Viewranger - Outdoor Active

[Steve509926]

OK, I know I'm well off the mark talking about hiking apps on a Rib/SIB forum but I am sure I'm not the only one who enjoys hiking/walking as well as being on the water, so I'm asking for opinions.

If you are into hiking /walking you may be aware that Viewranger is no more, it's been turned off and users are being coerced to using Outdoor Active.

I've tried to use Outdoor Active for the past month and IMO it is garbage as compared to Viewranger. Slow, clunky, complicated, difficult to use but most importantly woefully inaccurate. Full of glitches and constantly loses GPS.

All I want is a simple hiking/walking app where I can use OS or Harvey maps, download hikes/gpx files, accurately follow a route, know how far I've walked for how long and height gained/lost.

So my question is - What hiking /walking app do you use and why?

[TmMorris]

I'll be honest, I just use the OS map app. Take a series of screenshots of the area so I have hard copies as there's often no signal and use those.

I've always held, the possibly erroneous view, that it's nigh on impossible to get lost in the U.K. as it is so small and you can always tie in a geographical or physical feature wherever you are to a point on your map. Especially if you're a few miles from the sea.

I must admit that I have a natural tendency to not use gadgets unless they are very obviously better than the alternatives. For walking in the U.K. I tend to hold the archaic 20th century view that a real map and as back up, a compass still tend to work better.

I'm pretty sure that you can download/install walks onto the OS app but I don't know if it tracks your data though.

[Steve509926]

Thanks Tim

It's not an "archaic 20th century view that a real map........." - I do use hard copy OS maps, a compass and always take them with me.It would be stupid and irresponsible not too.

What I'm looking for is the functionallity of being able to download routes that others have discovered and to track my progress that is simple and easy to use.

2 points you mention -

"loss of signal" - an often said and incorrect criticism of hiking apps. Once a route is downloaded you do not need a signal just GPS, think Chartplotter.

"nigh on impossible to get lost in the U.K." - I am assuming you don't do much high level hiking in the hills & mountains. When the fog & mist descends you can't see a few metres in front of you, let alone land marks.
Even with a map and compass, there are certain places in the UK where a compass does not work due to the local magnetic rock. There are 3 I know of in the Lakes and 2 in North Wales, so there will be more.

[willk]

I was a big Viewranger fan and I'm not best pleased to discover it gone. The discovery was on a walk where I wanted a quick alternative to the route I was on

To add insult to injury, the OS tiles that I had previously paid for and held in my account are no longer accessible. For the RoI the Outdooractive app is about as useful as Google maps for hiking. Like Steve, I'll need an alternative.

The other viewpoint about it being impossible to get lost in the UK is widely held. To a degree it's true and I've heard big country hikers saying they've walked for days without being able to pinpoint their precise location on a big scale map. That's fine if you have days and are planning to be out at night etc. Not so good if you have to hit a precise target to make a timely egress from high ground by nightfall. I've often hiked in thick fog at altitude with various combinations of map & compass/GPS/App and I've got to say - the App is hard to beat for giving you a boost in confidence if the terrain doesn't quite match your expectations.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

there are certain places in the UK where a compass does not work due to the local magnetic rock. There are 3 I know of in the Lakes and 2 in North Wales, so there will be more.

I believe the Black Cuillins are notorious in this regard.

[TmMorris]

Hi Steve. Yup. I used to do a lot of walking up in the highlands and around Brecon, as you say, when the weather closes in on you then having GPS does make a big difference.

My traditional solution, if completely stuck, was to head back down until my feet were getting wet, make a decision re which direction of the valley to follow.

But I've done a bit of trekking in the US and once in Brazil and that's when I realised the difference between a small, well populated and developed island versus somewhere like the Appalachians where I really felt you couldn't get bearings and if you got lost then you were brown bread. I always feel that in the U.K. all you need to do is pick a direction and walk and you'll find someone and the odds also favoured them not being a cannibal or religious maniac.

[Pikey Dave]

We use the OS app & have an annual subscription, £24 iirc. You can create routes/ download ready made routes/ download maps for use offline/export-import GPX files & print off hard copies. You get access to all the maps from 1:250000-1:25000. It does everything we want.

Ps, I think they do a free 7 day trial too. Also it’s cheaper if you create & pay for your subscription via the website rather than through the APP store.

[Brinormeg]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

We use the OS app & have an annual subscription, £24 iirc. You can create routes/ download ready made routes/ download maps for use offline/export-import GPX files & print off hard copies. You get access to all the maps from 1:250000-1:25000. It does everything we want.

