UKC

I've had a subscription to the OS Maps app on Android for the past year, and it's about to expire/autorenew. It's ok, but importing routes is a faff, and it's not great at plotting points or routes in the app - and there's a lot of crap in there that I don't need or want - and it doesn't show some info well (such as average speed, distance covered etc, and current height) that is useful.

I've used Viewranger a little, and I'm not sure it's much better - I used to have a Windows Phone and used GeoGPS - a brilliant app with free OS maps, but haven't been able to find anything similar. 

Are there any alternatives, or should I stop grumbling and keep using OS Maps?

Thanks,

Henry

I bought an OS map recently and it had a scratch n sniff panel on the back that gave what looked like perpetual access to that map on my android phone. Might be cheaper to buy a single new map and use the code from that, if you generally walk in one place rather than need every location

Possibly - but I've got paper maps for the areas I go to regularly - but bought them before OS gave digital downloads with paper maps. I don't really want to replace loads of perfectly good maps just to get the QR code. It's also not so much the cost, as the functionality of the app.

Bump?

If you want genuine OS mapping then there aren't many options, if you are happy with OSM then that opens it up a bit. 

Currently my fave OS mapping is on an app called MM Tracker, it uses Memory map OS files which can usually be found on ebay fairly cheap. Problem is the app isn't hugely user friendly and can be fussy about which version of Android you are using. I'm told Alpinequest can also use Memory map OS files but it doesn't do what I want it to so have no real experience of it. 

My fave OSM mapping right now is Komoot, it seems to be really user friendly but lacks some basic functions to make it truly usable for me. 

Ones I've been suggested but discarded for whatever reason are Strava, RideWithGPS, BikeGPX and Google Maps. However... it seems there is a geoGPS app on Google play though I'm not sure it's the same thing. 

I use Gaia GPS.  There is a free version and two levels of paid subscription, Member and Premium. I subscribe to the member level and have access to the French IGN maps. Outside of France they have a couple of versions of Open Street Map which work just fine. They have a website where you can plan your hikes and download maps for offline use. I like it. 

It might be worth giving Viewranger another try. I've trialled a few different apps for work and Viewranger came out on top, albeit with a few UI quirks.

I use the 'credits' option where I just download 25k tiles as I need them and build up blobs of mapping for various corners of the UK.

Viewranger, a waterproof pouch and airplane mode has made a standalone GPS device unnecessary for me in most uses.

If you want a one-off complete solution that you can use across 4 devices (phone, PC, tablet), buy Memory Map for the UK at 1:25,000 and install the whole map (~25-30GB) on a microsd card on your phone (bit trickier if you have Apple with limited storage).

Job done. Don't have to rely on download/subscription.  I use it near enough every day on the PC as well.

But full price is £275. But they usually have half price/big-discount sales later it the year.

Note - there can be some faffing/geeking to get the big file on phone and working right, and you might need access to PC. We also had issue on one of our phones where a new 128GB SD card (formatted correctly) wouldn't work right with the file, but the older 64 GB card would.

I've been using MAPS.ME for offline OSM mapping on Android, I think it is better than OsmAnd which I was using before.

Alpinequest is basic but free, useable with various formats of tile/map.

Have you looked at Maverick? I haven't used it for plotting tracks etc but it's got a good variety of mapping options, including OS.

Does maps.ME have contours as well?

What do you find better over OSM on android?

With all these possibilities, I'd suggest UKC to do a comparison review of some of the navigation apps available.

Does maps.me rotate the map in the direction of travel? That was the main sticking point on komoot for me. 

Thing is with a UKC comparison is everyone wants different things. I really liked a bit of everything from all the ones I've tried but none of them are perfect. 

Not AFAIK

maps.ME doesn't have contours. I have it on my phone mostly for road cycling in case I get lost! In the hills I'll have an Etrex with TalkyToaster maps.

I just found that OsmAnd often took forever to find my location!

I tried OSandM too, didn't seem to do anything better than the other ones I'd tried. It was supposed to turn the screen on and off when you got to junctions which should save battery but I never got that bit to work. 

Contours are must for us, MTB and walking in Europe.

Thanks - Maverick looks like a pretty good option. I've just had a quick play on it and it seems to be the closest to what I'm after.

I use Viewranger.

I used to use the OS app but have recently received a voucher entitling me to a year's OS mapping for a year. It's fab!

I like the tracking feature on it and find the interface intuitive. 

Try Backcountry navigator. I think its free for a month then a one off payment of £9 (or that was the case when i got it) and you can then download all the OS maps you want.

Viewranger is probably the best phone app for mapping I've used, though obviously not free!  very easy and intuitive to use and plot routes on. 

Anquet offer a web based app that you can install on your computer and phone / tablet etc and have mapping on both.  computer and phone apps are setup differently so that they work better for their given platform.  Annoyingly though you need to pay for their "premium" package to download the mapping onto your computer for offline use.  their basic phone app allows this as well though which is good.  I do like having the app on my computer for planning days out!

Cheers,

Stu

Hmm, that looks pretty interesting too - their next beta version looks particularly good.

Anquet looks ok too - I clearly need to spend a weekend out with a few of them and see how I get on. Definitely looks like I can cancel my subscription to OS though!