KT-companion
Consumer and social
hiking trail companion app
SHOW HN2022
475points
141comments
#61of 2,570 in 2022
Top 3%of 2022 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
15 positive, 11 neutral or asking, 1 mixed, 7 critical, out of 34 comments about the project. Thread score +0.27.
Idea: 4 for, 4 againstDesign: 5 for, 0 againstPricing: 1 for, 2 againstExecution: 2 for, 0 againstDocs: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clean, simple UI and offline support
From 3 comments
Woah, nice! I recently got interest to get into hiking and downloaded current apps for it. One of the 'business model' for current top hiking app - AllTrails - is to get offline…
mattfrommars on HNNice project, sleek UI and performant. Didn't realize Indiana had hills like that!
Eumenes on HNVery nice work! Sleek interface. I'll need to field test it soon ;) Have you by any chance also evaluated MapLibre (https://maplibre.org/) as an alternative to Leaflet. I'm just…
folli on HN
Elevation scrubbing linked to map location
From 1 comment
I appreciate that you can scrub through the elevation chart to show the corresponding location on the map. Not every hiking app does this, unfortunately!
karaterobot on HN
Objections
Background location tracking does not work in browsers
From 1 comment
This is really cool! The app has all important features one needs! Since the UI/display has a major impact on battery, it would be nice to have a dark stylesheet and map style.…
la_fayette on HN
Single hardcoded trail, not a general trail picker
From 1 comment
Yes but keep in mind the trail that's loaded is baked into the app. You can't select from a list of trails or anything like that. This is more of a boilerplate for other people…
jameal on HN
Requests
Dark mode stylesheet and map style
From 1 comment
This is really cool! The app has all important features one needs! Since the UI/display has a major impact on battery, it would be nice to have a dark stylesheet and map style.…
la_fayette on HN
Background location tracking or GPX export of tracks
From 2 comments
Nice. I wish there was some web API to record geolocation in the background over time. I understand the privacy implications, but if it was an API only available to installed…
aeharding on HN> Track location over time and display it on the map. Turn that into a downloadable GPX Right now I use "Easy GPS logger" for this although it lacks a map aspect. It hasn't been…
murphyslab on HN
Slope angle overlay for avalanche awareness
From 1 comment
This is fantastic. I currently live in Rocky Mountain National Park where I climb, hike, and ski nearly every day - my partner also works for the Park Service. We have been using…
DMell on HN
Questions
Can non-technical users install and use it?
From 1 comment
As a non technical person, can I download and use the app? How?
johndhi on HN
Why ArcGIS tiles were chosen and how they scale
From 1 comment
Nice app. Can you explain why you chose ArgGis as your tile provider [1]? A lot of the struggle of making a public map app is that map tiles are hard to host and not cheap to buy…
tppiotrowski on HN
Alternatives named
AllTrails
From 2 comments
This is great. I've been working on an adventure motorcycling trip planning app which has similar requirements of being able to work offline as you ride your preplanned trip.…
BTBurke on HNWoah, nice! I recently got interest to get into hiking and downloaded current apps for it. One of the 'business model' for current top hiking app - AllTrails - is to get offline…
mattfrommars on HN
Gaia GPS
From 2 comments
This is fantastic. I currently live in Rocky Mountain National Park where I climb, hike, and ski nearly every day - my partner also works for the Park Service. We have been using…
DMell on HNVery cool, but fwiw Gaia does all of this beautifully. I've used it for years to pre-cache maps and track my progress.
seattle_spring on HN
OsmAnd
From 1 comment
I would also recommend checking out OsmAnd Maps in this space. I use it both for hiking and cycling. I love the UI customizability, for example being able to overlay a satellite…
palotasb on HN
CalTopo
From 1 comment
Nice! We use CalTopo.com (Works everywhere, not just California) and GaiaGPS.com for offline mapping and track recording. Both allow offline use after downloading map tiles.…
jonah on HN
FarOut Guides
From 1 comment
Looks very nice! Do you know https://faroutguides.com/ (formerly GutHook)? They have offline-friendly paid maps of a lot of the largest scenic trails in America. I hiked the…
setgree on HN