Author Topic: OS maps for my new phone???  (Read 11653 times)

gunwharfman

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10255
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #30 on: 09:40:53, 25/08/20 »
You can get free OS maps, I know of two, Bing and Backcountry.

pauldawes

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1786
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #31 on: 09:46:22, 25/08/20 »
Ahh I see.
I totally misunderstood.

Crap sorry. I've edited my post recommending the freely available non OS maps to reflect my mistake.


Not surprised you got confused...I’ve seen OS used for open source at least as often as ordnance survey.

Dread

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 208
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #32 on: 11:05:10, 25/08/20 »
Hi,
   you used to be able to buy a one off payment of an area or region, with Viewranger.
That is how I got the maps I needed for my walking in Scotland. Namely at home in Shetland or walking in Scotland on the TGO Challenge.
I bought the Northern Highlands of Scotland (Northern Highlands, Orkney)
the Southern Highlands of Scotland (Southern Highlands & Hebrides)
and the North East Scotland


I may go for the years subscription if I ever do a big multi day walk South of the Border.
I got my maps in 2017 for about £15 pounds as a one off payment , discounted to anyone doing the TGO, I bought a few extra tiles to include the beginning of the WHW in 2019 for a couple of pounds.
Try this link.


https://shop.viewranger.com/product_details.php?item_id=589


Yes, you can buy £5.99 worth of credits which allows  around you to download 20 OS tiles. That will cover an area such as the Dark Peak. You can keep these for ever. Gets expensive though so a £24.99 annual sub is often the better deal.

WhitstableDave

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3254
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #33 on: 11:15:14, 25/08/20 »

Not surprised you got confused...I’ve seen OS used for open source at least as often as ordnance survey.
As an experiment I just googled 'OS Maps'. Every result on the first three pages referred to Ordnance Survey maps and none to open source maps. I got bored after three pages, so perhaps references to open source maps were on the fourth page...
Walk, Jog, Run : our YouTube video channel.

fernman

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4529
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #34 on: 11:48:35, 25/08/20 »
Many thanks for the suggestions posted so far.

@ ninthace: I have seen OS digital maps in the past that showed contour lines, footpaths, etc, but they looked something like Open Street Map (but better). Definitely digital and differing from the paper maps.

I've found what I was referring to above in my reply #6.
The screen grab below is from OS Maps: Explore hiking trails and walking routes, for Android phone. Definitely not the same as the paper maps.
The clue is in the small print, where it says "Subscribe to unlock the detail and accuracy of OS leisure maps across the whole country including OS Explorer 1: 25,000 and OS Landranger 1:50,000 maps."



pauldawes

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1786
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #35 on: 12:04:35, 25/08/20 »
As an experiment I just googled 'OS Maps'. Every result on the first three pages referred to Ordnance Survey maps and none to open source maps. I got bored after three pages, so perhaps references to open source maps were on the fourth page...


Lol.


I’ve just duplicated your experiment with same result.




On other hand OSM tends to give main result as Open Street map....so maybe that is usual acronym for open source maps?






GnP

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2052
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #36 on: 12:54:06, 25/08/20 »
You can get free OS maps, I know of two, Bing and Backcountry.


Yes indeed you can use the free version of Black Country Navigator and use OS mapping for free on your phone as a GPS.


(edit) That is right down to 1.25k on Ordnance Survey .
 A bargain . ;)


 
« Last Edit: 14:06:26, 25/08/20 by GinAndPlatonic »
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

ninthace

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11824
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #37 on: 13:31:50, 25/08/20 »
I've found what I was referring to above in my reply #6.
The screen grab below is from OS Maps: Explore hiking trails and walking routes, for Android phone. Definitely not the same as the paper maps.
The clue is in the small print, where it says "Subscribe to unlock the detail and accuracy of OS leisure maps across the whole country including OS Explorer 1: 25,000 and OS Landranger 1:50,000 maps."


