Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => GPS => Topic started by: nobby on 30 May, 2021, 05:31:22 pm
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I use OS paper maps and if I am not sure where I am I use Viewranger on my iPhone to pinpoint.
I do little else with it.
Viewranger have, if I have understood, sold out to another company - Outdoor Active - which I am now a member of until my view ranger sub ends. There are lots of extra bells and whistles and I found it difficult to access an OS map the other day when I was practising with it. I emailed view ranger and they helped :)
Does anyone know an Ordnance Survey based system (1:25k and 1:50k) that is simple and available for iOS, please?
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The Viewranger app on my Android devices doesn't seem to have changed. Should I be worried?
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The Viewranger app on my Android devices doesn't seem to have changed. Should I be worried?
You are asking me? I ask you! :)
I've got no idea. As I understand it, when your viewranger sub runs out you go to Outdooractive which you can use until your sub runs out and then renewal on Outdooractive terms.
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I wasn't aware that there was a subscription *to* run out. I purchased a licence for some maps...
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Yes, I bought into Viewranger years ago, when it was just getting going. I bought a dvd from them (!) with the whole of the UK OS 1:50k mapping which I then had to load onto my Nokia and unlock with an online key from VR*. I still use it as a back up for when I'm out and may be lost. I always found the app confusing and it got worse as it got more complicated. Now they've sold out, from reading the small print, it seems they'll abandon my 'lifetime' licence as they wind down VR and won't transfer it too OA. Not impressed but not surprised. The OS have had enough of my money for the same maps again and again and I won't be paying any more. Open Street map/Open cycle map does me pretty well now.
I believe VR moved to a subscription model at some point, but honoured existing agreements.
(* which has worked on subsequent phones inc iPhone now as well as my desktop Mac).
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This is exactly the sort of bollocks that makes me fanatical about open source software. It's frequently terrible, but at least you can use it on your own terms.
Unfortunately, you can't beat an OS map for its quintessential OS mappiness...
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As far as I can see, the licence I bought ~£80+ for OS maps is to be replaced by a subscription version with the new company.
They are on the coy side with the details.
I see the problem from the company side, but it is bolleaux from my side.
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Unfortunately, you can't beat an OS map for its quintessential OS mappiness...
.... and there's the rub of it.
I've been using OS for some 60 years and I still like to 'read' the map and make route cards from it.
I see the advantages of gps, and use some of them, but it's like having a kindle in your hand rather than a book.
Ntw, I'll give the OS a ring to morrow and see what they suggest.
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OS do market their own iOS app - seems to be so-so according to the reviews. It's free for 'Greenspace maps' whatever they are, but, for the real stuff, it's £3 a month/£24pa. I won't having anything to do with subscription apps, so I won't be joining.
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Does the OS app let you store maps locally? This sort of thing is largely pointless if you can't...
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Does the OS app let you store maps locally?
Yes
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Does the OS app let you store maps locally?
Yes
Cool. IIRC at the time I bought maps with Viewranger the OS only had a website. (It was basically a choice between Viewranger and Memory Map, and Viewranger's app was much more functional.)
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And what's saved for offline use includes both 1:25k and 1:50k.
No (worthwhile) routing*, and the AR feature which might let you identify which hill that one over there is only identifies things that are quite nearby, so that's a bit rubbish. The basic maps are what you would expect though.
*apparently it does route planning inside National Parks, but I haven't tried it.
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Cool. IIRC at the time I bought maps with Viewranger the OS only had a website.
They've very much improved their offering lately - no doubt seeing what apps like Viewranger are doing and thinking they don't want to miss out - though as CarlF says, they still have plenty of room to improve if they want to compete in that market.
Making it harder for third party apps like Veloviewer to access their data is all part of them becoming more aware of the commercial value of their product. And given how good their product is (certainly compared to free maps), and how costly and labour-intensive it is to produce high quality maps, I don't begrudge paying them £25 a year to help keep them going.
I appreciate your reasons for preferring open source stuff on the whole, but maps, I think, are very much a case of you get what you pay for.
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I appreciate your reasons for preferring open source stuff on the whole, but maps, I think, are very much a case of you get what you pay for.
