So have they written the whole thing themselves or are they using ESRI technology?
First look: Ordnance Survey lifts kimono on next-gen map app
The UK's Ordnance Survey is making a bold stab at "disrupting" smartphone and tablet mapping apps with a freemium app that yokes the OS's peerless geographical data to modern app features. We had a sneak preview at OS HQ recently, and can bring you the first screenshots. While the Ordnance Survey already has an iPhone map, it …
COMMENTS
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Thursday 5th February 2015 14:04 GMT Anonymous Coward
What happens to users of the current apps?
I have a significant investment in maps for the current app (not hundreds but tens of pounds) which, in its most recent iOS version at least, is actually some good and for many purposes better than paper maps. I'd like not to lose that investment if the existing app goes away or rots or be forced into a subscription model to keep access to maps I've paid for already.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 23:13 GMT VinceH
Re: What happens to users of the current apps?
"I'd like not to lose that investment if the existing app goes away or rots or be forced into a subscription model to keep access to maps I've paid for already."
Sadly, I've gone through the same heartache more than once.
My map software of choice was FUGAWI, which came with the OS 1:50,000 maps (apart from some of Scotland which was a lower scale, IIRC). Four CDs covering 1/4 of the UK each. I'm not sure what the cost was, but I suspect around £50 or £60 for each one. The main package installed on the PC, and you could connect certain mobile devices to it to install the relevant software (and map selections). At the time I was using Windows Mobile 5 devices (eg a Mitac Mio A701).
However, somewhere down the line I switched to Android... and AFAIK FUGAWI have never updated that software to work on anything more modern.
I still use the desktop software - at least in theory; I haven't installed it on my current computer (now a year old) because I'm not sure where the CDs are ATM. And even if I happen across them, I already know there's one missing - because it's been missing a while: The one for the North of England, including the Lake District :(
So I went for Mapyx. The software is free, and you only need to buy 'tiles' as you need them - so I could avoid buying the whole lot again, and just buy bits as I need them. And gradually bought quite a few tiles. However, I was never all that keen on the desktop software, and I sometimes had trouble getting it to talk reliably to the phone. Despite that, I dragged it across from one machine to the next.
I didn't bother on this computer, though, because by then I'd discovered the OS had their own Android app - and tiles could be bought from within the app on the device, so I've started using that.
So I've invested in digital OS maps three times - the first involving the biggest expense, then progressively less. (I reckon I've probably spent around a tenner with the OS app).
(The OS app isn't ideal on its own: I like (and it's sensible) to have a paper map as well. I used to print out the relevant areas from FUGAWI; luckily, though, I don't throw them out, so I still have a lot of old ones I've printed, though they are becoming increasingly tatty.)
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Thursday 5th February 2015 14:05 GMT JamesPond
To be a little bit fair to Google maps, looking at Google's street view, the road into OS HQ does have barriers so is clearly private property. If you ask for directions to OS HQ Google Maps does show the correct route, with driving instructions terminating at the correct part of the roundabout and a dotted line into to OS HQ, so its suggesting you use your initiative from the roundabout!.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 16:32 GMT gazthejourno
I can also heartily commend to the house the DEFRA Magic Maps site, complete with its overlays of just about every dataset they have: MAGIC Maps.
Forget missing roads - I've just found out half the houses on my street are statutorily listed!
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Thursday 5th February 2015 16:33 GMT Tom 38
To be a little bit fair to Google maps, looking at Google's street view, the road into OS HQ does have barriers so is clearly private property.
OS maps include vast amounts of information that is on private property. Being fair would be to point out how shit a map that is generated by driving a car around public roads can be.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 14:05 GMT Kevin Johnston
Can't wait
I have always preferred the OS maps because they exist to be maps rather than as a start point for all manner of add-on extras. So long as the online version holds to that then I see the OS getting a lot of trade from people who currently end up with three or four apps to cover driving/walking/etc. Even at a small charge this could get a good uptake.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 15:19 GMT cambsukguy
Re: Batteries not included
For me, the paper goes in the pack to be consulted only when the battery and the backup pack have died. This has yet to happen.
Not that I don't like paper per se but it can be windy, wet and blowy up top and a phone can easily be held in a bag if required, doesn't move about in the wind and allows zooming.
Crucially, it also tells you where you are and, if so enabled, where you have been.
Really, there is no contest.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 16:32 GMT Rovindi
Re: Batteries not included
My tuppenth worth.
