Integration of pictures with track files

[seamusdemora]

I am excited to find Open GPX Tracker, and I have installed it on my iPhone. I've been searching for an open-source replacement for another hiking app that I've used (that shall remain nameless here) - an app that does not abuse you for using it.

Sharing and replaying hikes I've taken are the primary reasons I use an app like this. Part of that sharing is being able to share photographs. I feel the photos are vitally important as they provide useful visual cues for navigation, and add immensely to the appeal of hiking in general. I would opine that, "A track file without pictures is like a plate with no food" - ok, literary analogies are not a strong suit, but I hope I've got my point across.

That said, I would like to help with integrating that capability into Open-GPX. I'm posting this because I don't want to be counter-productive, and there may be another effort underway to add this capability. Please advise.

[vincentneo]

Hi @seamusdemora,

I myself, personally does a lot of geotagging on Lightroom with GPX files generated from this project, and I personally feel that it would be a nice addition to have (not so much for phone pictures, but rather like imported images from camera into iPads, that kind of thing) There is currently no such effort to add such capability at this present moment.

I do think its would be better for @merlos to respond to this though, as I see this as potentially needing quite a bit of change?

[seamusdemora]

That's a good idea... I'll wait for further guidance.

[merlos]

@vincentneo what would be the feature to implement?

Something like on the list of GPX files you select on file and. In the list of actions you there is a new option that says something like "Geotag Pictures". When you select this option the app will search among the pictures in the gallery and add the GPS location in the metadata of the image on those that do not have already a location and that match the timespan of the trace?

[seamusdemora]

I was thinking of an overlay. The pictures would be shown as small icons or "pins" on the track located at the spot where the picture was taken. The viewer would click a pin to show the picture.

[perbrondum]

I implemented an overlay that does exactly this on a Bike Track test App I developed in SwiftUI/Swift. It retrieves a Photo asset list (favorites only/All) and matches the assets to the route via coordinates and the time of creation to the routes creation day (for now). It displays an icon for the user to click for the reduced image. I'd love to see this functionality in Open-GPX-Tracker

[jonpurdy]

Jumping in here as a new user, having migrated from raah.co after it shut down.

Just my 2c: I would prefer to actually not see this feature, or any other features that aren't related to the primary purpose of the app (GPS tracking and saving a GPX file of the route). I'm sure the app is complicated enough just doing the basics and wouldn't want to see additional UI chrome added, nor would want to see the additional complexity of non-GPX-specific features introducing bugs or slowing development.

If anything, using another app/service for display of photos with GPS route data would be best. I use Apple Photos specifically for displaying photos that I've added GPS coordinates to from GPX files to view where I've been, though it doesn't display the route.