HEMA Explorer North America

J

John E Davies

Adventurer
My first post here in a looong time. I just downloaded the app for my iPad Mini 2 and like the general feel of things, but it is sure taking its time downloading tiles.

On MotionX HD and my Garmin, and every other auto nav app or device, map labels are dynamic. They are readable at all zoom levels. On HEMA they are teeeny and pretty much invisible until you zoom all the way in, where they get bately readable. I've searched but haven't found a way to increase the font size or make the names dynamic.

Anybody?

At this point the maps are pretty pictures but totally useless for me for navigating, since I can't read any place and road names. The font size is maybe 4 or 5.

One reason I bought is that I saw on an Aussie video that you can overlay weather radar, is this true? I can't make it work.

I bought Garmin's $5 Advanced Weather option for my RV660LMT and was dismayed to discover that it displays radar on a new screen with the crappy base map and only functions between the 50 and 12 MILES scales! It does not overlay the existing, in-use map set. Totally useless for me, I can just check my phone's Storm app and get way better info.

Is there a decent hybrid sat map available? I use Google Hybrid often in MotionX HD and it's got much more info than just the plain sat images.

I am off on a 6000 mile road trip in a week and was hoping to find a good companion app to MotionX HD. So far it is looking grim for HEMA. Help me, please!

The developers of MotionX abandoned the app entirely in 2015, and I get error messages for the latest IOS - one reason I was hoping to find a replacemt, one that works half as well would be acceptable.

Comments are welcome.

John Davies
Spokane WA
 
Last edited:
shane4x4

shane4x4

Supporting Sponsor
Hi John,
Thanks for giving Hema Explorer a try =)
In the current version, all the maps in Hema Explorer are raster based, which means that they're generated for the device and saves as images. In the future the app will likely contain one or more vector based layers (so the map labels will be dynamic), until then, hopefully the array of available layers will be useful.

Our only satellite layer right now is Here Satellite, which is a hybrid layer but does not include as much detail as other options. Due to licensing restrictions, the sat layer can't be downloaded for offline use.

Are you on iOS or Android? For now the weather function just checks weather for your local area on iOS. On Android you can add the weather layer though.

The primary, major feature of Hema Explorer is that your tracks, photos, waypoints, and notes are synced to the Hema Explorer Cloud, so you can safely review, share, and backup your adventures. You can also find other great trips that others have shared, then add the to your profile. Once they're in your profile, you can sync the tracks & waypoints to your device.


You can reach me directly for more detail: shane@hemamaps.com

Good luck on your trip!
 
N

Narkhelek

New member
If you like the Android version you should just get Gaia which Hema is basically a copy of. Gaia is what I use at the moment as it is the only Android NAV app I've found that has cloud features (ie cloud backup of waypoints and tracks, etc).
 
shane4x4

shane4x4

Supporting Sponsor
dfyffe said:
I believe they have. I contacted them over a month ago about it and they have no Android programmers so it seems they abandoned this market before they started. They are no longer a company I can trust.
Click to expand...

They haven't abandoned the market, but right now their small team has to focus on AU priorities. Not my favorite idea but I understand it. Android works fine on most hardware, with a few minor bugs that don't stop it from functioning. iOS is more stable and doesn't 'need' an update. There are things still coming to the platform in terms of upgrades, but a UI update isn't likely in 2017.

With that being said...the app continues to sell in North America and there are thousands of very happy users. It's certainly not for everyone.

Here's the latest trip I published in with the Hema Explorer system:



http://hema.li/sjrco
 
ViperNL

ViperNL

Observer
Let me add my 2 cents, since we're on a forum. I'm a diehard Apple fanboy, but I just bought a rugged android phone (kyocera Duraforce Pro) to use as a gps on my bike, since it's waterproof, crashproof and cheap to replace. Being a Overland Journal and Expedition Portal reader I thought that one of the nav apps to install would be your Hema Explorer app, especially since I may use it in the 4Runner as well. The fact that routes are available for download by people like Kurt, who lives somewhat close to me, was very appealing. In addition, you teased earlier that you were working on other layers and data vendors, Benchmark, traildamage and others, which sounds awesome.

