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Not sure if this is the right forum category...

On a whim, I decided to try and pull up my Google Maps version of some of my KMZ maps on an iPhone 5...and it worked! I hadn't thought about it before, since I'm not an iPhone user. Who said KMZ files were only for Garmin lovers?

If anyone has an Android powered phone, can they try the links and see if they work?

See here:
http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/651

For more technical details on my exploration of Google Maps compatibility with KMZ files:
http://forums.gpsfiledepot.com/index.php/topic,3197.0.html

Google Maps supports KMZ files... but not perfectly. I did a quick search on these forums and haven't seen it mentioned, so I figured I would share what I learned.

I was actually introduced to this idea from a steward of one of the properties that I had created a KMZ for. He led me to upload the KMZ to my website to see how it would work in Google Maps. I can get this particular KMZ to display in Google Maps, but not properly. For some reason, Google Maps doesn't support the rotation. So the map is centered on the correct spot, but without the necessary rotation:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=http://www.dbperry.net/KMZ/Hemlock_Gorge_Ver_1.00.kmz

A little google searching reveals the problem:
https://developers.google.com/kml/documentation/kmlelementsinmaps
(note that KML element <rotation> is not supported)

and a potential solution:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/kml-support-getting-started/nIC5DQr-Q4g

I understand Nymor's fix and I understand how I could do it. But I'm not going to bother...too much work for not much benefit, especially considering the incredible complexity of the massive Hemlock Gorge reservation...

I uploaded my KMZ of Notchview, which doesn't need rotation, and that turns out pretty cool:
https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=http://www.dbperry.net/KMZ/Notchview_ver_1.00.kmz

I tried my Blue Hills KMZ, but it is too big. File size limitation is 3MB:
https://developers.google.com/kml/documentation/mapsSupport

The downside to this feature is that you need a website / server to host the raw KMZ file - obviously Google Maps can't support the zipped KMZ files that are hosted here.

But a pretty neat feature that I didn't know about before today!

Dave

Goofing around on forums reading about custom maps, and I reverse engineered a link and was surprised to see this folder allows listing of contents:

http://www.garmindeveloper.com/apps/GarminCustomMaps/

You can download all of the KMZ files that Garmin has created directly from that link. I checked out a couple and they are pretty nice.

It is much easier to go directly to that link / folder than drill through all the forum postings in the forum below to find the same maps...
https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?f=206

Perhaps this isn't the biggest hack in the world, and perhaps it has been discussed before, but perhaps someone will find it handy...

Dave

I just tried to upload my first 'hosted images' but they are not appearing. Did the image hosting get disabled as a result of the rr.nu hack (see downtime thread)?