Trip recording

Trip recording (Android) / Track recording (iOS) plugin is a special tool designed to record your routes, movements, and workouts. This feature allows you to reuse, modify, update, and share your tracks with friends.

Overview

Trip recording plugin is used to create new tracks, display recorded tracks on the map and work with existing records. It helps you analyze data such as speed, ascents, descents, or terrain features during your trip. The route can be recorded while navigating or simply on the go.

Android

iOS

Setup

To start recording tracks, you need to make the following settings:

1. Enable the Trip recording plugin.
2. Configure Trip recording settings for the required profile.
3. If needed, add Trip recording widgets to the screen.

After setup is complete, you can make new records, display and manage tracks on the map, change their appearance, edit the route, add waypoints, etc.

New track recording

In the OsmAnd app with the Trip recording plugin, you can start recording your track using several suggested options.

Android

• Usе the Distance/Start-Stop widget.
• Use the Trip recording item in the Main menu of the OsmAnd app: Menu → Trip recording.
• Use the RECORD option in My Places section of the Main menu: Menu → My Places → Tracks tab.
• Use an application launcher.

iOS

• Use the Distance/Start-Stop widget.
• Use the [object Object] option in My Places section of the Main menu: Menu → [object Object] → Tracks tab.

Note

For this options to work properly, we recommend that you allow OsmAnd to get the precise location of your device.

Start a Dialog

Android

Start dialog opens, if the Show start dialog option is enabled in the settings section of the Start dialog box.

note

• The Line icon opens the Track Appearance options, which allow you to customize the display of the track on the map. When a track is saved, the selected appearance is saved with the track, and the next time it is turned on, it will start displaying the same way it did the previous time.
• Logging interval is used to set the frequency of the requests sent to the GPS sensor to detect and place a new point on the track route.
• The Settings menu allows you to adjust the recording parameters. See Trip recording settings for more information.

iOS

Start dialog opens, if the Remember my choice option is not toggled on.

note

• Logging interval is used to set the frequency of the requests sent to the GPS sensor to detect and place a new point on the track route.
• If Remember my choice is toggled on, all following track recordings automatically start, without additional settings or the OK button. Before you record a new track, you need to restart the Trip recording plugin for the settings to start displaying again.

TROUBLESHOOTING

For more information about troubleshooting, read Track recording

Launcher (Android)

To start a new track recording you can use the Start Recording icon on the screen of your Android device, as shown in the screenshots below, for example. A long press on the icon opens a context menu with the Start Recording option.

note

Use long press on Start recording in the icon context menu to add it as a separate icon to the device screen.

Сurrent track recording

Stop / Save / Pause

To stop the recording, tap on the relevant button in the Distance/Start-Stop widget widget dialog box, for the Android version you can also stop the recording by tapping the Main menu item Trip recording.

Overview screen

The Android version of the OsmAnd app has a separate menu for the Track recording context menu, the iOS version has a track context menu Currently recording track.

Android

iOS

The graphs which are built while recording the current track, show visually the information about the track. All values on the graph are indicated either for the whole route or only for the selected interval (when scaling). The right(Android)/left(iOS) side of the graphs contains data about the highest, average and lowest values. Overview - distance and speed, Altitude - elevation and grade, Speed - speed in current moment.

note

The graph can be scaled.

• You can use two-finger movement to zoom in and out for a more detailed view.
• If you want to see information at a specific point, you can tap on the graph and a pointer with the values will appear.

Overview. This tab opens a graph with speed/altitude information on the distance and additional track data. The information section "Overview" contains the values: Distance, Time span, Start time, End time. (Android / iOS versions below)
Altitude. This tab opens a graph with information about the altitude/grade of current trip recording and additional data about the trip. The information section "Altitude" contains the values: Average altitude, Altitude range, Uphill, Downhill. (Android / iOS versions below)
Speed. This tab opens with speed info on distance and additional track data. The information section "Speed" contains the values: Average speed, Maximum speed, Time in motion, Distance corrected. (Android / iOS versions below)

info

Here you can find more helpful information about Tracks context menu, about Appearence of the track on map and about adding track points to the current track. To make the necessary changes to the track, such as Rename track, use the Options tab of the Tracks Context menu.

Show on the map

You can choose which tracks are displayed on the map and which are not. To do this, you can use the option Add to map in Menu → [object Object] → Tracks tab, or use Menu → Configure map → Tracks tab.

Android

iOS

Recorded GPX file

OsmAnd records tracks in a file in the GPX format according to the following structure: file > track > segments > points.

• One point has a number of attributes: coordinates, speed, altitude, heading.
• Points are grouped into tracks.
• The next point after the gap makes up a new segment.
• Both segments and tracks are shown with the Start and Finish icons on the map.

