I'm also a refugee from VR/OA. Viewranger suited me perfectly, and alongside 'proper' map and compass navigation, I could actually use it on the hill to quickly check stuff like 'how much more ascent do I have until I get to the top?'. OA seems to be completely useless as a genuine navigational aid. I decided to shoot them off an email venting my spleen and seeing if they have any plans to improve this. I will let you know if they give anything other than useless platitudes in return.
Hello,
Until recently I was a subscriber to the ViewRanger service, which has now merged with Outdooractive, and as such my ViewRanger subscription no longer works and I no longer have access to OS mapping via that app, and I have switched to the Outdooractive app instead, with a Pro subscription.
Unfortunately, my impression of the Outdooractive app is rather negative by comparison to the previous app I had used, as some extremely useful information is not displayed by this app.
I will illustrate the issue with reference to one of the ways I found the ViewRanger app most useful. When syncing the app to my current GPS location, I was able to instantly have my OS grid reference and altitude displayed in a top bar. On the Outdooractive app, while altitude is displayed, I have to go fishing into the compass screen to get a grid reference for my location.
I was also previously able to slew the map around, and have the top info bar display the grid reference for the screen centrepoint, the altitude of that point, and the horizontal and vertical distance to that point. This was incredibly useful for quickly checking distance to a point (whether this was a summit, a terrain feature etc) within a few seconds. The Outdooractive map does not seem to have this ability at all. I can display GPS co-ordinates for a point by holding that point on the screen, but not an OS grid reference, and it does not display the altitude, nor the distance (horizontal, or vertical). This limits the usefulness significantly.
I have attached two screenshots illustrating the difference between the ViewRanger and Outdooractive apps. Note that obviously, ViewRanger no longer has the OS mapping which is universally used in the UK.
Also, when co-ordinates are displayed for a selected point, it is easy to scroll left or right on the displayed co-ordinates - I did so, thinking that this might lead to displaying the altitude of this point, or an OS grid ref, but instead this completely changes the map screen to displaying premade routes in Austria, which is...an interesting design decision if nothing else, but completely counterproductive.
ViewRanger was really actually quite useful for navigation in mountainous areas. Unfortunately, the main design ethos behind the Outdooractive app seems to be based around following and sharing routes onscreen. I don't particularly care about community sharing of somebody else's routes. I want to use this as a serious navigational tool, which I was previously able to do until Outdooractive took over. Given that I had no choice in this move, that I had paid my subscription for the services that ViewRanger offered, you can understand my abject disappointment at this very significant downgrade in capability.
Please let me know what plans you have to improve the usefulness of the app for actual navigational use in the UK. As it stands, I feel I have a significantly less capable, less powerful tool in my hands than I had before. If there are concrete plans to significantly improve this, I would consider staying with Outdooractive. As it stands however, this app does not meet my needs, and my intention will be to find another service which does meet my needs.
Best wishes,