Version 8.x

What’s new in Version 8.x

Version 8 is the biggest rebuild in years. The common thread: Track of the Day now works without an internet connection – maps, route calculation and terrain data live on your own computer. On top of that come a new 3D view, POI export without third-party tools and a noticeably faster program start. This page lists everything that has changed since version 7.x.

Offline maps

The map data sits on your PC, not on the network. Planning therefore works in a hotel, in a holiday home, on a train or with no signal at all – and, incidentally, without waiting for tiles to appear.

• • Manage regions individually – A window of its own lists more than 60 regions to download, with size, progress and status. Whatever you no longer need can be removed again.

• • Quick activation – The downloaded offline map can be switched on and off straight from the map selection, without a detour through the settings.

• • Your own storage folder – You decide where the map packages live – on a second hard disk or an external drive, for instance.

• • Coverage you can see – A coverage display shows which area is really loaded. That is the end of guessing whether a region is enough for the tour you have in mind.

• • Worldwide overview map – A worldwide map is available as a base layer, so no grey areas appear outside the regions you have downloaded.

• • Relief shading – Differences in elevation are drawn as terrain shading – offline as well.

Offline routing

The route is calculated on your own computer, with no data connection and no map service. This is the second half of the independence: a map without route calculation is of little use when planning.

• • Routing profiles of their own – A separate profile is created for offline calculation, and it can be adjusted just like the profiles you already know.

• • Points snap to the road – Points you place jump to the nearest road offline too, instead of sitting loose in open country.

• • Coverage checked before calculating – Track of the Day checks in advance whether the route lies inside the downloaded area. Previously a straight line could quietly come out of it instead.

Winding roads

The heart of the program is still the beautiful road – and this is the part that has gained the most that you can actually see.

• • Super-curves layer – Twisty roads are highlighted in colour on top of the map. You can see at a glance where the ride is worth it, without calculating a single route.

• • New KAKIMOTO routing – Route finding for winding, enjoyable rides has been rebuilt. Results can be re-rolled until the loop suits you.

• • Curviness as a criterion – The curve data is available offline as well and feeds into the route calculation.

New 3D map

Alongside the familiar view there is now a tilted 3D map: aerial imagery with labels over real terrain, freely rotated and tilted. The decisive difference from the previous 3D view is speed. Every change used to rebuild the whole page and export the route as a file first. Now it loads once; after that only the route geometry travels into the running view. A route with 4000 points appears with no noticeable wait. The 3D map is meant for looking. Editing still happens on the familiar map.

POIs in Garmin GPI format

Until now POI export needed two third-party tools that everyone had to install themselves: GPSBabel or the Garmin POI Loader. Track of the Day now writes and reads GPI files itself.

• • No third-party tool needed any more – The new export route writes the GPI straight to the device or to your hard disk. The previous routes via GPSBabel and POI Loader remain available if you are used to them.

• • Proximity alarms built in – Alarms with a distance threshold are part of the format and are written directly – which was the whole reason for using the POI Loader in the first place.

• • 26 warning sounds included – The warning sounds are embedded into the GPI file, so nothing has to be copied alongside it.

• • GPI files can be read back in – Existing GPI files can be imported – something even the POI Loader could never do.

• • Tested on the device – The route was tested on a Garmin zumo XT2: write, transfer, display on the device, trigger the alarm.

Noticeably faster start

Anyone with many tracks and routes open used to wait at start-up until every single file had been read and evaluated in full. A complaint that has come back year after year. Version 8 reads only the header data at start-up – name, colour, date, distance, duration, top speed. That is enough for the lists on the left. The file itself is only read once you select a track or a route.

Links to the portal and your phone

• • Community gallery inside Track of the Day – Tours from the portal gallery can be loaded directly. With a valid Pro licence the program signs in by itself.

• • Send a route to Track of the Day Mobile – A planned route can be opened on your smartphone with a single click – handy for double-checking the navigation before you set off.

Under the bonnet

Not visible, but noticeable – and helpful if something does go wrong after all.

• • Tile cache reworked – The map display fetches tiles in a more orderly fashion. Areas that stayed grey and blurry zoom levels are a thing of the past.

• • Start-up timing – The program measures for itself how long each stage of the start takes.

• • Freeze watchdog – If the interface stops responding, that is written to the log instead of leaving you to guess.

• • Offline diagnostics – A check of its own shows which map packages and routing data are really present and readable.

The test build

Version 8 is available as a test build. It does not come through the Microsoft Store but straight from the portal, and it is installed next to your version 7 – both can be open at the same time.

• • Add a certificate once – The test build is signed with a self-issued developer certificate. Before installing, it has to be added once to the “Trusted People” store. Instructions and the thumbprint are on the portal.

• • Enter your licence key once – Windows keeps a separate settings store for every installation location. The test build therefore cannot see the one belonging to your Store version and starts as the Free Edition until you have entered your key.

• • Back up first – Routes, tracks, offline maps and the database are shared with version 7; settings, licence and permissions are not. There is no guaranteed way back from version 8 to version 7 – please make a backup before your first start.

Fixes in the test builds

• • 8.0.0.2 – location permission is now actually requested – Track of the Day used the old Windows interface, which only reads the permission and never asks for it. If the setting was on “Ask”, it stayed there forever and the program was refused every time – without any dialog ever appearing. Now Windows asks for itself.

• • 8.0.0.2 – permission takes effect immediately – The location service is restarted once permission is granted. Previously your “yes” only took effect after the next program start.

• • 8.0.0.2 – message no longer hidden behind the splash screen – On machines with a single monitor the splash screen covered the message completely; it looked as though the program had frozen.

• • 8.0.0.1 – location capability and removable storage – The location capability was not declared in the package, and without it Windows cannot grant permission at all. Along with access to USB sticks and memory cards for export.

Questions, bug reports and suggestions about the test build are expressly welcome – that is exactly what it is for.