Parameter	Description
trkpt	Point shows the detected geographical location of the user. Every point is provided with the latitude and the longitude as base attributes of the detected location.
trkseg	Segment groups points between gaps detected as absence of any movement within one recording.
lat	Latitude is one of the geographical coordinates to identify the location with.
lon	Longitude is one of the geographical coordinates to identify the location with.
ele	Elevation is the hight of the point above the sea, calculated in meters.
time	Timestamp is the date and time of when the point was recorded.
hdop	HDOP is one of the terms of GPS accuracy, horizontal accuracy, calculated in meters, abbrev. from Horizontal Dilution of Precision, determined as the error caused by the relative position of the GPS satellites.
speed	Speed is the rate, in meters per second, at which the user is detected to be moving.
heading	Heading is the direction to where the front panel of the vehicle/device is pointing. The heading direction is calculated in degrees and determined with the angle between the direction the front panel is pointing and the course towards which the vehicle/device is intended to move. In navigation, the difference may exist due to the drift caused by the air, water, skidding, slipping, etc.

Recording settings

The Trip recording plugin is configured for each profile separately, as parameters may vary depending on the nature of your movement ( for example, driving a car, cycling, Nordic walking activities). To make the final result look smooth and usable, you may need to make some adjustments to the way you capture and record location points to the file: few, a lot, with gaps, etc. All profiles are configured in the global settings of the entire app. First, you need to select the required profile, and then among other profile settings find the section dedicated to Trip recording.

Android

Parameter	Description
Show start dialog	If enabled, you can select the necessary settings before you start recording, and then click Start. If disabled, the recording starts automatically.
Auto-record track during navigation	If enabled, the track is automatically recorded during navigation and auto-saved in Menu → Trip recording tab. Note: Trip recording uses the battery energy and continues to run in the background when the screen is closed.
General logging interval	This is the frequency of location requests after which location points are recorded in the track. The default value is 5 seconds. Options from 0 seconds to 5 minutes are available.
Minimum displacement	This filter allows you to avoid additional data recording when there is little or no movement detected. It also improves the appearance of the tracks on the map without additional processing. Side effects: Rest periods are not recorded at all or are recorded by one point. Minor movements (e.g., to the side of the road to mark a possible turn in your path) may also be filtered out. NOTE: Your file will contain less information for post-processing, and at the same time can potentially save GPS artifacts caused by bad reception or chipset effects. Recommendation: Set 5 meters displacement if you don't want to record minor details of your route and you don't need additional data about your rest period.
Minimum accuracy	This filter allows you to record only points measured with a minimum \"accuracy\" indication (in meters/feet, as reported by Android for your chipset). Accuracy is the proximity of measurements to the true position, and is not directly related to precision, which is the scatter of repeated measurements. Side effect: As a result of filtering by accuracy, points may be entirely missing for e.g. below bridges, under trees, between high buildings, or with certain weather conditions. Recommendation: It is hard to predict what will be recorded and what not, it may be best to turn this filter off. Remark: If GPS had been off immediately before a recording, the first point measured may have a decreased accuracy,so in our code we may want to wait a second or so before recording a point (or record the best of 3 consecutive points, etc.), but this is not yet implemented.
Minimum speed	This is a low-speed cut-off filter to not record points below a certain speed. This may make recorded tracks look smoother when viewed on the map. Side effect: Your track will be missing all sections where the minimum speed criterion was not met (e.g. where you push your bike up a steep hill). Also, there will be no information about periods at rest, like breaks. This has effects on any analysis or post-processing, like when trying to determine the total length of your trip, time in motion, or your average speed. Recommendation: Try using the motion detection via the logging minimum displacement filter (B) first, it may produce better results, and you will lose less data. If your tracks remain noisy at low speeds, try non-zero values here. Please note that some measurements may not report any speed value at all (some network-based methods), in which case you would not record anything. Remark: speed > 0 check: Most GPS chipsets report a speed value only if the algorithm determines you are in motion, and none if you are not. Hence using the > 0 setting in this filter in a sense uses the motion detection of the GPS chipset. But even if not filtered here at recording time, we still use this feature in our GPX analysis to determine the Distance corrected, i.e. the value displayed in that field is the distance recorded while in motion.
Auto-split recordings after gap	If enabled, a new segment will automatically start after a 6-minute gap; a new track will automatically start after a 2-hour gap; and a new file will automatically start when the date has changed. The gap is determined as the absence of any point being recorded. Points can, or cannot be detected, and not recorded. It might happen due to a number of reasons as well as the current configuration of the Trip recording functionality. For example, the GPS signal is weak because of the current weather conditions and therefore, the location is not detected and not recorded. Or, the speed of the movement gets below the threshold, and thus, the location is actually detected, but not recorded. Such gaps in recorded data can be used to generate a new segment on the same track, or a new track in the same file, or a new GPX file within one recording identified as single start/stop actions performed once at a time.
Prevent standalone logging	If enabled, Trip recording will automatically stop, when the OsmAnd app is stopped, and the notification bar of Android shows no indication of OsmAnd's working in the background.
Include heading	If enabled, the heading is saved into the GPX file for every point. The heading is the direction to where the front panel of the vehicle/device points to. It is determined with the angle between the direction where the front panel points to and the course towards which the vehicle/device is intended to move. In navigation, the difference may exist due to the drift caused by the air, water, skidding, slipping, etc.
Track storage folder	All tracks are stored in the Menu → My Places → Tracks tab. You can set the internal structure of this folder by selecting one of the following options: 1) Record all tracks to the Rec folder; 2) Group all tracks into appropriate folders of the month, such as Rec/yyyyy-mm.
Notification	If enabled, trip recording messages show up in the system notification area of the device. The notification area is opened with a swipe from the top of the screen to the bottom, and closed with a swipe in the opposite direction. The messages are intended to notify about all start/stop actions of the trip recording functionality and especially useful in case of the enabled Auto-record track during navigation option, as well as when the Start recording dialog is disabled and the recording starts silently on tap of the Distance/Start-Stop widget. Once a message is sent, it is visible in the notification area. A sent message can be cleared, if not needed. The visibility of a sent uncleared message does not depend on the status of the app: whether it runs in the background, foreground, or closed.
Online tracking	It is real-time monitoring of your current location. If the option is enabled and the recording is in progress, the Distance/Start-Stop (REC) widget turns green instead of red, and each point is transmitted to a specified URL. The Web address field is for entering the URL using the parameter syntax: lat={0}, lon={1}, timestamp={2}, hdop={3}, altitude={4}, speed={5}, bearing={6}. The Tracking Interval parameter is used to determine the frequency of sending location points. The options can be selected from 0 seconds to 5 minutes. The Time Buffer parameter sets the period of time that location points are saved if there is no Internet connection.
Tracks	This is a quick re-direction to the folder: Menu → My Places → Tracks tab.
Reset plugin settings to default	You can reset all profile settings to the default ones that you had when you installed the application.
Copy from another profile	You can copy the Trip recording plugin settings from another profile.