Yes, I was happy to pay for the maps. Unfortunately, that ties you in to proprietary software :(
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Have to say I couldn't get on with ViewRanger, and even less so with the recent changes - I've been a Memory Map user (on a PC) for about 17 years with perhaps 3 paid-for upgrades in that time. They've just run a deal for the whole OS in 1-25000 and 1-50000 2021 versions for not much money - it also includes the 1-10000 street map "for free"
The PC app has changed bit, mainly with peripheral stuff like better printing BUT the other device offerings are now much better - I now have the whole lot on my (android) phone and tablet for offline use.
I'm not really interested in "take me from x to y" type routing - I can plan and plot my own thanks!
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I couldn't get through to the OS today in the time I had available.
I see, however, there is an app to suit paper maps: OS Locate.
It is a compass, altimeter and converts the gps coordinates into a 6 digit grid reference.
It is free, and while there are a couple of whinges that it doesn't do 10 digit grid reference I don't see that I will be needing that measure of accuracy.
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Have to say I couldn't get on with ViewRanger, and even less so with the recent changes - I've been a Memory Map user (on a PC) for about 17 years with perhaps 3 paid-for upgrades in that time. They've just run a deal for the whole OS in 1-25000 and 1-50000 2021 versions for not much money - it also includes the 1-10000 street map "for free"
The PC app has changed bit, mainly with peripheral stuff like better printing BUT the other device offerings are now much better - I now have the whole lot on my (android) phone and tablet for offline use.
I'm not really interested in "take me from x to y" type routing - I can plan and plot my own thanks!
I was with Memory Map near its beginning and though they were long on promises for use with Mac OS and iOS they were short on reality.
Viewranger was a much better alternative.
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Similarly, I used Memory Map for years on the desktop, but at the time I switched the Android app was little more than a map viewer. The Viewranger app could manipulate GPX files, which made it much more useful for creating routes to upload to the Garmin from the comfort of a tent.
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OS Locate looks good Nobby. Cheers for that. 👍
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By coincidence
https://www.tgomagazine.co.uk/news/viewranger-to-outdooractive-navigating-the-transition/
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By coincidence
https://www.tgomagazine.co.uk/news/viewranger-to-outdooractive-navigating-the-transition/
Now that is interesting. Thanks for the link.
I was wondering if I was being overly suspicious and this was really an altruistic move by ViewRanger for the benefit of their many clients.
I am not keen on being manipulated into the arms of another company with what seems to be an assumption that I'll just go.
The OS Locate will do for now.
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That's the problem with any commercial product that depends on some online service, though. You always run the risk of the company either deciding they don't want to maintain it any more, going bust or getting borged by someone evil or with different priorities.
Don't think the Ordnance Survey are immune. They might sell out to What3Words or do a deal with Facebook or just decide not to support anything other than the latest IOS or something.
If you get more than 5 years use out of your map license, your subscription-based office suite, your innovative social media product or your smart TV, you're winning.
(This rant sponsored by Autodesk and my late, lamented Nokia E52)
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That's the problem with any commercial product that depends on some online service, though. You always run the risk of the company either deciding they don't want to maintain it any more, going bust or getting borged by someone evil or with different priorities.
Don't think the Ordnance Survey are immune. They might sell out to What3Words or do a deal with Facebook or just decide not to support anything other than the latest IOS or something.
If you get more than 5 years use out of your map license, your subscription-based office suite, your innovative social media product or your smart TV, you're winning.
(This rant sponsored by Autodesk and my late, lamented Nokia E52)
Very true (and not diminished by being a "rant sponsored by Autodesk and my late, lamented Nokia E52") ;D
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Have to say I couldn't get on with ViewRanger, and even less so with the recent changes - I've been a Memory Map user (on a PC) for about 17 years with perhaps 3 paid-for upgrades in that time. They've just run a deal for the whole OS in 1-25000 and 1-50000 2021 versions for not much money - it also includes the 1-10000 street map "for free"
The PC app has changed bit, mainly with peripheral stuff like better printing BUT the other device offerings are now much better - I now have the whole lot on my (android) phone and tablet for offline use.
I'm not really interested in "take me from x to y" type routing - I can plan and plot my own thanks!
I was with Memory Map near its beginning and though they were long on promises for use with Mac OS and iOS they were short on reality.
Viewranger was a much better alternative.
