Better options than OS maps subscription

I used OS maps quite a bit and my annual subscription has just come up. Another £23 a year for access to unlimited maps online and via app.

I think this is the fifth year so it’s adding up. Wondering if there were any better options out then?

You could just buy the offline maps for a few areas.

I did that for a few NPs then lost them all when I changed phones. Probably user error tbh.

You can buy is maps and download them in the app too.

Do you have a Strava subscription? If so it now comes with Fatmap that has OS maps (offline too). Cant say I’ve used it much as ive only just learnt about it but worth a try as it’s bundled into Strava.

I do use the os app currently but i just went with buying the physical maps for my regular/local mapping areas and then getting the included digital download so no subscription required

Do you have a Strava subscription? If so it now comes with Fatmap that has OS maps (offline too). Cant say I’ve used it much as ive only just learnt about it but worth a try as it’s bundled into Strava

Trouble with that is family members cant use it to.

The Fatmap does appear to be less clunky than OS Maps, but I do wonder where Strava are going with it.

My OS Maps subscription has lapsed as I didn’t realise my card details were old. Its now saying £28 for me to renew. I am holding off hoping something better is out there.

If youre at all capable with GIS, you can use Qfield (the mobile version of QGIS) to sync a workspace youve built on the computer with your mobile.

as a seperate observation, you can get Ordnance survey mapping “free” (the first £1000 per month) through their premium API

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/search-for-os-products?category=6aa5f6f0-9092-462e-9370-e06ba952c612

Not that i use it myself, so i dont need to feel bad about having set it up. Interesting conversation piece though.

@mrchrist can you? Was that not the old app? I got 24 months free redeeming old sheets a few months ago.

You should be able to prove purchases by checking whatever app store you bought them through.

talkytoaster

Went from OS to here. Never looked back. Far greater detail.

I use backcountry navigator on Android. 1:50 & 1:25k mapping online but with the option to download user defined areas.

Timely . I always end up buying a map of where I’m going as i can’t plan a route on a screen.
Can I create a route without a subscription if I have used the code that comes with the paper map?

Hard to imagine something being better value than the OS subscription, but Komoot is very popular. A big step up in price tho! Free to download, then lots of in-app purchases

I do use the os app currently but i just went with buying the physical maps for my regular/local mapping areas and then getting the included digital download so no subscription required

Ohh ta. Just tried this with a recent paper 1:25 map of Snowdon i bought. It works. Cheers

I use Digimap through the OU (and also have an OS subscription)

I’d say £24 a year is good value. Particularly as they seem to be more generous about off line downloads than they were.  I seem to look at something most days.

I might drop it for Fatmap via Strava as I currently pay for Strava

https://memory-map.com/

You can either have an annual subscription, or just purchase outright. 1:50k or 1:25k OS maps. And you can download the entire country in one go. Entire GB at 1:50 is less than fourty quid for a perpetual licence or £14 for a 1 year subscription. Note the perpetual licence mapset is static; the subscritption mapset is updated annually.

Licence allows “reasonable” install on mulitple devices, so family members could probably also install.

iOS, android & windows apps avialable. Not perfect (threre’s no compass or track up feature – have to toggle the phone’s compass if needed) but works well enough for me.

backcountry navigator is really good if you’re an android phone/tablet user.

bing maps online has the OS maps in 1:50 and 1:25 if you just want to browse on a PC/mac

Tbh @squirelking I have one in a q that I hav not downloaded. I think it has been there for 4 or 5 years now so the answer is IAM not 100% sure as I have not tested it.

Can I create a route without a subscription if I have used the code that comes with the paper map?

Just need an account login…ive never had an os subscription. One thing is though that logged into os on a desktop pc, you won’t get 25k, just the standard map so i either cross reference with bing os maps on another tab or use the os app on my phone to create a route

Nuther vote for Memory Map here. £37 for the entire UK at 1:50k – yours forever (or until they change their software/all the standards again…).

Not sure if the OP is using 1:25k or 1:50k but the former is available as well, for more money obv.

@houns digimap is the daddy!

