Just downloaded Outdoors GB after not really liking the free version of Memory Maps (tracking inaccurate yesterday).

Includes UK coverage at AA level (not particularly useful) and national parks at 1:50 – all downloaded to device. Additional 1:50 regions, e.g. London and SE, are only £10. And 1:25 county maps ain’t cheap at £20-£30 each (with East and West Sussex being two, so that’s £50-£60 just for them!).

Web-based route editor seems crap because it’s no better than Google Maps. WTF? Where’s the OS version, i.e how are supposed to plan an outdoor trek with just roads to go by?

So have been using Hug Maps which is okay, and then downloading to GPX device.

Seems pretty intuitive so far, but not so sure I want to spend in excess of £100 just on maps.

I know there are fans of MM and others, so I’m keen to know what you’re using for editing (web-based) and then actually using on the trail (iPhone only). And if you think it offers value.

Ta

Went out yesterday with a GPX route loaded into Outdoors GB. Worked a treat. 1:50 is okay if you know at least some of the area, but 1:25 obviously makes it much more easier and reliable.

Certainly encouraged me to check out some stuff I’ve never thought of before, not least because I’d always be able to find my way to the next section without faffing over a map.

Device (in recording mode) used 50% battery in 2 hrs 30 mins. Not great, but not bad.

But it’s intuitive, route can be switched on/off, panning and zooming is allowed, plus it’s accurate.

So I’ll probably download a couple of 1:25 county maps (£50-60) and crack on.

Outdoors GB > Memory Map > Viewranger. IMO.

Innacurate tracking is not caused by the app, it’s your phone. iPhone doesn’t seem to be as accurate as the others but it may also be where you keep it whilst out. Just so you know, I’d hate for you to splash out on another app just to get the same symptoms.
Viewranger seems to get good reports BTW.

£50-£60! 😯

Depending on where you live I’d suggest one of the many apps that use Open Street Map (also includes offroad despite the name) as it’ll be free and around here (Bristol) at least, it’s as good as OS maps for the stuff I’ve checked.

http://www.openstreetmap.org/

devs – Member
Innacurate tracking is not caused by the app, it’s your phone

Actually some apps do track better than others IME, having deliberately tracked the same ride on different apps and compared. I think it’s because they have different sampling rates (some sample more than others) and also different methods of filtering out noise/innacturate location data that gives the wild jumps that you otherwise see sometimes.

Yesterday I switched the phone between bars and pocket. And sometimes had it fully on, other times off. When switching back on it literally took 1 sec max to find position. Whereas Memory Map was just not playing ball.

Same as Clubber, I’ve found different apps track better than others. Used to use Sportypal on Android and Windows and it was pretty much perfect for tracking, then used it on iP4 and it was crap. Immediately switched to a couple of others and tracking was once again spot on.

Will defo check out apps that work with OpenStreet. Do they download tiles or work off data? And do any of them import GPX routes? I’m not looking for just a tracker – it must also worked as a ‘route follower’. CHeers

Am also going to keep trialing Outdoors in deeper parts of dingley dell to see if it maintains accuracy.

Some work off data, some allow you to download tiles. I use Everytrail as it allows download of tiles and you can up/download routes (GPX) too. There’s a free version that you can try out if the £1.60ish is too much for you 😉

Ah, Everytrail was the one I tried after Sportypal. Didn’t get on with it for some reason so dumped it. Just re-installed it and it looks pretty good.

But why oh why do they only have Googlemaps as the track editor? Just as bad as Outdoors’ version. How are you supposed to plan an off-road route when you can’t see the off-road trails? Doh. Gonna stick with Hug Maps editing for now, and hope ET allows fully downloadable map to work underneath.

If you want online 1:50 OS map route creation, checkout the new ViewRanger site. The my.viewranger.com site now allows you to create routes online using your purchased 1:50 OS Maps, then save and sync to iphone.
Couldn’t be easier.
You can sync recorded tracks back, tweek them on OS Maps and save as routes also.

Yeah, I had a look at VR but something put me off. Plus I’m sure a bunch of iPhone users said they didn’t like it somewhere? Will check it out again, especially if the VFM of buying maps (especially at 1:25) and functionality is better than Outdoors.

1:50 fine so long as you know bits of the area. Can go off-piste if there are loads of criss-crossing trails due to scale inaccuracies.

I’d suggest planning the route with something like mapmyride and then uploading the GPX to everytrail – that way you get the best of both without having to compromise either the route editor or the actual phone app.

.

I find riding with the map zoomed to 1:3k best for following routes and not getting to confused if there are several routes in the area.

I have both 1:25 of the area I frequently ride and 1:50 of a wider area. I agree 1:25 is very useful for fiddly criss crossing trails, especially at night if you get a bit lost.

I bought viewranger with about £25 of 1:25 maps and got £15 over the air downloads which I used for downloading 1:50. This got a big area of 1:25 and a huge area of 1:50, with spare credit for 1:50 downloads as required.

Turn off the wifi when using GPS Apps on an iPhone
it makes the battery last much longer

Looks like VR doesn’t offer standard 1:25 maps of the south-east. Am downloading the map chooser thingy, so maybe that’ll shed some light on how much the custom tiles will cost.

TurnerGuy, which app are you using? I’ve not had any issues with seeing other trails.

Do you really need 1:25k? I’ve always found 1:50k fine.

I am using a satmap but have found 1:3k the best res for following trails and anticipating where the next turn is.

Also 1:25k maps are useful for on-the-fly navigation, etc. I have the satmap set to show all my in-active routes as well so I might decide to switch to another route part way along the one I am currently following.

For editing I haven’t found a good solution yet.

I have Anquet on the PC with 1:25k but it seems freaking slow – I think because it is relying on the .NET framework to handle graphics.

With it I can modify a route, add points, etc.

But I really want to be able to cut portions of routes out and create separate routes of that section – and then to be able to create a new route by pasting together other routes.

For example I could have small routes/tracks representing the trails in the Surrey Hills and then form a new route by pasting all those sections together and then connecting them with the bridleways I can see on the 1:25k map.

I was toying with trying to write such a thing, but I am not sure I have the spare time required.