I have an aversion to fruit related IT stuff :facepalm: - so not an issue for me
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I have an aversion to fruit related IT stuff :facepalm: - so not an issue for me
Not as bad, I'd warrant, as the suffering I under went for nearly two years with Mr Gates best efforts when I fell, and landed awkwardly, between Amiga and Apple.
I still have nightmares about shuffling the sound card between different slots to make it work. The only time I've had a tower and had to leave the case off because I was constantly accessing it, but there you go that's just me.
A couple weeks ago I had a software problem with my second hand iPhone 7+. Well out of guarantee but AppleCare - which covers none of my current devices - a senior supervisor in Lisbon entering my phone, poked around and sorted it. I never had that kind of service with my Windows PC's.
I am going to lay down now and cuddle my iMac for 10 minutes in gratitude that it is in my life :)
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Phoned OS this morning and a very patient lady listed to my tale of woe re. ViewRanger and Outdoor Active and said, "What you need is this".
I now have OS Maps downloaded on two week trial to run into £27 a year.
Can't work out if you can download offline maps that cover more than your screen shows.
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I was wondering about the downloads - what's to stop you signing up for a month, downloading the whole of the UK and cancelling? I suspect they've thought of that!
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I was wondering about the downloads - what's to stop you signing up for a month, downloading the whole of the UK and cancelling? I suspect they've thought of that!
You can only download within the mobile app, so presumably if you stop subscribing you will no longer be able to access the maps.
Though no doubt someone will have found a way to crack the locked files open by now.
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Though no doubt someone will have found a way to crack the locked files open by now.
What we need is that for Viewranger...
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Though no doubt someone will have found a way to crack the locked files open by now.
What we need is that for Viewranger...
Or for Outdoor Active to pay for a licence to use OS maps (which I presume is what Ben at Veloviewer does, and what ViewRanger used to do pre-takeover).
ETA: actually, it seems you can still get OS maps on ViewRanger but you can only access them as a premium feature, which I guess is what the op was complaining about...
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ETA: actually, it seems you can still get OS maps on ViewRanger but you can only access them as a premium feature, which I guess is what the op was complaining about...
That and all the stuff that I don't need :)
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Bah, and indeed, humbug:
We would like to inform you of an important change:
Soon the ViewRanger service will be discontinued.
In order to focus all our effort on our Outdooractive app and website, we will be switching off access to the ViewRanger app and website. This email explains how you can continue to access your maps and other data through the Outdooractive app and website.
[..]
Timing
We currently expect to switch off access to the ViewRanger app and website at the end of February 2022. You can start accessing maps and data through the Outdooractive app and website now by following the steps in this email.
One-off payments in ViewRanger
If you made one-off payments to access maps of an area within ViewRanger, then you will be able to access maps of those areas via the free version of the Outdooractive app and website. The maps will be from the same map data provider or from an alternative map data provider depending on the map region:
• Great Britain: if you currently have access to OS map tiles in England, Scotland, or Wales, you will have access to 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 OS maps across Great Britain.
Other data in ViewRanger
By connecting your ViewRanger account to Outdooractive, routes you have plotted, routes you have downloaded, activity tracks you have recorded, a record of the challenges you participated in, and points-of-interest you have marked, will continue to be available within your Outdooractive account.
Accessing Outdooractive
To access maps and other content in Outdooractive you will need to have an Outdooractive account. The content described above is available for you via a free Outdooractive account. If you would like to access more advanced functions alongside that content then you can upgrade to a Pro or Pro+ subscription.
Connect now
Once your account is connected, a free subscription will be started automatically. When this subscription expires your account will default to basic and you will not be charged anything.
So I've done the deed and installed the OutdoorActive app. It appears that downloading maps is a Google-style 'put an area of map on screen and press the download button' affair. No way to tell it to just download the whole thing. Useless!
The reviews on the Google Play store from disgruntled ViewRanger users are telling: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.outdooractive.Outdooractive&showAllReviews=true
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Bah, and indeed, humbug:
We would like to inform you of an important change:
Soon the ViewRanger service will be discontinued.
In order to focus all our effort on our Outdooractive app and website, we will be switching off access to the ViewRanger app and website. This email explains how you can continue to access your maps and other data through the Outdooractive app and website.
[..]
Timing
We currently expect to switch off access to the ViewRanger app and website at the end of February 2022. You can start accessing maps and data through the Outdooractive app and website now by following the steps in this email.
