What's New in Nearby Explorer for Android¶

Online Version 3.40.00, July 2020¶

• Added Approaching intersections to the online version using OpenStreetMap. Note: Adding the Approaching Streets option required a new internal map structure, therefore, the app will need to update any download maps for the feature to work correctly.

• Added performance improvements to search results

• Added support for Android 10

Online Version 3.35.00, February 2020¶

• Adds support for Foursquare as a search provider.

• Adds new options for Pedestrian mode when using Valhalla as the routing engine. You may now choose to include pedestrian pathways, and to avoid alleys.

Online Version 3.30.00, December 2019¶

• Adds the ability to search for a city by specifying <city>, <state> in the search field. You can also search for a specific address.

• Adds a setting to control whether street numbers are expected to be before or after the street name to better support international addresses.

• Fixes a bug in the Transit feature where some screens had very dark text.

• Improves Pedestrian Mode when using the Valhalla routing engine.

• The distance to the U-turn is now included in the, "Make a U-turn" instruction when using Turn-By-Turn Guidance.

• Nearby Explorer now targets Android API 28.

Online Version 3.20.00, October 2019¶

• Adds Turn-By-Turn Guidance, using the Valhalla routing engine. This version of Turn-By-Turn Guidance requires a network connection to generate a route, or to list directions to a place. Turn-By-Turn Guidance is supported in the following regions: North America, Central America, Europe, Russia, Australia and Oceania, India, and Sri Lanka.

Online Version 3.10.00, October 2019¶

• Fixes an issue where it was not always possible to accept the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use agreements.

• Includes categories in the Search screen when using OpenStreetMap as the Search Provider.

• Fixes a bug where speech did not always start properly when Bluetooth was turned off.

• Fixes a bug where the Transit feature was unavailable when using Virtual Navigation.

• Adds 64-bit support for devices which support it.

Version 3.0.8, July 2019¶

• Fixes a bug where it was not possible to use the full version to get directions to a contact. (This functionality is not supported in the Online version.)

• Fixes a few issues with the OpenStreetMap download manager.

• Improves handling of the storage permission.

• Fixes a few rare crashes.

Version 3.0.7, July 2019¶

• You can now opt in to send anonymous usage statistics to help us improve Nearby Explorer. This information will be used to identify trends and usage patterns, and by doing so, improve the quality of the product and the services it offers. The gathered anonymous data is kept confidential and will be used strictly to enhance the user experience. If you agree to participate in this program, we will collect information on how you use and configure the app.

• Improves the OpenStreetMap download manager. It is now much easier to download maps on Android Pie and later.

• Adds a setting to enable or disable the vibrator for haptic feedback.

• Adds the ability to import favorites from the soon to be discontinued full version into Nearby Explorer Online.

• Fixes a bug where Indoor Mode did not work after backing out of the app and restarting the app soon thereafter.

• Fixes a bug where installing the onboard NAVTEQ maps to an external SD card did not work until the app was force-closed and restarted again.

• Fixes a bug where approaching intersection information was not given when using OpenStreetMap as the Address Provider.

• Fixes a bug where the distance to the next instruction on a route was given much too frequently.

• Fixes many other miscellaneous bugs and crashes.

Version 3.0.5, February 2019¶

• Fixes a bug where the map view in the full version always crashed when attempting to open it.

• Adds the Auto Pause feature. If you do not move for 15 minutes, Nearby Explorer pauses use of GPS automatically. To resume, press the Resume button or unlock the device and activate Nearby Explorer.

• Adds the Take Indoor Explorer Survey item to the Options menu.

Version 3.0.4, December 2018¶

• Nearby Explorer now targets Android API 26. This adds requirements for permissions to be set when starting the app after a fresh install.

• Adds the ability to publish favorites to OpenStreetMap (OSM.) You can also request removal of POIs in OSM which are out of date.

• Adds the Update Map button to the toolbar. This button updates the onboard OSM map for the current region if a map is available. This feature is most useful when using the Indoor Explorer feature to ensure you have the latest map for a supported building.

Version 3.0.3, October 2018¶

• Adds two new items to the main screen, Description and Blind Description. These items are only used when OpenStreetMap is the Search Provider. These fields display information from OpenStreetMap which is tagged with the names Description and Blind Description. While these descriptions are relatively rare at this time, they can be used either to complement a POI, or to give information about a point on the map which is not a POI.

• No longer reports the distance to an object when that distance rounds to zero.

• Fixes an issue inIndoor mode where not all beacons were being used.

• Improves the OSM Download Manager, making it available more quickly after starting the app.

Version 3.0.2, September 2018¶

• Removes the ability to share favorites and remove shared favorites from Google Places. This activity is no longer supported by Google Places.

