FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 27, 2015
FLORIDA POCKET RANGER APP UPDATES LOCATION
POSITIONING FEATURE
~Update allows users to
locate beaches, parks and trails near them~
TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Department
of Environmental Protection’s Florida Park Service has updated its Pocket
Ranger app for smartphones to include a global-positioning feature that shows
the exact proximity of the user to each public-beach access point in Florida, along
with information and locations for the 171 state parks and trails.
The Florida Coastal
Management Program, thanks to funding from National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), created the Coastal Access Guide, which is housed within the
Pocket Ranger smartphone app and provides users with more than 2,000 public
coastal access sites. The app also depicts their proximity to the user’s
current location. Divided into three regions – panhandle, Atlantic coast and
southwest Florida coast – the app provides useful information to help plan upcoming
springtime trips to the beach and state parks.
The Pocket Ranger app
also translates Florida’s beach-flag colors, links to a weather site and
provides a “Good to Know” button that links to NOAA’s surf-zone forecast, rip
current information and the department’s hurricane information page. These are
all great things to know if you’re planning a trip to the beach, whether it be
planned or impromptu! The app also provides information on the department’s
coastal management program and NOAA’s marine debris program.
"Almost 300,000 people have downloaded the Florida Pocket
Ranger mobile app for their iPhone or Android phones," said Florida Park
Service Director Donald Forgione. "We are pleased to offer this new GPS
feature to showcase beaches and state parks near the user where they may enjoy
Florida's famous sunshine and natural resources."
The app provides a
comprehensive list of beach access points in each county, and the amenities each
access point offers, including boardwalks, parking spaces, restrooms,
picnic pavilions and boat ramps. Each section features an overview of each region’s
coastal counties and includes a list of state parks, coastal cities, rivers,
paddling trails and other points of interest.
This app also allows
visitors to plan a perfect outdoor trip by searching for a park or
beach by GPS location. Visitors can also search by desired activity to find nearby locations to enjoy
hiking, camping, boating, birding and more. Once there, advanced GPS and GIS
mapping technology allows visitors to track and record trails, mark waypoints
and locate friends in the area. There is even an option to cache GPS maps in
advance to ensure that navigation remains possible in the event of lost mobile
reception.
The apps provide
plenty of other features to maximize visitors’ outdoor adventures:
- Educational
information, amenities, maps and directions;
- Real-time calendar of
events;
- News, advisories and
weather alerts;
- Social networking and
photo sharing;
- Potentially
life-saving alert feature;
- Advanced GPS mapping
features;
- Recall, post or share
saved data;
- Friend Finder; and
- Built-in compass.
The Florida State
Parks Pocket Ranger® app is available on iTunes and Android Market by searching
“Official Florida State Parks” and is identified under ParksByNature Network.
It is also available on PocketRanger.com and is formatted as a Mobile Website: http://fl.pocketranger.com.
The
Florida Park Service partnered with ParksByNature Network™ and PocketRanger.com
to create this app free for the public. For a tutorial on how to use the app,
please visit www.pocketranger.com. It is recommended to
use Wi-Fi or a strong wireless connection when downloading the
app.
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