One-off payments in ViewRanger
If you made one-off payments to access maps of an area within ViewRanger, then you will be able to access maps of those areas via the free version of the Outdooractive app and website. The maps will be from the same map data provider or from an alternative map data provider depending on the map region:
• Great Britain: if you currently have access to OS map tiles in England, Scotland, or Wales, you will have access to 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 OS maps across Great Britain.
Other data in ViewRanger
By connecting your ViewRanger account to Outdooractive, routes you have plotted, routes you have downloaded, activity tracks you have recorded, a record of the challenges you participated in, and points-of-interest you have marked, will continue to be available within your Outdooractive account.
Accessing Outdooractive
To access maps and other content in Outdooractive you will need to have an Outdooractive account. The content described above is available for you via a free Outdooractive account. If you would like to access more advanced functions alongside that content then you can upgrade to a Pro or Pro+ subscription.
Connect now
Once your account is connected, a free subscription will be started automatically. When this subscription expires your account will default to basic and you will not be charged anything.
So I've done the deed and installed the OutdoorActive app. It appears that downloading maps is a Google-style 'put an area of map on screen and press the download button' affair. No way to tell it to just download the whole thing. Useless!
The reviews on the Google Play store from disgruntled ViewRanger users are telling: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.outdooractive.Outdooractive&showAllReviews=true
Curious to see what was being said I clicked on your link - and got the comments in french, along with a lot of replies from someone called Anaïs at OA (who is probably a bearded geek in sandals called Brian, but we're not meant to see that!) pleading that complainants had not yet used their 10€ token to sweeten the pill of an inadequate app. Can't quite see the logic that a crap 30€ service suddenly becomes sweetness and light at 20€ (especially if you're lost somewhere in the arrière pays of la France Profonde, with no battery left - which seemed to be a recurring theme!). I had Viewranger once on my first unsmartphone but was (am) genetically programmed to be incapable of using that sort of stuff.
I would love to put english and french comments side by side but am incapable of such things (fortunately!)
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I've had no notification such as the one above, but then I've only been a user since 2009. According to the statement, I won't lose access to my complete UK OS mapping I bought way back then (on a dvd no less), but I'm not convinced. As there is no other option, I guess I have to try it and see but I will hang back for a while!
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Anquet who produce outdoor map navigator went to a subscription model a little over 3 years ago. Like others I have paid for licensed maps including full OS 1:50,000 for GB. Initially you could see your paid for maps in the new subscription apps. Then after a few months they turned that off. No doubt the new apps were better than what I have, but I refuse to pay twice for maps I already have. I’ve stuck with the old software. Anquet has side loading where I can send maps from my PC to phone whilst they are in same network. All my maps are downloaded on PC and backed up. Sure vast majority are 2002 but that’s fine in most places, just watch out for bypasses built since but there should be a bridge or tunnel to get past them if in a right of way.
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I registered for outdooractive and burrowed down to find this;
ViewRanger - Legacy map agreement
In order to focus all our effort on our Outdooractive app and website, we will be switching off access to the ViewRanger app and website.
By accepting access to Legacy maps on the Outdooractive platform you confirm that you waive any legal claim against Augmentra Ltd and its directors in relation to any previously purchased contracts. You agree that by connecting your account with Outdooractive, any access to Legacy maps and content on the Outdooractive platform will be bound by the Outdooractive Terms and Conditions.
I hereby confirm that I have read and accept the above agreement on the further handling of the previously purchased lifetime maps at ViewRanger.
Confirm
One-off payments in ViewRanger
If you made one-off payments to access maps within ViewRanger, then we are offering free access to a set of maps via the Outdooractive app and website instead. The maps we are offering depend on the region of the maps you made one-off payments for in ViewRanger. The maps will be from the same map data provider or from an alternative map data provider depending on the map region.
See the map availability below.
Great Britain: if you currently have access to OS map tiles in England, Scotland, or Wales, you will have access to 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 OS maps across Great Britain. If you currently have access to maps from Harvey Maps, you will have access to all Harvey Maps currently published within the Outdooractive platform.
On the face of it, they are saying I will retain access to my paid for OS maps (as long as I tick the box), which would seem to be good news.
