Mobile app to generate local walking routes

This app will take your current location and generate a random walking route of the specified length - measured in either distance or time. It provides a quick and easy way to explore a new area, or get to know a familiar area even better.

• Users can input a desired length of time for the walk (e.g. 15 minutes).
• The app generates loop walks that return the user to their starting location, avoiding repeated sections wherever possible.
• The app uses location tracking to guide the user along the route.

The following image shows one way to implement the UI. Feel free to interpret the requirements however you'd like!

For an extra challenge

• Users can input multiple locations or streets to visit. The app will generate routes between them.
• Users can share walks publicly.

• We suggest using the Google Maps API — it offers a generous allowance for free usage.
• Looping routes consist of two sub-routes joined together - one ‘out’ route and one ‘back’ route. To generate interesting routes that don’t go out and back using identical roads, you can add a third waypoint to the generated route, e.g. A - B - C - A. Waypoints can be either randomly generated coordinates or random locations.
• There are many possible approaches to generating routes that fit within the user’s requirements for time or distance.
  • One approach is to generate a finite set of random routes (waypoint coordinates) and select the one that best matches the user’s criteria.
  • Another approach is to have the algorithm improve on each round of route generation based on the previous route. For example, if the first route your algorithm generates is too long, you can have the algorithm set the coordinates of the previous route as the maximum distance for the next round of route generation, guaranteeing that the next route generated is shorter. If the route is too short, set the previous route’s coordinates as the minimum distance for the next route it generates.
  • Can you think of another route generation method that would work well and minimise generation of unsuitable routes?

• Google has provided excellent guides and tutorials on using the Maps SDK with iOS.
• For inspiration, check out Routeshuffle, a similar idea implemented as a web app.
• We’ve put together a collection of resources to help you learn Swift development from scratch.
• Check out our tutorial on building a realtime map with Swift and Pusher.