But the comments here don't inspire me to buy the app. There are still some minor Android bugs to squat an now we're reading that they've all but pulled the plug on the app, which is a shame. I feel like Hema is missing a monetization strategy and now the users are somewhat screwed due to lack of updates and bug fixes. They've sold "several thousand" instances of the app, generating a bunch of one time income, but that is finite. Gaia on the other hand still gets income after that one time purchase. Several thousand users might generate enough income for a developer just out of college or a seasoned developer 20 hrs a week or licensing fees for other maps/content. Unless the goal is to grow as fast as possible, garner a ton of users and sell the company for a billion dollars, it is just not feasible to charge users an amount just once or nothing at all. There really is no shame in charging for continued service, it'd be a bigger shame if there would be no updates and the app turns useless. Hema is a great map maker and it's a shame that the app is going this way.
 
shane4x4

shane4x4

Supporting Sponsor
Thanks for your comments. Rest assured that the app isn't abandoned. After working with Hema for the past 3+ years I've learned that the culture of updating an app very often here in the US doesn't always apply in other countries. Whether we like it or not (I personally do not), the NA market is not on the top of the list for Hema. Updates will come, but not on our timetable. I'm certain many people will find the next update well worth the wait, but again that's my opinion. I certainly agree that a continued revenue stream for premium content/services with worthwhile for any developer.

=)

ViperNL said:
Let me add my 2 cents, since we're on a forum. I'm a diehard Apple fanboy, but I just bought a rugged android phone (kyocera Duraforce Pro) to use as a gps on my bike, since it's waterproof, crashproof and cheap to replace. Being a Overland Journal and Expedition Portal reader I thought that one of the nav apps to install would be your Hema Explorer app, especially since I may use it in the 4Runner as well. The fact that routes are available for download by people like Kurt, who lives somewhat close to me, was very appealing. In addition, you teased earlier that you were working on other layers and data vendors, Benchmark, traildamage and others, which sounds awesome.

But the comments here don't inspire me to buy the app. There are still some minor Android bugs to squat an now we're reading that they've all but pulled the plug on the app, which is a shame. I feel like Hema is missing a monetization strategy and now the users are somewhat screwed due to lack of updates and bug fixes. They've sold "several thousand" instances of the app, generating a bunch of one time income, but that is finite. Gaia on the other hand still gets income after that one time purchase. Several thousand users might generate enough income for a developer just out of college or a seasoned developer 20 hrs a week or licensing fees for other maps/content. Unless the goal is to grow as fast as possible, garner a ton of users and sell the company for a billion dollars, it is just not feasible to charge users an amount just once or nothing at all. There really is no shame in charging for continued service, it'd be a bigger shame if there would be no updates and the app turns useless. Hema is a great map maker and it's a shame that the app is going this way.
Click to expand...
 
S

steelhd

Observer
shane4x4 said:
Whether we like it or not (I personally do not), the NA market is not on the top of the list for Hema. Updates will come, but not on our timetable.
Click to expand...
Translation - NA dollars are not a priority for Hema. Nothing wrong with that. I'll simply nod and spend my NA dollars elsewhere.
 
shane4x4

shane4x4

Supporting Sponsor
steelhd said:
Translation - NA dollars are not a priority for Hema. Nothing wrong with that. I'll simply nod and spend my NA dollars elsewhere.
Click to expand...

That's understandable. I think for those that have a specific need/desire to share & build a community, Hema Explorer is a great option.
 
L

Liquidsilver

New member
TrailBadger said:
@Narkhelek we've located this app via Google Play however, the reviews are mixed. But then again who trust reviews anyway..
Click to expand...

Not seeing it as available at all now. It appears to have been completely pulled as any old links found via google just now pop up a message that the app isn't available in my country (US):

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.hemamaps.globalexplorer&hl=en_GB

So much for my plan to run this on a cheap android tablet rather than my iPhone.
 
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