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Reading this with interest as a long time Viewranger user - with the full GB 1:50000 mapping downloaded on my phone. I was "given" a premium subscription for OA and seem to be able to access 1:50000 and 1:25000 maps now on OA. However this appears to only be when on-line which is a very poor (inadequate really) substitute for having the maps locally. I see that it says you can download maps for off line use - but not clear how you would go about doing this for a significant area (eg a cycle tour in the UK). I've also reas something that said it can't use SD memory, whereas all my Viewranger mapping is on the card because my phone doesn't have much internal memory.
So all in all it does not seem to offer what I want. I would be happy to pay a subscription to get regular updates to maps I can store off line. Sounds like I need to investigate the alternatives.
On another forum there was also speculation about whether the Viewranger app would actually cease to work after Feb 2022, or whether if you just need the phone version and have the maps saved it would still function.
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Does the OS app let you store maps locally? This sort of thing is largely pointless if you can't...
It also gives you access to printing up to A3 at either of their normal scales.
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It looks as though Viewranger is still working on the phone/tablet to display maps that are stored locally. Wouldn't mind betting that any regions not stored locally are no longer available.
The webpage for Viewranger has gone so there is no chance of creating and downloading routes anymore.
I bought a full UK OS 50,000 package for Viewranger so can access similar on Outdooractive but see my other post.
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Looks as though I was wrong, currently downloading Wales to the phone. So the whole of the UK mapping that I bought is still available just can't use it to view routes tat I created anymore.
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myviewranger.com is still active - I checked my status and it appears I now have a 1000 year Premium subscription, expires 3018. That'll do me! My whole UK OS maps are available and all my routes. I hardly used VR to plot routes, usually imported them from ridewithgps. I did have some discussion with founder Mike Brocklehurst at the end of last year, that might have helped, he did say he'd give me a premium sub. I asked about Open Cycle Map, as outdoor active don't use it - he said they (VR) asked OA for it but it had been vetoed. He did say there was a cycling layer on the open street map and outdoor active maps, which there is, but it's mot as good. The phone app is dead now - just having a fiddle with the OA app.
Edit, it works, my OS maps are there.
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Further edit - they're only there if I download tiles, even though the whole UK is actually in the phone's storage. Clearly the app isn't recognising any access codes to the local maps. Hmmm.
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The phone app is dead now -
Interesting! I've just checked one of my other devices that had VR on it and yes the app is dead. But the Moto E, that is the main device we use, the app is still working. I wonder if this is because it cannot run OA due to incompatability (as mentioned in my other topic) and so in effect OA cannot turn off VR, rather than VR being turned off.
MyViewranger is still up but there's nothing useful on it anymore.
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It's sad that ViewRanger is no more - this app was the reason I got hold of my first smartphone - a Nokia 6600 running Symbian/Series 60 coupled to a bluetooth GPS module. This was the only app that had followed me through to a Nokia 5800, various Android phones and tablets, and eventually iOS devices.
I hope Outdoor Active remains as useful - I notice that my free subscription expires later this month - I wonder whether I will still have access to the promised OS layers after then...
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For the last month or two VR has displayed the goodbye message when opened on my iPhone and invited me to use the Other App but still given the option to use VR. If the phone was not connected to the web, no Wi-Fi or mobile data, it went to VR without this message. It looks like now we have passed the end of February this first call home has been changed to modify the app on your phone or some associated data, killing off access to maps you have bought and hold on your phone. I'm not sure how this has been done.
My expectation was that VR would be killed with a deadly update so I turned off updates on my iphone last month and just updated other apps. However, I have not had an update offer for VR at the end of February on iphone. This does not mean they won't push one out some time.
I have now moved VR so it stands alone on a pane to remind me not to touch it unless I am off-line. In fact this is the very time it is so useful, away from the internet with an unplanned need to look at a map. OA does not fit the bill here as the maps have to be down loaded for planned routes. I also need to remember to quit VR completely before I go online.
Unhappily in my attempt to turn off updates on my wife's Android phone I ended up doing the deadly connection so we have lost VR there.
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Think I have lost all my tiles, the plus side is I appear to have a pro + version.
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The ever helpful VR founder Mike Brocklehurst has told me that my OS maps for the UK will not be recognised by OA, even though I have them stored on my phone, and so I need to download them through OA. Effectively, my licence to use them remains intact with the changeover (with a Premium sub) but the old files themselves are history.
