OS Maps: Walk, Hike, Run, Bike 应用的评论

I’ve used the os app for years and os maps for even longer. The maps are outstanding, but the app is too unreliable to count on. Unlike other mapping apps where you can work in an offline mode, when there is a problem with the os servers, you are logged out and unable to access your downloaded maps. This can be a critical problem, so I consider the os app to be more of a planning tool than something to rely on when I’m outdoors. There are several other buggy aspects, but most can be worked around. And as a planning tool, the os app is very helpful. It’s worth having just for the convenience of having the excellent os maps at your fingertips.

I use this app all the time for my walking in Washington State. All the trails are there. App works amazing. Gaia GPS went downhill after Outside bought it. OS explorer is great!

Although you can download actual OS maps, which is good: these maps take a very long time to download, in the US 24 hours; you have to scroll to map area to download, so when downloading adjacent areas there is likely to be overlap, so you download overlap areas twice;

I use this app whenever visiting family in the UK, for hikes and runs as it points out locations of historical interest as well as footpaths in the countryside. I’m back for the first time in 4 years (thanks covid) and just in time to try the new snap to path feature which is great! Wow! The one thing missing is that I can’t save locations the map and to a list. I’d love to be able to save “mum’s house”, as well as other destinations I’d like to visit without having to plot a route. Love OS, they’re great maps!

Downloaded a couple of maps from purchase of paper versions. Zooming causes the map to be truncated. Can’t be relied upon. Test before you leave.

This app does so much in a easy to learn format. I highly recommend it!

I downloaded a paper map, then zoomed in on it, but it failed to show up. I close & reopen map; still not showing. Then I kill the app, reopen, and finally the map shows on zoom in. Really this app is poorly map. I think I will move to AllTrails instead. OSM is so much better now. Previous complaint: drove to remote location with no mobile phone to do a hill walk. Opened the app and nothing worked: it had logged me out and refused to show my downloaded map. There I was, in the wilderness, and no electronic map! Thankfully, I brought paper map. This app is useless to me if it requires mobile data to operate on hill walks!

I’m a big user of Ordnance Survey hiking guides, particularly the Pathfinder series, but don’t see a way to integrate these routes into the App. Am I missing something?

For armchair travelers and walkers too.

As of 2022-02-08, my copy can’t allow setting up account—with which to add more detailed maps—because “failed to retrieve country settings.” Blah. As of 2022-02-13, now won’t even log me in because “failed to retrieve email server,” or soemthing. My email server is working fine. I am suspecting that this thing only works for people in the UK.

When I originally installed the apps and upgraded to Premium, everything worked fine. I logged out, but could never log back in with my premium subscription, both on the website and on the smart devices. I was finally able to log back on to their website but only by changing my password, which is ridiculous. And when I used the new password on my iPhone and iPad, in both cases I received the message that an unexpected error had occurred. Technical support did their best to help but the issue remains unresolved. There’s another feature of the app that is very annoying (this was before all my technical issues). The screen has a window with the option to start navigation. I only wanted to look at the route, not navigate. Unfortunately this window takes up a significant part of the screen, blocking a large part of the map. For some unknown reason, you can not close this window, and tech help said that the app developers aren’t currently going to change it. All in all, it’s a great app when it worked for me, and most people don’t appear to have had the problems I’ve experienced. I hope that tech people read this and do some more development work.

All you get on trying to log in to the iPhone/iPad app is “Unknown error occurred. Please try again.” Really helpful. I paid for the Premium version so that I could import routes. Just getting the login working on their site was a chore; their domain and session handling seems a mess. And now I find the iPhone app is effectively useless. Can I have my money back please?

Update. The app works great with no internet connection. Disable mobile data for the app and it works great. Having purchased paper maps, I’ve used this app to download the off-line version. The app continually requires me to re-login, and I frequently have to re-download, or at least verify the download, before I can use the maps. Horribly flaky behaviour.

The app developers are pretty casual with their users’ safety. Offline maps are an important safety tool on a hike and if you can’t rely on them being available (or if they’re not available at all zoom levels), it can be a risk to use them on a hike. Given that this is basically a government funded endeavour, it’s terrible how careless they are.

If you’re going hiking in the UK and not taking this app on your smartphone then you are a fool. Definitely worth the cost of the premium version to get access to the detailed maps and offline maps. OS maps always had amazing accuracy and detail - now you can use gps on your phone to see exactly where you are among all that detail. Great for planning free form hikes to get you off the beaten path. Only thing the app can’t tell you is the condition of the trail or footpath you are going to hike on - huge clumps of stinging nettles are a real thing - but you can use the app to replay your hike on the fly to avoid whatever you encounter that you don’t want to deal with. All this for less than the cost of a single paper map - it’s a bargain!

We use OS Maps app all across the UK @TrekEpic, love it!!! Can't wait for our next walk!

Like this app for the rights of way and download map feature (which worked fine for our trip), but subscribe through the website and not in the app. A one month subscription through the app ran out on the last day of the month (after only 2 weeks) and not after 30 days. The in app subscription also didn’t reflect in our account on the website. Subscribing instead through the website also works for the app and it lasts for the appropriate amount of time from activation (you might also be able to find a discount code for it).

Created a custom map of most of Pembrokeshire (250K) for an upcoming hike. Once it finished downloading, I zoomed in and out, scrolled, etc. It only took a few seconds for OS Maps to quit. I tried again with similar results. A separate custom online map of SE Wales had the same trouble. I had fewer problems with paper map downloads (OS maps that have a digital activation code). This makes me think that OS Maps was not thoroughly tested with large offline maps (>250K). I will make sure that I carry paper maps for now.

I got this app just before starting out on a week-long walking holiday and was a little unsure about it as I love paper maps . It was incredibly useful. As we walked in the rain and on top of windy cliffs it was much easier to use the app than do battle with a paper map. It can be used offline so internet connection isn't vital. The image quality is excellent. It doesn't get blurry when you zoom in or out. I like the feature that shows you exactly where you are and that you can record your routes and distances. The only slight issue I have with it is if you have it set to record your route and then try to move the map to see where you are heading (or zoom out) the map automatically centres back on your current location. But all in all a great addition to the OS range.

In July of 2016 I used this app for walks in the Yorkshire Dales. I had planned the trip carefully, researching walk routes on the Internet, and downloaded about a dozen offline maps, a key feature of the app, designed so you can view a map in a wilderness area without data connectivity. The maps saved ok, but I discovered when I tried to use them, that if I loaded a saved route on top of an offline map, it would crash immediately.. On my first walk I had to abandon the app altogether and use a paper map. Later I discovered I could use the app if I loaded the map I needed for the upcoming walk using wifi in my hotel. As long as I didn't save it, it would persist in cache and I could load saved routes on top of it. So I finished the trip using the App that way. That's why a 2* rating. When I contacted customer support after my trip to report the problem, they admitted this was a known bug if you save more than "3 or 4" offline maps.