OS Maps: Walking & Bike Trails

Best update so far! Now my downloaded maps show up in the layered maps section. This makes life so much easier and now it’s a 5 star app! Only thing that would make it even better, is having a search feature in the offline maps section. ...... old review I appreciate the developers response and can’t wait for the offline maps to be updated. - Currently you can only view maps if you have a subscription. Any downloaded (offline maps) won’t show up until you click on them in the downloaded section. This is a pain when you have loads of maps. ..... These have always been the best maps but the app has not always been so easy to use. Finally the map zoom has been updated like on the previous OS maps app. The zooming in on maps means it’s so much easier to view each level of detail without changing layers. The old OS maps app was so much better than the new one. The old app just seemed to work. I understand the switch so OS maps could add the subscription and have control over purchases but the new app still falls flat. ⚠️ It’s still not perfect. If you’re using your downloaded maps you can’t just zoom in. Every time you open the app you have to go find your offline map then select it before you can view it. This is a massive pain when you have loads of downloaded maps like I do. The old app would let you zoom in on any part of the UK if you had the map already downloaded. If this was fixed it would be a 5 star app.

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Over a year of the app with a premium subscription, there have been updates and improvements. But the app is still buggy. Randomly crashes, very heavy on the cpu/gpu/memory, very slow to respond and load refreshes (iPad 4 and iPhone X), when on or following a route it doesn’t refresh - so having to take gloves off or use your nose to give the screen a nudge is rather irritating. The other thing the is really really annoying is the fight (and lose) to look elsewhere in the location you’re in as the cursor/pointer refuses to let you leave your current position when following a route. Grrr. Oh and why is it impossible or not obvious to follow your route AND record it (to compare) e.g. where you deviated from your planned route. I now use my Garmin gps to follow/direct the route and the iPhone OS app to record it, which seems a waste of time with OS. It’s good but still needs a lot more polish. Considering the premium subscription, and purchasing offline maps you should be able to put the money into some real developing. You have to realise more and more people are using online or digital versions to replace physical maps - rightly or wrongly. OS need to move with the times and aim to get up there with the likes of Garmin where you are able to be confident you’ll not fall off an edge.

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Not a happy user at all! I used OS map finder originally and spent over £100 on tiles only to find they “discontinued” the app after a while so the features such as navigation and recording routes ceased to function. I complained but to no avail. How dare I complain that I had to pay a subscription to view maps I’d already bought!!😡 I’d like to see them try that attitude with paper maps. All I was offered was to migrate my maps to the new OS maps and pay a rip off annual subscription of £25 ish. This new app is clonky and not good to use and is definitely a backwards step compared to the old app. The maps have a habit of disappearing off my phone in the middle of following a route and need downloading again - not something you want to be doing when riding a horse! The “follow a route” function isn’t as good as the old one either and you can’t do anything else while following a route. The list of routes layout isn’t thought out. If you’ve got more than a few in your list you’re scrolling up and down for ages looking for your choice as you can see three at a time. They need to be in a concise list. Too much time has been given to features I certainly am not interested in - all I want to do is record and plan routes in an easy concise and reliable way. This app feels like it’s been built by a gamer rather than a map user.

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I have a subscription, and use an iPad. The first problem, now seemingly resolved without any action by me, was that there was a login problem. But the app is unpredictable; it didn’t used to be. About half the time, zooming in brings up the 1:50,000 and then the 1:25,000 maps, as it should. At other times, that doesn’t happen. This seems to be independent of broadband speed, which I initially thought might be the explanation. The maps are beautiful. But the earlier version of the app was more reliable - such issues just didn’t arise. Update: Thank you, OS, for the response, from which I gather you’ve not been able to replicate the zooming issue. As I said, it has been intermittent; and I’ve discovered that when I can’t zoom in to 1:50,000 and 1:25,000, there is a workaround. If I switch from the small-scale map to the photographic view, then switch back to 1:50,000/1:25,000, the map then comes up at whichever scale is appropriate to the zoom level I used in the photo option, and that seems to work every time. Strange. But the maps, of course, are wonderful!

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The previous version was spot on. I do a lot of hill walking, and this app was my go to compliment for paper map and compass. Easy to use, offline maps and rock solid stability. Since the latest update: stability is horrendous (crashes during each use of the app), downloading maps doesn’t work (I have downloaded the 9 maps that I have purchased previously six times already, on the app closing and reopening I have to download all over again! I have followed the advice and logged out, reinstalled (twice now) and re-downloaded but to no avail. The maps themselves when used (I think this is being coined ‘snap-to’ functionality is a real let down, and an ‘improvement’ that really wasn’t necessary or that delivers any enhancements for the end user. Finally, when turning of wifi and mobile data, the offline maps don’t appear to function at all anyway!!! I have long been a fan of this OS Map app, but if this is the sort of updates that are going to be introduced without being tested as fit for purpose, or delivering what the customer base actually wants, then I will seriously be considering alternative applications that provide better functionality and use support.