What makes us tick
Not so long ago the web was buzzing with privacy scandals from Facebook and the changes brought about by the GDPR. Now, it seems like the dust has settled and, in this quieter time, we wanted to review some of the recent changes we have made and to highlight the principles behind what we do here at Map My Tracks.
Let’s get some context
At Map My Tracks we have a global community of people that love getting outdoors for fitness or just for fun. Behind the scenes at Map My Tracks HQ we are a small team of three people who are passionate about making sure our community of users trusts us with their data and love using our service.
We take this responsibility very seriously and work as hard as we can to make sure that Map My Tracks is the product, not our users. It’s true that a lot of the service is free to use which suggests that user data is what we want to sell to advertisers, but this cannot be further from the truth. To that end, we recently removed all third-party adverts from the site and also removed third-party tracking code from services that don’t need to know what you do on Map My Tracks.
Why the change?
The tipping point for us was when it became clear that some third-party services might not be handling data harvested from our users in their best interest. Gone are the adverts that track you around the web and give advertisers more insight into your web usage. Gone are tracking pixels from other services that they use to build a picture of user behaviour. Gone are erroneous cookies from third-party services that really don’t need to know what you do on Map My Tracks.
You are not the product
Map My Tracks was launched way back in 2007. Back then, the iPhone had just been launched and the notion of tracking, and sharing, your outdoor activities was a distant dream. Roll forward eleven years and in that time Map My Tracks has grown, and evolved, into the global service it is today. During that time, we introduced premium features under a PLUS subscription for users and event organisers. This represents the product, and our revenue stream, and provides us with resources to continue growing the service. No user data is sold to third-parties. It’s your data, not ours, so why would we sell it?
Privacy first
Given the nature of the service, we understand that not everyone wants to have their current location broadcast all over the web. Since its inception, the Map My Tracks app has always had the default tracking state as offline. Unlike most other sports tracking apps, we don’t force users to share their activities or upload them online. These are options that each user can choose to use when they wish but the default is private.
It’s important that when users do choose to make their activities public that we handle their data carefully. Privacy zones can be set around areas that users wish to mask from the public. Homes, workplaces or frequently visited locations are typical places to set up zones around. We recently upgraded how privacy zones work in response to some research into their set up. If you haven’t set them up yet, you can do so here.
Map My Tracks also stops search engine robots from indexing your activity pages so that it is intentionally difficult for search engines to build a profile of your data on Map My Tracks. This means that Map My Tracks pages don’t regularly appear in search engine results, but we think that the trade-off is worth it to provide a safe service for people to use.
What next?
We have always responded to requests from our users. We’d love to hear from you to find out what privacy concerns you may have and any ideas that would make you feel even safer when using Map My Tracks. Get in touch at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Discover where you play with personalised heat maps
Your very own personalised heat map on Map My Tracks is now available to explore.
The Map My Tracks heat map provides an overview of all your activities to show where you’ve been in the past. It’s a great way to explore your history of activities and remind your of the places you have been.
We’ve included options for you to explore your heat map by year and each activity type you do.
Your heat map can only be seen by you as they include both public and private activities that you have uploaded to Map My Tracks. By default, the heat map will not include any activities that start or finish within any privacy zone but there are options to override this to see all your activities. Keep in mind, that if you choose to share a screenshot of your heat map with your privacy zone data visible then it may disclose sensitive locations.
To view your own heat map login to Map My Tracks then choose Heat map from the main dropdown menu.
Heat maps are available for PLUS members. If you would like to view your own heat map then please upgrade to PLUS and your heat map will be available immediately.
We hope you enjoy browsing your heat map.
Map My Tracks global activity
The global reach of Map My Tracks never ceases to amaze us. We are always thrilled to see that we have users all around the world.
To help illustrate this we’ve developed a simple map that showcases all the incoming data, in real-time, on Map My Tracks.
It’s fascinating to see how the incoming data moves across the world from east to west during the day. As Australia is going to bed there tends to be more activity in America as they wake up and start their day.
Segment heat maps on Map My Tracks, including Box Hill, Sawyer’s Hill and Graveney
Segments are like hidden speed traps dotted around the countryside. Some people know where they are and some don't.
We thought it might be interesting to analyse some popular segments on Map My Tracks like Box Hill to see where people come from. The results were fascinating.
We’ve highlighted Box Hill, Sawyers Hill and a segment close to Map My Track HQ that runs along the North Kent coast.
Box Hill
Southern extent of segment reach: Portsmouth (74 miles)
Northern extent of segment reach: St Albans (57 miles)
Western extent of segment reach: Winchester (73 miles)
Eastern extent of segment reach: Headcorn (65 miles)
Sawyer’s Hill
Southern extent of segment reach: Forest Green (32 miles)
Northern extent of segment reach: Epping (38 miles)
Western extent of segment reach: Reading (49 miles)
Eastern extent of segment reach: Eltham (23 miles)
Graveney
Southern extent of segment reach: Lympne (38 miles)
Northern extent of segment reach: N/A
Western extent of segment reach: Central London (76 miles)
Eastern extent of segment reach: Margate (30 miles)
Take control of the notifications you send and receive
Being connected to friends on Map My Tracks is a great way to stay motivated and keep active.
