Hey folks,
Tech update, and we're seeking some feedback on some things.
1. Tech update: We've completely moved off of Google Maps (due to a big price increase) and after testing a few third party mapping services we are now hosting our own map tile server! The server is on Amazon Web Services (AWS). It might not be in its final form right now, but it's working and its ours! Thanks to you, our supporters, and also thanks to Mapbox and AWS, for giving us the resources to do this.
QUESTION: So, right now we're using the Mapbox GL javascript to help serve up those tiles, and we're using vector tiles (there are two types of map tiles - raster tiles and vector tiles). Vector tiles are a new thing. They were devised by Mapbox and are supposedly less bandwidth intensive and more performant. But we're not so sure about that! We're worried that the map eats more CPU than we'd like, especially on older computers.
So! If you've been visiting the map via the website, have you noticed any change in performance? Specifically, we're talking about when you drag the map around and zoom in/out. If it seems slow for people, we will consider moving from Mapbox GL to Leaflet, and using raster tiles. Thank you!
2. TOTAL APP REWRITE is going great. We have a few more issues to knock out before we have open beta testing. The beta testing will be open to YOU, our supporters, as well as our admins. We don't have an ETA for that. Could be before Christmas! But... it could also be after Christmas - sometimes it's tough to get much done during the holidays.
The app is great, and we're really excited to have you all test it. We'll share another video of it soon.
3. Seeking very specific feedback here: Do you use the Pinball Map website on your phone (aka the mobile site)? If so, right now on the map itself when you click on a map pin, the "infowindow" pops up and it shows you:
- Location name
- Location address
- Full list of machines
This infowindow doesn't fit very well on the mobile screen, especially for places that have lots of machines. So, would you rather have that infowindow only show the location name (and then you can scroll down to see the list of machines), or do you like how it shows everything? It's a simple thing to fix, but we don't want to change it if people like seeing the full info in that infowindow. Thanks!