• Improves support for indoor venues which are mapped in OpenStreetMap but do not use beacons.

• Improves accuracy of clock face reports.

• Improves overall app stability.

Version 3.0.1, June 2018¶

• Adds support for getting transit directions with Moovit. Moovit is also automatically used when opening Transit if you are in a city which the Transit feature does not support.

• Adds an item to the Options menu to list nearby transit stops by Moovit.

• Adds a switch to Settings to control distance rounding. The default is on, meaning that distances will be rounded for easier listening.

Version 3.0.0, May 2018¶

• Adds OpenStreetMap Onboard as a search and address provider.

• Adds indoor support for selected venues.

• Adds a toolbar to the main screen and the Search screen which gives quick access to commonly used functions.

• Adds quick access buttons for Search, Explore, Favorites, and Transit to the bottom of the main screen.

• Adds Shake to Repeat. This feature must be enabled in Settings, and enables you to shake your device to repeat information you may have missed when it was first spoken.

• Includes the type of the place in Google Places search results.

• A new navigation pad appears on the screen when using Navigation mode, allowing access to all main screen items while navigating virtually.

• Adds the Send Feed back feature to the Options menu.

• Adds the Rate This App feature to the Options menu.

• Stops calling online search services when the Nearby item is turned off. This will cut down on unnecessary usage of online resources, and save a little data and battery power as well.

• Removes the Geobeam and Compass mode switches from Settings, since these features are now controlled from the toolbar.

• Removes the Provider and Number Of Satellites items from the main screen, as this information is no longer available.

• The default number of nearby places to announce for the current location is now 1 instead of 4.

• The default search radius is now 500 yards.

• Stops downloading transit maps automatically for supported cities. Now, the map is downloaded when first accessing the Transit feature while in a supported city.

• Removes the "Use network when available" switch from settings.

Version 2.4.0, March 2017¶

• Switches to using the Google Fused provider for location updates.

• Fixes a bug where locations reported from Google Places were slightly off from the actual position.

• Fixes a small battery drain caused by not freeing the text-to-speech engine when exiting the app.

• Fixes a problem where the text-to-speech engine did not change when changed in the Android text-to-speech settings.

• Adds a button to the About box which shows the APH privacy statement.

Version 2.3.1, October 2015¶

• Fixes spoken character navigation when moving in edit fields with TalkBack

• Fixes a crash in the Map View when moving to an area with no streets and using an address provider other than onboard maps

• If using metric measurements, the program now reports altitude as meters above sea level

• Plays a short sound when connecting to and disconnecting from a network

Version 2.3.0, June 2015¶

• Reports detailed transit stop information for supported cities as part of Nearby Places

• Adds the ability to choose how many nearby places to report for the current location

• Adds the ability to customize what gets reported in Nearby Places. Simply long-press the Nearby Places item to choose any combination of Nearby Places, Transit Information, and Favorites.

• Improves address accuracy for the current nearby place when that places address is provided by Google Places

• Works around an Android accessibility framework bug regarding screen refreshing on Android 4.3

• Fixes issues in Transit where next bus times and schedules were not available if the transit map had expired, or when using the feature very early in the morning

Version 2.2.2, April 2015¶

• Adds the Voice Input button to the Search screen

• Adds clock face directional capability to the nearby place designation

• Automatically expands the radius to provide at least one nearby place

• Adds OpenStreetMap as an address provider; onboard maps, Google maps, or OpenStreetMap may be used to determine the current street address

• Device stays awake while active, improving performance when the screen is locked

• Filters undesirable types from Google PlacesTM business listings' results. This prevents the announcement of the current street name as a nearby place, as well as political boundaries, such as Americas.

• Indicates if the current nearby place is a transit stop

• Fixes compass and Geobeam sounds on the Motorola® Moto G Android smartphone

Version 2.2.1, February 2015¶

• Allows maps to be downloaded over a cellular data network

Version 2.2.0, January 2015¶

• Removes some more unnecessary "rerouting" messages

• Fixes problems with Approaching Street reporting when using Google PlacesTM business listings for street addresses

• Improves responsiveness when using Google PlacesTM business listings for street addresses

• Fixes screen refreshing on Android Lollipop

Version 2.1.0, October 2014¶

• Adds support for external SD cards under Android 4.4 (Kitkat) and later

• Adds the Clear button to the Search Screen for quickly clearing previously entered text

Version 2.0.2, August 2014¶

• Corrects a problem in Show / Hide Items where hiding the nearby place without hiding the distance to the nearby place causes the app to crash on startup

• Adds support for more external SD cards

Version 2.0.1, August 2014¶

• Adds interactive virtual map exploration for use with the touch screen.

