Potsdam 08.08.19, for Immediate Release

Komoot have upgraded their maps to a high-definition feature that’s even more user-friendly and detailed. Now, their super-charged maps benefit every type of adventurer, whether the goal is to bag peaks or find the best cake on their bike Tours.

HD maps open up opportunities for the komoot community to plan adventures more easily, and to enjoy the process of planning as much as the adventure itself.

Here are some benefits of planning routes with HD maps:

• Crisp images with more detail enabling the planning and visualization of routes more easily
• Smoother zoom and consistently high-quality display as users pan across areas of a map
• Next-level zoom abilities allowing users to zoom in even closer
• Downloaded map files up to six times smaller therefore taking up less storage on phones

Non-HD maps do their job just fine, but there are a few small limitations. They take up lots of space when downloaded onto a phone, details like place names (such as tiny towns), or detailed terrain-type aren’t always clearly visible, and maps can be slow to adjust as you zoom in or pan across large areas.

The underlying difference between other maps and the HD komoot versions is file type. In short, the current maps are raster files, the new versions are vector files.

Raster files save the map as a collection of images. As you zoom in or pan across, each image is reloaded. This is why certain place names or minute trail details are sometimes missed on raster maps. In order to update a tiny detail, a whole new file needs to be generated.

When it comes to vector files, maps are saved as a collection of data points. That means that more information can be stored as the map only loads the data that you need. It also means that in order to add details, instead of creating a whole new image file, one or two relevant data points on the map can be updated.

When zooming in, the map adjusts faster. This opens up a world of possibilities when adding detail to maps. Whether ensuring the right fork in the trail is selected, or sticking to the routes with the least climbs, HD maps help komoot users plan Tours more accurately.

High definition komoot maps are immediately available on Android devices and komoot.com with iOS currently being rolled-out. They’re going to be the new normal at komoot soon, paving the way for consistent improvements on komoot’s platform.

Screenshots and images of the komoot Vector maps are available here