Author Topic: Viewranger replacement  (Read 23681 times)

jimbob

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2503
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #30 on: 18:14:06, 04/04/21 »
That's great, but truly strange given that they said it switches off his tracking when the phone goes to sleep.

Still working my way through the OA for VR users document.

Could be a while before I try it in earnest again.
Oh, have you noticed the accommodation help, now that looks useful for planning. Especially since, if the UK community expands, we can help increase the offering.
Too little, too late, too bad......

ninthace

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11821
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #31 on: 19:13:46, 04/04/21 »
To be honest, although the front end is different, in use it is, unsurprisingly, not that different from VR, OS or even a Garmin, that is if you have the right level of membership. The nearest description would be the OS app with all the useful additional information that VR has, but the OS app does not, bolted on in one display.  Now that I have had a couple of goes, in some ways I prefer the nav screen to VR.  That said, it is not as tunable as VR as an app   There is no difference in the way it behaves between it and VR, when your phone sleeps, or at least not with my Samsung.  The OS app is far worse, I have turned that back on and found large chunks of track missing.

No I have not used the accommodation element - not a thing I need with my kind of walking.  Perhaps later.
Solvitur Ambulando

Guy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 221
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #32 on: 21:00:04, 04/04/21 »

Now to the voice bit.  To get voice navigation the speaker symbol at the top of the screen has to be selected.  This lets you pick one of your phones text to speech apps.  If you go off route, you get a "You are about to leave your route" warning at around 30m and "You have left your route" followed by information on where the route is e.g. behind you, 50m S etc.  As far as I can tell, the warning does not keep repeating but I was not off route for more than a few minutes.  There is also a message telling you when you are back on your route.  I did not get any spurious alarms even though the error seems to be set at around 30m.  That is probably a quality of the phone gps issue.


Thanks for this.  I have ViewRanger set to alert when it's 100m off route.  I came to this through a bit of trial-and-error.  I was getting too many false alerts with a tighter setting - I suspect a combination of mapping accuracy, route accuracy and GPS accuracy.  OA having this hard-coded at ~30m explains why I consider it over sensitive.

On a Facebook group, someone suggested Locus Maps (v4).  I used this on a 26 mile walk on Saturday.



They seem to pride themselves on their configurability (e.g you can not only choose the distance for the off-route alarm but also the frequency of repeats, choose the colour and transparency of the route overlay, auto upload to Strava etc etc). Most useful is a customisable "dashboard" which is an overlay onto the map with a large number of fields to choose from (cf ViewRanger's trip computer).

 
Online vector maps (based on OSM). Optional offline maps (e.g. 1Gig download for England). No option for Ordnance Survey maps but that's not a deal breaker for me.

 
Cost for "silver" subscription is £8.50/year or £1.20/month. Couple of niggles compared to ViewRanger (e.g. can't silence an off route alarm) and only used once, but I'm impressed so far.

ninthace

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11821
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #33 on: 22:30:50, 04/04/21 »
I never use OS maps with ViewRanger as I have the OS app and a Garmin with OS mapping.  If I was reduced to one system I would want OS maps because of the wealth of detail therein as I am a bit of a micro-navigator.

I made another discovery today.  I was planning a route for tomorrow in OA using the "snap-to" function whereby if you drop a couple of waypoints it automatically plots a route between them using the paths on OS map, or so I thought.  However, I noticed a couple of small anomalies where the route did not follow the line of the OS footpath. In one case, the line through a wood was more than a bit off in shape and location and the route through a farmyard had a dogleg in it not on the OS map.  As a micro-navigator, I don't like these things so I switched to satellite view and the OA route looked more credible than the OS version.  Switching to the OA/VR landscape map explained why - the "snap-to" function is using  OA/VR mapping - unsurprising when you think about it.  Probably explains the lack of of route alarms I have experienced by comparison too.
Solvitur Ambulando

motorlaunch

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 111
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #34 on: 08:35:54, 05/04/21 »
I use BCN and have it installed on both my phone and a tablet. I create routes on the tablet using the measure and draw function. The tablet has a stylus which makes it simpler and more accurate to draw the route. Once saved, the route can be exported to my phone. The benefits to me of BCN are the free OS maps of UK at 25000 scale combined with free maps for Europe. The app cost me £7 when I purchased it and my phone currently has individual files for England, Wales, Scotland, plus ,France,Austria, Switzerland. Whenever I go abroad I download the appropriate map for that area. All free.  I back up the routes and way points regularly to the cloud with a couple of clicks. Try the free app for two weeks. Nothing to lose.

