Six Years Perfecting Maps on WatchOS

(david-smith.org)

53 points | by valzevul 1 hour ago

4 comments

  • apt-apt-apt-apt 15 minutes ago
    For others curious like I was, it seems he hired a cartographer to render essentially a set of huge, nice-looking, custom map images with details like hiking trails that Apple Maps doesn't have.

    So unlike Apple Maps, which is dynamically rendered, it basically shows image tiles. It allows for a nicer-looking, more detailed map, but affects things like needing separate downloads for different zoom levels, rotation, updatability.

  • SpyCoder77 33 minutes ago
    As a pedometer++ user, it is amazing the attention to detail David has maintained over the years. The evolution is crazy.
    • Amorymeltzer 15 minutes ago
      He really is such a committed and dedicated developer. This here is of course a perfect example—"So… I commissioned a custom map" aka hiring a cartographer—but it was really cool how he blew up with Widgetsmith because he put in the effort with Watchsmith before, and was basically the world's expert on widgets? Couldn't happen to a better guy.
  • thrownawaysz 29 minutes ago
    The fact that there is no 1st party Apple made hiking and topography map on the Apple Watch is such a failure, not even on the most expensive “made for explorers” Watch Ultra. And things like gpx import is just a mere dream

    It’s a lifestyle device after all but still

  • eckelhesten 21 minutes ago
    Let me edit this out, clearly it sounds worse in my own language than it does in English.
    • unpopularopp 15 minutes ago
    • apt-apt-apt-apt 8 minutes ago
      Let's start by banning words like 'pediatric' instead, which directly reference children and are thus more related to pedophiles. We can just call people 'doctor/dentist for small people'.
    • rogerrogerr 18 minutes ago
      We really can't afford to keep blacklisting words for reasons that have no basis in reality. We're gonna run out of words.

      (parent edited their comment - the suggestion was the "pedometer" is a bad name because of the first four letters being reminiscent of pedophiles and Epstein)

    • blairbeckwith 20 minutes ago
      I can’t believe you made me sign in just to downvote this.