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Main Boards => General Walking Discussion => Topic started by: Helen6591 on 16:32:08, 10/02/19

Title: best maps app
Post by: Helen6591 on 16:32:08, 10/02/19

Can anyone give me some feedback on which are the best apps for android and iPhone for mapping.
I have just started a 7 day free trial on Viewranger - does this mean that I can download a map for the area I am visiting and then use it even if I have no internet connection? DO these downloads remain on the phone indefinitely?
Sorry to be a little dim!
Would appreciate all comments on what is best please
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: tom83 on 17:19:01, 10/02/19
I use the Ordinance Survey app. It does cost £24.99 for the year, but it has never let me down.


I plot my routes on my laptop, and then download the maps on my phone.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: Ronin83 on 18:36:41, 10/02/19
Viewranger is pretty good, its what I use. I now use OS maps on viewranger, but viewrangers own map is pretty good to begin with to see if you like the app before purchasing a better one from within the app. The map is like a canvas, but the app does all the recording, plotting etc.


I think u can download a section of map for offline use
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: phil1960 on 18:56:03, 10/02/19
I must be one of the few that doesn’t like Viewranger, I’m sure it’s very good but I couldn’t get on with it. When I need to I use OutdoorsGB with national parks, used with 1:25 scale explorer maps http://outdoorsgps.com/25kmaps (http://outdoorsgps.com/25kmaps)
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: GnP on 19:01:54, 10/02/19
Another vote for the Ordnance Survey app. You get access to all of UK OS mapping and it can be as little as £20 per year if you agree to a continuous contract.. You can create routes on the maps with your phone/tablet or PC.
 I use a pc as it can be a tad tricky to create routes on small screens. It is for my old eyes any way. If you create a route then you can save it & download it onto the applicable section of OS mapping (which is also saved onto your phone when requested) and use it without the need for a mobile or internet connection, as long as your phone or tablet has a reasonable GPS and the phone has the necessary specifications..You can find out what specs`are needed on the OS site.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: jimbob on 19:46:40, 10/02/19
+1  O0 For Viewranger. I find the documentation to be extremely easy to understand. I plot where I' m going on my larger screen PC then load routes into my account. I then sync the routes I want to follow to my phone. 
I use the annual OS subscription on VR. But it has plenty of free maps available I find the satellite view very useful indeed.As far as I can see all maps and gpx route files are downloadable for offline use.I use a large screen phone that I bought cheap (Alcatel) without a SIM. GPS works without the need for a phone signal and I have that phone on power save and airline mode to conserve the battery.

Now the one thing that I really appreciate is that the team at VR are so approachable and extremly helpful.

Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: gunwharfman on 19:55:10, 10/02/19
I have an Android phone and use Backcountry. Works well and has never let me down. I think there is a free and a paid for version.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: motorlaunch on 20:17:07, 10/02/19
I use Backcountry on an android phone. (It is not available for the iphone yet). You pay for the app £8 and can then download the sections of map you want for free. They have OS maps for the UK. The app can be installed on 4 devices. I have it on my tablet and can do screen prints of the maps to take with me. You can download the free version of the app to try it out for two weeks. I have dowloaded maps for Scotland, England and Wales as well as maps for Austria, France and  Switzerland. Well worth £8.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: BuzyG on 21:06:24, 10/02/19
Another OSapp user here.  No subscription though I just upload the digital maps I have bought as paper copies. Great system, as long as it lasts.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: taxino8 on 21:09:10, 10/02/19
O.S.. Maps for me too, the bonus is you can print your selected area as well.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: 1slandmonkey on 22:52:58, 10/02/19
I literally just got OS maps one month subscription today to test out. Going to print some maps off at the library tomorrow as I have a lot of walking planned this month. I want to see if I like it first before signing up for a year.


Does it also track your route as you walk it? I have a garmin GPS which will do that but I like the idea of sharing my track after I have walked it.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: GnP on 13:30:59, 11/02/19



Does it also track your route as you walk it? I have a garmin GPS which will do that but I like the idea of sharing my track after I have walked it.
Yes you can set it to track your walk & save it later as a GPX..
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: sussamb on 13:48:19, 11/02/19
Does it also track your route as you walk it? I have a garmin GPS which will do that but I like the idea of sharing my track after I have walked it.


