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Adding a TMS Map Source

Some online TMS map sources can be added to Gaia GPS by finding the tiles based URL and creating a TileJSON file. Not all online map sources will work. In this article you will learn how to find and test the URL. 


For this example we will be using Google Chrome as our browser, and the following map source:

http://maps.stamen.com/#terrain/12/37.7706/-122.3782

Finding the URL


Once you are viewing the source, from Google Chrome's menu:

View>Developer>Developer Tools




  • Once the developer tools are open, expand the window so that you can view all of the tabs
  • Click the "Network" tab
  • Zoom and Move the map to populate the text fields
  • Click one of the text fields to get the image URL
It will look something like this: 
http://b.tile.stamen.com/terrain/13/1308/3165.jpg

  • Copy and paste the link into a text editor
  • The 3 numbers in the URL will need to be replaced with xyz
  • In this case they will need to be in this order: {z}/{x}/{y} [Note: you may need to re-arrange these variables for the URL to work.]
http://b.tile.stamen.com/terrain/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg

Check the URL

  • Go to http://trailbehind.github.io/TilejsonTester/
  • Inset the URL along with names and attribution
  • Click "update map"
  • Zoom to the area of the map that you expect to see your map source
  • If you have created the URL correctly, you will see your TMS source appear in the correct area of the map


If your map source doesn't appear:
  • Make sure that you have toggled the bounds to whole numbers
  • Toggle the zoom levels
  • If you are using a map source other than this one; s ometimes the x and y will be reversed /{z}/{y}/{x}

 

Import to gaiagps.com 

To upload the TMS URL directly to your gaiagps.com account, follow the instructions here.

Import to Gaia GPS app 

Create a TileJSON

If your map source a successfully appears, it's time to create a JSON file.
  • Create a JSON file in a text editing program
  • Copy and paste the text field from the TileJSON tester into the text editor
  • Save the file
Follow the instructions here to import into Gaia GPS for iOS

Once imported, the file will appear in your layers list. Select the layer in order to view it.


Notes:

Please make sure you read the map providers Terms of Service before using the map source in Gaia GPS.



 
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4 Comments

Date Votes
  • 2
    Avatar
    Tripp Johnson

    Does anyone know how to add Google as a map source? The World Imagery and MapBox Aerial maps are not recent enough for me. Thank you.

  • 1
    Avatar
    ThorsPadre

    I too would like to know how to add a Google satellite source.
    MapBox Aerial is years out of date.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Alex

    Same here, after purchasing Pro access, MapBox didn't live to expectations. Google Sat maps are a lot better, but no longer available.

  • 0
    Avatar
    ThorsPadre

    I discovered you can add Google Sat to your maps quite easily.

    Check out the Reddit discussion here.

    But yeah, I'm a little disappointed. The whole point of upgrading to Pro was for the "better quality" satellite imagery. But that does me no good when the images are 5 years old in my areas of interest.

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