Instead of last position, show last activity time (packet) on map marker

[musznik]

Instead of displaying the last received position time on the map (which might be updated infrequently and can cause confusion by suggesting that a given node was last heard from a long time ago), I propose showing the time of the last received packet instead.

[b8b8]

That is confusing and will make people think that the location on the map is more recent than it really is. The map should only show how long since the last position packet. The node list already updates the last heard based on any packet. The map is for position packet data, the node list is for all other data. Your suggestion would mean we would never know if the position shown on the map is in any way valid or recent.

[musznik]

It's possible that you're right; it depends on the user's perspective. This proposal is based on feedback from my local community. When looking at the map, it's easy to visually identify which nodes are active, and for me, the information about recent activity is more valuable. Others might prioritize the last position update. The map gives me a quick overview of the area's activity, with the accuracy of the position being a secondary concern.

[b8b8]

Right but activity on which nodes are active (and reachable) is already part of the node list. I think its fair to assume Position should be the highest priority on the Map page. The map page is for location data.

[b8b8]

This has already been discussed and rejected a few times.

https://github.com/meshtastic/Meshtastic-Android/issues/1137

https://github.com/meshtastic/Meshtastic-Android/issues/1140

https://github.com/meshtastic/Meshtastic-Android/issues/1188

[musznik]

However, considering the varying needs of different users, perhaps it could be beneficial to offer an option that allows users to choose how they want the information displayed on the map. I'll work on proposing a pull request for this.

[Kealper]

However, considering the varying needs of different users, perhaps it could be beneficial to offer an option that allows users to choose how they want the information displayed on the map. I'll work on proposing a pull request for this.

If it were an option in the app to choose to show last heard or last position, there's a few people in my local mesh who would absolutely toggle that to last heard in the map view as well. Initially when I was first getting things set up I assumed that's what it was showing me too, it wasn't until I seen the time discrepancy between the map time and node list that I realized the map was showing last known position instead of last packet time.