of the window to go back to the map.

Track list window

Selecting "List tracks..." from the options menu in the main bbTracker window will bring up the Track list window. This window displays a scrollable list of all tracks currently stored in bbTracker. The window provides the following functionality:

Each row shows one track, including its name, time of recording, color of track and number of positions on the track. An H is shown in the track color box if the track is hidden (and "Show hidden tracks" is selected).

A checkbox is found to the right for each track to allow the user to select it and perform tasks on the selected tracks.

Tap on the track name to open a dialog and type in a new name. <NO NAME> will be shown if the track has not yet been given a name.

The following functionality is available in the Track list window options menu:

• Show Hidden Tracks: Show all tracks, including hidden tracks. It may be desirable to hide some tracks - to avoid clutter on the screen or to make the map more responsive.
• Show Visible Tracks Only: Show only tracks currently visible on map.
• Hide Selected Trasks: Set hidden flag for the selected tracks
• Unhide Selected Tracks: Remove hidden flag (make visible) all selected tracks
• Select All Tracks: Select all tracks in the list
• Deselect All Tracks: Deselect all tracks in the list.
• Delete Selected Tracks...: Delete all selected tracks. This will physically delete the track data from the device and can not be undone. A dialog will pop up with a warning so user need to confirm deletion.
• Delete All Tracks: Delete all tracks from device. This will physically delete all data from the device and can not be undone. A dialog will pop up with a warning so user need to confirm deletion.

Tap on the Android Back button or the bbTracker icon on the top of the window to go back to the map.

Fault finding and error recovery

Recording tracks will write data to the Android device storage, which may eventually fill it up. The amount of storage varies a lot from device to device, but it may become necessary to delete some tracks if it runs full.

Slow, unresponsive or crashing app

If the app becomes slow or start crashing due to lack of resources, you can try the following:

• Try hiding some tracks. This will not reduce the storage/memory usage, but will reduce the amount of tracks drawn on screen which may speed up the app.
• Try deleting some tracks. This will reduce the storage/memory usage.
• Try deleting all tracks. This will delete all tracks, including hidden, and performe a wipe of the track directory. This will reduce the storage/memory usage.
• Try to uninstall and reinstall the app. This should reset the app to factory settings.
• Manually go into the device's Android\data\no.daeco.bbtracker\files\tracks directory on the device (using for example Windows Explorer), and delete all files. In some cases the app will not be allow to delete files (due to for example changing security settings).

As a preventive measure, if you know your device is not very fast or has little storage space available, you can try the following:

• Try reducing the amount of data recorded by increasing the distance between positions. This is done by adjusting the "Interval between positions" setting. By default a position is recorded every 30 seconds (which produces data at a low rate).

Tracks are gone after installing or changing memory card

bbTracker uses the Android external storage for storing its track data. If the memory SD card they were stored on, or Android moves its external storage to a new SD card, the tracks will be lost to the app. It may then be necessary to manually copy the tracks from the old data directory to the new.

Locate the old data directory, it is named Android\data\no.daeco.bbtracker\files\tracks on one of your Android storage devices. Use for example Windows Explore to access it.

Copy all files in the tracks folder to your new external storage. This may include installing your old SD card, copying the files to your PC, installing the new SD card and copying the files back onto that.

Keep the track data after uninstall of bbTracker

Uninstalling the app will remove all track data as well.

If you want to store the tracks you can manually copy them out by accessing the Android\data\no.daeco.bbtracker\files\tracks directory by using for example Windows Explorer, copy the files to a different location, and moving the files back after reinstalling the app.

The file format is an internal format, so the files can not be used by other applications directly. For export/import functionality you need the bbTracker Pro version (pay app).

Feedback

We are always trying to improve our products. For feedback on bbTracker (bug reports, requests for improvements and new functionality, complaints and praise) please send an email to androidapp@daeco.no.