Gaia GPS no longer supports Google Maps Layer. Major disappointment!

[chmura]

I been using Gaia GPS for 8+ or so years and my favorite map layer was 'Imagery + Roads' which was basically Google Satellite layer for Gaia. This allowed me to find potential camping sites while camping with no signal since it provided very detailed images when zoomed in so you can see the terrain, landscape, open spots, etc. I found so many cool camping spots this way using Gaia.

Lately 'Imagery + Roads' stopped working for me and I emailed Gaia Support and they said, 'Unfortunately, Google no longer allows their map sources to be used by third party applications and downloaded for offline use. This is why we had to discontinue offering Google map sources.'

This is a major bummer for me and does not allow me to use detailed satellite offline map for its intended purposes. Basically providing Gaia to be 'useless' for me and only using it purely for navigation and not as a 'research tool' for finding campsites on the fly when your favorite campsite is taken...

I tried to use the Layer, 'Satellite with Labels' but it is not as detailed as the previous one when zoomed in.. Once you zoom in its blurry and not as detailed as before.

Is there any alternative to Gaia or a workaround?? Any help or advice appreciated!

 

[roving1]

There are a bunch of satellite layers. Some share the sat data but some are different. I would check them all out. Sometimes I have found the images different even when it is supposed to be the same data set. I would check everything against whatever specific area you are looking at, at the time you are planning it.

Google won't let you download sat info even within google maps so there isn't much to be done about that.

 

[Superduty]

Try these resources. This is how I previously brought G earth into Gaia. I am not sure if these methods still work. The problem I always ran into was the G earth data was soooo huge that geographically large areas were not manageable to download.

Here

Here

Here

 

[chmura]

Thanks some of those I do not have access to as I am not a premium member. I am a grand fathered member, so I do not pay a annual fee. Not sure I want to start paying and be even more disappointed.

 

[Howard70]

Thanks some of those I do not have access to as I am not a premium member. I am a grand fathered member, so I do not pay a annual fee. Not sure I want to start paying and be even more disappointed.

You might check to confirm, but I’ve seen GAIA issue refunds for folks who signed up for premium and then decided it wasn’t for them.

Howard

 

[chmura]

You might check to confirm, but I’ve seen GAIA issue refunds for folks who signed up for premium and then decided it wasn’t for them.

Howard

Thank you. That’s good to know!

 

[chmura]

There are a bunch of satellite layers. Some share the sat data but some are different. I would check them all out. Sometimes I have found the images different even when it is supposed to be the same data set. I would check everything against whatever specific area you are looking at, at the time you are planning it.

Google won't let you download sat info even within google maps so there isn't much to be done about that.
View attachment 664423

Do you mind or anyone else who uses Gaia, please go to coordinates 36.052494, -118.368846 and check how clear it is with various paid satellite views at 200 ft scale?

I attached what I have with Gaia Satellite view vs google maps. As you can see Gaia is very blurry at 100 ft scale.

I appreciate the help! With Google not allowing Gaia to have their maps it really makes it hard to find things when you are off grid with Satellite view being blurry... You wouldnt be able to tell if there was a cabin at this location with Gaia. 3 months ago I was able to see this cabin using Gaia.

Any help appreciated!

 

[MiamiC70]

Here we go with the corporate acquisition BS.

 

[roving1]

Do you mind or anyone else who uses Gaia, please go to coordinates 36.052494, -118.368846 and check how clear it is with various paid satellite views at 200 ft scale?

I attached what I have with Gaia Satellite view vs google maps. As you can see Gaia is very blurry at 100 ft scale.

I appreciate the help! With Google not allowing Gaia to have their maps it really makes it hard to find things when you are off grid with Satellite view being blurry... You wouldnt be able to tell if there was a cabin at this location with Gaia. 3 months ago I was able to see this cabin using Gaia.

Any help appreciated!

Here you go. Didn't notice the 200 foot part, oops. It defaulted at 500 but I don't think any of these had any more res to give anyways.

 

[skyfree]

I agree that "Satellite with Labels" is not nearly as good as Google satellite. I get around the problem by picking a bunch of campsite options on my laptop at home where I can go to Google satellite if I need to. Then I add waypoints for each of my options which are accessible offline in Gaia. Then I define narrow areas around my routes so I can download all the Gaia map layers, including satellite, at the highest res. I've used the satellite with labels layer a few times to pick spots when my plans changed, but it's a much lower positive hit rate than using Google, that's for sure!

 

[4x4tripping]

Too bad that it happens again!

It happens to Motionx at late 2014 too - a tool I did used to navigate a complete Transafrica with offline satelite images at 2012.

Yes satellite view is very very nice to find wildcamp spots who are hidden.

Google is not the only provider with satellite imagery. There is too bing, ovi and apple - what APP allows to download them?

trippin

 

[chmura]

Here you go. Didn't notice the 200 foot part, oops. It defaulted at 500 but I don't think any of these had any more res to give anyways.

Thanks for checking, looks like there is no better layer out yet that is comparable to the Gaia layer I mentioned that is no longer available.

I agree that "Satellite with Labels" is not nearly as good as Google satellite. I get around the problem by picking a bunch of campsite options on my laptop at home where I can go to Google satellite if I need to. Then I add waypoints for each of my options which are accessible offline in Gaia. Then I define narrow areas around my routes so I can download all the Gaia map layers, including satellite, at the highest res. I've used the satellite with labels layer a few times to pick spots when my plans changed, but it's a much lower positive hit rate than using Google, that's for sure!

Yes I been doing this for years as well. Like you said plans change and you need to examine a downloaded area and see if there are dirt roads that lead to potential camping spots. If I'm home I usually use google earth or google maps satellite to scout for camping locations.

Too bad that it happens again!

It happens to Motionx at late 2014 too - a tool I did used to navigate a complete Transafrica with offline satelite images at 2012.

Yes satellite view is very very nice to find wildcamp spots who are hidden.

Google is not the only provider with satellite imagery. There is too bing, ovi and apple - what APP allows to download them?

trippin

Since Gaia is charging annual fee they should incorporate a better satellite layer! I think the Google layer I been using for 8 years or so on Gaia. Disappointing its gone!

 

[captadv]

Google maps is expensive for many applications, they do not permit caching of tiles which also makes it expensive.
Azure Maps has satellite imagery, and allows caching. If the devs are lurking... check it out. ;-)

 

[Paddler Ed]

Google's Terms of Use are very restrictive when you start looking; I was looking at using their Geolocation API, but you can't store the geocoded data and it can only be displayed on a Google Map. Therefore each time you want to run analysis on the data, it would require reprocessing (whcih gets pricey when geocoding 140,000 records each time)