• Updates US and Canada NAVTEQ maps to the third quarter of 2013

• Adds a menu to the Map View

• Adds Country Search to the Map View menu (requires network access)

• Adds the ability to configure which items appear on the nearby screen

• Adds touch screen support for Navigation Mode

• Adds a setting to control whether Navigation Mode follows roads

• Adds a dialog while using Geobeam which allows easy adjustment of the radius

• Fixes Geobeam on Kitkat when the device's screen is off

• Makes Geobeam less jittery, making it easier to point at a specific place

• Expired transit maps are now indicated by "(expired)" in the Transit Stops title instead of in a dialog

• Adds the What's New option to the main menu

• The Self-voicing feature now ducks music while speaking

• Uninstalling the app now removes the maps

• Adds a Manage Space activity available from Apps in the Android Settings app where one can restore settings to the default, delete all favorites, or delete all transit maps

• Drops support for Android 2.2

Version 1.0.12, November 2013¶

• Changes TalkBack bug dodging code to work with Kitkat causing refreshes in the main screen to occur at most every 15 seconds

• Fixes an occasional crash which happened when a call came in, or a call was ended

• Fixes another routing bug that can cause unnecessary rerouting

Version 1.0.11, October 2013¶

• Corrects a problem that makes the app restart when the screen orientation changes.

• Fixes crashes that could occur when running without onboard maps.

Version 1.0.10, October 2013¶

• Uses the new-style More Options button for access to the menu, making all menu options available in one list. when running on Honeycomb and later.

• Corrects many issues with guidance and rerouting

• Runs routing for guidance in the background so the app does not appear to hang when generating long routes

• Disables unused options in the Route Options settings screen when Pedestrian Mode is active

• Improves display update handling to work around accessibility differences in Android 4.3

• Improves external address handling when using Nearby Explorer from another app to get directions

• Adds the "R" command to directly open Route Settings on devices with keyboards.

• Fixes an occasional crash when using Google PlacesTM business listings for street addresses

• Fixes a crash when running with self voicing turned off.

Version 1.0.8, August 2013¶

• Works around a problem in TalkBack with Android 4.3 where list items get repeated. They now get repeated, at most, every 15 seconds.

• Adds Nearby Explorer to the choices you get when you pick an address from another app.

• Adds Clock Face and Degrees as additional ways of displaying the heading.

• Adds a setting to turn off Parking Lot mode.

• Adds the ability to obtain the street address from Google PlacesTM business listings' services. Some users may find this address reporting more accurate than the reports from the onboard maps.

• Adds distance indication to the tone played when using Geobeam to point to a POI.

• Adds the ability to pick a different voice from the normal voice for use within Nearby Explorer. This helps prevent TalkBack from cutting off speech for important announcements.

• Adds the ability to use metric measurements.

• Adds additional information about the state of the compass after it becomes invalid.

• Adds a Radius menu option to make it easier to change the search radius in the Search screen.

• Saves the last 20 destinations to make returning to recent destinations easier.

• Adds Geobeam to the Map View screen. This makes it possible to virtually move to a position on the map and use Geobeam to get a perspective about what is around that point.

• Adds a "Set to Here" option to the Favorites context menu to help fine tune favorite points.

• Moves the Create Favorite from Lat/Long item from the context menu to the Favorites screen.

• Corrects a problem that prevented the Transit feature from notifying you about expired transit maps.

• Corrects a problem that caused Nearby Explorer to reroute during guidance on unknown streets.

Version 1.0.7, May 7, 2013¶

• Adds Route Settings to the Settings menu to help you customize the kinds of routes you wish to use.

• Exports and imports Favorites.

• Corrects unnecessary rerouting when traveling on long routes.

• Corrects the Transit screen so you may move from stop to stop without having to have arrow keys.

• Adds destination announcements with vibration, sound, and speech notifications.

• Adds a switch to use old style orientation sensors for phones that do not work with the new style for use with Geobeam.

• Corrects a bug that prevented the context menu radius settings from working.

• Adds announcements about on which side of the street the destination is located.

• Improves the tolerances Geobeam uses on some phones.

• Adds a sound when pointing to a location with Geobeam.

Version 1.0.5¶

• Improves external SD card support and detection.

• Adds Settings to the directions list.

• Adds support for changing Pedestrian mode during a route.

• Changes the maximum length of pedestrian routes from 10 miles to 25 miles.

• Changes Geobeam's flat mode to use the destination if there is one set.

Version 1.0.3¶

• Adds support for additional SD cards for map data.

• Adds audio notification when entering and exiting Geobeam mode.

• Sets the Provider item on the Nearby screen to Geobeam when in Geobeam mode.

Version 1.0.2, February 6, 2013¶

• Corrects feature set issues that prevented the app from showing up from the Nexus and other tablets in the Play Store.

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