iPad/iPhone users: Q's on the current software & hardware capabilities

[theksmith]

i'm very familiar with the current possibilities of Android devices for mapping/gps use in overland situations, but i get asked fairly often about using an iPad instead and so i wanted to do a little research...

i did re-read RobRed's excellent iPad Navigation FAQ (http://forum.tlcfaq.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=26), but still have a few specific questions and my Google skills are failing me!

1. are MotionX, Gaia and Avenza PDF Maps still the most popular apps for offline topo style maps in the USA? any other major ones?
2. do any of the major apps support Mapsforge or Garmin vector map formats in addition to raster tile-servers?
3. can any of these apps utilize external storage for maps (flash devices or WiFi drives)? if so, can they write-to and read-from external storage, or do you manually need to shuffle files?
4. semi-related: what are the top apps for on-road navigation when offline (i.e. TomTom/Nuvi style with a full US road map, route calculation, voice guidance, lane assist, major POIs, etc.)

thanks in advance!

 

[dlh62c]

All good questions. I'd be curious what you find out.

Regarding road and/or off-road navigation, you can't beat a device that can show you where your at, where your going and if you have tracking turned on and displayed, where you've been all at the same time.

 

[Rando]

1. I use the creatively named 'Topo Maps', but have also tried Gaia. I prefer Topo Maps for the simplicity.
2. Gaia has the option to use OpenHiking maps which are vector maps.
3. I haven't tried this.
4. iGO and Nav Free are some of the low cost options, I am sure there are better apps for more money.

This all being said, I am hoping to switch to an Android Head Unit shortly.

 

[theksmith]

1. I use the creatively named 'Topo Maps', but have also tried Gaia. I prefer Topo Maps for the simplicity.
2. Gaia has the option to use OpenHiking maps which are vector maps.
3. I haven't tried this.
4. iGO and Nav Free are some of the low cost options, I am sure there are better apps for more money.

This all being said, I am hoping to switch to an Android Head Unit shortly.

thanks especially for the tip on Gaia vector - because of your comment i was able to find that they also have had their own styled vector topo maps based on OSM data since v9 (currently on v10.4.3). i'm guessing they're similar to the OpenAndroMaps that i'm used to since they use the same base data. i'll have to grab my son's iPad and check out Gaia more on there. it always seemed like a 2nd tier app on Android, plus the Android version is always behind on development compared to the iOS version (it doesn't seem to support vector maps at all yet).

anyone wondering what the big deal is: vector maps are a tiny fraction of the filesize of comparable raster (tile-server) maps. they usually look similar to the Garmin Topo series that many folks are familiar with, i.e. they include roads and major tracks as well as contour lines and land feature names. they often do NOT have the same level of detail as older USGS topos which include smaller "jeep trails", more obscure hiking paths, and old mines & townsites. the tradeoff is that a vector topo of the entire state of AZ is around 250MB and clear at any zoom level, whereas a raster version would be around 9GB (if including a zoom level that allows you to see most OHV tracks in useful detail).

i consider vector maps extremely important for meandering overlanders like myself that sometimes don't end up anywhere near the original planned route - not just due to storage space cost, but also because of the planning & download time required to obtain tile-server based maps.

 

[morerpmfred]

Bought Iphone just for this. No map/nav app has everything.
Use raster vector topo for the old trails. Topo maps.
Use pdf app for local trail system.and for brmp map series
Use navfree for genaral exploring to confirm trail intersections.
Do not use anything for crumb trail.
Use imbedded apple maps for route planning on the coach at home.
Use arcgis for satilite shots to confirm trail is doable.
Last two you need cell phone service to use.
There is another app that will be purchasing once I get a phone with more storage capacity. And it combines 3d with topo and satilite shots.
But no map shows all the trails. So use them all when exploring. The most well used is the raster vector topomap app. Also have the electronic version but is kinda useless as it does not show a lot of trails.

 

[Rando]

i consider vector maps extremely important for meandering overlanders like myself that sometimes don't end up anywhere near the original planned route - not just due to storage space cost, but also because of the planning & download time required to obtain tile-server based maps.

I agree with you on this. I am seriously distractible and half the time end up somewhere completely different from where we planned to go, and then don't have the maps for that area. While the vector maps are of some use, I don't find them to be much more useful than the large scale gazetteers. I am hoping that with a 'droid and the low cost of uSD cards I will be able to have 32Gb cards loaded with all the USGS topos of interest for each state. Then just plug in the right card for the state I am in. The problem is going to be taking the time to download and organize all the files.