You can share your Garmin tracks ...
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: jimbob on 16:12:38, 11/02/19
The great thing about gpx files is that they can be shared through most of the popular  platforms.



Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: Davidedgarjones on 17:20:19, 11/02/19
Another vote for the OS subscription. Create the route on your pc and synch it with your mobile. Use to check your position if you're not sure whether you're on your chosen path. I suppose you can be using quite a bit of data if you have it on for the whole duration of your walk. (I always have a paper map with the route marked on it).
Dave
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: Requiem on 09:26:49, 12/02/19
I use Viewranger - Seems to work really well. I decided on using it by installing about 5 or 6 different apps on my smartphone and deciding which one worked the best for me. I also have the OS app on the same phone, but whenever i want to use an OS digital map I always tap the VR icon, so the OS apps pretty redundant.


Saying that, I might go have a look at the map printing function on OS now that I know it exists :-)


R
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: PeterDevon on 11:35:54, 12/02/19
Viewranger for me, I tried the OS maps but had trouble with it recording tracks when there was no phone signal, no such problem on viewranger.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: jimbob on 11:57:50, 12/02/19
Viewranger for me, I tried the OS maps but had trouble with it recording tracks when there was no phone signal, no such problem on viewranger.
It records track offline as long as GPS is enabled.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: Doddy on 12:04:05, 12/02/19
I use Memory Map - the GB 1:25K phone only app for the Oh [censored] exact location moments needed on route. I have GB 1;50K on my PC and tablet for planning routes. I always carry paper maps.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: Peter on 14:39:04, 14/02/19
I started with Memory Map a couple of decades ago. the 1:25k maps are as good as it gets. They sit on your phone, it isn't dependent on anything beyond GPS.
For the pat 3 years I have used Viewranger. I invested in the full 1:25k maps for the UK. You put what you want on your phone.
There are bits of it I don't care for, but it tells you where you are and records your track.
Just one point , don't confuse these with car sat nav. They tell you where you are, it is up to you to work out where to go and how.


Even free basic ones give you a better idea than having nothing.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: Ronin83 on 08:40:59, 15/02/19
I started with Memory Map a couple of decades ago. the 1:25k maps are as good as it gets. They sit on your phone, it isn't dependent on anything beyond GPS.
For the pat 3 years I have used Viewranger. I invested in the full 1:25k maps for the UK. You put what you want on your phone.
There are bits of it I don't care for, but it tells you where you are and records your track.
Just one point , don't confuse these with car sat nav. They tell you where you are, it is up to you to work out where to go and how.


Even free basic ones give you a better idea than having nothing.


Well if u get a gpx file of a route you can follow it so it does tell you where to go.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: Peter on 09:00:39, 15/02/19

Well if u get a gpx file of a route you can follow it so it does tell you where to go.


I suppose that is true. Though most tend to be just a series of waypoints. I've tried following such and you can end up going over cliffs.. (maybe I exaggerate a tad..)
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: jimbob on 09:32:02, 15/02/19
Well with  VR if you set it up correctly it will warn you that you are off  route whilst you are plumetting to lower earth on stepping off the cliff . :D Seriously,  never had a problem following a route using VR or my Garmin,both follow the routes very well and both (when set up to do so), warn when you wander off route. You can follow your diversion back to the route if you need to, on both.I have no doubt that the OS own app is at least as good as both VR and Garmin. But it is like the Apple vs Android argument, you takes your pick and probably they are both as good as each other.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: alan de enfield on 10:07:00, 15/02/19
Can anyone give me some feedback on which are the best apps for android and iPhone for mapping.
I have just started a 7 day free trial on Viewranger - does this mean that I can download a map for the area I am visiting and then use it even if I have no internet connection? DO these downloads remain on the phone indefinitely?
Sorry to be a little dim!
Would appreciate all comments on what is best please



Just another (alternative) view.
I always like to try and have alternative (back-up) methods of doing things.


Using your phone as a navigation device just seems 'dangerous' to me.


If you fall and land on your phone you could break it,
If you drop it, it could smash the screen on a rock, or fall in a stream
If the batteries go 'flat'...…………….


Not only have you lost your means of navigation but you have also lost your method of calling for help.


When using navigation on my phone I found that it was quite 'heavy' on batteries and I needed to carry a 'battery bank' (recharging unit) if doing full-day hikes.


