Gaia vs Onx
- Thread starter Jeep or Tacoma
- Start date
I've been using OsmAnd+ for a few months and it seems pretty good. Android and iOS. I'm using it in conjunction with Avenza (for my local geo/pdf maps like MVUM). The Openstreets maps are great and the layers and routing offerings are decent. It's a little clunky UI-wise, but it seems even the pro apps (I had planned on signing up for Gaia after a trial subscription but changed those plans when they killed their multi-year subscription deal) still have usability issues.
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Do you mean OpenStreetMaps? On Android I like OruxMaps since it can use OSM maps in Mapsforge format.
https://oruxmaps.com/cs/en/
https://www.openandromaps.org/en
It also has a PDF rendering engine and can display georeferenced PDFs (GeoPDF). So you have the option to show USFS MVUMs, BLM travel plans, National Park maps.
On iOS I personally use Caltopo, which has the option to use OSM as a baselayer. Although their Mapbuilder Topo I think is fine and for extra information I'll layer the USFS FSTopo on top or MVUM. But I also have Maps.Me on it, which seems just to be OSM data. But they organize the maps by state so it's easy to maintain on the phone.
https://maps.me/maps/
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Yup, Open Street Maps. In the West USA they are very accurate and detailed. Works great in my 276Cx and as the base map for Garmin's POS BaseCamp.
garmin.openstreetmap.nl moved to garmin.bbbike.org
Free maps for Garmin brand GPS devices
garmin.openstreetmap.nl
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Not sure if you're aware but the person (known as Lambertus) who ran that website seems to have abandoned it for some unknown reason. The custom map queue is coming up on two years long and no longer working.
There's alternatives to get or make Garmin IMG maps from the OSM database.
BBBike extracts: https://extract.bbbike.org/
Gamin Opentopo: https://garmin.opentopomap.org/
GmapTool (Andrzej Popowski): https://www.gmaptool.eu/en/content/usa-osm-topo-routable
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DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Yeah, true. Eventually gotta find an alternative to keep up to date.
nickw
Adventurer
A minor workaround for finding trails is to download the user track overlays (I forget what they call it) which is generally more relevant for motosport users, but people can upload their tracks and you can see live/actual coordinates.
I used it on some backcountry moto trips, I had the base maps and MVUM's, but doing an overlay of actual GPS track data from other users give a more realistic snapshot of where the maps are wrong and/or where their are other trails not shown. OnX may have that option but found it super useful on Gaia....
Jeep or Tacoma
Explorer
Overland bound has an app that seems to "do everything" it sounds interesting but i haven't figured out what the mapping siftware is that accompanys the ther features? truthfully i haven't looked that hard yet. I owuld be interested in what others think of their approach and what is know about thei mapping?
In the process of switching to onX from Gaia; I appreciate onX's merged maps over Gaia's layering approach - Gaia does seem to have far more map types available in the premium membership; however the onX maps give me exactly what I want in a package that is easy to view. I do a lot of planning on the web before using my i-devices to navigate; Gaia's web site is really buggy and fails me a lot of the time - just this morning it would not display assets in a folder that I was hoping to work on for an upcoming adventure, the onX site seems to do as advertised - always. I like onX's UI far better than Gaia's - onX has some catching up to do feature-wise but it seems like they are improving things while Gaia remains stagnant. onX's support is way over the top helpful while you are lucky to hear back from Gaia's support in less than a week or two. Anyway its still a bit of a tossup but I am rooting for onX!
Wyoming Shooter
Observer
Wyoming Shooter
Observer
I'm having difficulty with On X when using it in landscape mode. The bottom menu disappears. Has anyone found the solution? Thanks.
Gurney
New member
This thread came up in my search, and saw your question - Blew the dust off my account here! I'm Michael, and I'm on the development team (CEO). I'm glad to answer any questions about our approach with Overland Bound One - We are clearly one of the newer apps out there. I've used Gaia and OnX extensively.
Summary - we combine Community Support +Trips + Mapping and Nav. One of the most important things we do is work with the community to change the app rapidly, and introduce new features being requested. We just launched 3D maps today.
I'm also a primary customer of our software, and we've got a long roadmap of features in development. Glad to answer questions.
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out.wandering.McL
New member
I have always been frustrated with Gaia. I think that the primary reason that it has so much market share is that it is available on both iPhone and android. The initial reason that I got a smart phone was mapping. At this point, I find that Oruxmaps, Locus maps, and Caltopo are my go to map apps even though it means having a secondary phone for the android apps as my primary work phone is an iPhone. Locus and Orux are both able to use external map sources including openandromaps.org. I can also download imagery or forest service maps. Openandromaps.org has been extremely helpful when traveling in countries with few map options including India. You can download the whole country and not worry about having cell service or not having a map. Highly recommend. And oruxmaps is free to boot, though I recommend donating to support its development. peace
Hopeless Diamond
Explorer
Curious if anyone knows how OnX handles off-line maps? I've been struggling with Gaia and it's storage system. It won't let me move it to the SD card, and of course it filled up the internal storage. I did figure out how to go through and delete offline maps that I had stored (yes, way too many), but the whole thing is cumbersome. I do have a tendency to go through and download in high detail large swaths of areas that I will be in or even near, you never know. Based on the background map being used it can be very sizeable at times.
Haven't played around with OnX yet to see what maps are available, not really concerned with Sat imagery, a lot of the areas I'm in (PNW) are covered by tall trees so you can't see many of teh roads/trails anyway. I assume they would have the Forest service road maps, (FS2016 in Gaia), and other comparable ones. What about areas like Baja? In Gaia the NatGeo Baja and also the MX Topo maps are pretty good, but a chore to download for off-line.
Haven't played around with OnX yet to see what maps are available, not really concerned with Sat imagery, a lot of the areas I'm in (PNW) are covered by tall trees so you can't see many of teh roads/trails anyway. I assume they would have the Forest service road maps, (FS2016 in Gaia), and other comparable ones. What about areas like Baja? In Gaia the NatGeo Baja and also the MX Topo maps are pretty good, but a chore to download for off-line.