ninthace

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11821
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #35 on: 13:47:01, 05/04/21 »
.................................
I made another discovery today.  I was planning a route for tomorrow in OA using the "snap-to" function whereby if you drop a couple of waypoints it automatically plots a route between them using the paths on OS map, or so I thought.  However, I noticed a couple of small anomalies where the route did not follow the line of the OS footpath. In one case, the line through a wood was more than a bit off in shape and location and the route through a farmyard had a dogleg in it not on the OS map.  As a micro-navigator, I don't like these things so I switched to satellite view and the OA route looked more credible than the OS version.  Switching to the OA/VR landscape map explained why - the "snap-to" function is using  OA/VR mapping - unsurprising when you think about it.  Probably explains the lack of of route alarms I have experienced by comparison too.
Did the walk this morning on a mixture of paths, tracks and lanes, turns out the OS map was spot on after all on both occassions.  I had my Garmin with me loaded with the route  OA had produced and, since its screen is always on, I just left my phone in my pocket  OA piped up when required but otherwise stayed quiet.   I got off track once following a field margin rather than the line of the PROW.  The phone noticed and told me but not a peep out of the Garmin as the error was less than 100m.  As to spurious off course alarms  - 3  from my Garmin and none from my phone running OA.

Conclusion - I only ever used VR as sole navigation system when doing walks in easy country with few navigational challenges.  Beyond that I use my Garmin as my primary aid and the phone, equipped with VR and the OS app, as a "just in case"  OutdoorActive is a perfectly adequate substitute for VR in this role.  I have had no major problems with it and the lack of tunability is compensated for by the improved navigational display with OS mapping or local national equivalent as as standard.  The only issue may be price when and if I ever have to pay for it compared with the OS app.   The other clincher may be foreign travel.  Getting foreign mapping for the Garmin is cumbersome and costly whereas it comes as standard with the OA app.
Solvitur Ambulando

sussamb

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8011
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #36 on: 16:34:08, 05/04/21 »
FYI lots of free overseas mapping for Garmin GPS, should you want it  O0
Where there's a will ...

ninthace

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11821
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #37 on: 17:05:09, 05/04/21 »
FYI lots of free overseas mapping for Garmin GPS, should you want it  O0
Aware of that thanks.  Last time I tried it was a major faff and the quality of the Open Source result did not measure up to the commercial equivalent.  Sometimes just easier to buy a Kompass or whatever package.  Remember the fun we had trying to get NZ topo to work?  By comparison, I just used my accumulated credits to get a VR subsription to buy the right NZ map and hey presto.
Solvitur Ambulando

archaeoroutes

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1601
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #38 on: 18:57:13, 05/04/21 »
All I really want is to be able to open OS mapping (or Harvey's) on my phone without needing to be online or pay a subscription. I use it to check out interesting things I happen to see, or for exploring when I wasn't planning on visiting somewhere, and as a backup to the paper map when out for a real walk.
Being able to connect to the internet and download just the bit where I am is a bonus.
I do not see the need (for me as a walker) to load routes, have it direct me to places or warn me if I'm off route.
VR did what I wanted at a good price and then kept adding what I didn't need. Now it's sold out to a model that is completely not what I want.

As a writer, I loved being able to publish routes on VR. It was the only place I found where you didn't have to be a big outfit like Trail magazine to publish and charge a small amount for a route.
VR has also sold out to a company that is like all the others in requiring you to be a massive outfit to do this.

So I have lost out on both fronts. At least the OS map app does what I need as a walker, though I have lost all the maps and tiles I bought on VR (or will when they inevitably stop supporting their old app).
« Last Edit: 19:00:36, 05/04/21 by archaeoroutes »
Walking routes visiting ancient sites in Britain's uplands: http://www.archaeoroutes.co.uk

ninthace

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11821
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #39 on: 19:22:06, 05/04/21 »
Odd how we view things isn't it?  Many posters want to have OS mapping on their phones without paying for them if possible but are happy to pay for paper maps.  The same effort goes into producing a map, be it digital or physical.
I agree with archeoroutes sentiments otherwise in that VR did everything I needed and provided me with enough credits to keep me in mapping (I was cheaper than him though).  I also did not need the change but commercial developments of apps happens and things change.  We adapt or find a way round.
« Last Edit: 19:28:50, 05/04/21 by ninthace »
Solvitur Ambulando

Glyno

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4044
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #40 on: 20:48:46, 05/04/21 »
Flippin' ages since I posted on here!!


