Hi!
I took cycle.travel (on an iPhone) on tour back in August, and noticed a few times along the way that sometimes it would try to snap my location to a nearby road. In some cases, this snapping behaviour would be so strong that my actual route would end up off screen at my usual zoom level.
The most noticeable location was Milton Keynes, and this is the route I planned.
This is perhaps the clearest example: 
Here's an extreme case, in which the cycle path is way off to the left: 
Here's another one (near Waddesdon, and I was actually on the red-outlined cycle track): 
This wasn't a system-wide problem; I was also recording my route using MapOut, and that was able to locate me accurately. I wonder if there is some iOS API setting? I could see snap-to-roads being useful for vehicular navigation so perhaps it's a default.
Thanks!
Comments
I’ve had a go at addressing this in the latest app update. You’re right, there is an iOS API setting, though in typical fashion it’s not clear exactly what each of the available options does! But I think the new update should fix this and would be interested to know how you get on.
The places where I'd recorded the original problem are quite far from where I live, so it's hard to verify precisely. However, it's definitely not snapping to roads (or anything else) now.
In a sense, it's a success, and I would assume that the experience is greatly improved in Milton Keynes, but it's actually a little weird if you're watching it closely. Environmental factors sometimes throw the GPS reading off by a couple of metres, and this is now visible to the user. (MapOut sees it too, but I rarely use that for navigation so I'd never noticed it before.) It also seems to do some motion estimation, appearing to overshoot corners here and there. I was using an unusually high zoom level, and it perhaps isn't so weird at normal levels.
Given the choice between these two settings, I suspect that the best choice is probably a somewhat local concern. I realise that isn't very helpful! Most of the cycle paths around here are close to the roads (or just non-existent) so snapping to the roads gives a better-looking result. That said, the current setting (as in version 1.5) is perfectly functional, and probably improves the experience in places like Milton Keynes, so perhaps it is the better choice. It'd probably be useful to hear experiences of other users, I think.
I see what you're saying about the API, assuming it's this one. It also sounds like the settings have effects beyond just the position that they return, such as the frequency of updates and whether or not location is reported indoors. "
otherNavigation" sounds like the best pick, but for outdoor use, how does it actually differ from "fitness"? I'm not sure.Thanks for looking at this!
Previously, the navigation calculations were done with .fitness, and the map display was left on MapLibre’s default (which I think is .other). I’ve now set them both to .otherNavigation, which in theory at least should be the most appropriate setting. I’ll give it a while to settle down!