Hey all,
After noticing that my preferred app for outdoor activities, Trails from ioSphere (website is trails.io), had been removed from the store, was wondering on others' experiences with a beloved app going from award winning (2015) to languishing (2018ish) to snap update (2020ish) to unmaintained to removed. Since it's been removed, were I to change phones or reset mine, I couldn't reinstall Trails, and the nominal subscription (a few bucks a year) can't be renewed or activated anymore either. It really was an unmatched value in my opinion, serving as a bike computer as well as a map even when hiking or paddling in the middle of nowhere with no reception. Still runs relatively well, despite a few forward-compatibility bugs that never got fixed.
So, I guess my questions/conversation topics are:
Is there any hope or avenue to keep the app alive if not actively developed? Petition the company to release the source?
What can one do to preserve functionality, like being able to restore the app to a new phone and whatnot?
When the end comes, will it be suddenly removed from my phone, or will it be allowed to mummify and fail so only I could say it's really done?
And, I guess, is there any app that can actually duplicate enough of these features?
- offline maps (important)
- multiple map types - focuses on cycling, paddling, hiking, skiing, etc. even topography (also important)
- heart rate and health compatibility
- live "bike computer" function
- watch app that can track independently (still syncs to phone app when done)
- no social backend, just let me do my stuff and don't track me
- full history with backup
I'll be trying to use this app until it's totally useless, which may even delay my phone upgrade another year because of it, since I got a fresh subscription before it disappeared.
Cheers.
After noticing that my preferred app for outdoor activities, Trails from ioSphere (website is trails.io), had been removed from the store, was wondering on others' experiences with a beloved app going from award winning (2015) to languishing (2018ish) to snap update (2020ish) to unmaintained to removed. Since it's been removed, were I to change phones or reset mine, I couldn't reinstall Trails, and the nominal subscription (a few bucks a year) can't be renewed or activated anymore either. It really was an unmatched value in my opinion, serving as a bike computer as well as a map even when hiking or paddling in the middle of nowhere with no reception. Still runs relatively well, despite a few forward-compatibility bugs that never got fixed.
So, I guess my questions/conversation topics are:
Is there any hope or avenue to keep the app alive if not actively developed? Petition the company to release the source?
What can one do to preserve functionality, like being able to restore the app to a new phone and whatnot?
When the end comes, will it be suddenly removed from my phone, or will it be allowed to mummify and fail so only I could say it's really done?
And, I guess, is there any app that can actually duplicate enough of these features?
- offline maps (important)
- multiple map types - focuses on cycling, paddling, hiking, skiing, etc. even topography (also important)
- heart rate and health compatibility
- live "bike computer" function
- watch app that can track independently (still syncs to phone app when done)
- no social backend, just let me do my stuff and don't track me
- full history with backup
I'll be trying to use this app until it's totally useless, which may even delay my phone upgrade another year because of it, since I got a fresh subscription before it disappeared.
Cheers.