[CZ] Plus Codes support

Hi,

I like the idea of Plus Code Support. Why?

If I find an interesting location e. g. "Cascada de Los Tilos" on Google map I got this Plus Code:7CW4Q5QW+VJ

Now I have to go to https://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2015/08/open-location-code-plus-code-kml-converter.html copy the Code and download a kml file. Then start locus with this kml file.

Can someone help me understand the attraction (or advantages) of services like Plus Codes and What3Words?

Both do the same thing, they convert longitude and latitude into something else. Plus Codes converts it into an alphanumeric string whereas What3Words converts it into three dictionary words (in several languages).

Example

Here is 'Cascada de Los Tilos':

28.7896531,-17.8056699

This is longitude and latitude and is not easy to remember. However, it tells me something about the location. It's 28 degrees above the equator and 17 degrees to the left of England (Prime Meridian) . :)

rink.stoat.marinas

This is What3Words and it's easy to remember. That's its sole advantage. It tells me nothing else.

7CW4Q5QW+VJ

This is Plus Codes. It's not easy to remember and it tells me nothing.

I like Plus Codes, bacause it's shorter than LON/LAT, specially when you're in location at first 4 letters/numbers - you don't need to write down whole 11 letters, 7 is enough.

And the other thing is that LON/LAT is in many format and many maps applications take these numbers in many ways. Some needs N/S and E/W in front of numbers, some needs special characters, it's really messy. The Plus Codes, if works, works one way and perfect...

Why is shorter important? Are you memorizing it? I normally copy/paste geographic coordinates so it makes no difference if they are 7 or 17 characters long. I can't remember the last time I wrote a coordinate by hand. I guess in that special situation, a compact coding scheme like Plus Codes would be useful (but that's not a typical use case).

I agree the formatting of LAT/LON can present a problem for some mappings apps. However, that's a function of the app's ability to interpret the data. For example, Google Maps is very good at interpreting many different LAT/LON formats. However, the simplest solution is to just use two numbers (like in the example above). There's no need for cardinal directions (N, S,W, E).

FWIW, Google Maps also works with Plus Codes (but curiously not What3Words).

I assume there's an offline algorithm to convert Plus Codes to LAT/LON. If there isn't (and requires an online connection to perform the conversion) then this feature becomes less useful to travellers in remote areas without data connections (like me).

Hi guys,

I was currious how it works and seems it is, as mentioned in other posts, really just another method how to say in more easily readable way ... coordinates. What3Words system has huge advantage, that coordinates may be easily remembered. Here is it little worst, anyway still a lot better then pain coordinates (in various formats).

Found small library directly from Google ... well, added as another coordinate system into Locus Map (display coordinates in top panel, in detail of points, etc.) app after one hour. Nice, done ...

Hi,

it seems that google change (or updated) the plus code library. Maps now show plus codes of example:

CF67+JM Puerto de la Cruz, Spanien

This code is not regognized by Locus! Is there a chance to implent this new version of plus codes?