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I am still using VR on a phone that does not have OA installed. I was even able to find a previous route that I had created and follow that route. On that ride Strava yet agian failed to record properly but I was able to export the GPX track from VR (via email) and create a manual entry on Strava that way. Apart from creating routes and saving tracks online VR still is working for me.
Just to be safe I have downloaded the entire 50k mapping on to the phone.
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Replying to myself, Viewranger has now stopped working on the device I mentioned above. So we are stuck with OA until we decide what to do. OA sorta works but is very flaky and will close the route you are following if phone goes to sleep or even changes from portrait to landscape. The tracking is very dithery compared to say Strava on the same device. Strava would record 1000ft of climbimg, OA 6000ft. We are also told repeatedly that we are off track by considerable distances.
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I'm in Pembrokeshire for a few days, so downloaded the tile before I left. Went for a ride this morning, got a little lost, pulled out my phone to look at the map in OA and ... it wasn't there. Blank page. Went to my downloads page, clicked on the map, said I needed an internet connection. So off-line maps in a Pro+ account don't work unless you are online.
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Yes they do work, for me they do anyway.
OA takes about a minute to start up on my phone though, I get all the icons and buttons but the map stays black for about a minute.
When you say you downloaded the tile, what do you mean, because OA doesn't use tiles like Viewranger, you download an area that you select on screen.
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I downloaded a 40 x 40km area, I called it a tile for ease of reference. Having read a bit more, it seems you have to be logged in to retain downloads, once logged out, they are deleted. Log in, start again, if you happen to be out on the road in the pouring rain and no data signal - what then? It's too tedious. How do I remain logged in? I can't see a way.
I'm looking at alternatives. Maps.me is beautifully simple and uses OSM, download once, no account or log in nonsense needed. I've tried it today, it works. I plotted a route in ridewithgps, exported it as a kml file and dropped that file into the maps.me folder - shows as an overlay on the map, just as I did with VR. I'd prefer Open Cycle Map, but I can't find an app that uses these offline as yet.
I'm also trialling the OS app, also works offline no problem. The 2 week trial version doesn't seem to give 1:25k, and zooming into 1:50k is hit and miss on detail (I understand OS is raster, not vector, so doesn't scale terribly well). They also do a free version, with a simpler vector map, but the colouring is poor in my view, but it works and as a free standby it's useful to keep.
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Yes you have to remain logged in on OA to retain downloads. Stupid system but I have been logged in since January and it hasn't randomly logged me out yet.
You don't have to do anything to remain logged in, once you're in you are in until you log out, c!osing the app doesn't log you out.
If you are looking for downloadable Open Cycle Map, then All In One Offline Maps or it's sister app Alpine Quest allow this.
Alpine Quest also has downloadable Open Topo Map and many other maps.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.psyberia.offlinemaps
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=psyberia.alpinequest.free
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=psyberia.alpinequest.full
There's a paid and a free version of Alpine Quest, the paid version has more mapping and also allows track recording etc. Paid version is a one off fee of £8.99.
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Thank you, but I'm on iOS and Mac desktop, and these are android only. I'm happy to pay a reasonable one off fee, as I understand OSM Cycle is privately developed and third parties need to pay a licence fee, which I guess they want to recoup. I didn't consciously log out of OA and I figured it just silently logged out after a period. I'll try it again and see what happens, but with another app as a back-up!
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Going a little off topic here, but I've discovered that maps.me actively data mines and so I've deleted it. Some of the original developers have a near identical app, Organic Maps, which clearly states that it doesn't do or allow any tracking of any sort, so I'm trialling that instead. Currently waiting for the near 1GB Pembrokeshire topo file to download to OA!
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Yeah OA downloads take up a lot more storage space than Viewranger did but you get the extra 1:25000 scale mapping as well, which I never bought from Viewranger.
I downloaded the whole of Scotland on OA and it took ages because you have to do it bit by bit, and it takes up about 10gb of space.
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I so miss having the whole country OS loaded on the phone. I love maps, and with them being so convenient, I would often check out the map for places on TV programmes, or described in ride reports etc.
I would happily pay a reasonable annual fee to have them local, but sadly it seems no option.
