← Back to Help

Run an Area Study

Frame an area, collect what you know about it, and share or export it.

For anyone who wants to study one piece of ground: pins, notes, key questions and map drawings in one saved place. It works the same in the apps and in a browser, except where a step says otherwise.

  1. 1

    Start a study

    1. Open the map. The map has a stack of round control buttons on the right. The one with the letters AS opens Area Studies. Hold your pointer over it, or use a screen reader, and it reads Area Studies.
    2. Tap or click New study.
    3. Type a Name. You can add a Purpose too, such as what you are trying to work out. It shows under the name in the list.
    4. Tap or click Create.
    5. Creating a study does not open it. To work in a study, tap its name in the list. It becomes the study you are working in. (If you chose Draw after creating, the new study opens for you.)

    The list shows studies for the map you have open. Tap Show all regions to see the rest.

    A study is saved on your device. You can reopen it later with everything still in place.
  2. 2

    Set the study area

    The study area is a box on the map. You have three ways to set it.

    • When you create the study. Under Study area, choose Current map view to use the map as you left it, or Draw after creating to draw a box next. If the map is zoomed all the way out, Keryx asks you to zoom in first.
    • Frame the view. Tap the study's Rename icon (a pencil) to open its edit screen, then tap Use map view. Pan and zoom the map, then tap Use this view. If the map is rotated or tilted, the saved area is the box around what you see with north at the top.
    • Draw a box. On the same edit screen, tap Draw box. Tap or click one corner, then tap the opposite one. When the box looks right, tap Use this box. Nothing saves until you do.

    With an area set, the edit screen also shows Zoom to, Adjust (drag the handles on the map, then tap Save to keep the change; the X throws it away) and Clear. If you changed the name or purpose, save or cancel first. The map buttons stay off until you do (Save or cancel your changes first).

    If someone shares a study with you, their area is shown but it is theirs. Tap Use as my study area to make it yours. Your pins inside it are not part of exports until you do.

    To see where all your studies sit on the map at once, tap Show all study areas in the list. It is a switch for this device only.

    The study area is optional. Without one, pins inside the area are not collected for you.
  3. 3

    Add pins, notes and key questions

    Open a study first. Then open Area Studies again. Below the list you see three buttons: Notes, Pins and Questions.

    • Pins. Tap Pins. The list shows each pin and why it is there: Added, From a note or In study area. Tap Add pin, type in Search pins, and tap the pin you want. Remove takes an added pin out. You can also tap a pin on the map and use Add to study or Remove from study in its popup.
    • Notes. Tap Notes, then Add note. Write the note and choose its Kind: Observation for what you saw, or Baseline for how things normally are. You can Attach to a pin or a drawing, or use Pick location on map and then tap or click the map.
    • Key questions. Tap Questions. Type a question under Add a question and tap Add. Mark it answered when you know, and use Answered by to point at the note that answers it. When a study has questions, the note form shows Question (optional) so a note can answer one.

    Pins and Questions are not offered on the hidden Quick Notes space that holds drawings made before you open a study. Open a study first.

    Pins you mark as private stay private unless you add them to a study or attach them to a note. Those travel with the study when you export or share it.
  4. 4

    Draw, range rings and bearings

    The round icon buttons in the map's control stack include these tools. Their names are Draw, Rings, Bearing, Note and, in the apps, Route. A tool that is on looks highlighted. Tap it again to turn it off.

    • Draw (a pencil). Pick Line or Polygon, tap or click the map to add points, and tap Finish. You can move a shape's points later.
    • Rings (a target). Tap or click the map to set the centre. A form opens: set the Number of rings and the Interval, or tap Add ring for one more. Tap Save on the form to keep the rings. Rings show how far things are from that point.
    • Bearing (a compass). On Two points, tap a start and an end to read the direction and distance. Tap Save bearing to keep it in the study. On a phone, Field reads the direction the phone is facing.
    • Note (a sticky note). Tap the map where the note belongs.
    • Route (a path between two points). It appears only in the Android, iPhone and desktop apps, where routing runs on your device. Tap the map to add waypoints, then Configure route. Routing data is only available for United States regions. In a browser this button is not shown.
    The tool buttons are icons. Hold your pointer over one to see its name. They work in the apps and in a browser. Open a study first so what you draw is saved into it.
  5. 5

    Export or share it

    Android

    Open Area Studies. Each study in the list has a row of small icon buttons. Their names show on hover and to a screen reader: Rename, Duplicate, Export, Share and Delete.

    To export a file: use the Export icon (a page with a down arrow). Pick a format:

    • Keryx study (.json): comes back in full when you import it. Use this to keep a copy or move a study yourself.
    • GeoJSON (.geojson): for QGIS and other mapping tools.
    • KML (.kml): for Google Earth.
    • GPX (.gpx): for handheld GPS, Gaia, CalTopo and OsmAnd. It carries pins, notes, lines and bearings, not areas or range rings.

    GeoJSON, KML and GPX files can't be imported back into Keryx Maps. To bring a Keryx study file back, tap Import study at the top of Area Studies.

    The sheet lists the pins that go in the file. Private pins you added to the study, or attached to a note, go in the file too. Private pins that only sit inside the study area are left out.

