SUPPORT
mobile
The Trailmap web app also works well in the browsers of mobile devices. On tablets, almost the same interface is on offer as on a computer, but on smartphones the structure of the menus and screens has been adapted and simplified to suit phone use better.
If you use the Trailmap web app often on a mobile device, then in terms of usability it's best to install it as a so-called PWA app of its own on the device's home screen. The biggest advantage of this is that the app can then make full use of the limited screen space on mobile, since the browser isn't taking up unnecessary space at the top and bottom of the screen.
Note. This is a different thing from installing the "Trailmap Suomi" native mobile app from the Google or Apple app store! In technical terms, the Trailmap web app is a so-called Progressive Web Application (PWA); in practice it's a halfway form between a native mobile app installed from an app store and a website used through an ordinary browser.
Why two different Trailmap apps for mobile devices? The web version is easier to take into use, it has all the functions, and it's meant to be used while stationary: the buttons and text are small in places. The native app, on the other hand, is meant to be used for navigation outdoors: the buttons are bigger and the map has functions that are useful for navigation: turning the map according to your direction of travel, forcing the screen to stay on, offline maps, ride recording and so on (these functions are missing from the web version).
Installing to the home screen
On Android, installing to the home screen happens by opening the Trailmap service in a browser (https://web.trailmap.fi) and then choosing "Install app" from the browser's menu (in Chrome, the three dots in the top right corner). In the dialog that opens you can, if you wish, give a new name in place of the suggested "Trailmap".
On Apple devices the browser can be either Safari or Chrome when you open the Trailmap service. In both, installation is started by pressing the browser's "share" button. In Chrome this button is at the top of the screen on the right, on the same row as the website's address. In Safari, on the other hand, the button is found at the bottom of the screen in the middle.
NOTE. Both images of the Trailmap app are a little old; this doesn't affect the installation, though.
The Chrome "share" button
The Safari "share" button
With the browser's share button you get a menu open which you then have to scroll downwards until you find, almost at the bottom of the menu, the "Add to Home Screen" option. After the selection you can, in the same way as on Android, edit the name if you wish.
Apple's "add to home screen" option, here the English-language version
Using the installed app
After this installation, the Trailmap service is available from its own app icon on the home screen and it works better technically. One significant advantage is that the app fills the whole screen when the browser's menus and interface elements aren't taking up space.
A web app installed to the home screen makes use of the whole screen
When you open the app for the first time it requires logging in again, even if you'd already logged in earlier with the mobile browser. Likewise, if you've logged in with the help of Google, logging in may require logging in to Google again as well. Some of Apple's iOS versions may also play up so that the keyboard doesn't appear, in which case writing text (e.g. the password when logging in) is impossible. Shutting the device down and starting it up again usually helps with this, and the problem goes away.