iOS

Parameter	Description
General logging interval	This is the frequency of location requests after which location points are recorded in the track. The default value is 5 seconds. Options from 0 seconds to 5 minutes are available. The Always ask option requires that the interval be set anew each time you start recording.
Minimum displacement	This filter allows you to avoid additional data recording when there is little or no movement detected. It also improves the appearance of the tracks on the map without additional processing. Side effects: Rest periods are not recorded at all or are recorded by one point. Minor movements (e.g., to the side of the road to mark a possible turn in your path) may also be filtered out. NOTE: Your file will contain less information for post-processing, and at the same time can potentially save GPS artifacts caused by bad reception or chipset effects. Recommendation: Set 5 meters displacement if you don't want to record minor details of your route and you don't need additional data about your rest period.
Minimum accuracy	This filter allows you to record only points measured with a minimum \"accuracy\" indication (in meters/feet, as reported by Android for your chipset). Accuracy is the proximity of measurements to the true position, and is not directly related to precision, which is the scatter of repeated measurements. Side effect: As a result of filtering by accuracy, points may be entirely missing for e.g. below bridges, under trees, between high buildings, or with certain weather conditions. Recommendation: It is hard to predict what will be recorded and what not, it may be best to turn this filter off. Remark: If GPS had been off immediately before a recording, the first point measured may have a decreased accuracy,so in our code we may want to wait a second or so before recording a point (or record the best of 3 consecutive points, etc.), but this is not yet implemented.
Minimum speed	This is a low-speed cut-off filter to not record points below a certain speed. This may make recorded tracks look smoother when viewed on the map. Side effect: Your track will be missing all sections where the minimum speed criterion was not met (e.g. where you push your bike up a steep hill). Also, there will be no information about periods at rest, like breaks. This has effects on any analysis or post-processing, like when trying to determine the total length of your trip, time in motion, or your average speed. Recommendation: Try using the motion detection via the logging minimum displacement filter (B) first, it may produce better results, and you will lose less data. If your tracks remain noisy at low speeds, try non-zero values here. Please note that some measurements may not report any speed value at all (some network-based methods), in which case you would not record anything. Remark: speed > 0 check: Most GPS chipsets report a speed value only if the algorithm determines you are in motion, and none if you are not. Hence using the > 0 setting in this filter in a sense uses the motion detection of the GPS chipset. But even if not filtered here at recording time, we still use this feature in our GPX analysis to determine the Distance corrected, i.e. the value displayed in that field is the distance recorded while in motion.
Include heading	If enabled, the heading is saved into the GPX file for every point. The heading is the direction to where the front panel of the vehicle/device points to. It is determined with the angle between the direction where the front panel points to and the course towards which the vehicle/device is intended to move. In navigation, the difference may exist due to the drift caused by the air, water, skidding, slipping, etc.
Auto-record track	If enabled, the track is automatically recorded during navigation and auto-saved in Menu → [object Object] → Tracks tab. Note: Trip recording uses the battery energy and continues to run in the background when the screen is closed.
Logging interval during navigation	It is the frequency of the requests to detect the location with subsequent logging of location points into the track, which is started to be recorded automatically via the enabled Auto-record track option. 5 seconds is the default option. Available are the options in the range from 0 seconds to 5 minutes.
Auto-split recordings after gap	If enabled, a new segment will automatically start after a 6-minute gap; a new track will automatically start after a 2-hour gap; and a new file will automatically start when the date has changed. The gap is determined as the absence of any point being recorded. Points can, or cannot be detected, and not recorded. It might happen due to a number of reasons as well as the current configuration of the Trip recording functionality. For example, the GPS signal is weak because of the current weather conditions and therefore, the location is not detected and not recorded. Or, the speed of the movement gets below the threshold, and thus, the location is actually detected, but not recorded. Such gaps in recorded data can be used to generate a new segment on the same track, or a new track in the same file, or a new GPX file within one recording identified as single start/stop actions performed once at a time.
Tracks	This is a quick re-direction to the folder: Menu → [object Object] → Tracks tab.
Reset plugin settings to default	You can reset all profile settings to the default ones that you had when you installed the application.

