WHERE AM I ? WHERE ARE YOU ?
One of the features that make Bluerando stand out from other apps dedicated to the outdoors is the attention paid to activities carried out in snowy environments and the safety of those who practice them. The OBSERVE and REPORT section is an integral and essential part of this project. Below, we explain why.
The snow season has begun, even though snow cover is sparse across most of the Alps. There are always places where you can go with skins or snowshoes, and thousands of enthusiasts are on the move.
Before resuming Ernesto Bassetti's series of articles, I would like to share a new feature available on Bluerando.
First of all, I am really happy to announce that Bluerando has been publicly available for Android phones for a few days now. At the same time, we have redesigned the Location Sharing feature, which was already available on Apple phones, to make it more effective and easier to use.
Now, all participants in a trip, excursion, or mountain activity can see the real-time location of all their fellow adventurers! No matter what phone they have in their pocket: iPhone, Samsung, or any other Android device.
As always, we at Bluerando strive to contribute to the safety and awareness of outdoor enthusiasts, with a particular focus on snow-covered mountains. This new feature fits perfectly into this trend, along with the display of Avalanche Reports, the recording and sharing of Observations, and the display of slopes over 30° on maps (the latter, for the moment, only on the web portal).
When participants start recording on Bluerando by activating the Location Sharing option, everyone will be able to see the location of their fellow travelers on the map, each highlighted with a colored icon and name. If necessary, by clicking on one of the icons, it will be possible to view and send to third parties, with a single click, the coordinates of that person's last known location.
To avoid draining your phone battery, your location is not transmitted continuously. It is updated approximately every two minutes for “slow” sports (ski touring, snowshoeing, walking, etc.) and every 30 seconds for “fast” sports (cycling, e-biking, ski, etc.).
Of course, an internet connection is required to transmit your location. The phone screen will therefore show the last location that the phone was able to share. As we know, 4/5G coverage is practically everywhere in Switzerland; elsewhere, for example in Italy, much less so...
That's why the time of the last detected location is displayed together with the coordinates when you click on a Friend icon.
SAFETY, EMERGENCY
Knowing the location of your friends is not just a whim or a game. As mentioned above, when you click on a friend's icon, their coordinates and the exact time of detection appear. Along with this information, a button also appears, allowing you to send to third parties via email or text message, the person's name and location, along with a personalized message if you wish.
This is a significant safety feature.
How does it work?
It's not difficult. First, you need to install Bluerando from the Apple Store or Google Play :)
Bluerando continuously monitor your location, but only while you are recording an activity, and it does not make it public, of course. It only shares it with your friends.
For Bluerando, Friends are users that we follow and who follow us in return. So, we need to start “following” the people with whom we want to share our location. If the person we want to follow has already published at least one Report or Route, doing so is very simple. Just open the Reports or Routes page, find one published by that person, swipe left with your finger, and click on the Follow button. Done!
If the person we want to follow has not yet published anything, we can open the Friends and Followed page, from the main menu. Once the page is open, type part of the first or last name in the search field and click on the Search button. A list of all users matching what you have entered will appear: select a name (or more than one) and click on Confirm. Done!
The Friends and Followed page shows a list of all the people you have selected over time, identified as Friends or Followed, depending on whether or not they have done the same thing to you on their phone.
Okay, we're almost there...
When we start recording a new activity, the bottom button bar shows one button, the first on the left, which depicts a human figure. A bust, in fact. Clicking on it opens the Share Location page. Just activate the Share my location selector and click Save to return to the activity page and start viewing the location of all your Friends who have done the same thing. Our Friends, in fact, are simply the people we follow and who in turn follow us.
At Bluerando, we are committed to respecting your privacy, not least because otherwise Apple and Google would prevent us from publishing the app on their stores :)
For this reason:
- in order for the location to be effectively shared, both parties must activate Sharing on their phones.
- Location sharing simply means that our fellow travelers will see our location on their phone screen via an icon, only while they are recording their activity. Nothing else.
Settings
Inside Bluerando settings, you can enable permanent location sharing. The command is located within the Settings menu —> Other settings. By enabling this option, every time you start recording a new activity, and only in that case, location sharing will automatically start with friends who have done the same and are recording a session as well.
As always, enjoy your trips! Stay safe and in good company!
Try the Bluerando app!
With Bluerando, you can save and share your snow activities with friends, check out reports sent by other users, and use the routes in the shared library.
Above all, you can share your location with your travel companions and record your Snow & Avalanche Observations and contribute to everyone's safety.