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Reviving this thread as this might be useful to any other Viewranger fans out there. I discoverd Anquet OMN (Outdoor Map Navigator) a couple of months ago and have been using that - weirdly I think it popped up as an app on Playstore, so I checked it out and downloaded
Pluses:
- ability to pay for and download maps onto the phone, including ability to store on an SD card if necessary (it is an annual subscription but happy to pay that to keep getting updates quarterly)
- OS maps at 1:50000 and 1:25000
- can download a route to follow
- can record a track - yesterday I managed a 200km over 13 hours and the phone battery was quite happy, so seems to record fine when in background)
Minuses:
- not good for plotting a route on the PC app (unless that is just me being incompetent) as it doesn't do follow roads etc
- does not seamlessly move between map scales by zooming (liek Viewranger, Outdoor Active, OS maps do well), you have to select from your available maps for the location
Given one of my main requirements was offline OS 1:50000 mapping I am very pleased, the ability to record the track is a bonus too. To get around the route plotting I also have an OSMaps subscription (which I am happy to pay for as OS maps are such a good resource) which has a good plotting mode with follow the road for "on road cycling" (and also I think for walking within some areas like National parks).
Initially I did have a few issues synching routes and tracks between my phone and the cloud, but I am glad I perserved. It won't suit everyone but if offline mapping is a major concern for you, it could be worth checking out.
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That's a good find, but it doesn't seem to offer anything more than the OS app does, although they don't offer SD storage (as far as I can see). I've pretty much abandoned Outdoor Active and written off my one-off payment for all of the UK OS maps that I had on Viewranger. OA deletes downloads too often, and I've been caught wanting to look at a map only to find it's gone. I'm pleased with the OS app/browser, it's intuitive and doesn't lack much. OS have put a lot into developing it from rather a shaky start. Downloads are limited to tile sizes, which is slightly annoying to download a lot if a large area is required. I use Ride With GPS for route plotting.
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I have found it much better than OSMaps for having the maps on the phone - I just downloaded 1:50000 for the whole country. With OSMaps (unless I am missing something) you have to create a "route" to define an area you want to download. And then I found I ran out of space and had to delete some (but have quite old phone). I do agree though the OSMaps user interface is now quite nice, but I find the phone app a bit buggy and very slow to open - so not to be relied on for "where am I and which turning do I take" which Viewranger was excellent for.
I had the premium OA subscription based on my original map purchase but I didn't renew and OA is de-installed now.
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With the OS, you can download a route map or a specific map area (or both), but the area is limited in size, can't recall exactly, Wales is very roughly 35 tiles, but there is no limit on the number of tiles. It would take me several hours to do the whole of the UK I think! That said, they are 50k and 25k, you zoom through, but there doesn't seem to be an option to download the vector map at all. Plotting a route is quite good now, with snapping to roads (and cycle tracks) sorted. However, I exported a .gpx and opened it in RideWithGPS and there is no cuesheet and so no turn-by-turn. I'll stick to generating routes in RWGPS, it generates really good turn-by-turn and syncs seamlessly with my Wahoo. The Anquet OMN does look good though.
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I’d say that is because OMN comes from a hill walking background. I have the classic version from 2002 which is pre subscription, whole of UK at 1:50,000 for £50, plus larger scale or Harvey’s or French IGM for selected areas. Sadly the “legacy” phone app isn’t supported anymore, and I can’t use my perfectly good maps on the subscription app. They just live on, on my PC. I now have the OSMap subscription, precisely because of the snap to paths or roads and like it. OMN did use to have the ability to create tracks and then you could combine them to produce the routes with waypoints. But that got changed in about 2011 for something I felt was inferior as I could no longer reuse tracks to quickly recreate new routes.
Turn by turn wasn’t something really used for hill walking, though I did use RidewithGPS on an organised self guided walking holiday in Cyprus and it worked pretty well with the phone packed in rucksack and giving voice prompts. Just get the phone out and look at map when negotiating village alley ways as some TBT will be missing or not clear!.
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I see you pay more than double the OS Premium Plus cost (£36 > £80) for just the addition of the OS 1:10,000 Vector Map Local. How much different is that to the OS 1:10,000 Open Map Local included with the premium Plus? Also, how different is the quality of the SD maps to the HD maps? Does anyone know which the OS use? I did ask the OS when they would be making the 1:10,000 Vector available for iOS download and was told they were working on it.