Mapme offers two easy ways to provide directions from a user’s current location to any location you’ve created on your interactive map:
Whether you’re guiding visitors to a booth at a festival or helping them explore a city walking tour, you can add directions buttons to each location to make navigation effortless.
Directions and Navigation Options
1. Integrated Walking Directions (Best for Short Distances)
Mapme’s built-in directions feature is optimized for walking and works directly in the user’s mobile browser—no app switching required.
Key Features:
- Fully integrated—keeps users within the Mapme mobile web app
- Draws a walkable route from the user’s current location to the selected map location
- Provides step-by-step, turn-by-turn walking directions
- Displays distance and estimated travel time
- Automatically recalculates the route if the user deviates
- During navigation, the map remains interactive, allowing the user to browse nearby areas. The Recenter button returns the map to the user current location.
Best for:
- Short walking routes (e.g., events in parks, outdoor art tours, city guides)
- Use cases where keeping users in the map experience is important
- Keeps users focused on reaching the destination—without distractions like ads, reviews, or business listings found in apps like Google Maps.
Limitations:
- On iOS devices, the screen may dim or turn off according to the user’s standard screen timeout settings. This means users might need to manually wake the screen while using walking directions.
On Android devices, the screen remains active while using Mapme walking directions, providing a smoother navigation experience.
2. Open in Navigation App (Best for Driving or Long Routes)
This option adds a button that allows users to open the destination in a navigation app for route planning, including driving, biking, or public transportation directions.
How it works:
- On Android: Users are prompted to select their preferred navigation app—such as Google Maps, Waze, or any other navigation app installed on their phone.
- On iOS: The Google Maps web app opens in the browser, with the option to open or install the Google Maps app if it’s not already installed.
Key Features:
- Launches navigation with the destination pre-filled
- Supports driving, walking, biking, and public transport modes (depending on the app)
Best for:
- Driving directions
- Longer or more complex routes
Limitations:
- Users leave the Mapme experience and switch to a third-party app
How to Enable Directions on Your Map
- Log in to your Mapme editor.
- Select a location on your map.
- Scroll to the Navigation Options section under Location Settings.
- Enable one or both of the following options:
- Integrated Directions (walking only, works in browser)
- Open in Google Maps or Waze
💡 Tip: You can enable both options, but in most cases, we recommend selecting the one that best fits your use case to avoid user confusion.
When you enable one of the directions option, a clickable icon will appear next to the address to indicate the available navigation method.
- Walking Directions – A walking icon will be shown
- Navigation App Link – A car icon will be shown
Best Practices
- Use Integrated Walking Directions for short, walkable experiences like guided tours or events within a limited area.
- Use Google Maps or Waze when visitors are likely to be driving or coming from further away.