Make it smoother to switch between Nearby and Explore maps

[nicolas-raoul]

Nearby and Explore both have maps. Sometimes I find myself thinking that a single map would be more convenient, but I still believe that it makes more sense to keep the two maps separated, one for finding nearby things to photograph, and the other toexplore existing pictures. That being said, we could help users go from one to the other more smoothly.

Example: When using Nearby to plan pictures along a future trip, I often see non-Wikidata interesting things and would like to quickly check whether there are worth stopping for a picture or not. So from Nearby I switch to Explore and unzoom/pan/zoom to find the same place, which takes a lot of time.

Strategy 1

Synchronize position&zoom of Nearby and Explore maps.

Drawback: May surprise users who did not expect it. Maybe only synchronize if less than 1 minute has passed since using Nearby.

Strategy 2

Have a "Show in Explore" 3-dots menu item in Nearby, and vice-versa.

Other ideas welcome! 🙂

[Sujal-Gupta-SG]

what about this also

Split-View Mode:

Allow users to view both maps side-by-side or in a split view (vertical/horizontal). This can help them compare Nearby and Explore without switching.

Quick Switch Button:

Adding a small floating action button (FAB) on the map interface to toggle between Nearby and Explore maps instantly. The button could retain the last position and zoom level.

[nicolas-raoul]

Thanks for the ideas!!!

If we consider split the screen, then putting all pins on the same map would be a better solution I think. 🙂

FAB button is an interesting idea, however not sure this relatively rare use case justifies taking some screen real estate from the map...

[Sujal-Gupta-SG]

Thanks for the ideas!!!

If we consider split the screen, then putting all pins on the same map would be a better solution I think. 🙂

FAB button is an interesting idea, however not sure this relatively rare use case justifies taking some screen real estate from the map...

Then what you say what should be implemeted

[nicolas-raoul]

The more I think about it, the more Strategy 2 sounds good.

[andy-ife]

hi @nicolas-raoul. May I be assigned to this? If it's okay with @Sujal-Gupta-SG. I'll be implementing Strategy 2.

[andy-ife]

Hello @nicolas-raoul. I've made some good progress with the intimidating code base that is the commons app haha. I'd appreciate your input on some implementation details:

• I noticed the strings in the 3-dots menu in Nearby fragment xml are hardcoded, so I assume I can go ahead and hard code the 'Show in Explore' string as well?
• I would like to use the shared prefs wrapper JsonKvStore to pass data between Nearby and Explore (map center, zoom etc). Is this ok?

[nicolas-raoul]

Yes hard-coding the 3-dots menu is fine, just make sure to internationalize the strings.

I would recommend using intents with extras:

In your first Activity:

// Create an Intent object
Intent intent = new Intent(this, SecondActivity.class); 

// Put data into the Intent using putExtra()
intent.putExtra("key1", "value1"); // String
intent.putExtra("key2", 123); // Integer
intent.putExtra("key3", true); // Boolean 
// ... add more data as needed

// Start the second Activity
startActivity(intent); 

In your second Activity:

// Receive the data from the Intent
Intent intent = getIntent();
String value1 = intent.getStringExtra("key1");
int value2 = intent.getIntExtra("key2", 0); // Provide a default value
boolean value3 = intent.getBooleanExtra("key3", false); 

and the same the other way.