Map views have a Map type setting with Road and Aerial options. I created one and satellite imagery works exactly as expected. The map picker in forms can also show satellite imagery.
The detail view is the exception.
When a record has a LatLong column, the detail view renders a map above the record data. This map is always drawn in the road style. There is no Map type setting on the column, and the map view setting does not apply to it. So the one screen where I look at a saved location is the only one that cannot show satellite imagery, even though the screen where I set that location can.
There is also no end-user control anywhere. Even where an app creator can set Aerial, the user cannot switch at runtime. Google Maps offers this as a one-tap layer toggle.
Why this matters
I run a farm and use the app to record the location of agricultural parcels. Roads, buildings and block outlines tell me almost nothing. What identifies a parcel is what is actually on the ground: tree rows, field boundaries, the shape of a plot, a dry stream bed. All of that is visible in satellite imagery and invisible on a road map.
When I open a parcel record, the detail view map shows an almost empty area with a pin on it. I cannot tell whether the pin is on the right plot. I placed that pin on satellite imagery in the form, and now I am looking at the same point with none of the detail that let me place it.
What I am asking for
- A Map type setting for the detail view map on LatLong columns, matching the one map views already have
- A layer toggle available to end users, so the choice is not fixed at design time
Either one alone would help. The second would help more, since the right basemap depends on the task rather than on the app.