    To share with someone else: use the Share icon (three dots joined by lines). Look at the lines under the title first. They say how many pins travel, and how many of them are private. Those private pins will be shared with this study.

    Choose Share with a code. Keryx shows Code ready. Tap Copy code and send it however you like. The other person claims it in their Keryx Maps app. You both need internet, and the code expires on the date shown.

    Sharing in person is not available on the phone app, so you will not see Share in person. Use a code.

    iPhone

    Open Area Studies. Each study in the list has a row of small icon buttons. Their names show on hover and to a screen reader: Rename, Duplicate, Export, Share and Delete.

    To export a file: use the Export icon (a page with a down arrow). Pick a format:

    • Keryx study (.json): comes back in full when you import it. Use this to keep a copy or move a study yourself.
    • GeoJSON (.geojson): for QGIS and other mapping tools.
    • KML (.kml): for Google Earth.
    • GPX (.gpx): for handheld GPS, Gaia, CalTopo and OsmAnd. It carries pins, notes, lines and bearings, not areas or range rings.

    GeoJSON, KML and GPX files can't be imported back into Keryx Maps. To bring a Keryx study file back, tap Import study at the top of Area Studies.

    The sheet lists the pins that go in the file. Private pins you added to the study, or attached to a note, go in the file too. Private pins that only sit inside the study area are left out.

    To share with someone else: use the Share icon (three dots joined by lines). Look at the lines under the title first. They say how many pins travel, and how many of them are private. Those private pins will be shared with this study.

    Choose Share with a code. Keryx shows Code ready. Tap Copy code and send it however you like. The other person claims it in their Keryx Maps app. You both need internet, and the code expires on the date shown.

    Sharing in person is not available on the phone app, so you will not see Share in person. Use a code.

    Desktop

    Open Area Studies. Each study in the list has a row of small icon buttons. Their names show on hover and to a screen reader: Rename, Duplicate, Export, Share and Delete.

    To export a file: use the Export icon (a page with a down arrow). Pick a format:

    • Keryx study (.json): comes back in full when you import it. Use this to keep a copy or move a study yourself.
    • GeoJSON (.geojson): for QGIS and other mapping tools.
    • KML (.kml): for Google Earth.
    • GPX (.gpx): for handheld GPS, Gaia, CalTopo and OsmAnd. It carries pins, notes, lines and bearings, not areas or range rings.

    GeoJSON, KML and GPX files can't be imported back into Keryx Maps. To bring a Keryx study file back, tap Import study at the top of Area Studies.

    The sheet lists the pins that go in the file. Private pins you added to the study, or attached to a note, go in the file too. Private pins that only sit inside the study area are left out.

    To share with someone else: use the Share icon (three dots joined by lines). Look at the lines under the title first. They say how many pins travel, and how many of them are private. Those private pins will be shared with this study.

    Choose Share with a code. Keryx shows Code ready. Tap Copy code and send it however you like. The other person claims it in their Keryx Maps app. You both need internet, and the code expires on the date shown.

    The desktop app also offers Share in person. The other person scans a code from your screen, and no internet is needed. This is the only app that can send this way today.

    Web

    Open Area Studies. Each study in the list has a row of small icon buttons. Their names show on hover and to a screen reader: Rename, Duplicate, Export, Share and Delete.

    To export a file: use the Export icon (a page with a down arrow). Pick a format:

    • Keryx study (.json): comes back in full when you import it. Use this to keep a copy or move a study yourself.
    • GeoJSON (.geojson): for QGIS and other mapping tools.
    • KML (.kml): for Google Earth.
    • GPX (.gpx): for handheld GPS, Gaia, CalTopo and OsmAnd. It carries pins, notes, lines and bearings, not areas or range rings.

    GeoJSON, KML and GPX files can't be imported back into Keryx Maps. To bring a Keryx study file back, tap Import study at the top of Area Studies.

    The sheet lists the pins that go in the file. Private pins you added to the study, or attached to a note, go in the file too. Private pins that only sit inside the study area are left out.

    To share with someone else: use the Share icon (three dots joined by lines). Look at the lines under the title first. They say how many pins travel, and how many of them are private. Those private pins will be shared with this study.

    Choose Share with a code. Keryx shows Code ready. Tap Copy code and send it however you like. The other person claims it in their Keryx Maps app. You both need internet, and the code expires on the date shown.

    Sharing in person is not available in a browser, so you will not see Share in person. Use a code.

    Sharing and exporting send what is in the study, including its notes and drawings. Check the pin lines in the sheet before you send.
  6. 6

    Keep it on all your devices

    With Cloud Sync, your studies go with you. Turn on Sync with the same sync passphrase on each device and your studies, shapes and notes follow you. See the Move to a new phone guide for the steps to turn Sync on and run it.

    Studies are kept on the device you made them on. In a browser, the Export sheet and the Pins panel can show Your browser can clear saved data. That is because a browser may clear what it saves. With Sync on, it reads Your pins and studies are kept by Sync. If Sync is off, tap Turn on Sync to keep them.

    Sync works on the Individual and Family plans, and during a live trial. To hand a study to another person, export or share it instead (see the step above).

    Sync runs only when you start it. There is no background sync. Anything you change after your last sync will not reach your other devices.
Was something different on your device? Tell us — screens change between versions, and we fix guides fast.