As a Mac user I've been so frustrated that mapping software has been solely for PC users – the only option so far has been to run Windows on my Mac which is a hassle – but it seems now you can get UK OS Explorer 1:25 maps for Mac OS X

http://www.routebuddy.com/routebuddy/index.html

The iPhone app with full OS mapping looks cool too.

Has anyone here ever used Route Buddy before? Any thought? I'd be interested to know what it's like compared to Memory Map etc

Cheers

Ben

Blimey – £17.38 for the equivalent of a single paper map? And no obvious way of buying the whole country. Looks like they think Mac users are made of money.

Oh, plus $99 for the software itself.

You could buy a copy of windows plus memory map for the price it'd cost to get a decent set of maps for even a local area.

Joe

The cost is down to using 1:25,000 scale mapping I think. I have a Peak map on my Macbook and it's a bit slow and clunky compared to, say, ViewRanger, then again it's on a Mac. No idea how it runs on an iPhone, but I should find out next week.

Hi BWD – I'm new to this so forgive my ignorance – but can you run ViewRanger on a Mac? Does it work similar to Memory Map etc?

ViewRanger For Mac – Instructions

That's damn expensive, especially if you've already bought the maps for MM.

The cost is down to using 1:25,000 scale mapping I think

Partly that maybe, but £17 for the equivalent to a single £7.99 paper map is ridiculous.

Hi BWD – I'm new to this so forgive my ignorance – but can you run ViewRanger on a Mac? Does it work similar to Memory Map etc?

Viewranger is a mobile phone application, for Symbian mobile phones. It doesn't run on a computer at all.

Joe

I find all these GPS iphone apps bloody useless (mapmyride, trail guru etc). They always lose signal a minute into the ride and then displays a "Oh noes lost interents" pop up and fails to try and carry on recording. Unless you're in a populated area the GPS capabilities of the iphone are frankly shite.

I assume this is down to the poor strength of the GPS receiver and it's reliance on wifi, 3g, edge and GPRS to help triangulate…

I use trailguru on mine and it seems to work pretty well Gary and I'll assume that we're doing at least some riding in the same sorts of areas – sounds to me like you're letting the phone lock itself which stops the app. On trailguru, use the lock icon and it keeps it in the foreground.

I think (im not an iphone guru) the 3GS has a dedicated GPS chip and doesn't require WiFi/3G/Edge/GPRS, I think it uses these when it cannot lock on to a GPS satalite..

clubber – I found it ok for a road ride if I didn't dip down into deep combes and valleys out failand way. I'll have a look into not letting the iphone lock.

Do you use your offroad at all, CwmCarn, Afan, Qs etc?

Not used the mapping software, but tried (once) to use the iMapmyride app for the iPhone, only to find that it emptied the battery less than an hour into a 3 hour ride! I guess using the GPS capability on the phone drains the battery REALLY quickly – so unless you are just popping down the road, pretty much useless.

Gary, email me and I'll show you some of my tracks.

I've had no problem yet with battery and 2 hr rides.

Incidentally I have a 3gs. Maybe that makes a difference to battery life and gps accuracy?

I logged my offroad route again last night and again, it seems to follow fairly well, even under trees, etc – not pinpoint accurate but certainly within a few metres.

clubber, did I get an email from you already?

GPS usage does drop battery life to around 2 hours. Just been surfing and apparently you can battery extenders to significantly increase battery life. The Mophie juice extender is apparantly Apple approved although at £ 60 it's a bit expensive. Shame Apple are so rubbish when it comes to batteries.

Gary, yeah i emailed you from work

Not 2 hours on mine. More like 3 or 4 from fully charged

Tracklogs runs under DarWINE.. not terribly well, but it runs.

Phone wise, I went for a Nokia 5800, as all the sync toys work now, and you can run Sports Tracker on the phone itself.