My own choice is that the phone stays safely wrapped up in the pack and I use a dedicated navigation device, SatMap, Garmin or whatever.
My personal choice is a SatMap as it has a larger screen for 'tired old eyes'.



Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: astaman on 10:48:06, 15/02/19
Viewranger is my phone app of preference with OS 1:25,000 for walking and I use Strava on my bike when I get round to cycling. However, when walking I always carry a map and compass. I still love sitting looking at maps to inspire future walks. Having said this, except for very occasional thick fog I have no great need for either in Shetland as I know the ground very well. On one occasion on top of Ronas Hill (flat, relatively featureless, lunar, think the top of Ben Macdui) I was caught in thick mist and had no idea which way to take down. One direction was the road and safety the other was high sea cliffs that fell away from a steep heathery slope. I got my OS grid ref from an app that does only that and was able to plot my way to the road by deliberate error using my paper map and compass. Simple but effective. I always keep this app on my phone just for this basic information.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: sussamb on 13:52:51, 15/02/19
Well if u get a gpx file of a route you can follow it so it does tell you where to go.


Not like a car Satnav though which was the point being made.  You don't get a voice saying Turn left in 100 metres for example :)
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: sussamb on 13:55:14, 15/02/19
I got my OS grid ref from an app that does only that and was able to plot my way to the road by deliberate error using my paper map and compass.


Hope it wasn't an error  ;D
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: jimbob on 14:53:21, 15/02/19

Not like a car Satnav though which was the point being made.  You don't get a voice saying Turn left in 100 metres for example :)
You can get it to notify you that you are approaching a way point though. You need to put the work in beforehand sorting out the way points and setting up proximity notifications.You are the expert  but the Garmon does this as well, doesn't it?
It doesn't talk nicely to you though, in fact it doesn't talk at all.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: bricam2096 on 15:03:21, 15/02/19
I wonder what the original poster will choose  ::)
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: sussamb on 16:58:21, 15/02/19
You can get it to notify you that you are approaching a way point though. You need to put the work in beforehand sorting out the way points and setting up proximity notifications.You are the expert  but the Garmon does this as well, doesn't it?
It doesn't talk nicely to you though, in fact it doesn't talk at all.


Sure, and if you go off route, but it's simply a beep etc, not turn right etc.  As you say it doesn't talk to you, thank god!
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: maxmarengo on 12:25:13, 18/02/19
I am a ViewRanger fan.
If you want a walking SatNav, try OSMand. This uses OpenStreetMap data and will give voice instructions for walking in streets and country.  Most useful for navigating around foreign cities, but it sort of works cross country.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: alan de enfield on 17:41:22, 18/02/19
I am a ViewRanger fan.
If you want a walking SatNav, try OSMand. This uses OpenStreetMap data and will give voice instructions for walking in streets and country.  Most useful for navigating around foreign cities, but it sort of works cross country.



The problem I had with OSM is that you are following a footpath and all of a sudden it 'just disappears, off the map, You are stood next to a footpath 'finger post' but no footpath is shown on the map, or it shows paths that do not seem to exist in reality.


I believe that it is not based on any OS mapping and is built up from various peoples 'reports' and 'crowdsourced' data which may or may not be accurate.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: maxmarengo on 18:01:14, 18/02/19
You need to be aware of its limitations. Coverage and quality can be patchy, particularly in places where not many people contribute. However in some remote countries it is the best easily available mapping.
I find that in "Right to Roam" areas it is often more useful than the OS map as OSM will show the walked line of a path rather than the definitive and will also show other paths.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: Peter on 10:57:43, 19/02/19

Just another (alternative) view.
I always like to try and have alternative (back-up) methods of doing things.


Using your phone as a navigation device just seems 'dangerous' to me.


If you fall and land on your phone you could break it,
If you drop it, it could smash the screen on a rock, or fall in a stream
If the batteries go 'flat'...…………….


Not only have you lost your means of navigation but you have also lost your method of calling for help.


When using navigation on my phone I found that it was quite 'heavy' on batteries and I needed to carry a 'battery bank' (recharging unit) if doing full-day hikes.


My own choice is that the phone stays safely wrapped up in the pack and I use a dedicated navigation device, SatMap, Garmin or whatever.
My personal choice is a SatMap as it has a larger screen for 'tired old eyes'.


