I really enjoy using Gaia and Topomaps on my iPad, however I was wondering if there was an app for which you could cache an entire state's worth of maps (much like the National Geographic Topo!)? It seems that in Gaia and Topomaps, you are limited in the number of tiles you can download at once, making it very cumbersome to download large areas. Ideally I would like a program that would allow you to download an entire state worth of maps and save them to a micro SD card. That way you could have an SD card per state (for Android) and just plug in which ever card you need.
iOS/Android topo map app capable of caching an entire (or multiple) states?
- Thread starter Rando
- Start date
expedition4x4
Explorer
Add backcountry navigator to the list of apps that really don't work well with large areas
4x4tripping
Adventurer
MotionX GPS works well with large areas. We need 5 weeks for downloading the complete west coast of africa, satellite images (bing hybrid) and Openstreetmaps. It needs much time - but is very capable.
Unfortunately Version 20.x from MotionX GPS has lost the possibility to download Bing road/Hybrid/Satellite.
But you can still download openstreetmap and terrainmaps worldwide - for offline usage...
Unfortunately Version 20.x from MotionX GPS has lost the possibility to download Bing road/Hybrid/Satellite.
But you can still download openstreetmap and terrainmaps worldwide - for offline usage...
4x4tripping
Adventurer
It is an Iphone & iPad App... For most countries you need 3-4 Parts a 1 GB. That is just for Downloading.. It gets compressed afterwards.. So it use below 20 GB for all, Bing Satellite-Hybrid (Zoomlevel 14) and Road-view (Openstreetmaps), TomTom south africa and Morocco and some Apps.
I use a 64 GB Ipad with 3G (and GPS)
I use a 64 GB Ipad with 3G (and GPS)
esh
Explorer
I started to do some tests with Back Country Navigator to see the differences between the types of maps against the same area. The test area was about 1/5 the area of Oregon. Here's what I've found so far:
map data-
USGSTopo: 4.9GB
ArcGIS: 2.49GB
CalTopo: 15.78GB (extrapolated)
To put into perspective, here are rough estimates to cover the entire state-
USGSTopo: 24.5GB
ArcGIS: 12.45GB
CalTopo: 78.9GB
Natl Geo TOPO!: 3.14GB
BCN might render tiles for each zoom level (though it looks digitized after level 15). Topo! has 5 zoom levels using distinct map data, with USGS 500k, 100k and 24k map data for the 3 closest zooms. That approach appears to be much more efficient for storage. I don't think BCNs many levels of zoom gets you much on a small screen as you begin to zoom out. Topo type maps get very busy when lines begin to squish together and make maps unusable. If BCN used a digitized zoom to fill the gaps between actual map data it would go a long ways toward making large areas portable. Likewise if BCN allowed you to download *only* a certain zoom level (vs downloading "down to" a level), it might go a long ways to make the data stretch and give BCN's servers a breather. At least they haven't disabled area downloads (yet).
Even Nat Geo has abandoned stand-alone TOPO! State Series for download subscriptions, and the alternatives to actual USGS type maps are (like Terrain Navigator) are expensive per state. Overland Navigator has done a good job at providing very fairly priced 24k state data using less space (the cost being the data looks to use more compression), but it isn't out for iPad yet and no plans for Android.
Still waiting for an offline wide area solution as well.
map data-
USGSTopo: 4.9GB
ArcGIS: 2.49GB
CalTopo: 15.78GB (extrapolated)
To put into perspective, here are rough estimates to cover the entire state-
USGSTopo: 24.5GB
ArcGIS: 12.45GB
CalTopo: 78.9GB
Natl Geo TOPO!: 3.14GB
BCN might render tiles for each zoom level (though it looks digitized after level 15). Topo! has 5 zoom levels using distinct map data, with USGS 500k, 100k and 24k map data for the 3 closest zooms. That approach appears to be much more efficient for storage. I don't think BCNs many levels of zoom gets you much on a small screen as you begin to zoom out. Topo type maps get very busy when lines begin to squish together and make maps unusable. If BCN used a digitized zoom to fill the gaps between actual map data it would go a long ways toward making large areas portable. Likewise if BCN allowed you to download *only* a certain zoom level (vs downloading "down to" a level), it might go a long ways to make the data stretch and give BCN's servers a breather. At least they haven't disabled area downloads (yet).
Even Nat Geo has abandoned stand-alone TOPO! State Series for download subscriptions, and the alternatives to actual USGS type maps are (like Terrain Navigator) are expensive per state. Overland Navigator has done a good job at providing very fairly priced 24k state data using less space (the cost being the data looks to use more compression), but it isn't out for iPad yet and no plans for Android.
Still waiting for an offline wide area solution as well.
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off-roader
Expedition Leader
For max hi res map data on Motion X GPS HD at a zoom range of 3-14 (full zoom range from minimum zoom to max is from 3-16) it should fit several states but if you try to push it to the max zoom of 16 your 64GB ipad won't have enough room. Not even for the state of CA.
25 Gb /state wouldn't bother me, if there was an easy way to deal with the data. If one were to use Android for this, say a samsung galaxy tab, you could easily buy the tablet, and 10 32Gb uSD cards to store each state for less than the 16Gb iPad (which is what I currently have). The limiting factor is definitely the software. Hopefully Overland Navigator comes out with an Android versions at some point and we can make some feature requests for how to deal with the map data.
off-roader
Expedition Leader
I think you misunderstand me... It's bigger than 32gb for maps that allow zooming in/out the full available range. You'd need 64gb cards which might not be cost effective.
As for overland navigator, last I heard he's currently been working on an iOS version... Not sure about his thoughts on Android.
barlowrs
Explorer
Backcountry nav and Copilot live for turn by turn. I run them on a galazy 7" tab so I can use multiple memory cards if need be, but to be honest, I have never needed too. I have half of California (4 duiffernt map styles) loaded as well as a lot of mexico and baja, works amazing. Why would you really need WHOLE states per card? I mean I'm sure you will find internet access while moving across a state somewhere to DL more.The maps DL very quickly.
Boz
Observer
I dont know what kind of files this thing supports, but you could sure put a lot of maps on it. I have a 16gb iPad so my map storage is limited and I've been eyeballing this thing. http://www.seagate.com/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/wireless/wireless-plus/#
concretejungle
Adventurer
I'm going to chime in because i'm trying to follow in great interest. I've been trying to learn the MotionXgps on my iPhone. I am having a little trouble caching even small area maps. It's important because where i've been going there isn't cell phone coverage and so the maps will stop working.
I'm planning a trip from NC to go wheel the Rubicon Trail in CA this summer, so i'm planning on getting an Ipad and load it with a mapping software. I want to have the ability to search the maps either with or without a signal.
I'm planning a trip from NC to go wheel the Rubicon Trail in CA this summer, so i'm planning on getting an Ipad and load it with a mapping software. I want to have the ability to search the maps either with or without a signal.
xplrn42
Adventurer
I used MotionX for a while on my iPhone, but just didn't like the UI very much. I'm trying out a new GPS app now called "Maps 3D". I just dowloaded it last weekend so I haven't played with it much, (got it half price! @ $.99) but you can download large sections (maybe a whole state) just not in a detailed map, it's an overview form. I haven't tested it yet.
I have downloaded a detailed map of my local wheeling area that covers probably four quardrangles. The 3D feature is great and gives altitude as well.
Not sure if it's available for ipad, but I would imagine so. Worth a quick try......
I have downloaded a detailed map of my local wheeling area that covers probably four quardrangles. The 3D feature is great and gives altitude as well.
Not sure if it's available for ipad, but I would imagine so. Worth a quick try......