Category Archives: Purchases

FrogSparks licensing server blocked by Russian government

According to this site, maps.frogsparks.com is among many sites being blocked by the Russian government (technically, the IP address the host resolves to is part of a large block “B-class” of IPs blocked wholesale by Russia – the block is not targeted at MyTrails specifically). This means that for users in Russia, MyTrails Pro can no longer verify its licensing status, and will revert to Free mode even if you have paid.

If you are affected by this, you can use a VPN to allow MyTrails to get around the block. The licensing status must be verified at least once every two months.

MyTrails 2.1.4b2 contains a workaround for this.

Moving to another device

Here’s a checklist of things you should do to move all your data when you change devices:

  1. on your old device, make sure MyTrails is connected to your account, so your purchases, if any, will be available on your new device
  2. make a backup of MyTrails’ state on your old device
    1. if you have rooted your device, you can use Titanium Backup or a similar tool
    2. if you have not rooted your device or are not sure what “rooted” means, you can use a tool such as MyBackup (you can install it from MyTrails > Preferences > About) or Helium
    3. if you can’t make a backup, at least export your waypoints from MyTrails into a GPX, by using the export global waypoints hidden option
  3. unless you keep all your recorded tracks in Dropbox, make a copy of your recorded tracks on your computer
  4. if you have offline maps, you can copy them to your computer as well
  5. on your new device, install MyTrails (you don’t need to install the MyTrails Pro License application unless you haven’t connected MyTrails to your account in step 1)
  6. if you made a backup in step 2, restore it on the new device
  7. make sure MyTrails on the new device is connected to your account
  8. check that your recorded tracks are still available (if not, copy them from your computer to the new device, and load them into MyTrails)
  9. make sure your offline maps are still available (if not, first check the location for offline maps in MyTrailsPreferencesOther, then copy them from your computer to that location and restart MyTrails)
  10. check that your global waypoints are still available (if not, load the exported global_waypoints.gpx; unfortunately the waypoints will no longer be global, but will remain associated with that track, which you should leave checked)

I made a purchase but MyTrails failed to activate it

In some very rare cases, MyTrails may have trouble activating a purchase you made via in-app purchase, so Google (or PayPal) will have charged your account but MyTrails doesn’t register that fact.

MyTrails usually warns you of the fact and suggests corrective measures; even if it doesn’t, the first things to try are:

  • make sure MyTrails is connected to your Google or FrogSparks account (MyTrails > Preferences > Accounts > Google or FrogSparks) or in MyTrails’ navigation menu
  • if you made your purchase from within MyTrails
    • trigger a new attempt to register your purchase by going into MyTrails > Preferences > About > Retry purchase (in MyTrails 2.0.3 or later – in earlier versions go to the same screen you initially tried the purchase)
  • for purchases from the web site
    • the account you used to connect to the web site (and the email address on which you received the confirmation email) matches the account to which MyTrails is connected (displayed at the bottom of the navigation menu)
  • if this doesn’t work, please contact support@frogsparks.com, providing the following information (clicking the link provides a pre-formatted email for this):
    • the email address of the account MyTrails is connected to
    • your Google Wallet (from Google’s confirmation email or wallet.google.com) or PayPal (from their email or www.paypal.com) purchase number

MyTrails Pro available as an in-app purchase

When I started developing MyTrails, in-app purchases (IAP) were not available on the Play Store, so like all apps from that generation, a tiny app (MyTrails Pro License) served to indicate to the main app that the user had purchased the Pro version.

It worked, for the most part, but some users didn’t know that they could just download the Pro license again for free when they switched to a new device.

So now MyTrails is available as an IAP. Buying it is slightly easier and the minor support burden should be a thing of the past.

I also wanted for users who have both a Google device and a Kindle to not have to purchase the Pro version twice just because of the platform divide, so the license information is stored on my server, and it is attached to your FrogSparks account.

On Google devices, the FrogSparks account is superseded by using your Google account; on Amazon devices the FrogSparks account remains. If you already have a FrogSparks account (or you also use a Kindle), both accounts can be attached by first connecting to your FrogSparks account, then your Google account, from your Google device.

