UKH

If I delete a downloaded map off my phone is it possible to reinstall using the original paper map code? I have some on the phone that I probably won't use for some time (if at all).

yes it is. When you log into OS app on a new device it will know what offline maps you have downloaded but you have to hit the re-download option again. On my phone I'm having lots and lots of problems downloading maps though currently. Hope it's my phone being 3 years old and well used, but I've found the OS app quite shonky for some time.

Thanks for that. Yes, the OS app is 'shonky' on my phone as well (almost 4 years old). Sometimes it just freezes altogether or snaps off. I used the route plotting function last weekend and it stopped recording after a break but then switched back on to produce a dead straight leg! I wouldn't rely on it alone without the paper map unless it was in a relatively non serious area like the local field paths.

The codes are registered against your OS account, so as long as you use the same account you'll be able to download them again - even on a different device.

I have a relatively recent Android phone and the OS app takes a looooong time to start-up if I have more than a couple of downloaded apps. I can't be sure but I suspect it is validating my downloaded maps one at a time against some database on the OS's servers.

In fact the quality of the app is pretty poor all-round. For instance, I can create routes but there doesn't seem to be a way to edit them. Its almost like they set out the create "social media for maps" and gave the job of building it to people who never venture into hills.

Oh gawd yes! Turning it on and just seeing blank - waiting and waiting for first the blue "you are here arrow" to appear, then later for the map to actually show up behind it.

When it works it is brilliant - I so much prefer navigating with OS maps, I guess because I have always done so, but yes - at least for me the app is quite poor. Normally I will plot a route on my laptop and then on my phone try to download the background mapping to the GPX so that I'm not reliant on having a signal. But these days the map downloads just fail.