Author Topic: best maps app  (Read 5233 times)

Requiem

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #15 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 :-)


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PeterDevon

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #16 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.

jimbob

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #17 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.
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Doddy

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #18 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.

Peter

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #19 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.
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Ronin83

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #20 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.

Peter

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #21 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..)
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jimbob

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #22 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.
« Last Edit: 09:37:38, 15/02/19 by jimbob »
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alan de enfield

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #23 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'.




astaman

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #24 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.

sussamb

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #25 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 :)
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sussamb

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #26 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
Where there's a will ...

jimbob

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #27 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.
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bricam2096

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #28 on: 15:03:21, 15/02/19 »
I wonder what the original poster will choose  ::)
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sussamb

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Re: best maps app
« Reply #29 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!
Where there's a will ...

 

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