All this happens in MyTrails > Preferences > Accounts > FrogSparks.

If you already have purchased the Pro license, MyTrails will first prompt you to create or connect to your account, and will transfer the license to the server, after which you will be prompted to uninstall the Pro License (but you don’t have to). The Pro License application will remain available on Google Play for the time being, but should no longer be used.

tl;dr: If you want MyTrails Pro, from now on the IAP is the way to go, MyTrails will guide you.

Can I extend the size (rather than the duration) of an offline subscription to a premium map?

You can extend the duration and/or extend the volume by purchasing another subscription within MyTrails.

When you purchase another subscription, if it is the same “size” as a current subscription, it by default extends the duration, but you can select the option to add to the current subscription area instead.

Purchasing a subscription of a different size always adds to the area rather than extend the time.2013-06-10_11.17.05

 

Can I only subscribe to (not own) premium maps?

MyTrails lets you freely define the locations you download offline, so you don’t have to select a particular map number or administrative division when you purchase a map. Also, when you no longer need to have a given map offline, you can remove it and download another map without any additional cost (like a map lending library), so you don’t have to pay for a very big subscription, only what you need to have access to simultaneously.

This flexibility does mean that we can’t offer perpetual licenses (similar to owning, but in the digital world actual ownership is getting scarce).

I deleted a premium map from my phone, how do I get the credits back?

Most premium maps sold via MyTrails are priced according to how much of the map you wish to store on your device. Within that limit, you can download the parts of the map you wish, and when you no longer need a given area, you can delete it and download a different area.

Because MyTrails allows you to use the map on different devices, just deleting the map on one device is not enough, the map needs to be unregistered on the server.

When you try to delete a an offline map you have created from a premium map, MyTrails asks whether you want to just delete the map locally (presumably it can still be used on another device) or also unregister it.

You only get the download credits back if you unregister the map. Even then, you may not get back the exact amount of credits corresponding to the area of the offline map you unregister: MyTrails keeps track of the area of all your offline maps, and computes the total area, excluding overlaps (the area of the union of your maps), which means that if the map you unregister overlaps another map, the overlapping area will not be refunded.

What happens if you make a mistake and omit to unregister it? You need to use our server to unregister it.

  1. if you do not yet have a FrogSparks account, create one from your device: MyTrails > Preferences > Accounts > FrogSparks > Register, which will associate the maps you have purchased from your device with your account.
  2. from your device or a computer, go to our self-administration server.
  3. once you’ve logged in, you’ll see the list of offline maps you have created, and you can unregister the map.

MyTrails complains my Pro license is outdated or that the license check failed

In some circumstances, MyTrails may be unable to verify the Pro license, and it displays an error dialog claiming that the license is outdated and needs to be updated from Android Market (Play Store). Until the license can be verified, Pro functionality will be disabled, which is usually very annoying.

In most cases, this isn’t really the problem (although you may check whether there is indeed an update), and what’s really happening is one of:

  • your device has been without a data connection for over a week, which has prevented Google’s licensing system from verifying the license status
  • Google’s servers have been having a bad day, and are not responding appropriately
  • something on your device is preventing the license check from happening

Things you can do to try to restore functionality (this is not a step-by-step recipe):

  • make sure you have a data connection
  • if you have an anti-virus or firewall app (AVG Mobilation has been reported to interfere with the licensing mechanism), disable it temporarily
  • if you use a battery optimization app, check that it didn’t disable data access for MyTrails Pro License
  • if you use a privacy management app, make sure that it doesn’t prevent MyTrails or the license from reading the Android ID, or at least that it presents the same made-up ID to both
  • uninstall and reinstall the MyTrails Pro License application (⚠ do not uninstall MyTrails itself, since in most cases your preferences and maps would be lost)
  • reboot your device
  • Go into MyTrails > Preferences > About MyTrails to check the Edition

If none of the above has the desired effect, please contact our support.

MyTrails 1.2.38 with the Pro license 1.0.4 should keep this kind of issues to a minimum, and the time constraints have been relaxed as much as possible.