Routster

Map viewer

The rendering layer all three analysis views sit on.

Everything happens in map pixels

The map image is the coordinate system. GPS points are projected into the image's own pixel space once, and every subsequent calculation — leg splitting, deviation, mistake positions, shortest paths — happens there rather than in latitude and longitude.

This is not a shortcut. An orienteering map is a local, human-drawn interpretation of the ground; it is not a projection of the globe and it is not aligned to true north. Working in its own space means the numbers describe the map the runner actually held.

The one-time conversion is the georeference — see Georeferencing, which also covers how to check it.

Course symbols scale with the map

Control circles, the start triangle, the finish double circle and the leg lines are drawn in map units, so they grow and shrink with zoom exactly like the map does. A control circle stays the right size relative to the terrain at every zoom level, as it would if it had been printed.

The overprint colour is the sport's standard course purple, not a Routster colour. It is not ours to pick: the IOF colour appendix defines it, and a competitor reading a course expects that ink.

Control numbers are set in Arial rather than the interface font, because the IOF map specification prescribes Arial for them. It is the only place in the product where the type system is deviated from, and it is the sport's requirement rather than a stylistic choice.

Rotation

The map can be rotated: automatically in per-leg view so the leg points upwards, and by dragging in full course and in live playback's free camera. Interaction is rotated with it, so dragging the map down moves it down on screen whatever angle it is at.

On-map controls

ControlWhat it does
Layer switcherSwap between the primary map and any extra layers the organiser attached
Runners panelShow and hide individual runners' tracks, and see who has shared one
Settings railOverride your styling defaults for this analysis only
North pointerShows how far the map is rotated, and returns it to north
FullscreenHands the whole screen to the map

These float above the map on translucent glass rather than sitting in a bar around it. The map is the product; chrome does not take space from it.

Fullscreen on a phone

Fullscreen plus per-leg view plus run rotation is the closest the product gets to holding the map in the terrain. It is a good way to review a race on the drive home — assuming somebody else is driving.

Large maps

A 300 DPI render of an A3 map is a large image, and some browsers refuse to decode one past a certain size. Analyse detects that case and renders a downscaled preview rather than failing, so an oversized map is slower and slightly softer instead of blank.

Map images are cached locally after the first load, so returning to an analysis you have opened before does not re-download it.