Ps, I think they do a free 7 day trial too. Also it’s cheaper if you create & pay for your subscription via the website rather than through the APP store.

Would agree. Got the trial recently and then subscribed. Bought a couple of the paper maps also with the digital option which opens up more features believe.

Far from being a skilled hill walker or mountaineer (to much blubber and knee issues nowadays) but so far believe it to be relatively accurate and detailed.

Oh and the 3d fly through thing on the pc is a bit of a gimmick but actualy quite cool when use it around loch etive and loch awe.

[Poly]

I too am an old school paper person who found some of the viewranger stuff quite useful. I've not yet tried outdooractive as I heard others grumbling about it.

I'm a big fan of harvey's maps. The are supported by Avenza Maps. App is free but the maps are expensive (IMHO) although there's nice options for the long distance paths of buying one map that covers it all rather than multiple individuals. I've not tried uploading gpx files to it (seems to be possible by import layer). It does offer OS content - but unless I've missed it with no contours!

All I want is a simple hiking/walking app where I can use OS or Harvey maps, download hikes/gpx files, accurately follow a route, know how far I've walked for how long and height gained/lost.

other than your need to show maps does Strava do what you need. My default for tracking where I've been etc is actually a simple Garmin watch rather than running down the phone battery with GPS on all the time, but that is for retrospective rather than real time analysis.

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I think they do a free 7 day trial too. Also it’s cheaper if you create & pay for your subscription via the website rather than through the APP store.

That's good to know, I'd hate to think if I'd payed for OutdoorActive (free trail for Viewranger subscribers) as it's so bad it is a total waste of money.

Think I will try OS for the 7 day period and see how that works out and look and see if there is another app with a free trial that I can run alongside it.

..........."other than your need to show maps does Strava do what you need. My default for tracking where I've been etc is actually a simple Garmin watch rather than running down the phone battery with GPS on all the time, but that is for retrospective rather than real time analysis"

A friend who I walk with uses Strava, which is good for the end of hike/walk stats but it is retrospective and I'm looking for that Viewranger ease and functionality.

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by willk

I was a big Viewranger fan and I'm not best pleased to discover it gone. The discovery was on a walk where I wanted a quick alternative to the route I was on

To add insult to injury, the OS tiles that I had previously paid for and held in my account are no longer accessible.

I'd actually forgotten about that willk! I'd spent a lot on all the National Park OS tiles and now don't have access, bloody annoying.

[Steve509926]

For those who are interested, I followed a downloaded route on the OS app on my morning dog walk, just over 5 miles.
The app is very intuitive and easy to use. Importantly it appears to be very accurate, picks up GPS very quickly and didn't lose the signal once during the walk.
The data provided during and after the walk doesn't appear to be as good as Viewranger and the visual tracking on the map also isn't as good, but this is just a personal thing.
Is it as good as Viewranger - maybe, only time and usage will tell.
Is it better than OutdoorActive - for what I want from a hiking /walking app, without doubt! Easy to use and intuitive from the very start.

I have downloaded the Alltrails app to try tomorrow.

[Steve509926]

I used the Alltrails app this morning on exactly the same route as I did yesterday when I used the OS app under the same conditions and with a fully charged phone.
Initially the Alltrails app isn't as "Out of the box" intuitive or as easy to use as the OS app (it's still miles better than the OutdoorActive app) but after playing around with it for 30 mins or so most things I need fall into place.
Tracking appears to be accurate and all the data is clearly shown, so on that respect I don't think there is much difference between OS and Alltrails.
However, the one big difference is battery usage. It appears the the Alltrails app is power hungry as compared to the OS app, it used 5% more battery. On a 2 hrs walk I think that is a lot.
So for my needs as a former user of Viewranger, I think the OS app is the one I'll be using.
The one thing I still can't get my head around, is why have OutdoorActive bought Viewranger, is it purely for the customer base? Because they have completely missed the mark if that's what they thought, they need to ditch thier existing cumbersome, clucky system and adopt the Viewranger system entirely.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

The one thing I still can't get my head around, is why have OutdoorActive bought Viewranger, is it purely for the customer base? Because they have completely missed the mark if that's what they thought, they need to ditch thier existing cumbersome, clucky system and adopt the Viewranger system entirely.

They could stop with the email a day routine as well - the one you need to register an account to stop. IMO they're little better than spammers.

[Steve509926]

Hi Willk, I don't get them anymore as I've managed to delete my profile with them, but I agree it was bloody annoying!

Following link might help:-

https://www.outdooractive.com/en/kno...ile-/50323147/