Maprika FAQ

  • When you open Maprika for the first time, you need to select maps you are interested in. Tap "Maps" button. Now you see "My maps" list, which shows maps you have downloaded from Maprika or created yourself. So far the list is almost empty, except Google map, which is always there for you. Tap "add maps" button and follow the instructions to add more maps. After that is done and you get back to the list, tap on map thumbnails to activate any maps you want to see at the moment and then tap "done" to get to the main screen.
    Now use "next map" button to scroll through the active maps. Tap "locate me" to center the map on your position. From the main screen you can go to "Friends" menu to register and connect to your friends or the "Settings" menu to set Location Privacy and edit your profile.
  • Maprika will work whether you register or not, but registering lets you see your friends on the maps. To register, go to the "Friends" menu (or "My Profile" under "Settings") and choose "Register." Fill in your first and last name, an email address, and a password. You can fill in your phone number if you want people to be able to find you by phone number, as well as by name and by email. Please enter a valid email, because it may be used for resetting your password if you happen to forget it.
  • Tap the "add friends" button at the top right-hand corner of the friends menu. You can search the entire directory of Maprika users, pick a person from your address book and see if they're on Maprika, or simply see who around you has Maprika. Tap a name and then the "invite" button to add them as a friend. They will need to confirm your request -- once they have, they'll appear under your "Friends" list.
    Note: you can't add friends if your Location Sharing is "OFF" under Settings-->Location Privacy. If someone has added you as a friend, you will receive a push notification with an option to accept the request as soon as you open Maprika app.
  • If you do not register, you can still use Maprika maps with GPS feature, but your location data are not even submitted to Maprika.
    If you want to see location of your friends, they will be able to see your location. However, you can turn off location sharing any time using Settings menu, and you can cancel any friendship requests you accept by mistake. Likewise, you turn off the "Who is Nearby" feature if you don't want people located nearby to find you.
  • Tap the arrow between "Locate Me" and "Next Map" on the bottom of the main screen.
  • Tap the "Locate Me" button at the bottom left hand corner of the main screen. A blue GPS dot will appear on a map.
  • They are designated by a colored pin on any map they happen to be on. Tap the pin to see their name and as well as the accuracy of their position measurement. Alternatively, you can just tap their name in the "Friends" menu and you will zoom directly to their location on a picture map or Google map. You can change the color of the pin that represents a friend by tapping the arrow by their name and choosing "pin color."
  • Tap "Location Privacy" from the "Settings" menu on the main screen. If you choose "Don't Share My Location," your friends won't be able to see you on any of their maps, and you won't be able to see them on your maps. If you turn "Enable nearby search" off, other people near by won't be able to find you using "who is nearby" search option.
  • Help Maprika make maps more accurate by fixing your location when you're certain it's wrong.
    1. If Maprika tells you that you're "Outside of this map" and you know you're actually by the entrance of the South Lodge, for example, tap the "Outside of this map" message to fix your location. You will be taken to a screen with a red crosshair target in the middle of the screen; pan and zoom with your fingers to have the crosshair point to your exact location, then tap the "I am here" button at the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
    2. If Maprika shows your location on a map incorrectly, i.e. you know you're outside the North lodge but Maprika tells you you're at the South lodge, you can do the same thing. Just tap the blue GPS dot that represents you on any map except Google map, and it will give you an option to fix your location. Center the crosshair over your location and tap "I am here."
  • Go to "Location Privacy" under the Settings menu. Under the "Location Updating" heading, there's a slider labeled "Submit my location every _ min __ sec." Slide this slider to the left or right. Maprika will then update your location according to the timeframe you set. Be aware that if Background Location Updates are set to OFF (slider is all the way to the left) Maprika will only update your location while the app is active. Set time interval for "Background Location Updates" and the app will be updating your position as long as you set it even if the app is not active.
  • The thing that drains battery power this quickly on the iPhone is the 3G communication protocol. The best way to conserve battery power is to disable "3G". (found under phone Settings -->General--> Network). The other way is to increase your "Location updating" time interval for Maprika (found under Settings-->Location Updating)
