Making more effective use of imported KML/GPX tracks

[smartyw]

Hi, I'm a big fan of Organic Maps and use it for local and international bikepacking and hiking trips. I've come to rely on it and cannot imagine using another tool. But increasingly, I feel that it has one or two significant limitations. There are a few issues in GitHub that relate to some extent to these issues but I'm not sure how well understood they are or whether they're ever likely to be addressed so I thought I'd try starting a discussion here.

For the sort of bikepacking and hiking trips that I do, the route is always planned in advance using another tool (PlotARoute). I never use Organic Maps for real-time, automated navigation or route finding. Instead, I prepare my route, export it as a KML file and then import it into Organic Maps. With the track active and visible on the map, it's a simple matter to follow my pre-planned route.

I have difficulties answering some key questions when out following the track manually, however. Example questions include:

1. How far do I have to ride or walk, staying on the imported track as much as possible until I reach point A on the map (which may or may not be on the imported track e.g. the next campsite)?
2. What is the elevation change between my current position and point B further along the imported track?
3. What total, accumulated ascent will I experience when travelling between point A and point B on the imported track?
4. What is the elevation at point B on the map?

Notes:
Elevation change means (the height above sea level at the destination ) minus (height above sea level at the start point).
Accumulated ascent is the figure obtained by adding together all parts of the route where altitude is gained i.e. how much do I have to cycle uphill between here and there?

Questions (1), (2) and (3) are similar to using the Route From / Route To feature of Organic Maps except that this feature currently causes a new route to be calculated. The calculated route is often significantly different to the track that was imported and is being followed and so only gives an approximate answer to the question as it is meant.

Could the Routing Options include something like "Use active track(s) where possible"? When selected, Route To/From operations would calculate using the active and visible tracks for as much of the journey from point A to point B as possible. I might, for example want to know how far it is to my next campsite, which I would reach along my plotted route most of the way before having to detour to it, to one side of my route.

Questions (2) and (3) could be answered in the same way as (1). With the routing option "Use active tracks..." selected, after calculating, the data presented to the user could include elevation change and accumulated ascent. We have accumulated ascent figures now but this is only for freshly calculated routes, which is my issue. I need answers based on the active track I'm following.

Question (4) could be answered simply by placing the altitude next to the coordinates that are presented in the panel that appears when you touch a point on the map.

Hopefully it's obvious why the suggested "Use active track..." routing option would be useful. There's really no value in presenting information about some other route that has been calculated by Organic Maps since that's not the route being followed. The walker/biker etc needs information relating to the route they are following such as ones that were imported and not calculated originally by Organic Maps.

Question (4) and Question (2) have a different origin and relate to safety. I'm currently planning a trip for 2026 which will be at high altitude and altitude sickness is a serious risk. It's important that we are careful not to increase our elevation by too much each day or we're likely to get sick and some forms of altitude sickness can be very serious. So being able to answer questions "on the ground" about elevation and elevation change would be extremely helpful. We'll have other ways of checking our current altitude by the way, but having the capabilities described above in Organic Maps would help planning and decision making. It would be one of several inputs though and so there's no risk of us relying solely on Organic Maps.

Displaying the profile of a segment of the active track when answering questions about the active track would be helpful too and providing the key metrics such as altitude along the route, overall ascent and final elevation change invaluable.

Hope to hear some thoughts on these suggestions.

Regards

SmartyW.

[smartyw]

Q4 ref #8605