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Radar 3.0 Release

Richard Brown
Richard Brown
CTO & Founder

Summary​

Radar 3.0 opens the map up to travellers. You can now add the places you find, leave a tip on the ones you use, add photos, and tell everyone else that a listing is still accurate. There are new categories for overland travel and for road reports, a redesigned details panel, and a way to earn Radar Premium for free by contributing.

The community map​

The layby that works for a night, the border crossing with the shorter queue, the dump station that is still open, the lane that washed out last week. None of that is in an official feed, and all of it is now something you can add.

Adding a place is free and takes a free Sensa account, which is deliberate: every place on the map has someone standing behind it. There are three ways in, and they reach the same form:

  • From the map. Press and hold, or right-click, and tick Make public in the Save box.
  • From a listing that already exists. Choose Update info to send a correction.
  • From the full form. Add a place, with opening hours, facilities, capacity, height limits, and owner details.

You can add a place anywhere in the world, setting the location by using where you are, searching for it, or dragging the pin. Radar checks as you type whether something is already listed nearby, so a correction improves the existing listing rather than creating a second copy of it. If you run the place yourself, you can ask to have it marked owner-verified.

Everything is reviewed before it goes live. See The community map.

Photos​

You can add up to three photos when you add a place or send an update, and they build up as different travellers pass through.

Location and camera details are removed before a photo is published. A phone photo carries the exact spot it was taken, the device, and the time. Somebody sharing an approximate location for a quiet spot should not have it pinned to the metre by the picture, so Radar strips all of that out rather than passing it on. Photos are reviewed like everything else, and one that is turned down is deleted rather than hidden.

Tips instead of stars​

Radar does not have star ratings, on purpose. A review is one question, would you stop here again, with an optional tip, and it always carries its date.

A star average is what quietly rots a travel map: somewhere rated 4.5 from reports written three years ago looks exactly like somewhere rated 4.5 last week. Radar shows the recent picture instead, for example "3 of 4 in the last 12 months would stop here again".

Keeping listings fresh​

Every community listing shows when it was last confirmed, on the map, in the results list, and on its details, and goes amber past a year.

Two taps keep that honest. Still here says you were there and it is as described, and takes effect straight away. Report sends a problem to a moderator and never changes the map on its own, so nothing can be pulled down by one person reporting it.

New things to search for​

Radar now covers over 40 categories. Two groups are new, and exist because travellers fill them in:

  • Overland: border crossings, customs and immigration, checkpoints, consulates and embassies, vehicle insurance, shipping and storage, black-water dump stations, showers, and oversized-vehicle parking.
  • Community reports: road reports, warnings, and spots where overnight stays are no longer allowed. A report is a title, a place, a description and a date, so it takes seconds to file.

There is also Private hosts (by permission) under Overnight Parking, for the farms, vineyards, and small businesses that let travellers stay by arrangement, and Stay the Night forestry car parks in Scotland for self-contained motorhomes.

A new details panel​

Tapping a pin no longer opens a small popup. Places now open a proper details view, full screen on a phone and a panel beside the map on a computer, with photos across the top and the details below. Saved pins, search results, and the drop-a-pin form all use it.

Free Premium for contributing​

Get 10 contributions approved in a calendar month and Radar Premium is free for the following month. New places, updates, and reviews each count once.

Confirming a listing and reporting a problem earn nothing, on purpose: those are signals we want you to send freely, without wondering whether they are worth a point. Your progress is shown in the mySensa portal, under Radar, then Community.

Smaller changes​

  • You get an email when a submission is approved or turned down, with the moderator's reason where there is one. If the replies add up, you can switch either off under Settings, then Community.
  • Everything you have submitted, and what happened to it, is listed in the mySensa portal under Radar, then Community.
  • The Data sources page now lists traveller-added places and Stay the Night alongside the open data feeds.