As a climber and mountaineer, I am quite amazed that you would see the paper-based map as a secondary or backup system. Don't get me wrong, I've had a love affair with maps and sea charts all my life and really like many of the advantages that GPS/Phones can provide. Companies like MemoryMap digitised OS maps back in the early noughties which where truly excellent, but sometimes were buggy or simply crashed/conflicted with other apps. Paper-based maps don't require batteries or crash.
Obviously, this is very dependent upon where you are - walking around Windermere or a simple trek in the countryside, then all good, but anyone that regularly spends time doing this sort of thing, would be used to using a mapcase. You simply fold the map so that your proposed route is presented through the waterproof cover. Additionally, the laminated OS maps are simply excellent and well worth the investment.
Being reliant on GPS or a phone is not a good thing. Your GPS/Phone should be seen as your backup. I carry a dedicated GPS with OS 1:50000 maps of UK and have SD cards with various European maps as well. In addition, I have quite a few mapping applications on my phone.
Only saying :)
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Thursday 5th February 2015 17:23 GMT Lord Egerton
Re: Batteries not included
@Rovindi That's exactly how I use it. Paper first, battery reliant things second as a backup. Being up a mountain in the really cold weather we've been having can kill the battery life of such devices and that's why they shouldn't be relied upon. MemoryMap was a very useful tool for planning and 'seeing' what a route would look like in 3D.
The other good thing about paper is that you have a nice big square to see your route and don't have to worry about zooming out or panning around.
£20 for a laminated map that is still going to be in good condition and relevant over the next 15 years is worth the investment verses potentially £10-20 per annum for the app.
With GPS; my mates and I say "we're never lost, we're just not where we thought we were"
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Friday 6th February 2015 15:50 GMT SplashMaps Man
Re: Batteries not included
Simply put, what we need is full Ordnance Survey detail on a screen that can extend to 72x 72 cm and can be scrunched to barely a fist-full - it has to be totally shock proof, shatter proof, rain proof, tear proof and could probably survive most tsunamis. Does that ask too much?... Oh it doesn't! has anyone tried a SplashMap? They now make fabric maps of anywhere in the world in a handy size the wraps around the neck. If you want Ordnance Survey 1:25k detail they'll do that for you too. In fact you can design it yourself using their on-line tools.
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Saturday 7th February 2015 20:56 GMT Japhy Ryder
Re: Batteries not included
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_and_evasion_map
I have some of these. Since they are 70 odd years old and somewhat historic, I don't use them in anger. So it's nice to see the principles of into practice once again. Tally ho!
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Tuesday 21st July 2015 16:16 GMT Chorotega
Re: Batteries not included
As you said "the really cold weather we've been having can kill the battery life of such devices" so therefore if you use your paper map as your primary source and it blows away, you reach into your pack only to find the cold weather has killed your battery, therefore no backup!
That's why it's more sensible to use your phone as your primary navigation tool. If the battery goes flat, you still have your nice, dry, map and compass in your backpack as a backup.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 20:28 GMT smartypants
"simply fold the map..."
That's easy when your route is entirely on one side of one sheet.
OS in their wisdom sell the 1:25000 series maps in an ingenious 2 sided format which often means a hilarious fight with a square metre of paper in a soaking gale to get it to fold 'the other way', followed by 5 minutes of swearing as you try to stuff the now-wet paper into your soggy map case.
They could fix this by charging half the price for one side of the map. Then you could buy both sides and have them already pre-folded to the right place.*
It's for this reason that the map sits in the bag now, ready to be fought with if the phone disappears down the hill.
(*yes, I know - I could buy two two-sided maps at twice the price)
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Saturday 7th February 2015 18:27 GMT DropBear
Re: Batteries not included
"As a climber and mountaineer, I am quite amazed that you would see the paper-based map as a secondary or backup system."
And I am quite amazed anyone would think of an excavator as a "backup" for a shovel, just because it needs gas to function. To each his own, I suppose - I find no virtue in working much harder for the same result.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 14:07 GMT Stuart 22
Spotted what's missing?
Contour lines, contour lines & contour lines - or is Southampton absolutely flat?
GoogleMaps are good - as long as you only want a 2D rendition. We live in a 3D world. Perhaps not if you spend your life in a turbocharged 4x4 or Google Bus. But self powered people (on foot or wheels) need the feel of the land to navigate. 3D is why I plan using OS Landrangers, 3D is what I need to find my way in real countryside. 2D/GPS doesn't respect cliffs. I do.
3D is a real niche OS have the perfect heritage. Don't go all googly please. Bu**er the fonts - make sure I can tell the difference between a church with a steeple and a church with a tower - please!
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Thursday 5th February 2015 15:19 GMT Chazmon
Re: Spotted what's missing?