Widgets

You can use widgets to view brief information about the track recording on the screen. Such as Distance, Duration, Uphill and Downhill for the Android version and for iOS version only Distance/Start-Stop.

To start using Trip recording widgets, you need to make all of the following settings:

• Enable the plugin.
• Configure Trip recording for the required profile.
• Add the necessary Trip recording widgets to the screen. This setting is individual for each profile.

Add Recording widget

The Distance/Start-Stop widget is used to quickly check if you are recording or not, and for quick access to the recording settings and information about it. The widget is added automatically when the Trip recording plugin is enabled.

Android

You can delete or add the Distance/Start-Stop widget and other widgets by following:
Menu → Configure screen → Left panel/Right panel → Trip recording.

iOS

You can delete or add widgets (Track recording - Distance, Track recording - Duration, Track recording - Uphill, Track recording - Downhill), by following:
Menu → Configure screen → Right panel → Track recording, toggle on/off.

Distance (Start-Stop)

Android

To open Trip recording widgets options follow:

Menu → Configure screen → Left panel/Right panel → Trip recording, Distance

When the selected widgets appear on the map, you can tap any of them and more information about the track and the ability to interact with it will appear. In general, the Trip recording plugin for Android consists of 4 widgets. Distance/Start-Stop is the main widget, when you tap it opens the Trip recording dialog. The Duration, Uphill and Downhill widgets are more for information.

Distance/Start-Stop: shows the distance of the current trip recording. It is added automatically with the Trip recording plugin enabled, but you can hide the widget in Configure screen menu. The widget has 3 different views: Recording, Paused, Inactive.
If the Trip Recording Plugin settings have the Show Startup Dialog option enabled, tapping on the inactive widget will open the Trip recording dialog. If it is disabled, the recording will start immediately.

note

If the option Show Startup Dialog is disabled in the Trip Recording Plugin settings and the widget is active, tapping on it will open the Trip Recording Dialog anyway.

iOS

To open Distance/Start-Stop widget options follow:
Menu → Configure screen → Right panel → Track recording → Distance

The widget shows the distance of the currently recorded trip. It is added automatically with the Trip recording enabled, but you can hide the widget in Configure screen menu. If the Show start dialog is disabled in the Trip recording Plugin settings and the widget is active, then tapping on it opens the Trip recording dialog, anyway.

Duration, Uphill, Downhill

Android

Menu → Configure screen → Left panel/Right panel → Trip recording, Duration, Uphill, Downhill

Duration: shows the time, in hours and minutes, of the current trip recording.
Uphill: shows the sum of all the climbs of the current trip recording.
Downhill: shows the sum of all descents of the current trip recording.

note

If you have several widgets selected, Duration, Uphill, or Downhill, you don't need to switch between them by closing the dialog box that opens. The dialog box is the same for all these widgets.

iOS

Menu → Configure screen → Right panel → Track recording, Duration, Uphill, Downhill

Duration: shows the time, in hours and minutes, of the current trip recording.
Uphill: shows the sum of all the climbs of the current trip recording.
Downhill: shows the sum of all descents of the current trip recording.

note

If you have several widgets selected, Duration, Uphill, or Downhill, you don't need to switch between them by closing the dialog box that opens. The dialog box is the same for all these widgets.