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OSM apps for iOS

(8 posts)
  • Started 7 years ago by cb
  • Latest reply from rbrtwtmn
  • This topic is not resolved

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  1. cb
    Member

    So, having found myself in possession of an iPhone would anyone like to offer up any advice on good apps for using with OpenStreetMap?

    Specifically:

    - Navigation (car use, rather than bike) using offline maps
    - Track creation with handy OSM integration

    On Android I use OsmAnd+ for the former and OSM Tracker for the latter.

    I was quite excited to see OSMAnd for iOS but there is no navigation support.
    SatNav (Scout/Skobbler) looks like it might be pretty good as does Galileo.

    Go Map!! looks promising but I was hoping for something closer to OSM Tracker in terms of functionality.

    Any other pointers gratefully received!

    Posted 7 years ago #

  2. chrisfl
    Member

    For navigation - I'm a reasonable fan of maps.me as well as scout/scobbler.

    A few years ago, I couldn't find a decent track recording app, but a quick look at http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Apple_iOS#Track_recording shows quite a few options now. Open GPX Tracker looks like it might do the job. BUt I've not tried it.

    Let us k now how you get on.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  3. cb
    Member

    Thanks @chrisfl, maps.me looks pretty good. And free.
    Will try out the navigation feature.

    Open GPX Tracker also looking good although no ability that I can see to upload directly to OSM, suspect I can live with that though.

    OSMTrack does seem to support direct upload, but it's not been updated for ages (and costs 79p!)

    http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Upload_GPS_tracks#Applications_supporting_direct_upload_of_GPS_traces

    Posted 7 years ago #

  4. cb
    Member

    So I've now tried out a few apps...

    SatNav first of all:

    Maps.me - nice speedy app, and I quite like the map rendering. The navigation side is pretty decent visually, but the spoken* instructions really let it down. E.g. no instruction to take a slip road. So you end up having to glance at the screen to keep an eye on things.
    Also it was a bit haphazard at re-routing when going off route.

    SatNav (AKA Scout) - Navigation section on this is excellent with ample spoken instructions. It also reads out road names which is nice. Handles re-routing efficiently too.
    I think I'll be sticking to this app for the time being. I think you get one map for free (United Kingdom comes as a 320 MB download), but there are plenty of options for buying more. You can get the whole world for £8.49.

    Tracking:

    Open GPX Tracker pretty simple to use. Only downside for me is no direct OSM upload.

    Trails is a bit more feature rich, capturing a ton of additional data for each recorded trail (plus options to talk to external Bluetooth devices etc). However you can upload your trail directly to OSM so at the moment this is probably the app I'll go with.

    (*why does the iPhone have such useless volume controls? By default the volume buttons control the ringer volume and only let you change the media volume when an app is actually playing/speaking. So if you like to keep the media volume off then you can't hear the start of the Satnav navigation as you can't turn up the volume in advance.
    So now I've opted to have the volume controls only operate the media volume. The ringer volume has to be changed by going into settings (or switched off with the little switch on the side)
    Here ends one of many available iPhone grumbles).

    Posted 7 years ago #

  5. rbrtwtmn
    Member

    I have some work-related involvement in trying (mostly failing) to keep up with whats available for app based navigation. Your list will be helpful for me in that context.

    The greatest wisdom I have to offer is that you're looking at (as you seem to appreciate to be fair) a constantly changing ecosystem of apps and services. It's worth checking back annually to see if something new and better has emerged.

    I'd be pointing you in two directions - which I'll offer up anyway despite the fact that it looks like you're ahead of me.

    1) Maps.me because of its simplicity... but with the advice that you shouldn't miss some of the more hidden features, in particular the ability that it has to display kml files (which may show a previously planned route for example). You also shouldn't miss the search facility - because it searches the OSM data is has stored you can search for all sorts of useful things that you may not find on traditional sat-nav systems.

    2) Something based on the use of openandromaps mapping (http://www.openandromaps.org/). Because these are designed to be styled on the phone you can set up a map to emphasise what you want. Last time I looked I could see one app designed to use openandromaps mapping from an iOS device (I think it was this one: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vectorial-map-viewer/id824914833 ). The Android app Oruxmaps - which I use extensively for more technical purposes - uses Openandromaps and (with some tweaks) can be made to do navigation. I'm anticipating that at some point the use of Openandromaps from iOS systems will expand considerably.... but I think that forecasting in this environment is a bit foolish so I'll only say that quietly.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  6. cb
    Member

    A quick update:

    SatNav (what a terrible name!) has proven to be very good. Did a good job on a holiday to Italy. I paid for access to all maps worldwide (I think the price had gone up from the £8.49 quoted above).

    Trails: It turned out that this app only gave you five free shots at recording a trail. After that you have to go to a monthly subscription model. No thanks. Back to GPX Tracker.

    So as far as I know there isn't an app that lets you upload directly to OSM.

    I still tend to go to OsmAnd for general browsing about and 'manual' navigation.

    And moving away from OSM I have paid for a year's Ordnance Survey subscription. Costs a fortune owning one of these iPhones...

    Posted 7 years ago #

  7. pat100
    Member

    Rather a late reply. You are probably happily resting now with all the laborious testing done!
    You already know openandromaps. I am really impressed with them: Contours and footpaths! And free! And easy to download! And take little storage space! And even I can tweak the Styles a little! (I preferred Tiramisu-2 Style)

    On my iPhone and iPad I am using the "Vectorial Map Lite" app (as opposed to the "Vectorial Viewer")
    It is free to use for unlimited viewing of openandromaps so you can evaluate it but you do have to pay £3.99 to unlock the tracking/tracing ability.
    You can draw and save your own simple point to point tracks/routes. (TIP: use portrait orientation for this) And import/export .GPX tracks/routes.

    (NOTE: if you select the "Export as GPX/KML" option the track/route is stored in the apps Documents folder which is only usually accessable via iTunes on a computer so "Export as GPX/KML in another app" is often the best choice (export to the iOS built-in "Notes" app works well for me.)

    I use Bookmarks a lot. They stay fixed to the map.

    I like the fact that the app never nags me and has zero "shopping opportunities" once I bought the tracking ability. It's short on bells and whistles but that suits me.

    NOTE: on iOS I have to download the required map in a browser from openandromaps.org website (ignore "Rendertheme") and then unzip it (izip app?) then transfer/send it to Vectorial Map Lite. Loading maps from within the Vectorial app itself gets the vanilla mapquest version without contours (AFAIK.)
    You CAN download Styles quickly from within the app (no unzipping needed)

    The "OsmAnd" app did not work smoothly on my iPhone 5s and I didn't like its map download system. "Galileo Offline" maps app did not have contours.

    For SatNav I use the free "Here We Go" app with its free offline maps. It is fast and has speed warnings. I rarely look at the screen as the voice is usually quick enough. And it has "Surfer Dude" voice option. Apart from being silly, I like the fact that he repeats himself! Again, it is very simple and has few bells and whistles and no nagging. However it IS a battery devourer!

    Posted 7 years ago #

  8. rbrtwtmn
    Member

    I'd been wondering what was available nowadays that would cope with OpenAndroMaps on an iOS device. I'm asked occasionally. Good to know that Vectoral Map Lite is decent.

    Posted 7 years ago #

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