Once you’re connected to friends Map My Tracks will keep you up-to-date with their activity by sending you various notifications. While notifications are a perfect way to stay in touch you may not want to receive all of them.
Now, you have full control over what notification you send and receive. You can choose what notifications you prefer to receive from your friends and also decide what notifications you send to your friends on Map My Tracks.
You can review, and make changes to, your notifications settings in your Account preferences.
Privacy zone enhancements for added security
We take our responsibility to protect our users’ privacy very seriously. So much so that none of the default settings on Map My Tracks force users to make their activity public. The starting point for every user is to keep everything private and only make it public if they choose to do so.
That said, when users do choose to make their activity public it’s important that the privacy zone tools we provide do their job to mask their data.
Through research undertaken by the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign into fitness tracking social networks like Map My Tracks they uncovered some problems with our initial implementation of privacy zones. We were provided with the details of the issue on February 22, 2018 by Hussain et al. who established an algorithm to deduce the place of interest within a privacy zone.
Their research included recommendations to further secure users’ data within a privacy zone to mitigate the risk of exposing the place of interest. Their recommendations, and a further set of our own, were implemented on February 23, 2018 and applied to new and established privacy zones.
We would encourage all our users to set up Privacy Zones over their home or place of work if they choose to make their activity public. Go to Settings > Privacy to set up as many as needed.
2017 - a year in review on Map My Tracks
As we approach the end the year we take a look back on what’s been happening on Map My Tracks in 2017.
It’s been a busy year for us - and you. Across 2017 a total of 6,500,000km have been covered by Map My Tracks users. That’s 162 times around the world. You have been busy with it too, every minute a new activity is uploaded from users around the world.
During that time we have also been busy on your behalf updating the app and website to make Map My Tracks better and better. Aside for the multitude of mini updates across the year the more notable new features are Photos, Moments, Goals and some exciting work with Augmented Reality.
Photos
Outdoor activities are not just about how far or how fast you went, it’s also about the memories you make which is why we have gone all in with photos in 2017. The Map My Tracks app was updated to include options to take photos and pin photos to your activities.
That, in turn, fuelled the work on the Social Gallery that helps to show off all the great places that people visit.
Moments & Moments Videos
Each activity uploaded to Map My Tracks has its key moments highlighted. Top speed, highest elevation, max. heart rate, segments covered, and more, are highlighted on the activity timeline.
We also added an option to create a beautifully crafted video of your Moments to share with others. Every activity uploaded to Map My Tracks can be turned into a video that includes photos, stats and route details - all ready to download, keep or share on social networks.
Goals
Who doesn’t like a goal? Goals were added in 2017 to let you challenge yourself. Goals can be set for any sport by distance, duration or activity. A detailed breakdown of your performance helps to keep you on track and achieve your goal.
Connect to other services
With different wearable devices being used across different sports it’s helpful to be able to consolidate the data in one place. We’ve added options to automatically sync data to Map My Tracks from Garmin Connect and Fitbit. More services will follow in 2018.
Augmented Reality
If you use a compatible iOS phone you can now explore the landscape around you with Augmented Reality. Nearby mountain peaks, towns and other Map My Tracks users tracking live are all highlighted in the landscape. This is just the start. We’re really excited with the possibilities that Augmented Reality brings and 2018 will see more AR updates that make it even more useful.
We hope you have enjoyed the updates throughout the year. A lot of the features added have come from suggesttions from the Map My Tracks community. We want you to get the most out of Map My Tracks in 2018 so if you have an idea for a feature then get in touch to tell us about it.
Roll on 2018.
Our biggest iOS update this year
Map My Tracks has always been about tracking your rides, runs, hikes, outdoor activities and adventures. Over the past year we have steadily added more ways for you to be able to tell the whole story around your outdoor activities. Photos, goals and now in the latest update of the iOS app we’ve added augmented reality.
With all these new features available it was time to give the app a refresh to make it easier to get the most out of Map My Tracks - so welcome to version 5 of the Map My Tracks iOS app.
In this update you get a clean crisp dashboard, easy access to set goals, browse the Social Gallery and explore the landscape around you with augmented reality.
Augmented reality
If you have a compatible phone* your can explore the landscape around your when you are out on your next adventure. If you have ever wondered what mountain peak was on the horizon, or what town was down the road, or where your friends are then you’ll love this feature. To discover what’s nearby first open the Activity Map then tap on the AR globe in the top corner. You’ll see nearby peaks, places and anyone that is tracking live - all in the landscape around you.
New dashboard
The new dashboard has a familiar but cleaner feel. It still shows off all your activity history across today, this week, month, year and all time. We’ve added a tab bar to launch into some of the most used sections of the app like the Social Gallery, your friends activities, goals and your own profile.