That bit largely is but by the looks of the bit around Brokenhurst it seems that is a feature. I am curious as how much is available offline as you can get fair battery life for a day's walk in airplane mode for most devices.
Mine is the one with a soon to be neglected map pocket
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Thursday 5th February 2015 16:00 GMT mordac
Re: Spotted what's missing?
OpenStreetMap has contour lines... Same view as in the article is approximately
http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/50.93745/-1.47039&layers=C
That's on the "Cycle Map" view, which highlights cycle routes, contour lines and footpaths. You can change to the "standard" view if you prefer roads.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 16:13 GMT Don Dumb
Re: Spotted what's missing?
@Stuart 22 - Have another look, the 'North Weirs Walk' map in the article does have contour lines. Guessing that as the other images don't have contouring, it would seem to be a selectable option.
Agree with your point about how useful 3D is and the ability to clearly understand significant landmarks (like Church steeples). Google Maps is only really good at roads navigable by car, it is terrible at footpaths and other routes off from public roads.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 17:07 GMT Arthur the cat
Re: Spotted what's missing?
Except as far as I can see that walk is in some sort of fantasy universe version of Brockenhurst. I go there regularly and the A377 isn't that shape, there's no Argyll Road, Duryard or Pennsylvania in the area AFAIR, the town is mainly to the west of the A337 rather than the east and it's not built on steep hills as the contours would suggest. Also the idea that any walk in the immediate vicinity of Brockenhurst is challenging and would take 4.3 hours to walk 5.6 miles is ridiculous. The worst thing you meet is mud and some flooding after heavy spells of rain.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 15:19 GMT cambsukguy
The HERE map shows the extra road bits on the roundabout and the name of the road at the left (Adanac drive). It doesn't show the building (not even a block outline like many city buildings have let alone the fancy 3D ones like Buckingham gets).
HERE also doesn't actually put the OS building as a location per se but shows that location in a search - like a regular address.
HERE doesn't include the ponds that appear on the Google (and OS) ones. Viewing the satellite image one can see why for the smaller one, it is basically not there much I imagine.
Still, if you are driving, having the road you should use can be a big help.
I mourn the loss (murder) of the WinPhone OS maps app I had ages ago. One could get the paper map at all resolutions downloaded by the app as required (data needed but buffered locally up to a point).
The annoying thing was that the app was deleted (copyright issues) but no replacement was available, even for money. This is just plain nasty.
I imagine there is a reasonable chance this app will have WinPhone targeted but I have had to make do with OSM and others, very annoying.
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Monday 9th February 2015 08:59 GMT Mike Taylor
mi.taylor@elsevier.com
If that was the map app that included the historic 1920s layer, than it is sorely missed. Yes, used for hiking. Also for sniffing out archaeological relics - I found so many things using that layer! Also quite enjoyed watching my planes at Heathrow taxiing through a farm, an orchard and a duck pond
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Thursday 5th February 2015 15:20 GMT John Lilburne
One of my favourite sites ,,,
... is the DEFRA magic site, if only it wasn't so crap at navigating. Basically they overlay land management categories and classifications over the OS. So you can see all the archeological sites in an area, kiln pits, ridge and farrow field systems, abandoned villages, etc. Each with links to their relevant English Heritage citations. Additionally, they overlay SSSI, and LNR sites with links to English Nature citations and impact assessments for the sites.
Now an app that was easy to navigate for that sort of information would be brilliant.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 16:00 GMT Mark #255
Openstreetmap and Osmand
A fair amount of the Ordnance Survey's mapping output is made available at no extra cost to we mere mortals, and ends up on the openstreetmap database. Several Android apps are already available which repackage this (at the expense of a GB or two of phone/tablet storage), including contour/relief maps. I use Osmand, which isn't perfect (its routing can be interesting, and it uses its own text-to-speech, which is (a) rubbish, and (b) American), but if the OS want to charge £18 per year, they'll need to provide the proverbial moon on a stick.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 19:36 GMT John H Woods
Re: Openstreetmap and Osmand
I find Maverick (Pro) a very good [Android] application for consuming the OS Explorer maps. For a few quid, you really can't go wrong (although there's so much in the free version that I only coughed up to support the developer, rather than get any more features).
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Thursday 5th February 2015 16:13 GMT Joe Harrison
YAMA(Y)
Yet Another Map App (Yawn)
They built their business on taxpayers' money and have got a nerve charging as much as they do. I bet it nearly killed them to make this app even partially free. They are a stodgy lot and have woken up too late to every smartphone already having enough maps.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 16:13 GMT theModge
Second the view that their data is better than most
I (like I suspect many here) have used the landranger series of maps extensively for hiking \ holiday planning type things ever since school and have always found that if you ever start to suspect the map is wrong, you yourself are not in fact where you thought you were.