Don’t forget Bing.com has OS maps from their webpage, providing your browser tells their server you aren’t on a mobile device. Not full features of the app, but still good for the price.

Yup, Memory Map. Used it for years…

Another long term memory map user, probably 20 years since I aquired the full set of 25K maps  (old format) and the import licence was like £20.

Eventually needed more up to date maps so bought the perpetual licence for 50K and 25K. The “memory-map for all” version of the mobile app is pretty good.

Backcountry Navigator +1. Been using it for ages now.

Although Fatmap via Strava (I’m a subscriber) is going to get a try out over the summer too I think.

I’ve looked at Komoot before and dismissed it because it’s suggesting I ride up a footpath that I really shouldn’t ride (and I wouldn’t overlook several cheeky footpaths), into the middle of a National Nature Reserve and SSSI that I really really mustn’t.

Just had a look at FatMap with my Strava subscription and it’s another level! It’s picking out tracks – I assume using AI applied to satellite imagery – that I know are private farm lanes. And to take the biscuit, it’s suggesting some cool loops inside a… pig farm.

Think I’ll stick with OS

Simple OSM viewer on Android is pretty good for free and can cache offline….

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.applikationsprogramvara.osmviewer&hl=en_GB&gl=US

@goldfish24 you know that all services not OS are based on the Openstreetmap mapping data? So you can go and fix the errors if you spot them!

Another memory map user, I think I got 1:50k and 1:25k combined for £99 a few years ago. Unbeatable value.

you know that all services not OS are based on the Openstreetmap mapping data?

I’ve looked on open street map.org before and it’s great. Footpaths and bridleways correctly identified.

I’ve just checked FatMap’s about page – yes they do use osm, but also a list of about 20 others. One of those must explain this:

that’s the fun loops around the little piggies. Not so little trust me.

I wondered if the long dashed lines mean it’s a track but infer no right of way. So looking elsewhere, nearby:

That track running up to stoke clump is a bridleway. It continues as a bridleway but is marked with dots? Meanwhile all the other dashed trails shown are not public rights of way. FatMap seems useless for English right of way to me, unless I’m missing something.

I’ve got OSM mapping loaded as an app called “GPX Tracker” which I use occasionally if I’m in Komoot to have a over-head or longer range view. I think it’s a close as you can get on i-product to @properbikeco suggestion of his simple android OSM viewer

@goldfish24 use the OS layers in the Topo selection

I think £24 is good value for the UK mapping company with the history and heritage behind it.

Its enabled me and doggo to have some awesome adventures in the great outdoors.

i’ve been trying to use fatmap and its a bit clunky. it’s ok a freebie while I have a strava sub but I wouldnt pay for it seperately.

outdooractive had grown on me after the viewranger merger, but my lifetime access to OSmaps now seems to be online only which isn’t much use.

Apparently you can get OS Maps for £21.74 at the minute using code

RAMOSM

Re Memorymap – I can see 2 apps on iOS one is MM the other MAM with an upside down A – whats the difference. My concern with MM would be if it goes the same way as ViewRanger and you loose everything you had

Best hiking apps for digital mapping 2023 – TGO Magazine https://t.co/4ZQXPHXl7s

— Chris Townsend (@townsendoutdoor) July 28, 2023

Another vote for BCN here. Not sure what it costs now but I paid £9 for life at the time.

Something went a bit wonky a while but they replied with a fix.

Memory map apps, there’s the original, and the newer “memory map for all” . The upside down “A” is a mathematical symbol meaning “for all”.

The newer for all app is better imho. Plus it’s the same across all platforms.

Am I the only person that uses Outdoor active?

Am I the only person that uses Outdoor active?

Nope. I’m a big fan. Hard to beat having OS and IGN maps for free (part of the legacy agreement from VR). If I had to pay I would and may still do, if I ever needed other areas they cover. The Kompass maps look interesting for Germany, Austria and bits of Italy.

Plotting a route on the phone is piss easy and the voice guidance off road is a bonus.

I assume OA are actively trying to get other national map makers on board?