as title please im having trouble following a very vague bridleway and want to follow on a phone via gps

osmand.net

The OS Maps app will do that.

ANDROID
iOS

backcountry navigator using the Bing OS 1:25k mapping (android only I think, might have changed)

has the os app got any better?

The os app hasn’t had the best of reviews. Back country navigator is good for a cheap app but access to the is maps seems to come and go. Viewranger is the best of them IMO but you do need to pay for the os maps.

Back country navigator is good for a cheap app but access to the is maps seems to come and go.

Eh? I’ve had one outage of about 1-2 weeks in the 5 years I’ve been using it and even then I had all the regularly used map areas saved on my phone.

Viewranger, however you will have to purchase a few tiles, although proper OS Explorer maps.

has the os app got any better?

In what way?

I’ve been using it for about a year and I like it enough that it’s now my go to device instead of my garmin. It might just be that the way i use it means I don’t encounter any of the issues that bug other people. I don’t tend to plot routes on my phone for instance so if that was poorly implemented I’d never know.

Another vote for Viewranger. The maps / tiles aren’t expensive and it means you don’t need a data signal to track where you are.

Just to add, if you do try out viewranger you can download for free then use open cycle map for free which has most bridleways on it. Not as nice as an os map but functional.

Eh? I’ve had one outage of about 1-2 weeks in the 5 years I’ve been using it and even then I had all the regularly used map areas saved on my phone.

I think you are just seeing your cash. I haven’t been able to download tiles for ages

Anquet

Maverick on Android for me

I’ve been using ViewRanger. The maps seem reasonably priced considering that I use it a lot. The recent update does augmented reality showing you peaks and their names which is a cool feature.

Another vote for opencycle here

back country navigator seems to have what i need will report back tomorrow night . thanks everyone

Another vote for Maverick on Android. You can pre-load your tiles on wifi by scrolling around if data usage or signal is an issue.

Viewranger again. Helped us out in a tricky situation in Scotland when the route in a remote area was non existent on the ground. If you can get a signal OS maps are great and only cost £20 a year for the entire UK in 1:50000 and 1:25000

Just had a look at opencyclemap as I’ve not seen it before.

A quick look in my very local area and I spotted 5 mistakes, bridleways marked as footpaths, missing bridleways and marked bridleways which are footpaths.

If that level of accuracy is carried over on the rest of their maps I wouldn’t want to trust it.

In my experience there is no substitute for something like Memory Map and OS explorer maps.

If you can get a signal OS maps are great and only cost £20 a year for the entire UK in 1:50000 and 1:25000

You can preload regions into OS maps very easily, so with a little preparation you don’t need a mobile signal.

Viewranger +1 it actually works out cheaper than paper maps IMHO

ViewRanger +2. Its brilliant. OS maps at 1: 25,000. GPS. Its brilliant and cheaper than maps. Never get lost except in Grisedale for some reason…. sorry Sim!

ampthill – Member

Eh? I’ve had one outage of about 1-2 weeks in the 5 years I’ve been using it and even then I had all the regularly used map areas saved on my phone.
I think you are just seeing your cash. I haven’t been able to download tiles for ages
I’ve just downloaded a small section of somewhere obscure in Scotland, turned off wifi, put it in airplane mode to simulate being in the middle of nowhere and the section I downloaded works fine down to 1:25k.

ampthill, It must be something you’re doing or not doing, Backcountry Navigator with OS maps works fine.

Yep, Viewranger here as well. Fantastic.

flyinbrian – Member
back country navigator seems to have what i need will report back tomorrow night . thanks everyone

Good choice, may not be as slick as viewranger but its a fraction of the costs for OS 1:25k for the whole of the UK. If you have any questions just ask on here

Viewranger for looking at maps to work out where you are. Doesn’t seem that expensive – I paid £20 for 400 tiles about 4 years ago and only recently had to buy some more tiles.

However, last time I tried importing a GPX route it was far harder than it ought to have been.

Viewranger here. The OS mapping is good, and stored offline so as long as you get them in advance, you’re never buggered if you’re without signal.

Also, bit of a faff, but you can import GPX files and overlay them on the map. Really helps me get out and explore locally when I see someone ride something new near me on *cough* that website.

Any app that will do OSM and can flip to the cycle map layer. The standard layer has bridleways also, just they’re more obvious on the cycle map.

Viewranger is good for that on Android and the OSM maps are free (and gives you a lot more cycle route and trail info than an OS map would).

Not that anyone would be interested, but on Windows Phone 😉 … NaviComputer

Thanks Nana

I’ve just downloaded a small section of somewhere obscure in Scotland, turned off wifi, put it in airplane mode to simulate being in the middle of nowhere and the section I downloaded works fine down to 1:25k.
ampthill, It must be something you’re doing or not doing, Backcountry Navigator with OS maps works fine.

I’d taken it off my phone as tiles where showing up as little squares saying you can’t download me

But it seems to be working fine now

So in answer to the OP the answer is Back Country Navigator

The real beauty of Backcountry Navigator is that you can have multiple map types for the same area. So you can switch easily between OS and Open Cycle Map. The latter is probably more useful for cycling but the former is probably more up to date in terms of legal designations.

As others have said, just download any maps you want for the area you are visiting prior to loosing phone signal

Ampthill, I don’t doubt you especially as Nickjb reports the same. It’s entirely possible that it suffers from the same ‘daily usage limit’ that other websites like bikehike has suffered from. This means that if you use Bing OS maps later in the evening, it might not work because the usage allowance has been exceeded. Not entirely sure though as I’ve not experienced any issues beyond that date a few years ago where Microsoft/Bing required users to have some sort of key. There was an outage at that time for a week or two, but the bloke from Backcountry Navigator sorted it and normal service resumed, as far as I’m concerned. Basically, following that outage, I downloaded all the OS maps I needed ie all UK national parks and local maps @1:25k. I’ve downloaded other maps since, like Spain IGN for a specific area with no issues, but not that many UK OS stuff. If it’s the case, then I guess just do your downloads earlier in the day. I’ve looked on their community forum and there are no threads from UK OS users reporting further issues.