From an IT perspective though what's interesting is that they've tried hard to stay up to date with data formats - all there data is available in various linked \ open formats (RDF) which is quite pleasing. http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ is the portal for that.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 17:07 GMT Fonant
If you want OS (down to 1:25,000 scale) and OpenStreetmap on your mobile device, I can strongly recommend ViewRanger. I have OS mapping for the detail and offline use, but can also switch to show OpenStreetmap data (which sometimes contains other information that's useful) if I have a data connection or if I've downloaded it previously. Couple that with route following and track recording, and it's very handy for walking or cycling. Buy the maps once and they're yours to use forever. Pay again only if you need updates.
For car route-finding there are various options, and nice to see HERE competing with Google in that area. For cycle route-finding there's CycleStreets which does a remarkably good job given the many obstacles to decent cycle route planning.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 20:35 GMT stu 4
DEFRA Magic
Christ on a bike who the fuck designed that website ? How broken can requirements gathering get, when that is the acceptable output of it.
The annoying thing - is it looks like a mine of awesome data, if it wasn't designed by a blind albanian…
tick a layer to show all subitems - oh no… just does fuckall..you need to individually tick every single subitem…..argggggg.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 21:13 GMT J.G.Harston
The difference between paper and electronic maps is that with paper I can spread 40km of mapping at 1:50,000 on a table and see all of it. With electronic maps I am ghettoised into the choice of 1:50,000 showing too little geography to be useful or 40km of geography too small to be useful.
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Thursday 5th February 2015 22:38 GMT Sid Smith
Have used the digitised OS app on Android devices. Very pretty and hi res, but the interface is poor and the map 'tiles' are expensive.
For some odd reason you can get OS maps via an American app called Back Country Navigator. There's a one-off payment of around £6 which gives you any slice of any OS map. The res is lower but very useable, and the interface is far better than OS's own.
For town maps I use Maps.Me. More detail than Google, and no fuss about downloading -- which is especially great for foreign trips.
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Friday 6th February 2015 00:31 GMT David Given
Maverick FTW
Free Android app with some nice features and no nagware which supports map tiles from a couple of dozen different sources --- including the Ordnance Survey. It switches seamlessly between 1:50000 and 1:25000. I mainly use it for the OS maps when in the UK and the OpenStreetmap maps outside. (Unfortunately it doesn't know about the Swiss mapping service maps, which is where I now live.)
Finding the OS map tiles is a bit fiddly; the UI's not great in that area. But once you've set it up you can switch between map sources with a couple of taps.
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Friday 6th February 2015 09:29 GMT Spotfist
Yawn!
Yawn, next they'll be telling us we can buy copies of there maps on "MAGNETIC TAPE! it's magic, the tape can remember data you put onto it and then you can retrieve it at any point in the future." Ordnance Survey, give yourselves a very slow round of applause.
With Google maps I can overlay a "satellite" image and if that's not good enough I can street view the flip out of the place, stick that in your trumpet Ordnance Survey!
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Friday 6th February 2015 12:03 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Yawn!
You're right they are a bit behind the times, but Google is the tool for you if you never leave the car.
You can't spot footpaths using Google earth (we have trees to thank for that) and Street View is limited to, well, streets. We don't have those in the countryside.
That screenshot is a frankenstein picture - Brokenhurst is on the A337, the picture is of Exeter (which is on the A377). And 4hrs to do 5miles - I think that's a pub crawl not a walk.
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Friday 6th February 2015 14:30 GMT Spotfist
Re: Yawn!
True but Google maps was only a single example that is built into my phone as a default. I do a lot of geocaching and wild camping and there have been map apps available for years now, with as much details as you want, I personally use c:geo with an offline map I got from mapsforge.
I assume the 5 down votes are from OS employees?
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Friday 6th February 2015 15:17 GMT TotallyInfo
Re: Yawn!
I agree with you in general though maybe not quite for the same reasons. Certainly they are about a decade behind the times as usual!
The main problem with Google maps for accurate navigation is that they are generally quite a bit out. At least 3-4m normally. This is due to their projection being based on a single height - not surprising due to most of the early data being satellite data.
On the other hand, OS are clearly deciding to totally ignore the most amazing work done by the OpenStreetMap guys and all their many contributers. This is social based so they have 10's of thousands of mappers worldwide and in many countries, the OpenStreetMap data is better than official maps. Paths - even those through small parks - are clearly marked as is a lot of other data and it is easy to contribute to.
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Friday 6th February 2015 16:39 GMT Spotfist
Re: Yawn!