Goals
Who doesn’t like a goal? You can challenge yourself to complete a distance goals, or a duration-based goal. With the New Year just on the horizon it’s a great time to set your 2018 goals and monitor their progress on Map My Tracks.
Connect to Fitbit and Garmin Connect
If you’re a user of either Garmin Connect or Fitbit then it’s now possible to connect these accounts to Map My Tracks. Once connected any activities added to either Garmin Connect or Fitbit will be synced to your Map My Tracks accounts. It’s a great way to keep everything all in one place.
Map My Tracks v5 for iOS is now available to download from the App Store. The Android update is due out in a week or so.
We hope you like the update and enjoy exploring the landscape around you with augmented reality powered by Map My Tracks.
*Augmented reality compatible phones include the following that run iOS 11: iPhone 6s/6s Plus, iPhone 7/7 Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 8/8 Plus.
Trim tool for activities
Have you ever forgotten to stop tracking after finishing an activity then jump in the car and track all the way home? It happens.
To help fix the activity data we have added new tool that can trim off any unwanted data at the start or end of an activity. It’s super easy to use and very, very useful.
To trim an activity, first open it on the website then click ‘Actions’. There is now a ‘Trim activity’ option. Open the Trim Activity page then click on the elevation chart to set the new start and end points of the activity.
There’s a fine tune option to accurately nudge the start, and end, positions before trimming the unwanted data. Please keep in mind, once the data has been trimmed there is no undo option. The discarded data is permanently deleted.
It’s a small, but very handy, addition to the site that helps to keep your data as accurate as possible.
We hope you like the update.
What’s new in the latest Map My Tracks iOS and Android apps
We have added some great new features in the latest version of the Map My Tracks apps for iOS and Android. These new features mean that you can now set goals directly in the Map My Tracks app, use your phone’s camera from within the app while you are tracking and share multiple photos in the social gallery.
Stay on track by setting your own goals
To stay motivated and to keep track of your progress, why not set yourself some goals? Map My Tracks‘ PLUS members can now set goals to achieve in terms of distance, duration and/or number of activities over a specific period directly from within the app. For example, you may want to cycle 500 miles during one year, walk for 10 hours during one month or swim three times per week.
By using this feature, you can select the goal type (distance, duration or activities) for any sport over any period of time. You can set as many goals as you want and upcoming goals can be set for dates in the future. Previous goals can also be viewed.
Once a goal is set, you will see your target and your current performance. The target shows how much you need to do over the next day, week and month to achieve your goal. For instance, if you aimed to cycle 100 miles over one month, the target would be 3.1 miles per day and 20 miles per week. The performance information tells you how much you have already done towards your target in terms of daily, weekly and monthly performance. In addition, the bar summarises your progression by showing your total and the percentage achieved towards your goal.
You can quickly and easily set a goal in the Map My Tracks app or from the Map My Tracks website. To set a goal in the app, go to Goals > Set A Goal and then select the goal type (distance, duration or activities), the activity type (your chosen sport), the target, and the start and end date. Select save and start achieving your goals.
It is now easier to take and upload photos from within the app
As we know that you love to take photos of your activities, and other users love to see them, we have made it simpler for you to take, upload and share pictures in the Map My Tracks iOS and Android apps. With this new feature, it is easier to pin as many photos as you want to your activities.
All Map My Tracks’ users can utilise our new in-app camera to take and upload photos from directly within the Map My Tracks app. This free tool means that you no longer need to open your camera from outside of the Map My Tracks app or to pin or email photos separately (although you can still do this manually via the Map My Tracks website, if you wish).
All users can take photos directly from within the app while recording an activity. PLUS members can also take and sync photos when tracking live. In the Android app, just select the camera icon in the bottom right of the map. In the iOS app, simply select the camera icon in the top right of the map.
If you are recording your track (but not tracking live), your photos will be stored in your phone as normal. When you have finished tracking your activity, you can pin your photos to your activity by selecting the Add Photo icon in the bottom right of your map. Select Upload Photos and choose the photos that you want to pin.
You have the choice to keep your photos private or to share them publicly. Photos can be pinned to an activity at any time after it was recorded.
If you are tracking live, it is even simpler. When using the in-app camera, your photos are automatically uploaded and synced online in real time. This neat new feature means that anyone who is following your live tracks can immediately see your photos.
If your camera is location-enabled, your photos will be geocoded, which means that your photos will be shown on your track in the places that they were taken. In addition, for all users, it is easy to add captions or to delete photos.
Use this great new feature to share your adventures with others.
Share and view more of your photos in the social gallery
The social gallery has been enhanced so that you can share many photos instead of just one. If you have pinned more than one photo to an activity, you and other users can now swipe sideways to view multiple photos. You can also see the activity map that shows where the photos were taken. This improved feature is free to all users and it shows photos that are related to tracks that are made public.
Download the latest version of the app from the App Store and Google Play.