All quite early days issues to be honest. Personally I have used a smartphone now for at least 15 years. They have evolved wonderfully over the years.
I do carry an old one as backup. I used to carry a spare battery, frankly today the phone is good for a full weekend of GPS work on its battery.
It is rugged and waterproof.. though if it were not I would use a case that is.
I do track every walk I do, though TBH doubt I use actual navigation so much. I either am happy to wander off piste and see where I end up or know where I am anyway.
A few seconds of referring to the Map on the phone is more than enough. I have an image of the map in my head.

Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: jimbob on 12:05:13, 19/02/19

All quite early days issues to be honest. Personally I have used a smartphone now for at least 15 years. They have evolved wonderfully over the years.
I do carry an old one as backup. I used to carry a spare battery, frankly today the phone is good for a full weekend of GPS work on its battery.
It is rugged and waterproof.. though if it were not I would use a case that is.
I do track every walk I do, though TBH doubt I use actual navigation so much. I either am happy to wander off piste and see where I end up or know where I am anyway.
A few seconds of referring to the Map on the phone is more than enough. I have an image of the map in my head.
Spot on.
 O0 O0 O0 the truth is even a rugged Garmin could drop over a cliff, or the wind catch your paper map and send it kiting in shreds into the air or you drop your compass and accidentally tread on it. 
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: GnP on 12:20:01, 19/02/19
Spot on.
 O0 O0 O0 the truth is even a rugged Garmin could drop over a cliff, or the wind catch your paper map and send it kiting in shreds into the air or you drop your compass and accidentally tread on it.
Exactly. Its not worth trying to prove one system is better than another. They can all supplement each other if needed, or if used in isolation , with a smidgeon of common sense, any of the many forms of navigation nowadays are all worth their weight in gold.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: sussamb on 17:06:05, 19/02/19
When I look back I realise how unprepared I was for the unexpected.  I carried a map and compass. No back up to either.


Now I don't carry a paper map. I have an electronic one on my GPS and a back up on my smartphone.  I also carry a compass.  Far better prepared for the unexpected than I ever was in the past.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: BuzyG on 19:29:15, 19/02/19
As point of interest.  Heading back from the Ted hughes memorial, middle of Dartmoor. On Friday evening pitch dark.  No need for a head touch, due to having a fine moon shadow.  I glanced up at the sky and there was Polaris.  Bang on North. Which just so happened to be the way I needed to go. O0
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: MichaelZ on 11:25:36, 21/05/21
Hi. I know this is an old thread, but just in case someone comes across it, there is now a new app specifically made for fell-walking in the Lakes. Comes with offline map and the route network is just for fell-walking. It's called Fellbase and can be found on the App Store or Google Play. There is also a website with more info at Fellbase.com.
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: Daz7 on 12:19:04, 21/05/21
Os maps for defo. Buy the map for the area u like to visit , on the inside of the map is a silver foil square scratch off which will give u a code type that in and it will give u a free digital version for your phone, you can plot your routes , off line gps, it's brilliant
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: ninthace on 12:44:57, 21/05/21
There is a website callled Haroldstreet  https://www.haroldstreet.org.uk/ (https://www.haroldstreet.org.uk/)  which has routes all over the UK.  For a voluntary contribution, you can download a gpx file of any of these routes to follow on your favourite navigation app.  If you upload the gpx file of any route you have walked, it can be shared with others and in return it will consult its database of hills and log which Monroes, Wainwrights, Marilyns, trig points, Humps, Thumps, Heweys, Deweys, Louis, Corbetts, Barkers etc you have been over. https://www.haroldstreet.org.uk/waypoints/
Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: Steve and Angie on 18:13:47, 29/05/21
I use OS maps and really cant fault them. I originally subscribed when they charged 19.99. My subscription has remained the same price since. I find they are just as good offline as online. Exmoor being basically no data signal. Have used many GPX walks from various apps without problem.

Title: Re: best maps app
Post by: ninthace on 19:22:20, 29/05/21
I use OS maps and really cant fault them. I originally subscribed when they charged 19.99. My subscription has remained the same price since. I find they are just as good offline as online. Exmoor being basically no data signal. Have used many GPX walks from various apps without problem.
Try following a planned route while recording where you actually went.  OS app can't do it.