 

[Rando]

Another app that maybe of interest to iOS folks:
http://www.benchmarkmaps.com/products-page/mobile-apps

As Benchmark updates their version of the gazetteer they are also producing an app.

 

[theksmith]

Another app that maybe of interest to iOS folks:
http://www.benchmarkmaps.com/products-page/mobile-apps

As Benchmark updates their version of the gazetteer they are also producing an app.

yes i am envious of the iOS users for these - i have 5 states worth in physical book form and "back in the day" they were really the only maps i used.

 

[theksmith]

i guess my main question that remains is can any of the apps work well with external storage and if so which app and which external device are you using?

...or does everyone just pony up for the 128GB iPad if they are serious about using it for mapping?

 

[doug720]

I have a 64g Ipad 1 with CA, OR, WA, ID, NV CO, AZ and NM maps loaded. It took about 42G for all the maps. The Ipad handles this fine and works fast.

External storage is a problem, as far I know, you can't with an Ipad. But internal works just fine for me.

I recently had a problem trying to transfer a GPX file into the ipad at an event. We could not load direct to the Ipad, and there was no wifi or cell service to load via email.

I have MotionX, but prefer Scenic Maps.

The Ipad works really well for navigation. Mine is wifi only.

Doug

 

[Rando]

Now that I think about, I did look into this issue back when I had a 16Gb Ipad 1. The short answer I found was no. The longer answer is that you CAN offload some media items (photos movies) to external storage, and if you are jailbroken, you MAY be able to move maps onto and off your ipad from external storage. I used the camera connection kit to plug in 16Gb SD cards, but I think Wifi hard drives would work too. I would keep photos and movies on these cards so as to keep the memory on the ipad free for apps and maps. It still didn't give me more than ~13Gb for maps though so you would want to pony up for at least the 64Gb version.

If you really want a kludgy solution, if the ipad is jailbroken and you have a console or file browser app, you can create multiple data directories for your mapping apps, each with a different state and manually switch them onto or off a wifi hard drive. Not an elegant solution though.

i guess my main question that remains is can any of the apps work well with external storage and if so which app and which external device are you using?

...or does everyone just pony up for the 128GB iPad if they are serious about using it for mapping?

 

[Frdmskr]

Might try uploading the file to iCloud. Then opening it on the device. Obviously not viable without wifi or phone connection


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kevin604]

I have a 64g Ipad 1 with CA, OR, WA, ID, NV CO, AZ and NM maps loaded. It took about 42G for all the maps. The Ipad handles this fine and works fast.

External storage is a problem, as far I know, you can't with an Ipad. But internal works just fine for me.

I recently had a problem trying to transfer a GPX file into the ipad at an event. We could not load direct to the Ipad, and there was no wifi or cell service to load via email.

I have MotionX, but prefer Scenic Maps.

The Ipad works really well for navigation. Mine is wifi only.

Doug

For extra storage on the ipad a couple of options.

This guy just plugs in and uses an SD card. http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Light...e=UTF8&qid=1455639396&sr=8-1&keywords=iexpand

I use this portable router and plug in a 1tb hard drive: http://www.amazon.com/HooToo-Wirele...&qid=1455639473&sr=8-3&keywords=travel+router

 

[theksmith]

For extra storage on the ipad a couple of options.

This guy just plugs in and uses an SD card. http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Light...e=UTF8&qid=1455639396&sr=8-1&keywords=iexpand

I use this portable router and plug in a 1tb hard drive: http://www.amazon.com/HooToo-Wirele...&qid=1455639473&sr=8-3&keywords=travel+router

there are number of similar hardware solutions, mostly used by folks for playing songs or videos stored on them (which i believe you must load using a desktop computer)...

however, i am looking for confirmation of a specific mapping app working well with any of these devices, and in what way exactly? i.e. does it allow you to set the map cache/download folder to an external storage in order to create maps on there, or can you only read external files that you created in some other way? ...or do you have to swap the data between the internal/external storage to use it and if so with what app? can you also read and/or write GPX files on external storage with said app?

i get that even a 64GB iPad with the majority of its internal storage devoted to maps will suffice for a person that travels to only 2 or 3 states ever - but i started this thread just to know more about the full possibilities and limitations that an overlander might run into with the current iOS platform. someone else already mentioned having issues loading even a small GPX file without an internet connection or desktop computer available... if anyone can tell us more about how they are overcoming these types of issues then i think it is a valuable discussion.