I can actually live with the 3-4m error in Google maps or any other map app for that matter. If I'm on a path, road, hill I can generally make my own adjustment, the worst thing about Google maps and this is a killer is the fact it needs to "phone home" every time you put in a new destination, it pretty much has to connect no matter what you do and can be super annoying when out on dartmoor without a connection, in a car it's just dangerous!
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Friday 6th February 2015 12:03 GMT Quentin North
Galileo on iOS
Galileo on iOS provides OS maps fairly effectively and overlays Open StreetMap with offline cacheing and this is fine as far as it goes. As I have a canal boat, route planning for canals would be ideal with journey times including locks and notices of canal closures. Unfortunately the C&RT who run the canals stopped providing their useful plot your route and download a PDF service and I have yet to find a decent mapping app that will let you route plan canals apart from as a series of waypoints the same as walking.
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Friday 6th February 2015 20:41 GMT Fred Dibnah
Re: laminated
Tried that once, and in the downpour the water got under the plastic and all the ink ran. It's OS's plastic coated maps for me now, every time.
And is it only me who thinks that faint lines and pastel shades make a rubbish colour scheme for viewing maps on shiny screens in daylight? I want contrast, and lots of it, in a map, so's I can read it easily. Bah.
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Friday 6th February 2015 20:41 GMT Anonymous Coward
If OS...
Pull this off, they can have all the money they want from me for it.
I've used OS mapping in hardcopy for decades, both hiking and adventuring abroad, and in the military, and it's as near as infallible as mapping can get thanks to dedicated updates and revisions.
Google Maps on the other hand will take you three miles down a road that's been turned into a dead end for the last two years, forcing you to turn around, or give you a huge detour to a location because they haven't updated with the new road that's been there for over a year.
Fuck them.
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Saturday 7th February 2015 12:46 GMT Richard Cranium
For what it's worth, my hiking map solution:
I use Mapyx (OS 1:25k sometimes discount whole of UK to £120) on PC. Software is a bit quirky but my end result is better than Memory Map (who screwed me once too often).
I print out the walk area & route on laser printer (ink doesn't run if it gets damp), carry in a loose-leaf plastic folder-page so I have my route on one or two sheets of A4 folded in a back pocket, very light/compact. I often print a blown up image so it's easier to see detail & read the small print.
Lamination is relatively expensive, can still suffer water penetration, doesn't fold well. May be OK if you repeat the same routes a lot but I don't.
As back up I have the route on a basic GPS (no mapping) and I turn on track recording so if I vary the route I have a record.
The main value of the GPS is getting a grid reference. It has advantages over mobile phone: waterproof, 18 hour AA battery life, better satellite reception, attached with a lanyard, more robust.
I carry, but almost never use, the relevant OS 1:50k full sheet of the area - that's like carrying a basic first aid kit: hope never to need it but stupid not to have one. Similarly, always carry a compass.
For planning purposes Google maps satellite view can reveal paths (especially on open access land) not shown on OS or clarify some tricky navigation areas (e.g. around farm buildings, where field walls have been removed). Street view can be useful when planning a route which might involve a stretch of public road, possibly to preview where the footpath leaves the road and to check how safe the road might be for hikers (busy, no verge and tight bends - best avoided). Also if you need to go through a housing estate, satellite and/or street view can help pin-point features like alleyways between houses.
I tried mobile phone for rural route finding. Dismal battery life (GPS and the phone continually searching for rural network connection seem to gobble power), need to pre-load walk area (as likely no signal), in grim weather had to keep it inside my clothing and it got condensation inside the screen.
How fortunate we are in UK to have such high quality rural mapping.
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Saturday 7th February 2015 15:12 GMT Vic
Re: For what it's worth, my hiking map solution:
Lamination is relatively expensive, can still suffer water penetration
I guess that must depend on how you do your lamination; when diving, I generate tables[1] for the dive and laminate them. I've never suffered from water ingress, despite using the same tables many times on fairly deep dives...
Vic.
[1] with DDPlan - thanks Gordon!
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Tuesday 1st September 2015 15:31 GMT anonymous boring coward
My prediction: It won't take off since OS is "a government-owned company, 100% in public ownership."
Quote from wikipedia.
I think the digital maps should be free. Perhaps, if the owners could vote on it, they would be?
At the very least one should pay a very small fee for the regions one would like to use, and there should be no need to use the subscription model. Things don't normally change that fast in peoples immediate surrounding. My 10-15 year old maps still works fine. If a few new houses aren't on the map, big deal.
Anyhow, when did a goverment owned entity last time make something nice in the software realm?