21:10:42, 05/07/18
I find when I have Google maps on my phone (using GPS) it flattens the battery in very short-order, the only way I can use it as a "Sat-Nav" is to have it plugged into a cigarette lighter.
What is the consumption / battery life like using this "OS Online" ?
If it is accessed thru' your web browser how can it work without a phone signal ?
When you say "tracking isn't perfect" what sort of errors are you finding ?
My phone is very good on battery anyway, leaving the GPS on doesn't drain it. Using OS online seems to be as light on the battery as you are looking at the screen - i.e the more you use it to map read, the faster your battery will wear out.
It seems to work by caching the map so that you don't need a data signal as you move around, until you walk out of the area you've got on screen as it were. You can download a map onto your device prior to leaving home, in theory your device should then not need a data signal at all - just the GPS signal. I've not managed to work off the downloaded map properly yet (mostly because I've not tried). I've not really had a problem so far, always picking up a data signal just in time to cache the next bit of OS Map. I prefer to try and use my printed route map , and then OS online when I think I might have gone astray.
All the usual stuff about mileage, height, miles per hour etc are also there.
As far as the tracking is concerned, I've had problems where it seems to have stopped when I've switched over to check messages or something. Again, I think it's user error. I've never read the instructions.
What I really like is that the OS Map can be zoomed in or out (old eyes can't see small stuff), a route can be worked out at home on the computer and immediately synced with my phone, and I can print maps off, (with a bit of fiddling to make it large enough for me to see without rooting round for reading glasses).
You can save your routes, and tracks when you get that right (privately or publicly), and also have access to every route that any other person has stored publicly. I tend to stick to just the "Premium" routes for route ideas, and I have found some good ones.
As I said, I like it.
PS even using it all day, constantly checking stuff, zooming in, out and mucking around, I think I went through about 50% of my battery life. If I just leave it on in the background, it doesn't seem to have much effect.