Author Topic: Mobile phone GPS apps.  (Read 3146 times)

ninthace

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Re: Mobile phone GPS apps.
« Reply #30 on: 09:05:37, 12/05/20 »
If I subscribe to the OS Maps service, do I get it across all platform ie. VR too, or will I just get it in the OS Map app?
No.
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Johnny Thunder

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Re: Mobile phone GPS apps.
« Reply #31 on: 09:47:04, 12/05/20 »
OK thank you.

GoneWest

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Re: Mobile phone GPS apps.
« Reply #32 on: 10:42:44, 12/05/20 »
If I subscribe to the OS Maps service, do I get it across all platform ie. VR too, or will I just get it in the OS Map app?
"No" and "Yes", respectively, as far as phone apps are concerned. :( You also get to use it, though, to great advantage on the OS maps website. Strangely, the website does not allow you to view your bought paper maps online, so you really have to have a subscription to see the equivalent mapping there. I don't currently have a subscription but I still find the digital base map useful for its detail (you can turn on grid references and get them by positioning objects under the central crosshairs). A 2D aerial view is also available without a subscription, as are Green Space and Cycling Network overlays on the base map.

If I do take out another subscription it will probably be with Viewranger. I like the app and the website functionality is great, too. Unlike OS Maps, VR seems to have no official way of printing maps from its website. You can always use the Print Screen facility of the PC, of course, but printing to the proper map scale with this method might be tricky!

ninthace

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Re: Mobile phone GPS apps.
« Reply #33 on: 11:38:30, 12/05/20 »
I have the subscription free version of ViewRanger and on the odd occasion I need Premium mapping, e.g. using it abroad, I pay for it with the credits I have accumulated by writing up and publishing routes that I have walked.  Each time someone downloads one of my routes, I get 33 Credits. I have published almost 440 routes so far and have another 100+ still to add before I have caught up but it is definitely not a get rich quick scheme!
Both apps/websites have pros and cons when it comes to planning routes.  Fortunately it is a simple matter to swap routes between apps as both store the routes as gpx files.  I particularly like the Snap To feature on the OS web site for planning walks inside national parks, shame it does work outside the boundaries.
When I am walking. and not using my Garmin, I use ViewRanger as it lets me record a track while following a route - a flaw in the OS app.  If I need to see where I am on the OS app, I can switch to it for the "official" picture.
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Johnny Thunder

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Re: Mobile phone GPS apps.
« Reply #34 on: 12:15:59, 12/05/20 »
Fantastic. Thank you.

BuzyG

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Re: Mobile phone GPS apps.
« Reply #35 on: 08:12:12, 13/05/20 »
Some time ago, when the bugs in the app started being a real nuisance, I noticed that this "feature" appeared for me, too. I got the impression that OS allowed this general access to keep people on board while they repaired tha app. Then they did fix it (a bit) and the feature disappeared. Then the bugs got worse again and I abandoned the app. Maybe they've brought the appeasement feature back while they try to fix the app again; I don't know because I've put my trust in VR instead.
I think the general access took the form of a temporary free subscription; you could cache the bits you wanted to, I believe. They did this because of bugs around loading and using the paper maps which people had already bought.
BTW I have an Android phone. Maybe the app still works tolerably well on iPhones, which might explain why some people still seem fairly happy with it.
I would agree that there are still a few issues with paper map down loads.  The App has lost much of it's basic appeal.  In that it now tries too hard to be like VR and the like.  Personally I much preferred it when it was a simple mobile repository for my paper maps, that could access my phones GPS.  The rest is just frilly stuff to play with and while away those hours planning or reminiscing, that you don't really need once your on the ground walking. :)

GoneWest

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Re: Mobile phone GPS apps.
« Reply #36 on: 08:14:37, 13/05/20 »
Agreed!

gunwharfman

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ninthace

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Re: Mobile phone GPS apps.
« Reply #38 on: 15:18:18, 13/05/20 »
I thought this was an interesting read today -

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/may/13/naomi-klein-how-big-tech-plans-to-profit-from-coronavirus-pandemic
Not sure what this has to do with recommending a GPS based mobile phone app?
As in:
"Hi. Does anyone use a mobile phone app such as Viewranger for recording your walking routes, or are there any others that you would
recommend?"


Perhaps better in the News thread?
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