Am i right in saying that theres a gps app for an iphone to enable you to plot ure route & save it,similar to that of say a garmin 405 forunner ?,or should i just buy wanna them as theyre ideal for mtb arnt they ?.

I’ve just picked up a secondhand smartphone purely for use as a gps, using mmtracker.

we’ll see how it goes…

Garmin Forerunner 305 are excellent value. Easy to move between bike and wrist. I’m on my third having accidentally smashed one and lost the other. Mrs R has the 405, but it’s not as easy to use. Also, the touch bezel thing can be difficult to use. At least the 305 has buttons which can be used with gloves.

Battery life is the main advantage over a smart phone.

I recently started using ViewRanger my DHD, I assume its available on the Iphone too.

Its a really good app, lets you use OS maps of the area you are riding, import GPX files and track them as you ride etc.

I don’t have a problem with battery life, I just turn off all the unnecessary things and put it in airplane mode while I’m riding.

I asked the same question a few weeks ago and was pointed to the view ranger app,

I down loaded the app, bought the 1:25K maps of the lakes and a holder for the bike, Using an iPhone 4.

This allowed me to load in routes for me to follow when in areas I’m unfamiliar with and opened up a whole new world for me.

All great stuff, BUT using an iPhone 4 on a ride over 4 hours the battery was ready to die and with no means od changing the battery i was snookered.

Bit the bullet and bought a Garmin 800 trail bundle i the end. must say though i found view ranger better to use.

For IPhone 4 and viewranger battery problems, turn off wi-fi
and 3G if long trip

yeah i did all that HNR but i found i was constantly babysitting the battery.Bare in mind i was riding solo in unknown areas with only large scale backup paper maps. I found myself in a situation where i had 20% battery life showing 15 mile from start point. dead battery = dead lifeline = no navigation.

For short rides with a backup phone or indeed a phone that you can swap batteries view ranger is brilliant.

Is it free ?

It’s not free you pay for maps
From a full charge , a 2 – 2 1/2 hour ride will leave me with 60-70% battery
That’s with screen light always on and Wifi off
15 month old iphone 4

premium is just under 15 quid that allows you do download a certain amount of maps. It does all start to add up though when you subscribe to online maps for plotting.

Edit to add:

Had a few issues setting it up and sent an email to support and got a reply out of hours within half an hour.

Its a great app Just wasn’t suitable for full day rides for me.

I’ve already got the memory map qct files (partially legit), and mmtracker is free, so that won’t cost me anything. And I’m only using the phone as a GPS, so no 3G or even cell connection, and I don’t plan on running other apps.
And I’ve found a source of bigger batteries.