That view seems to be using the Standard Map in the OS app (with added place names).  Selecting OS Leisure Maps will give you the normal OS 25k or 50k mapping.  Try tapping that button bottom right that looks like a pile of sandwiches and see what it offers you, in the OS app you get a choice of Standard Map, Off Road Routing, Aerial, Greenspace and Nightmap.


Screen thumbnails from my phone using the OS app.  Tap to get the full screen

With Standard Map selected

With OS Leisure Maps selected



Solvitur Ambulando

watershed

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 449
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #38 on: 14:49:18, 25/08/20 »

Yes, you can buy £5.99 worth of credits which allows  around you to download 20 OS tiles. That will cover an area such as the Dark Peak. You can keep these for ever. Gets expensive though so a £24.99 annual sub is often the better deal.


Yes for me walking in only Scotland since 2017, it has cost me in the region of twenty quid.
But if I decide to go further afield I might go for the yearly subscription.
Either option I think is a good deal.


It has all I need for electronics.


I am not thankfully a "gadget man" and as I can take my own pulse it allows me to do away with the need to wear any other fripperies.


fatmanwalking

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 66
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #39 on: 19:25:29, 25/08/20 »

Not surprised you got confused...I’ve seen OS used for open source at least as often as ordnance survey.

Thank you. I feel a bit less embarrassed now.  :/

vizzavona

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 602
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #40 on: 13:45:39, 28/08/20 »
Thanks...that is all cleared up now.  I have tended to used the abbreviated form for the Ordnance Survey.  

From now on now it will always be the full name when talking of maps. The mickey mouse maps are maybe  fine for the lower level ground? I don't know, I have always used the Ordnance Survey ones for moving around in Scotland.
Well not completely I also use the Harvey Maps for the Cairngorms and the Cuillin Map that they have...one side 1:25,000 with the reverse side of 1:12,500.

GnP

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2052
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #41 on: 13:56:48, 28/08/20 »
I think Open Source maps are ok in well trodden areas and they often show paths where they actually are , and not where they were decades ago as Ordnance Survey sometimes do . They often show new paths too , which is great at times , but I would not put all my trust in them . I think they are still work in progress and maybe always will be .
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

Eyelet

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 466
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #42 on: 18:10:46, 06/09/20 »

Just bear in mind that all mapping app vendors are reselling Ordnance Survey (OS) 1:50k and 1:25k digital mapping data to you. You are either purchasing a fixed-term subscription (like for the OS app) to access the whole of the UK: when the subscription expires, you have no access anymore. Otherwise you are buying a set of map tiles for a specific area which are yours to keep in perpetuity (like the View Ranger app), but can’t be used on another vendors app. You have to decide which charging model is right for you, so use the free trials to help decide which app you find is easiest the to use and has the functionality you want.

 
As far as I know, while you can view OS mapping free in a web browser on many sites (e.g. Bing, WalkHighlands, WalkLakes, etc) you cannot download and save map tiles to your phone to use while navigate on the hill, apart from saving a screen shot as a static image. So when you inevitably lose the phone signal, you lose access to the mapping site.

 
One other advantage of apps like Locus and View Ranger over the OS app is that you can get Harvey Maps too, and if you hike outside the UK you can buy and use other country national mapping e.g. French IGN without having to learn yet another navigation app.

 
I use the OS app as a back-up for my Garmin GPSr and the app IMHO is good value for money and easy to use. You can take advantage of a free one-week trial or subscribe for a month at a time or a whole year: check out the OS online shop.

 
One other point which hasn’t been mentioned so far is that when you purchase a shiny new OS map today, it comes printed with a one-time pass-code which lets you download a complimentary identical digital copy of the map to be used in conjunction with the OS app. This is located on the inside cover and covered with a scratch-off coating (check the coating is intact when you buy!). So you could download the OS app for free then buy a new OS map in the knowledge that you will be able to have the identical map on your phone at no extra charge.

 
If you are still using a paper map but do not have the mapping on your phone, install the free OS Locate app which will use your phone’s GPS location to give you an OSGB Grid Reference which you can use with the map (no phone signal required). The app has a compass as well.

