The Chainlink

App: An offline bike map for Chicago

Consider this: You like to use the Chicago Bike Map but you don't always carry it with you. You want to be reminded of where the bike lanes and trail access points are. But you do carry your smartphone with you, all the time. 

In April I launched my first-ever app, the Chicago Bike Guide. It works similarly to the "Chicago Bike Map" (the City's printed one) in that it shows the presence of on-street bike lanes, multi-use trails, and train stations. It works like Google Maps, though, where you can pinch and zoom to interact with the map. 

A feature of the app is that it will not use your data connection to see the map. The app stores the map and all other information directly on your phone. It will not use the internet! It can even locate your position on the map – without internet. 

There are features that require the internet, including getting directions and reading The Chainlink discussions. 

Currently it's for iOS devices only (iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad). I'm just getting started on a version for Android users. 

It costs $1.99 (link opens the iTunes Store).

Routing on the Chicago Bike Guide

I'd ask for your feedback, but you obviously have to buy it first. I'll answer all your questions, though. For example, if you want to know if it has a certain feature or point of interest listed. 

A note about the color scheme: Green was chosen to display bikeways because it is not represented by anything else on the map, and it's appearance is strongly apparent. The more dark green a line has, the safer a facility it's intended to be. In other words, the greater the distance from cars.

Dark blue lines are Metra routes, and light blue lines are CTA routes. The blues match the agencies' respective brands.

Tags: app, iOS, iPhone

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Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 23, 2012 at 12:37am

Ah. That button is supposed to zoom you to downtown. The icon is supposed to be a skyscraper, and the button takes you back to the Loop (the default location when you open the map). The purpose of this is to take you back to a place on the map where you can "start over" your browsing from a known location. 

h' said:

Sorry, it's not the little train toggle that knocks you back downtown but the one to the right of it that looks like the "bird" sign. iOS 5.1.1.
Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on July 23, 2012 at 2:27am

Um . . . yeah, hopefully that will be fixed in the next version :-)

Permalink Reply by Tom Kompare on July 23, 2012 at 9:01am

Nice work, Steve!

This is a great on-the-spot resource when there is poor or no internet connection available.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 23, 2012 at 10:37am

Thanks. The "no data connection" features will never go away!

BTW, 124 people downloaded the app during "free day", only 93 of them from the United States market. 

Tom Kompare said:

Nice work, Steve!

This is a great on-the-spot resource when there is poor or no internet connection available.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C on July 24, 2012 at 3:20pm
Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on July 24, 2012 at 3:27pm
Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 24, 2012 at 3:37pm

Thanks for pointing that out. I added it to my Press page. The Mayor's Twitter account linked to Chicagoist yesterday. 

Permalink Reply by rb on July 25, 2012 at 7:34am

Thanks for making this app (and fr the free d/l.)

I used it last night for a route to see the Who doc. Very useful. I can't provide more detailed feedback at this point but I will with more use.

Thank you!

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 25, 2012 at 12:08pm

The map will be updated soon with the following new bikeways, as they are complete or under construction:

  • Wells Street, buffered bike lane between Chicago River and Chicago Avenue
  • Halsted Street, buffered bike lane between Wellington and Diversey
  • Wabash Avenue, buffered bike lane between Roosevelt and Harrison

I'm taking suggestions for additional points of interest. They should not be commercial (look at the current list in the app). 

The update will also include the latest versions of PhoneGap (Cordova), jQuery, and jQueryMobile. These JS files will be minified in an attempt to speed up performance (although the app runs at a great speed on iPhone 4S; I haven't seen it run on iPads or iPod touches). 

Cross posted.

Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on July 25, 2012 at 12:52pm

I did a bicycle tour of historic places in Uptown this summer, You can add those:

Hutchinson Street Historic District - 600 W. Hutchinson Street, Chicago, IL 60640

Peace Garden - 4200N Lakefront Trail Chicago, Illinois 60640

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary - 200 (??? Rough address) W Montrose Harbor Dr, Chicago, IL 60640

Aragon Ballroom - 1106 West Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, IL 60640

Essanay Studios - 1345 W Argyle St, Chicago, IL 60640

Permalink Reply by Richard on July 25, 2012 at 1:22pm

+1 Android.

Any chance you'll open source the code? Perhaps some folks form the community would jump in.

Permalink Reply by Steven Vance on July 25, 2012 at 1:45pm

The Android version isn't happening for now. I'm having problems with the Android SDK/Eclipse IDE/Android emulator (mostly the emulator) and I'm going to devote more of my time to furthering the app's development. The app is platform agnostic, but I have to wrap it with iOS or with Android and wrapping it with Android is a problem right now. 

If anyone's an Android developer, I have questions. 

I would considering making this open source if I could still make sales. 

Richard said:

+1 Android.

Any chance you'll open source the code? Perhaps some folks form the community would jump in.

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