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Main Boards => General Walking Discussion => Topic started by: FenPosh on 21:55:13, 08/01/21

Title: Walking App
Post by: FenPosh on 21:55:13, 08/01/21
Hi


I can read a map very well, however next year myself and a friend are doing a long distance time challenge. Is there an apps where I can map our route and I can follow ourselves live on it, so that we do not need to refer to traditional maps?
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: jimbob on 21:58:47, 08/01/21
View ranger or the OS maps app are both good.
A lot of people on here always recomend also carrying paper maps and compasses on case of electronic failure etc. Great idea.
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: Pyramut on 23:18:39, 08/01/21
Apps will drain your battery very quickly. I usually use OS maps and preload everything onto my phone, then keep it on aeroplane mode except for gps - this helps stretch out the battery on long hikes
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: jimbob on 23:39:26, 08/01/21
I have a simless large screen phone with a large battery. Real cheapy from Asda. The battery lasts at least 22 hours using GPS only with View ranger. I also carry a solar charging battery pack.
But I have fallen foul of not checking phone battery one time and losing the charging lead so was truly grateful for my backup, which is my normal phone. However I still carry paper and compass.
Since March I have not had need for anything, since my daily walk and extensions thereof can be done blindfold.
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: fernman on 09:20:58, 09/01/21
Paper maps don't drain your phone battery  :) .

They're not dependent on a signal either!

Seriously, you could plot your route on maps on a pc, save sections with screen capture and load them onto your SD card. Or take a look at All-In-One Offline Maps app which offers a number of map formats, and, importantly for you, offline use of sections that you choose. It's by the makers of AlpineQuest gps tracker app.

Edit: I found this comparison chart between the apps: http://alpinequest.net/compare (http://alpinequest.net/compare)
Although AlpineQuest is claimed to be an improved version of All-In-One Maps it appears to me that many of the features that are free in All-In-One have been made premium in AlpineQuest.
And while the chart shows that maps on AlpineQuest can be stored for offline use, when I click on 'Select and save an area' it tells me 'This feature is not available in this free version', yet I can do it for free on All-In-One. Guess which one I am keeping!
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: jimbob on 12:09:03, 09/01/21
Certainly View ranger maps can be saved for offline use. In my dedicated simless phone system battery use is not truly a factor, certainly not for daywalks. Or if using bnbs on longer multiday walks. I use my solar battery backups if camping, which has done its job admirably. I tend not to do multi days in bad weather, cause I don't feel an urge for discomfort any more. :)
I always carry paper maps though and a compass.


Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: fernman on 18:34:09, 09/01/21
So I've been playing with All-In-One Offline Maps and ViewrRanger this afternoon, not much else to do on a brass monkeys day, and I've found that yes indeed ViewRanger can save maps offline, and there's very little difference between them except that VR is slightly superior, showing contour lines.

BUT..... I cannot find any I downloaded to try it. I went into VR settings and changed the Save location to my SD card, I gave the ones I was about to download meaningful names that I should recognise again, so where the 'eck are they???

After downloading I connected my phone to my laptop to make searching easier, and I can't find the downloads anywhere. On the SD card there's a mapdownloads folder in augmenta.viewranger but that is empty, I checked just in case that they're not on the phone's internal storage (there is a mapsdownloads folder in there too, and that's empty as well), and the names I gave my downloads haven't come up in searches.

Can anyone throw any light on this please? Do I have to set a storage permission for it on my phone maybe?
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: Dazza on 19:00:46, 09/01/21
Memory Map also downloads OS maps for offline use, it doesn't load a new area as you scroll to it manually or by walking but you can do all of that in advance (I've got all of the Lakes, Peaks and a big chunk of Yorkshire on my phone, home PC and travel laptop.


If you use it to track you live, provide directions and / or record a track in the fore or background of where you've been you will need to charge your phone every day (i get about 7-8 hours like this but your phone will vary. That said you can use it as and when you want to, which will give you your current location but and immediate direction but nothing else. Not that I use it for directions anyway as I use memory map on my PC to print A4 maps of the area I'm going to and refer to those more than my phone, the phone just gives me an immediate location and tracks miles etc.


If you've pre-downloaded your maps the only signal you need is a GPS signal, seem a bit poor if a mapping app actually needs a mobile data signal to function!