 
OpenStreetMap

 
Also, it would be clearer if we all used OSM maps to refer to the open source mapping derived from the global OpenStreetMap project.  

 
There are many maps which are compiled using mapping data from OSM, some are free and some are paid for. Free ones include: OpenCycleMap, OpenTopoMap, HikeBikeMap, OpenBusMap. For walkers, OpenTopoMap has added contours and walls, and has matured to the point that in my experience it is generally usable for navigation. Go to an area you know and check it out.  

 
For areas you don’t know, compare it to a map and look at aerial imaging of the same area on Google Earth. The Cicerone blog "Want more walks - navigation in a digital world" will give you some ideas of how to do this.

 
Paid maps using OSM mapping have other data added for the specific map purpose. A good example is by Martin Overton who runs the Talky Toaster website. He does both free OSM maps and paid-for ones where he has added value with lots more detail for hiking. (These are formatted for use with Garmin GPSr devices, so are not helpful for Android users, but the site will give you a good understanding of the differences in terms of what you might be getting by paying for a map derived from OSM data, and how close they are now getting to OS maps.

 

fernman

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4529
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #43 on: 20:37:12, 06/09/20 »
If you are still using a paper map but do not have the mapping on your phone, install the free OS Locate app which will use your phone’s GPS location to give you an OSGB Grid Reference which you can use with the map (no phone signal required). The app has a compass as well.

Thank you for your interesting and informative post.
I'd just like, for now, to comment that in my opinion the OS Locate app would be better if it gave the option of an eight figure grid ref.
Personally I prefer something more precise than six figures (one of my uses for grid refs is for botanical recording) and for that reason I have uninstalled OS Locate in favour of one of the other grid ref apps that are available, even though they lack a compass.

Eyelet

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 466
Re: OS maps for my new phone???
« Reply #44 on: 12:01:21, 07/09/20 »
That's an interesting point. A 6-digit GR will put you in a 100m x 100m square and an 8-digit GR will reduce that area to a 10m x 10m square which could be useful as you have indicated.


However you have to bear in mind that the app is getting its position fix from the GPS chip and converting it to a GR mathematically. Most phone GPS chips will give you an uncertainty in your horizontal position fix of say +/- 5m 95% of the time, giving your position in a 10m diameter circle. That 10m circle is most unlikely to just fit precisely inside a  single 10m x 10m square and considerably more likely to overlap with two, three or four adjacent 10m squares, so the point estimate of your 8-digit GR may not be quite as accurate as you think.


However there is an excellent chance that the 10m circle lies within the 100m x 100m square of the 6-digit GR. In 5% of the location fixes (1 in 20) the GPS position uncertainty will be larger and that 8-digit GR could thus be in many more 10m x 10m squares. This may well be why OS developed the app to report only 6-digits, which keeps it simpler but with enough precision to locate someone.


Also back then there were a lot of smart phones that only used the GPS satellite system, whereas today's GPS phone chips are multi-GNSS and use GPS, Galileo, GLONASS satellite signals etc which give a more precise position fix. They also use Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) such as EGNOS to improve this precision even more.


Your reply did prompt me to look at what other GR generating apps were available: which one do you use?


I have now installed the free GridPoint GB app which does give a 10-digit GR. When this is opened and you are stationary, you can see the GR numbers change as the GPS chip probes its circle of uncertainty every second which validates the points I made above. You need to round off the rightmost digits (which are demonstrably unreliable) to get to an 8-digit GR. I like its positional display and especially the extra options to share not only the GR and lat/long, but the nearest post code and links to both streetmap and Google maps. The recipient can click on the Streetmap link to display your position on OS 1-25 and 1-50k mapping in a web browser which is a neat feature. (You can email it to yourself to check it). So lots of uses in addition to walking.


I also came across two interesting lists of apps which use maps that have been compiled from OSM mapping data - one for Android and one for iOS on the wiki.openstreetmap.org website - I had no idea there were so many now! This has a useful "Comparison of applications" table which looks in-depth at each app's features - well worth a browse to see what is out there.





 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy