Many years ago—many being less than 10, in this case—the ability to access a map on the go meant investing in multiple books of maps that you kept in your car. Yes, you could plot directions on the Internet; however, if you were driving and found that I-76 was closed for three hours, you had no easy way to detour from Toledo to Richmond (not that I would know this from personal experience!).
But then came the marvel of GPS devices that could hold maps for the entire country. And now we can use our phones to look up, not only directions, but even what the area looks like and how the traffic is flowing in real-time. That's some pretty slick progress in less than 10 years. In this chapter, we'll take a trip through your Windows Phone 7 device's Maps application, exploring its many features and capabilities!
Getting started with the Maps app is easy. Follow these steps to start the Maps program and find your current location:
Turn on and unlock your device.
Tap the Arrow icon in the upper right of the screen to access the applications list. Next, tap Maps (see Figure 22-1).
If this is the first time you've used Maps, you'll see a screen asking whether you will allow the app to use your current location (see Figure 22-2). While the Maps program will still function without your current location, you will find this program much more useful if it can access this information. Tap allow or cancel to continue.
Once you start the Maps program, it will either attempt to zoom in on your current location (if you selected allow on the previous page), or it will show a map of the country (see Figure 22-3). You can use your fingers to move around the map; tapping the Me button returns you to the map that shows your current location.
You can also double-tap the screen or "pinch" to zoom in on the map.
Tip
Pinching and stretching comes in handy in many apps and situations on your Windows Phone 7 device. You can pinch the screen by placing two fingers on the screen slightly apart (usually a thumb and forefinger) and then pulling them together. You can stretch the screen by placing two fingers on the screen and then moving them apart. In the Maps program, pinching zooms in on the map, while stretching zooms out.
Now that you know the basics of using maps, you're ready to dive into a real-world, practical example: finding a location and getting there. Let's assume you want plan a long-distance trip. Follow these steps to do so:
Follow the steps in the preceding section to open the Maps application.
Tap the search button (see Figure 22-3). A Search bar will appear.
Enter the intended destination of your long-distance trip. My own example uses a famous address in computer circles: Microsoft's main campus in Redmond, Washington (see Figure 22-4). Once you enter your search, press the Arrow key in the lower right.
If the Map program has trouble finding a location, it may prompt you with a few possibilities. You can tap one of these choices to confirm the location you originally wanted. If your address is fairly unambiguous (such as the one I entered), the Map program will show the location on your phone's screen (see Figure 22-5).
The default zoom level shown in Figure 22-5 is a bit far out. As noted in the previous section, double-tapping or pinching the screen zooms in a bit more (see Figure 22-6). However, it still doesn't bring you in extremely close.
Let's say you want to know a bit more about the area of the country you plan to visit. Are there lots of pretty trees and mountains? Is there a desert? Are there many cars? Perhaps you can answer some of these questions by drilling down further on the map. To do so, keep zooming in until the map shows your preferred level of depth. Once you zoom in beyond a certain point, the Maps application switches to aerial view and shows you a satellite picture of the area. Figure 22-7 shows an aerial view of the address I entered previously: apparently, Redmond consists entirely of trees and funny-shaped buildings.
Before you embark on your trip, you might want to check the traffic, so you can find the best way to get out of town. Tap the Me button to get the Maps program to display your current location. Next, tap the Ellipsis button and then tap show traffic. You will now see the traffic around your current location. For example, Figure 22-8 shows the traffic around my office in New York City. A red line indicates the traffic isn't moving very fast at all, a yellow line indicates it's moving slightly faster, and a green line indicates clear sailing. Even at 7 PM on a Saturday, there is a bit of congestion around my office. Oh well, I still want to take my long roadtrip!
Next, tap the directions button (see Figure 22-3). By default, the Maps program will enter the last searched-for location in the Start field (in my case, New York), and your current location in the End field. If you find that your locations are mixed up (e.g., your Start location is listed as End) you can tap the small Arrow icon to the left of the word End to move that destination to the Start field (you can see this Arrow icon in Figure 22-9).
Tip
Searching for a location doesn't necessarily mean you want directions on how to get there; you might just want to find information about that particular location. Tapping the search button, entering a query (e.g., "Steven's House of Knives"), and then hitting search will show you all of Steve's locations (or close matches) in the area. You can tap any of the name "bubbles" that appear to bring up details about a given location, including its address (which you might then plug into your car's GPS or give to a friend!).
You enter your destination in the End field by typing the number 1. As you type, a drop down box will appear. This box shows recently searched-for locations that match the destination you're entering (see Figure 22-10). If you see your destination in this list, tap it. Otherwise, continue to enter the full address and continue on.
At this point, your phone will begin to search for directions (see Figure 22-11). This may take a few moments because the phone needs to look up the best route for you to take; it does so by contacting the servers for Bing Maps.
Once your directions are set, you will see a list similar to the one shown in Figure 22-12. As you use your finger to move up and downthe list, the map at the top will show the intersections of interest (see Figure 22-13).
At any time, you can also tap outside the directions on the map to see a fullscreen version of the map (see Figure 22-14). To get back to the detailed directions, tap the Ellipsis key and choose route details.
It wouldn't be practical in the scenario described, but let's imagine that at some point you decide to channel your inner Forrest Gump and walk from your current location to your destination. Figure 22-15 shows a small Walking man icon at the top of the screen. Tapping it asks Maps to provide you with walking versus driving directions.
Certain locations cannot be mapped by walking, however (such as my NYC to Seattle trip). In such cases, you will get an error similar to the one shown in Figure 22-16.
There were some fanciful elements to the trip I laid out, I admit; however, the process of walking through these steps has taught you how to search for a location, get walking or driving directions, and much more.
The preceding walkthroughs cover the most significant features of the Maps application; however, a few small details remain:
On the main Maps screen, tapping the Ellipsis button brings up more options (see Figure 22-17). For example, Clear map will let you clear the currently set destination; Ariel view on will let you turn on satellite imagery at any zoom level; and, as discussed previously in this chapter, Show traffic will show you current traffic conditions, if available. To see more options, press settings.
The settings for the Maps program (see Figure 22-18) let you turn on and off location use by the program. You can also delete historical information (e.g., searches you've made) from the Maps application by tapping delete history. For example, you might want to ensure that your ex's address never again pops up as you search for a new destination!
As you've seen, the Maps application in Windows Phone 7 is extremely robust. Powered by Bing, this application will help you navigate to new locations, figure out where you are, and even tell you how long it might take you to get somewhere (a tip: if you're in New York City, budget at least an hour to get from anywhere to anywhere else)! The Maps program on your phone is much more convenient than using those giant old map books we all used to carry in our cars. It's also much easier to store properly than a 14-panel folding map!