  • The "My Maps" menu is a list of all the maps you currently have installed on your iPhone. The Google Map appears there by default. Each map has a thumbnail version of itself by its name, and a small checkbox at the corner of the thumbnail. The map is considered "Active" when the checkbox is checked, and the number of active maps is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Active maps can be opened on the main screen in Maprika, and you can scroll through them using the "Next Map" button at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. To deactivate a map, tap the checkbox again so that it's blank.
  • Maprika has many maps of ski resorts, national parks, theme parks, and college campuses available to download. To add a new map, tap the "add maps" button at the top right-hand corner of the "My Maps" menu. Choose "Download Maps." You will see a Google map with different colored pins placed on it -- a purple pin indicates one map. Tap it to see its name and what kind of map it is. A red pin indicates two or more maps located close together. Either zoom in to see the separate purple pins or tap the arrow to see all the maps filed under that red pin. A green pin indicates a map that you have already downloaded. Tap a map name and then "download map" to download a map. The map will appear on your "My Maps" menu with a checkbox when it is finished downloading.
    You can also search for a map, or use the List function to find maps in a certain area. Simply pan and zoom the Google map until it encompasses the area you wish to search and tap "List" at the top of the "Maprika Maps" menu. Maprika will list all the maps found in that area.
  • Of course! Maprika's pre-loaded maps are only the beginning.
    1. To create a new map, first find a picture of it and add it to your iPhone's Photo Library. It can be any map - a standard map like a park, ski resort, or college campus map, or even a hand-drawn map scanned into your computer from a digital photo scanner. Once you have a picture of your map, you're ready to add GPS anchors to it.
    2. Open Maprika, go to "Maps" and tap the "add maps" button at the top right-hand corner of the screen. Choose "Create new map." Maprika will take you to your Photo Albums. Tap the picture of the map you want to add.
    3. Name the map, and add a description, such as "ski trail map" or "theme park map." Tap "Save."
    4. Maprika will take you to a screen that tells you some basic things about your map. Once it's done downloading, you'll see an attribute called "my GPS anchors -- 0 set." Follow the on-screen instructions to add "Anchor Points" to the map.
    5. Tap "Done" and your new map will be ready to use!
  • First of all, there will be a video tutorial available for this soon, so check back to our guide every once in a while to see if it's up or not.
    Now let's go through it. We'll pick up at number 4 from under the "Can I add my own map?" question -- You've already tapped the "my GPS anchors -- 0 set" button and are looking at the instructions.
    1. First of all, read them. It might make things a bit easier.
    2. Tap the message to dismiss it and start adding GPS tags.
    3. "Center Map on a Landmark." The map Maprika shows you now is called your "Picture map." It's the map you're making. Choose a landmark on it -- like a street intersection, or a store, or a house -- it doesn't really matter, as long as you know you'll be able to find it on a Google map. Pan and zoom until this landmark you chose is under the red crosshair in the center of the screen.
    4. Now, switch to "google" at the top right-hand corner of the screen. You'll see a Google map. You can change this map to be a satellite or hybrid map if it'll make it easier to pinpoint your landmark. Pan and zoom to that same landmark on the Google map, and tap "+ Anchor" at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
    5. You've made your first GPS anchor! But in the same way a line is defined by two different points in geometry, a Maprika map needs (at least) two GPS anchors to work. Let's make another one. Switch back to the "picture" map.
    6. You'll see that the GPS anchor you just placed is designated by a red pin on your picture map. Choose another landmark, pan and zoom to it, and switch to Google map view. Pan and zoom to center on this same landmark again and tap "+ Anchor."
    7. You're all set! Tap "Done."
  • Go to "My GPS anchors" under the map details to see the google/picture map screen. You can see all your anchors on the Google map. Tap a purple anchor or delete it.
  • This is easy. Tap the name of the map from under the "My Maps" menu and tap "Share Map." This will send your map to Maprika so other people can download it!
  • You can add the following link to your web page:

       <a href="maprika://app/?map=map_ID">Map link</a>

    This link can only be accepted by the phone with Maprika app installed, you cannot open this link on a desktop computer.
    Alternatively you can create a link to our web page that has map QR code (could be used in any QR code scanning app on the phone), and phone link:

       <a href="http://www.maprika.com/maplink.php?id=map_ID&name=map_name">Map link</a>

    Here map_ID is an ID of the Maprika map. To find map ID you can either
    1) write as an email; please specify map name in your email;
    or
    2) open "Map Info" screen on your phone; tap "Report problem" button - the email app will start, map ID will appear in email Subject. You do not need to send this email.

    Here is an example of Maprika map link to Disneyland map:
       <a href="http://www.maprika.com/maplink.php?id=766&name=Disneyland">Disneyland map</a>
    It will create the following link: Disneyland map
  • So that you don't have to take both gloves off to use Maprika on the slopes.