Mr archaeoroutes has just about summed up my feelings exactly. However, I've been having a look at OA and am a bit undecided as yet - takes me a while to fathom out unfamiliar interfaces!


One thing I have noticed which is a bit annoying is that OA, having synched all my tracks over from VR doesn't (unless I'm missing something glaringly obvious) display the date on which the track was originally created! The filter function allows me to sort the list by date edited, date published, A-Z... etc which is all well and good, but nowhere whatsoever can I see the date on which I actually created (walked) the route. It does display the date the track was last updated but this isn't much use for accurately dating walks.


This would be a sad omission as I use tracks to put dates to photos and vice versa.


Any pointers to the bleeding obvious would be most grateful


Glyn :-)




edit: even when opening the track and looking at the stats etc, there is still absolutely no mention of the date of the walk

archaeoroutes

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1601
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #41 on: 21:29:17, 05/04/21 »
Odd how we view things isn't it?  Many posters want to have OS mapping on their phones without paying for them if possible but are happy to pay for paper maps.
I'm happy to pay. Once. Not keep paying month after month. And I just want to pay for (and store on my phone) the areas I'll use.
Walking routes visiting ancient sites in Britain's uplands: http://www.archaeoroutes.co.uk

ninthace

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11821
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #42 on: 21:45:34, 05/04/21 »
Flippin' ages since I posted on here!!


Mr archaeoroutes has just about summed up my feelings exactly. However, I've been having a look at OA and am a bit undecided as yet - takes me a while to fathom out unfamiliar interfaces!


One thing I have noticed which is a bit annoying is that OA, having synched all my tracks over from VR doesn't (unless I'm missing something glaringly obvious) display the date on which the track was originally created! The filter function allows me to sort the list by date edited, date published, A-Z... etc which is all well and good, but nowhere whatsoever can I see the date on which I actually created (walked) the route. It does display the date the track was last updated but this isn't much use for accurately dating walks.

..............
That is tedious Glyno.  VR and OA list tracks by time and date as part of their default naming system but of course if you lose this information by renaming the file, you are wrapped round a helically inclined plane. There is a dull but effective work around that will preserve the information from one system to another.  When I rename a track file after a walk, I incorporate the date into the title in the format YYMMDD followed by the name.  So today's walk had been renamed "210405 Sandford Loop".  Now no matter where it moves now, or in the future, it will always be sorted into chronlogical sequence, no matter what software is handling it.  In my case my traces are in ViewRanger, Garmin Basecamp and now OA, not to mention as gpx files in the walk folders in my main and back up cloud drives.  The only time I might break this rule is if I make the file public, when it might need a better name.  If there is a description box in the site I am publishing to route on, I will add a sentence at the end giving the date the walk was done so the reader has some idea of how old the information is.

The only thing I can suggest is to go back to VR, add the YYMMDD data to the file name and then import them.  This is a very tedious thing to do - I know - I just moved all the walks I had not bothered to do anything about since last October and had to rename them in VR before I exported them to my walk folders.   I would love to hear if someone has a better idea.
Solvitur Ambulando

sussamb

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8011
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #43 on: 22:13:43, 05/04/21 »
Flippin' ages since I posted on here!!


 :)  great to know you're still alive  :)
Where there's a will ...

jimbob

  • Veteran Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2503
Re: Viewranger replacement
« Reply #44 on: 23:10:39, 05/04/21 »
Glyno
In OA bring up a Route, underneath the map and profile there is a heading "Statistics", press that heading, hey presto the date the route was created is hidden in plain view.

Cannot find anything similar for tracks, at the moment.
 This learning stuff is doing my head in.  :-X
« Last Edit: 09:07:44, 06/04/21 by jimbob »
Too little, too late, too bad......

 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy