Changes in versions prior to 5.0

New in version 4.5:

  • updated all "cities ranked ..." maps
  • speed and direction of movement are now sent to the GPS fleet tracking service
  • additionally, you can select a "role" to show on the tracking map as an icon
  • minor improvements

New in version 4.4:

  • all menus (main menu, context menus) can be controlled by hardware keys (cursors)
  • Quiz and Data Search windows: attribute names are now displayed properly (removed superfluous information on type and flags)
  • you can now easily edit your locations: just click on the location and choose "Edit" from the context menu
  • you can easily add new locations: click anywhere on the map and choose "Add point here" from the context menu
  • various improvements in the user interface
  • enhanced GPS fleet tracking service

New in version 4.3:

  • you can now delete map files using the "Open maps" window: click the little "i" button
  • fixed crash when you click "Info" in the context menu, an image or elevation map is open and no vector maps are open
  • fixed GPS altitude not being displayed unless the GPS was moving
  • GPS altitude reading is updated more frequently in the "Altitude: Show" mode
  • the device auto-off is disabled when the GPS connection is open
  • "GPS signal lost?" label displayed when no GPS reading for a minute
  • GPS altitude can be displayed in meters or feet (depending on your choice in menu:Settings/General/Unit)
  • when the distance is less than one kilometer/mile, PrettyMap automatically uses meters/feet
  • changed unit abbreviations (SI/IEEE recommendations): nautical mile is now "nmi", statute mile is now "mi"

New in version 4.2:

  • GPS fleet tracking service: PrettyMap and PrettyEarth can regularly report locations so that you know where your fleet is, and others know where you are
  • fixed reading of small user maps: files shorter than 512 bytes might be unrecognized
  • GPS: now can display altitude and the number of satellites in view
  • in the "User maps" window, all existing user maps are listed and available for editing, not only currently opened ones
  • added new data to the "World Facts" maps: country background, overview of economy, current environmental issues, international disputes, and more
  • "hide/show toolbar" button no longer obscures the elevation legend in 3D views
  • more map categories and visual styles supported
  • the shapefile-to-prettymap converter is more robust against non-conforming shapefiles

New in version 4.1:

  • fixed sessions that would not find vector maps if you removed a memory card
  • fixed the "Zoom area" rectangle which was drawn shifted and white instead of red
  • "Alpha sort" in the Open maps window is now case insensitive
  • screenshot file names are more unique to prevent overwriting
  • the point maps you created can now be exported as KML directly on the device
  • added "World Facts" map to the distribution

New in version 4.0:

  • vector maps no longer stored in *.pdb files: now they are stored in regular *.pmap files and can be easily copied to memory cards
  • custom maps and map layers that you edit on the device are also stored in *.pmap files
  • support for GPS, logging GPS locations and the "follow GPS" mode
  • new memory management: you can now open sooo many vector maps!
  • much faster and more memory-efficient loading of vector maps
  • removed the 64KB limit per each database attribute in vector maps
  • maps are categorized; visual styles for maps are defined in an external file you can edit (see the gfx/ subdirectory), including your own icons for locations
  • improved Open Maps window
  • full screen mode: you can now hide the top toolbar
  • improved shortcuts: can also be used to close maps and can be shown/hidden at any time
  • added "Save screenshot" option
  • drawing vector shapes and lines is faster
  • fixed 2-point lines disappearing under specific circumstances
  • point maps are less crowded (not all points are always displayed)
  • CitiesRanked maps are now bigger - they contain 10000 cities each
  • vectormap-to-prettymap converter: supports many coordinate reference systems, it is aware of .prj files and can convert coordinates to WGS84
  • rastermap-to-prettymap converter: fixed latitude issues (enabled negative values, fixed swapping coordinates)
  • lots of other improvements and optimizations

New in version 3.10:

  • updated all "CitiesRanked" maps with new data
  • added information on city elevation (in meters) for all cities in "CitiesRanked" maps
  • "Time offset" setting is no longer saved/restored on restart. When PrettyMap/PrettyEarth starts, "time offset" is now based on your system preference setting, which automatically handles daylight saving changes
  • other improvements

New in version 3.9:

  • new option - see menu:Vector/Quick find. You can type any name and "Quick find" will search all objects in all open maps (looking for a substring in their default labels)
  • new: you can associate "Quick find" with a hardware key of your handheld (e.g. Contacts) to quickly access this feature when PrettyMap is running. See menu:Settings/Buttons.
  • new: Quick Find automatically pops up when you type any letter and have at least one vector map open!
  • you can now convert any image map for use with PrettyMap
  • fixed palette problems when image maps open - previously, the toolbar could change colors in an unpredictable way
  • optimized "Data search". It is now 4 times faster and much more memory-efficient
  • items found in data search are now sorted alphabetically
  • country name label no longer obscures city name labels when you search for some city and then "Go to" the city
  • when you "Go to" an object that you searched for, its label has a red background and it is always displayed
  • improved all scrollbars: previously, you had to start dragging the bar again after you hit the low or high bound
  • updated all "CitiesRanked" maps: more than 2000 additions and corrections
  • other improvements

New in version 3.8:

  • new, more friendly Measure Distance window: you can now start typing a name of a location and you will be instantly presented with a list of similar choices. This is especially useful for maps with many (e.g. thousands of) locations
  • changed an order of items in the Vector menu (settings items moved to bottom)
  • all scrollbars support continuous scroll: tap an arrow and hold to scroll the contents smoothly. Or tap between the arrow and the bar, hold to scroll faster
  • adjusted scrolling rate for some text windows
  • minor improvements