It's not cheap though, but you do get a lot. All of the UK at 1:250000 is about £130 at the moment for the 2021 OS maps (dread to think how much a paper maps would cost for all that), for up to 3 devices and you can print as many paper maps as you like so if you  use it a lot you can get good value from it. I think there are bundles for the national parks that are cheaper but I've always gone for the full UK mapping.
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: jimbob on 19:48:14, 09/01/21
Hi Fernman, see if this helps you out.
https://docs.viewranger.com/article/23-device-storage (https://docs.viewranger.com/article/23-device-storage)
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: Dread on 20:20:05, 09/01/21
Apps will drain your battery very quickly. I usually use OS maps and preload everything onto my phone, then keep it on aeroplane mode except for gps - this helps stretch out the battery on long hikes


I was wary of this when I first started using Viewranger but it doesn't seem to be an issue really. I have an Android phone with a standard 3200mAh battery and I can leave VR on all day in tracking mode when I'm walking. I carry a spare battery just in case but have never had to use it on a day hike.
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: pauldawes on 21:20:59, 09/01/21


It's not cheap though, but you do get a lot. All of the UK at 1:250000 is about £130 at the moment for the 2021 OS maps (dread to think how much a paper maps would cost for all that), for up to 3 devices and you can print as many paper maps as you like so if you  use it a lot you can get good value from it. I think there are bundles for the national parks that are cheaper but I've always gone for the full UK mapping.


I assume 1 to 250000 is a typo and it’s really 1 to 25,000?
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: fernman on 23:05:28, 09/01/21
Hi Fernman, see if this helps you out.
https://docs.viewranger.com/article/23-device-storage (https://docs.viewranger.com/article/23-device-storage)

Many  thanks for that, I'm sure it's going to provide the answer -once I get my head around it  :)


I have an Android phone with a standard 3200mAh battery and I can leave VR on all day in tracking mode when I'm walking.

That's encouraging, because my battery is 5000mAh, I just looked it up.
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: jimbob on 00:04:18, 10/01/21
If that doesn't work Fernman, honestly, just email the VR service people, they are the best customer service team I have had dealings with for years.
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: gunwharfman on 16:02:39, 10/01/21
I'm interested in your phone idea Jimbob. Do you mean that you can just download a preferred map app onto a Simless phone, switch on the GPS and you can continue to use it?
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: jimbob on 16:28:37, 10/01/21
GWMYou only need to have your phone on your home broadband to download apps. Once say VR  is downloaded you can then sort out which route you want to download.  -(of course you can always devise your own).
I have a memory card in that phone so I can download the maps relating to the route / track I wish to stumble along.

I subscribe to the OS maps. But VR  free open source maps are really quite good, better than they were 5 years ago, one style even has elevations. Also two types of satellite maps are available free.
Without a Sim the phone is no longer a phone and yes you can still use the GPS location to use on  VR ( or other such like APP). The one I have even works in ultra power save mode. But as stated I have stripped all apps that could be stripped and force stopped any others that I couldn't if possible.

I usually ensure the maps etc are all also backed up on my actual phone so that if my dedicated one fails I have backup.

My choice was a large screen Alcatel just under  £60 at the time from Asda. Thinking about it I could have got one second hand much cheaper from Ebay or the local second hand phone shop.
Oh and of course if anything went wrong with your normal phone you could always switch the sim over to the GPS one as a phone backup.

May be worth saving your eyesight by downloading to you PC/laptop first till you get used to it. Then when you use the phone you just sign in and synchronise your route/tracks from your account , then download the appropriate maps.
On- line guides seem to be easily available for most of these apps.
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: gunwharfman on 16:54:55, 10/01/21
Thank you Jimbob I'll study your entry later today when it comes to technology it takes me a while to digest it.
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: jimbob on 17:38:07, 10/01/21
GWM, since I packed in full time work, I am astonished at how quickly I seem to have filed technology into that part of the brain that needs a 35 character password that I cannot remember.
If you need a hand pm me. Pointless boring the rest of the forum with open this, close that, scratch head at this or backside at that.  ;)
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: Dazza on 19:01:32, 10/01/21

I assume 1 to 250000 is a typo and it’s really 1 to 25,000?


Doh! yes 1:25000.


at 1:250k even I wouldn't get lost!
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: Toxicbunny on 12:53:53, 18/01/21
I use a garmin Etrex for navigation as you cant rely on mobile GPS. I also have a garmin GPS watch which does record miles. You can do a breadcrumb style map on it but I've never bothered as I have my map on my Etrex .
Title: Re: Walking App
Post by: gunwharfman on 13:38:30, 18/01/21
I tend to follow direction signs in the UK (supported by my online free OS map) and follow red and white direction paint flashes when in France (supported by my online free IGN map) it's very effective for my type of hiking.