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I've been spending a lot of time lately using RouteBuddy (more on that soon), and also too much time playing with various apps from the App Store for iPhone/ iPod touch. Among other functions RouteBuddy allows you to create high-quality road maps upon which you can plot custom points-of-interest (waypoints), or display track logs and route plans. While these maps may look stunning on a 23" Cinema Display as you zoom in and out, that's not hardware you can tuck under your arm as you explore unfamiliar streets on foot. True, you could just print the maps, but Apple's iPhone offers a high resolution yet compact viewport—so why not go paper free? There are several native apps for iPhone that make this prospect enticing; here's how to fake your own RouteBuddy To Go and how to create waypoints in RouteBuddy using your iPhone's location awareness.

Take your RouteBuddy maps mobile

Firstly, this method assumes that you have purchased RouteBuddy and have licensed suitable mapping (you can of course use other map data e.g. Google Maps) and that you have purchased FileMagnet from Magnetism (or, pending release, an alternative file sync solution and viewer for iPhone).

Open RouteBuddy and maximize the map view to encompass the area you are interested in. You can capture this map in one of two FileMagnet-compatible ways:

1. Enter Command-Shift-4 on the keyboard to bring up the crosshair tool and drag it across the dimensions of the map view then release to make a screen capture. Rename the Picture 1.png file that was created on your desktop to something a bit more descriptive;
2. Enter Command-P on the keyboard to open the Print Preview dialog and choose PDF > Save as PDF..., giving the .pdf file an appropriate name.

Note: FileMagnet handles .pdf files differently from .png. It's easier to find a sharp "actual size" image using .png and the screen is also faster to refresh than with .pdf, so .png is preferred. Landscape viewing is pending.

Ensure you have FileMagnet for OS X installed on your desktop (free download), and that FileMagnet has also been installed on your iPhone via iTunes. With both apps open and your iPhone and Mac sharing the same WiFi network, all you need to do is drop the .png/ .pdf you just made onto FileMagnet's Dock icon and it will be immediately transferred to iPhone. If you have several maps to transfer you might like to contain them in a shared directory (e.g. "RouteBuddy"), which will be reproduced on the iPhone:

Notice how, with in a directory, each .png file is accompanied by a map thumbnail, and that maps forming an itinerary (produced by selecting route segments sequentially in RouteBuddy and making multiple screen captures) can be numbered to preserve their order:

Touching on the map name will display the map, with any route plan you had selected in RouteBuddy highlighted together with points-of-interest you placed on the map (shown actual size):

As mentioned .png files show at "actual size" by default, but you can easily zoom out for a wider view (shown left) by "pinching" with your thumb and forefinger, or zoom in for a closer view (shown right) by spreading the same two digits apart:

Finally, if you want to "follow" along a route (or a GPX track you imported into RouteBuddy), just tap on the map and keep "swiping" with your finger in the direction you want to travel:

Note: For the moment the only maps supported in RouteBuddy are road maps. Topographic maps are promised, so soon you'll have no excuse for getting lost up in the hills. In the meantime if you have another source of map data, you can of course employ the same idea to take those data mobile.

Perhaps someone can knock up an AppleScript that will automate this process?

Send annotated RouteBuddy maps to contacts

You can also use another App Store gem, Comic Touch, to annotate maps and send them to friends (e.g. to arrange a meeting) direct from your iPhone:

1. Display the map you'd like to annotate on screen in FileMagnet and choose and appropriate zoom (as above);
2. Hold down the Home and Sleep/ Wake buttons simultaneously to make an iPhone screen capture;
3. Open Comic Touch and start a new comic, choosing Photo Library as the source when prompted;
4. From the Camera Roll select the capture you just made to open it for editing;
5. Use the available tools to annotate the map as desired;
6. Tap the e-mail button to send to a contact.

From editor to e-mail in Comic Touch

Here's the image that arrived by e-mail as created in this example (actual size):

Note: This technique also works with Google Maps using the Maps application that comes with iPhone as standard (captures won't contain custom waypoints like those created in RouteBuddy, of course).

Send your current location from iPhone to RouteBuddy

Imagine that you're out and about with your iPhone and discover a great restaurant your want to enter into your collection of "Places to eat" in RouteBuddy. Here I Am is a free iPhone application that creates an e-mail with a link to your current location. The only set-up you need to do is install this JavaScript bookmarklet ("LL2RB") to the Bookmarks Bar in Safari (or Firefox equivalent):

1. On iPhone open Here I Am and send yourself an e-mail when you have a fix;
2. Back at your Mac click on the hyperlink in the e-mail to open Google Maps in your web browser;
3. Click on the LL2RB bookmarklet and drag the special URL onto RouteBuddy's Dock icon;
4. A new waypoint will be created for the coordinates you recorded on iPhone.

Coordinates can be e-mailed and modified for import to RouteBuddy

Note: The poor accuracy shown here is because I don't have the iPhone 3G (with GPS); if you likewise have the original iPhone some adjustment may be necessary. You can do this in Google Maps using the satellite view prior to importing into RouteBuddy, as described here.

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