GPS phone app: " View Ranger"

[Brad Harshman]

 I looked up Gps apps for my phone and found View Ranger.  It says it's designed for use when out of cell phone coverage.  It comes with some great free maps and it appears to be essy to use.  For $20.00+ I can purchase high quality topo maps that download to my phone for use when not in cell phone range. 

Anybody have any experience with this app?  I haven't purchased the topo maps yet.  But I did "test" its out of network capabilities by switching my phone to airplane mode and the cached aerial imagery looked great. 

I downloaded the free gazatteer add on and it enabled me to search for things like cities and even geographic features ( manastash ridge and quartz mountain).  It seemed to work great too.  It even provided a road layer just like google earth. 

Im liking what I'm seeing and I may not purchase a new GPS this year afterall.

Anyone use this yet?  Anyone purchase the topos?

[Payne]

I haven't yet but I really want to give one of them a try... Seems like a great thing to have.

[Brad Harshman]

I just found this review. I'm thinking it's a marginal gamble to invest in the topos rather than invest in a new GPS, and buy their topos and npt even have the ability to cache the satellite Iimagery for free.  Besides my phone contract is up at the end of the year and I'll get a new phone soon.

I currently have the Samsung Rugby Pro (and I love it).  Might be my new 'dedicated' GPS.

http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Navigation%20and%20Map%20Gear/GPS/ViewRanger%20GPS%20Application/Test%20Report%20by%20Curt%20Peterson/#Field

Again - I'm looking for anyone who has used this product.  What experiences have you had?

Thanks!

[Bean Counter]

*tag* 

[jackelope]

You can buy the onxmaps app for $29.95 and have bottomless topo maps. The maps can all be downloaded onto your phone and used with no cell service and it's a proven app. Why not spent $30 and have all the topo's rather than pay $20 then have to buy the topo's you want?
There's also a "Topo Maps" iphone app by Phil Endicott that is great if all you want is topo maps. I think it's like $6-10 or so. It's a great app which also functions without cell service if you download prior to losing service... Not sure if it's available for android.

[pianoman9701]

I just found this review. I'm thinking it's a marginal gamble to invest in the topos rather than invest in a new GPS, and buy their topos and npt even have the ability to cache the satellite Iimagery for free.  Besides my phone contract is up at the end of the year and I'll get a new phone soon.

I currently have the Samsung Rugby Pro (and I love it).  Might be my new 'dedicated' GPS.

http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Navigation%20and%20Map%20Gear/GPS/ViewRanger%20GPS%20Application/Test%20Report%20by%20Curt%20Peterson/#Field

Again - I'm looking for anyone who has used this product.  What experiences have you had?

Thanks!

Sounds like a much bigger gamble than I would take. Smart phones aren't built to be as durable and they don't have the battery life. If you're out of cell range, it'll do you as much good as a map, a map that you must keep charged. I like the smartphone map apps, but they'll never replace my GPS, map, and compass.

[jackelope]

That's a good point I forgot to mention. All of those app's when used out of cell service suck the life out of your battery in a heartbeat. Like...don't expect a full charge to last 30-40 minutes if the app is running.

[Payne]

That's a good point I forgot to mention. All of those app's when used out of cell service suck the life out of your battery in a heartbeat. Like...don't expect a full charge to last 30-40 minutes if the app is running.

Dang that's good to know... and kind of a bummer.

[blazenfish]

I use the onXMaps and love it use it on the galaxy s5 no worries on water use an otter box for ruggedness and keep a small pack solar charger and charge external batteries for charging my phone during down time. Then use spot transceiver for sattellite link to keep in touch. found that a clean clear speaker and a call app work pretty good when calling yokes man there bozos....

[pianoman9701]

I use the onXMaps and love it use it on the galaxy s5 no worries on water use an otter box for ruggedness and keep a small pack solar charger and charge external batteries for charging my phone during down time. Then use spot transceiver for sattellite link to keep in touch. found that a clean clear speaker and a call app work pretty good when calling yokes man there bozos....

Holy carp! Do you use a pack mule for the electronics? 

[jackelope]

That's a good point I forgot to mention. All of those app's when used out of cell service suck the life out of your battery in a heartbeat. Like...don't expect a full charge to last 30-40 minutes if the app is running.

Dang that's good to know... and kind of a bummer.

I will download maps of the areas I'm in before I go. Where I hunt there's no cell service. Set my iphone to airplane mode and switch the app to "Field Mode". Use the app periodically to make sure I know where I am. I've got some private land over on the east side and I use it to make sure of property boundaries. I've got some new land we can access and I'm not entirely up on property lines just yet. It works great for that. I just make sure the phone is fully charged before I leave the truck.
I also have the Otterbox Ion Intelligent battery backup case for my phone too. It recharges itself about 3 times on a full charge. In a situation like using the onXmaps app, that thing is priceless.

[Payne]

I've been comparing OnX maps and Trimble GPS Hunt apps lately and they both seem pretty nice looking. The main differences that I can tell is that onX has the private land layer where I do not think Trimble has.

Anyone have an opinion on which one is better and why? Both seem subscription based, although if I download maps and my subscription runs out do I lose those maps? Or once I have them downloaded are they mine forever...?

[pianoman9701]

I've been comparing OnX maps and Trimble GPS Hunt apps lately and they both seem pretty nice looking. The main differences that I can tell is that onX has the private land layer where I do not think Trimble has.

Anyone have an opinion on which one is better and why? Both seem subscription based, although if I download maps and my subscription runs out do I lose those maps? Or once I have them downloaded are they mine forever...?

They're yours forever on OnX. The $30 annual updates reflect landowner and road changes.

[lamrith]

I've been comparing OnX maps and Trimble GPS Hunt apps lately and they both seem pretty nice looking. The main differences that I can tell is that onX has the private land layer where I do not think Trimble has.

Anyone have an opinion on which one is better and why? Both seem subscription based, although if I download maps and my subscription runs out do I lose those maps? Or once I have them downloaded are they mine forever...?

They're yours forever on OnX. The $30 annual updates reflect landowner and road changes.

You lose the ability to view all but the base WA GMu layer once your membership expires, least my demo did.  But you will still have the maps. 

I also noticed I cannot go closer than 1mile scale when offline.  Not sure if that is a limitation of membership or not, but really not much detail at that scale?

Pretty cool program though, recommend you do your map downloading at HOME via WIFI and not on the way to an area via data connection unless you have unlimited data.

[pianoman9701]

I've been comparing OnX maps and Trimble GPS Hunt apps lately and they both seem pretty nice looking. The main differences that I can tell is that onX has the private land layer where I do not think Trimble has.

Anyone have an opinion on which one is better and why? Both seem subscription based, although if I download maps and my subscription runs out do I lose those maps? Or once I have them downloaded are they mine forever...?

They're yours forever on OnX. The $30 annual updates reflect landowner and road changes.

You lose the ability to view all but the base WA GMu layer once your membership expires, least my demo did.  But you will still have the maps. 

I also noticed I cannot go closer than 1mile scale when offline.  Not sure if that is a limitation of membership or not, but really not much detail at that scale?

Pretty cool program though, recommend you do your map downloading at HOME via WIFI and not on the way to an area via data connection unless you have unlimited data.

Sorry, I was referring to the GPS download. I forgot the phone app was the topic.