Mapping/GPS iPhone app for running?

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 Stig 30 Apr 2015
Planning a run tonight and it reminded me that I'm dissatisfied with all the options I currently have.

I have the UK Map app that someone on here recommended - it's ok for route planning - but obviously it has no GPS capability and even more frustratingly its footpath coverage is way off the mark.

I use the otherwise excellent googlemaps for road navigation but it's near useless off road.

So what I really want is a combination of googlemaps functionality with OS mapping. 1:50 would be ok - 1:25 would be a bonus.

Not interested in route planning or tracking - which seems to be what the expensive apps are offering - and I use the Garmin/Strava for recording.

I simply want to look at the phone rapidly while running, pinpoint my position and workout how to get across untracked moorland and link to footpaths etc.

Thanks for any advice...
 Bob 30 Apr 2015
In reply to Stig:

I've no recommendations - sorry - but what I've found with small screen mapping is that to be any use you have to be zoomed in enough that you don't get the wider picture and have to scroll around to find things which isn't exactly a "quick look" type of thing for running.

What I'd do is rather than plan a route to the nth detail, enter a series of waypoints for important junctions and let the device point the direction you need to go to get to each.
 andy 30 Apr 2015
In reply to Stig:

https://en.komoot.de - dcrainmaker seems to quite like it...
 steelbru 30 Apr 2015
In reply to Stig:

Would rather print off the area I'm running in, from Bing OS maps if you don't have OS mapping software, so I could see the "bigger picture" of what paths go where - as said above when zoomed in on a phone to see a path you're only seeing a tiny area.

I use waterproof paper as as well, which only costs about 40p for an A4 sheet.

Sometimes old solutions are still the best
 yorkshireman 30 Apr 2015
In reply to steelbru:
> Would rather print off the area I'm running in, from Bing OS maps if you don't have OS mapping software, so I could see the "bigger picture" of what paths go where - as said above when zoomed in on a phone to see a path you're only seeing a tiny area.

I'm in France and use http://tracedetrail.fr/ - it's excellent and allows you to draw the route over a detailed IGN map, you can add waypoints and instructions then it generates a 'roadbook' with the profile, and any POIs (eg. where you need to watch out for a path, cols etc). I print the whole thing off and take with me.

I wish there was something similar for OS maps - I'll be in the UK next week and on the Sunday am running the Marlborough Downs Challenge. Its a 33 miler and they just give directions and a few waymarkers but put the emphasis on self-navigation. I basically went to Streetmap.co.uk, screengrabbed the 1:50000 maps for the whole area and stitched them together in Photoshop. I'm going to plot the route on the paper print out and use that. Seems a bit 1990s though.

*Edit: Would you believe it - I've just looked on Trace de Trail and they cover the UK now - I'm sure they didn't do that even a week ago - so I can trace the route over the OS map. Should be a lot easier that way.

Eg: http://tracedetrail.fr/fr/trace/trace/2960

It annoyingly defaults to satellite view all the time and you have to choose the specific map overlay you want o use.
Post edited at 12:56
notaclue 30 Apr 2015
In reply to Stig:

I use an app called OS grid Refs (this is on a Nokia)

tells me the grid reference and shows me where I am on an OS map - really usefull app
OP Stig 30 Apr 2015
In reply to notaclue:

Some interesting suggestions so far.

I know a lot of people print off maps but I find that a faff. I don't have a laminator and don't particularly want to have loads of print-outs. I don't run with a bag so even a fairly small print out wouldn't fit in my tights' or shorts' pocket like my phone does. I can pretty much find myself running almost anywhere in the Peak, depending on whim, the one constant tends to be I have my phone with me (I like to take photos, and need to be contactable by family etc.)

I don't find a small screen to be a problem. If I'm on my bike I just sit up and get the phone out, then use finger swipes to zoom in and out, check location and upcoming junctions etc. That's pretty much all I want to do when running.

Also I don't tend to plan routes beforehand but rather follow my nose, I know the Peak pretty well so always have a rough idea of what I want to do, but at the same time I often want a quick location check. For example if on open land it might be just a case of checking location on the edge of a plateau to decide when to cross, but I also run in farmland and then it's more a case of checking where footpaths are so I don't end up stumbling through fences and pissing farmers off etc.

Ideally like I say, googlemaps would have decent off road mapping, or UK maps would have GPS functionality. Looks like there is no current solution! It did seem like OS were testing something like this recently (??) but I didnt get chosen for the pilot.


 Andy DB 30 Apr 2015
In reply to Stig:

I think unfortunately if you want offline OS background mapping you have to pay for it.
I personally like Viewranger that will do tracking etc but is very usable just to check your location.
OP Stig 30 Apr 2015
In reply to Andy DB:

I don't mind paying at all! I'm quite prepared to pay I just don't want to pay for something that doesn't do what I require. I paid for UK maps (£7ish) - while it's useful it doesn't do what I want: 2 big drawbacks as noted above.

What do you mean offline? I assume that I will be online most of the time as 3G is reasonably reliable. If there is no service then obviously the background map won't download but I can live with that. This is just a back up/prop to my own navigation/memory (sadly getting worse by the year!!)

So it sounds like Viewranger is what I need? Will check it out
5tormin' 30 Apr 2015
In reply to Stig:
BackCountry Navigator TOPO GPS v5.7.4 - android-zone.ws.apk
Try this,works for me,.download explorer maps in app.
 antolik 02 May 2015
In reply to Stig:

ViewRanger is the one to go for.
Use either the freebie public domain mapping (OpenCycleMap) which has tracks, roads, and excellent/accurate detailed topo on it or else buy the 1:25k map tiles (pennies) as you need them.
I've used both types, both in UK and in Spain....both map-types are excellent but the 25k is my preferred option. ViewRanger on my iPhone provides just about everything the £400+ GPS systems do; tracking, planning, speeds, distance, time, pace, recording tracks, POIs, and loads more......explore the app and you will not be disappointed. Routes can be saved and/or uploaded (and you can download others' routes for free too). The app and the maps you buy are available on other platforms too (e.g. iPhone for use on the hill and iPad for planning and reviewing).
I used it recently for planning and executing a solo night crossing of Dartmoor and a friend of mine is currently using it as her main mapping system for Lands End - John O'Groats and she's definitely no navigator!
Only downside can be that GPS on iPhone (which I use) eats the battery, but (with practice and experimentation) I managed 10hrs and only used about 35% but had all the power hungry apps/capabilities switched off (no 3G, no WiFi, no Bluetooth, no data, screen brightness turned down) and made sure I touched the power switch to kill the screen as soon as I'd finished referring to it (the screen eats power). It looks like that the GPS seems to go into a low-consumption mode when you dab the power button, I may be wrong about that, but having 65% power remaining after 10hrs is good enough for me and better than I ever get using the phone with all capabilities switched on.
Take time to get to know it and you'll be delighted with what it can do.
Hope this helps.

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