Good iPhone Mapping Apps

[Mikey P]

In case anyone out there is interested in iPhone nav apps, I'll tell you about a few I've been using. Please don't let this thread degrade into a 'you shouldn't be using mobile phones for nav' and 'you should be able to read a map', etc. I can read a map and use a compass, thank you very much, and I always have both when I'm out in the hills. In fact, I'm pretty damn good at micro nav and have plenty of experience in whiteouts and low cloud in the Scottish mountains and the Alps, so lets put that one to bed now.

However, sometimes I like to play with other nav gadgets like my Garmin Vista HCx and my iPhone 3G. All of the following iPhone apps are available through the iTunes store.

The first app is 'NavFree', a satnav app for UK and ROI. It's free and it's based on Open Source Mapping (OSM). This means it isn't quite as reliable as, say, OS mapping, but it's getting much better and I have had few problems with it. For free, it's brilliant! Be aware that it is nearly 500mbyte in size so make sure you have a wireless connection to your phone when downloading, or download to your computer first and then transfer it to the iPhone. I got a car charger and phone cradle on eBay for £5 and now use this whenever I need satnav. Excellent.

The second app is 'Outside Maps'. It's free and allows you to download OS map tiles so you can use them later offline, without being connected to a wireless WIFI or 3G system. Download the tiles you want and then delete them afterwards to maintain memory on the phone. The app also allows some rudimentary navigation.

Finally, 'Maps 3D' allows you to load offline mapping, based on OSM, and - I love this bit - shows it in 3D too so you can see what the terrain actually looks like on the ground. Love it! It's geared towards biking but is use as applicable to hiking/walking. There is a free 'Lite' version or you can pay a measly couple of quid for the full version.

Looks like Apple are also going to release some 3D mapping software soon too so look forward to that!

Hope this helps anyone looking for cheap/free mapping apps for iPhone. There are lots out there but most are garbage and these three do genuine work and have worked well for me.

[myotis]

Thanks for this, I've just downloaded outside maps to my iPad and it looks a useful bit of software.

Are there any paid for apps that you think are worth a look?

Graham

[Mikey P]

Yeah - definitely the 'Maps 3D' paid version. Try the Lite version first, though. You can save off-line map tiles for use when you have no and I really quite like the app.

[myotis]

Thanks again, I wil have a look at this as well.

Graham

[dave53]

thanks for the heads up got em all regards dave

[BareThrills]

Im a big fan of Navfree, like you say it gets better all the time. I used to have some issues early on but the recent updates have made it very reliable. Ive been comparing it against my garmin and the built in nav in the car and it always gets me there.

I will look at some of the mapping apps you suggest as they seem a good idea. I use memory map currently and find it great but these look cheaper to run.

Thanks for sharing

[spandit]

I've got TomTom on my iPhone which is excellent, albeit expensive

I've also got MotionX which is cheap and great for logging walks/drives etc.

[Mikey P]

I had MotionX for a while and I quite liked it - as you say, it's very good for logging routes and you do see MotionX output more and more. I removed it as I found I just wasn't using it that much but that is no slight on the capability of the app - it's very well made.

[kiltedpict]

I do have a Satmap Active 10 but on the iPhone I have Co-Pilot sat nav for the car, MotionX for general wanders and the Geocaching app from Geocaching.com for... well, geocaching.

I used to have Viewranger on my older phone (pre iPhone) which was very good indeed.

KP

[geordienemisis]

When I had my iPhone i used Memory Map

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