Translation terminology
This document aims to be a concise introduction to terms used within the Soundscape app. The goal is for the terms to be easy to understand and identifiable as distinct concepts.
The alternate wordings suggested below (‘sound beacon’, ‘route point’, ‘pin’, etc.) are there to pin down each concept in English for someone who has never used the app. They are not a shortlist to translate from. Where the target language’s own mapping and navigation apps already have a word for the concept, prefer that — a user recognises a word they have already learned elsewhere, whereas a faithful calque of an English gloss has to be decoded. See translations/guidance/_common.md, rule C1.
Key terms
Audio Beacon
When set on a location, the app plays a continuous audible sound as if it is coming from that location. It helps the user track a destination but does not give turn-by-turn directions. Possible alternate terms could be ‘sound beacon’, ‘audible guide’, or perhaps even ‘audio flare’.
Marker
Markers are saved locations that can be given a meaningful name. Markers can be personal places like home, office, or grocery store, and can also be custom points not currently on maps (e.g. building entrances, pedestrian crossings). Soundscape can call them out automatically when nearby, and an audio beacon can be set on any marker. Other terms might be ‘saved point’ or ‘pin’.
Waypoint
A waypoint is an individual point along a route — the app announces arrival at each one in turn and moves the audio beacon on to the next. In English this is sometimes glossed as a ‘route point’, but most languages already have a settled word for “a stop you add to a route” from their mapping apps, and that is usually the better choice (Ukrainian, for example, uses «зупинка» rather than a calque of ‘route point’).
Routes
Routes are a sequence of waypoints that form a path. Soundscape can play back a route with each waypoint as an audio beacon. The app announces when the user reaches each waypoint, at which time the audio beacon automatically switches to the next waypoint. This is not turn-by-turn navigation; it is a sequence of locations for beacons, like a playlist of audio beacons.
Point of interest
A point of interest is a location that might be useful, important, or interesting. These include almost anything that can be mapped, e.g. shops, churches, schools, benches, public toilets, recycling bins, etc.
Audio callout
An audio callout is the term used to describe text that is read out as part of the audio user interface. This could describe an upcoming road intersection or a nearby point of interest.
Intersection
An intersection is a road junction, a place where roads, streets, and paths meet.
Important home screen buttons
Ahead of Me
This button triggers an audio callout about several points of interest roughly ahead in the direction that the user is facing. It is used for exploring an unfamiliar area. It is important to convey the idea of ‘looking ahead’ and not just ‘forward’.
Around Me
This button triggers an audio callout describing points of interest in each of the four quadrants around the user (ahead, right, behind, and left). The aim is to help orient the user.
My Location
Tapping My Location triggers an audio callout describing the user’s location. This includes the direction the user is facing, possibly an address or nearby roads/intersections, and points of interest. This is specifically about the user’s current position.
Nearby Markers
The Nearby Markers button triggers an audio callout reporting the closest markers to the user. The aim is to help orient the user using places they already know. The translation of Markers is key here and should be consistent throughout the translations.
Sleep
In Sleep mode, the app silences all callouts until it is woken again. It provides temporary quiet without closing the app, akin to a ‘pause’ mode.
Places Nearby
This button changes the screen to list nearby points of interest from the map data. For context, nearby means within roughly 1 km.
Search bar
The search bar is an input field on the home screen for searching by place name or address.
Other terms
Voices
A setting that lets you choose among the text-to-speech voices installed on your device.
Offline map
These are maps that can be downloaded so that the app works when there is no Internet connection.