New in version 3.7:

  • better support for incorrectly typed weather location IDs
  • improved handling of file read problems and invalid files
  • numerous minor tweaks

New in version 3.6:

  • In the "Open maps" window, turning "Alpha sort" on/off no longer deselects all maps. Current selection is retained
  • "CitiesRanked..." map layers are automatically sorted according to their rank
  • "Shortcuts" menu has an entry for the "Cities, rank 1" map

New in version 3.5:

  • added a large collection of cities (8 map layers grouped according to the city population rank)

New in version 3.4:

  • added "day & night" option in the drop-down menu. You can now quickly show/hide day and night regions (toggle: hide/dark night region/bright day region)

New in version 3.3:

  • for weather locations, the type of the second label is now the same as the type of the first label (Simple/Opaque/Shadow)
  • fixed possible problems when selecting graph-type labels for weather locations

New in version 3.2:

  • sample vector maps (boundaries, rivers, water bodies, cities) of Canada, Alaska, Australia and South America included (maps for other areas can be provided as well)
  • in the "Open maps" window, added an option to sort maps alphabetically (or by type)
  • other improvements

New in version 3.1:

  • sample vector maps (boundaries, rivers, water bodies, cities) of USA and Europe included
  • for current weather locations, their names (not only IDs) are displayed in the "Map locations" window
  • better support for converted maps of arbitrary areas
  • boundary labels are opaque by default
  • weather icons look better after palette changes
  • more data can be loaded for vector map files (memory used more efficiently)
  • new demo/tutorial movies (world facts, weather maps)
  • other improvements

New in version 3.0:

  • can handle huge raster files
  • new raster map: Earth elevation and bathymetry, 6x higher resolution, higher data quality
  • new raster maps: very high resolution elevation and bathymetric data available for Earth – three huge tiles for each world map
  • moon elevation data are better prepared
  • new map available with a comprehensive set of data for each country, based on the current information from The World Factbook
  • Yahoo online weather reports and forecasts (requires Internet connection)
  • customized weather labels
  • 2x faster drawing of area vector maps
  • preview vector areas/lines much faster and better quality
  • uses less memory
  • "location info" window – the table with location data is more readable and uses full width available
  • "location info" window – for many features no table is used, but full-width text with headings
  • "location info" window – name of an object is placed in the window title bar
  • "location info" window – its contents can be scrolled using up/down keys
  • better labeling of lines (e.g. rivers)
  • second label color more readable
  • new color profile: Martian (inspired by Mars colors)
  • when an elevation map is open, its planet default color profile is automatically selected
  • scroll bars no longer so tiny when many items are listed
  • many other improvements

New in version 2.4:

  • shortcut buttons (popular actions) are displayed when no maps open
  • much nicer and more readable "Location info" window
  • in vector maps, names of object properties are now more descriptive (e.g. for Lakes map: Surface elevation (feet) instead of SURF_ELEV)
  • by default, raster elevation maps are displayed in the "relief" mode
  • by default, vector areas are filled with random colors when no raster maps loaded. Otherwise they are outlined with their default color. Activate vector settings: draft mode to restore previous behavior (i.e. no automatic changes in area fill color)
  • demo movie available
  • minor improvements

New in version 2.3:

  • improved the "Countries2005" map (better quiz and search)
  • "Countries2005HiRes" (higher resolution) available
  • added a simple general Help window
  • minor improvements

New in version 2.2:

  • new maps available
  • minor improvements

New in version 2.1:

  • spherical preview is 3 times faster
  • minor improvements
  • new icon

New in version 2.0:

  • new spherical view (with optional relief for elevation) supporting distance measurement, and day and night display
  • raster maps are now stored on card
  • higher resolution free maps available (global Earth elevation and Earth lights: 9x higher; satellite Earth image: 33x higher; land cover classification: 16x higher; Mars elevation: 9x higher resolution)
  • new historical map image from the year 1678 is now available
  • very high resolution Earth elevation maps will be successively added
  • improved performance of most drawing procedures
  • new toolbar button to quickly switch between 2D/3D/spherical views
  • the OK/ENTER/SELECT hardware button closes parameter windows as "OK", not "Cancel"
  • many other optimizations and improvements

New in version 1.7.4:

  • added thumbnails for the moon and Mars
  • minor improvements

New in version 1.7.2:

  • added help for PrettyMap forms
  • minor improvements

New in version 1.7:

  • added new free vector maps of the moon: mountains, craters and crater chains, seas, lakes, bays, swamps, albedo, plains, promontories, valleys, scarps, rilles and rille systems, wrinkle ridges and wrinkle ridge systems
  • fixed lunar distance measurement
  • opaque labels no longer obscure points they refer to
  • minor improvements

New in version 1.6.2:

  • added settings reference and help
  • minor improvements

New in version 1.6:

  • you can now select a font for vector map labels. 8 fonts are available for high resolution devices, including very clear and legible small and tiny fonts
  • added new "Color by random gradient" mode: objects are shaded with a random color from the user-defined gradient
  • all windows can be moved, just drag the title bar
  • all simple message windows can be dismissed with a hardware button OK/ENTER/SELECT
  • fixed a problem with scroll bars drag not working
  • fixed a problem with main menu not disappearing after screen resize with rotate
  • user interface look and feel is improved
  • contains a lot of minor optimizations
  • uses less memory