I’ve just been playing around with an App that I installed on my phone a while back and found that you can now download full OS 1:250,000 maps for “free”.
There are lots of these Sat Nav apps around including both a Garmin and TomTom one. The app is generally free or for pennies and they make their money by selling you premium map downloads. Viewranger is an independent based in Cambridge. The app is available on iPhone, Android & Symbian but not as yet on windows phone. Viewranger charges 90.00 GBP for 1:50,000 OS maps. As an alternative you have for some time been able to use OSM and it just downloads the tiles needed for a particular route for offline use or you can use it online with full access to OSM & Bing Maps.
I looked at this before jumping on the Garmin bandwagon and found it to be a bit difficult to understand. No doubt if you spent time with it you could work it out. However last evening I’ve found that they have added a number of free downloads which are available within the App. These include OS 1:250,000 and OS Altitude North & South which adds the coloured height references to the maps and it’s all for free. Despite being only 1:250,000 you can zoom in and out and it’s just like having every UK Ordnance Survey map in the palm of your hand. It’s very clear and easy to move around and most importantly it all works offline.
Once the app is installed go to Options\Download\Downloads\UK Ordnance Survey\List Layers to see what is on offer. In addition to a GB overview map there is 1:250,000 plus GB North & South Altitude. There are also some video and audio tours which I’ve not looked at.
My phone is a Nokia and has free Nokia worldwide offline mapping which is OK but there is no support for GPX files. I do use the Nokia Maps when out and about to find where I am and basic navigation but in fairness the OS maps are superior in many ways. Using your phone as a Sat Nav has issues in particular seeing the screen in bright daylight, battery life and weatherproofing albeit these things are getting better all the time. However this app and the associated OS maps certainly deserve a look even if they are only used as a map in your pocket.
The Viewranger App is in the Apple, Google and Nokia App stores. There is also a comprehensive website here:
http://www.viewranger.com/en-gbAC
