Strategy For Using WalkHighlands GPX files with OS Maps

[Ben Nachie]

My HTC likewise dies in the cold and won't restart until warmed up and charged. I'd never rely on a phone as a primary means of navigation, especially in winter.

I use paper Maps and compass, with an old Garmin Foretrex as a backup.

[BobMcBob]

Odd, my iPhone 6 doest burn battery with the gps on. I only use it with memory map which sleeps in the background when not used.

Might depend on how you use it. I don't use GPS for navigating, but I have occasionally used a tracking device which records where I've been (I use it much more on the bike actually). That doesn't really sleep and I don't get much more than 6 hours out of an iPhone battery with it on, even in airplane mode. For that reason I don't really bother with it on the hills anymore, and if out on a long bike ride (70 miles +), I need to take a spare battery pack/charger for it.

If you are just using an app to see where you are, it could be quite different.

It does sound like they may have improved things in the newer models then. My iPhone 4 dies after less than 2 hours if recording a track, even in airplane mode. Enabling ViewRanger's iPhone specific power-saving features (which indicates they know of the problem too) makes it too inaccurate to be of any use - I sed it once on a 1 hour bike ride and each point on the track was at least a mile apart

[Phil the Hill]

I have a spare case with a (newer) second battery in it for my iPhone 6S, which more than doubles battery life. Seems to work fine with OS Maps for shorter day walks in England, but I wouldn't rely on it for a proper expedition into the Scottish hills, especially in cold weather.

I always carry a paper map and compass, but it's certainly handy to look at the map and see your exact position marked. Less likely to blow away at the summit too!

[Ben Nachie]

I always carry a paper map and compass, but it's certainly handy to look at the map and see your exact position marked. Less likely to blow away at the summit too!

That has happened to me once. I was on Liathach one windy winter's day when my 1:25000 Cuillin & Torridon Hills was unceremoniously ripped from hands. Last seen heading over Beinn Eighe...

Fell back on the 1:50000 series which have an unfortunate join at that point. At least I had them with me. Since then I've always used a map case with lanyard.

[Holly]

I use Viewranger and can get a good 9 hours out of it with my iphone. I carry an anker battery which will/does/has charged my phone fully from empty at least 3 times. I use the phone to take pics and videos as well so its works really well for me. Yes I have a map and a compass, and I know how to use them But if we are talking tech here,,,, Viewranger is very good.

[Billbobaggins]

I use Viewranger and can get a good 9 hours out of it with my iphone. I carry an anker battery which will/does/has charged my phone fully from empty at least 3 times. I use the phone to take pics and videos as well so its works really well for me. Yes I have a map and a compass, and I know how to use them But if we are talking tech here,,,, Viewranger is very good.

I’d second that about ViewRanger... in airplane mode it has always lasted me all day with quite a bit to spare. With a good waterproof case I’ve never had any problems

[Protanope]

I certainly appreciate all the helpful comments.

I've been exploring things unfamiliar to me in this general technical area and I have some additional unresolved concerns.

ACCURACY OF LOCATION - I doubt the cell phone system infrastructure itself needs to compute the physical location of a phone to manage the passing of signals from one cell tower to the next as the change in towers is more directly driven by signal strength itself as a phone gradually moves out of one tower's range into the range of another tower. So I'm guessing that mapping apps themselves are responsible for calculating a phone's location based on coordinates of towers (which towers provide) plus signal strength? The reason for this speculation is that VIEWRANGER on my phone places me hundreds of feet away from where I am sitting in my home, whereas I find that Google senses very well where I am when it gives me driving directions from the same phone. I'm thinking that my Garmin locates me more reliably than ViewRanger on my phone. Any comments?

I'm still having problems making my way through to success in getting ViewRanger to correctly display the location I intend it to show on a map by entering UK grid coordinates, but hopefully that is only a temporary obstacle. The point is that if the Garmin can tell me more precisely where I am, I'd like ViewRanger to display that location on a better map than I have in the Garmin. Thank goodness for paper!

VISIBILITY OF FINE DETAIL IN OS MAPS ON PHONE

I have an online subscription with OS Maps for full direct access using their OS Maps App. When I'm using their finest detail of map on my phone in the OS Maps App I can spread my fingers only so far to zoom into finer detail. The finest detail I can get is significantly less than how far I can zoom in using my iMac. The result is that the twists and turns on a path are much less visible on my phone to the point of helping to impair my assessments. So the question is: if I buy OS map tiles to use on ViewRanger ( a duplicate expense for me) will the Viewranger App allow me to see a fully zoomed OS topo map such that every twist and turn on a trail is clear?

Thanks to any for support.

[Protanope]

I goofed by failing to do something obvious related to my just previous post. I compared my location as portrayed in Google maps with my location portrayed in ViewRanger and BOTH are about the same location: hundreds of feet from where I am. Sorry.

[Protanope]

More observations: Google maps updates quickly and zeros in on the right location. So far I haven't got ViewRanger to fully adapt - it does improve accuracy but not as well as Google maps. It has a setting by which it turns off the GPS function after it get "an accurate fix". I can't seem to turn that "turn-off when accurate switch off" try as I may, although I do ask for the GPS function in ViewRanger to run continuously. It seems that ViewRanger's standard of being accurate comes to be within perhaps 250 feet of true location - not very tight. And even if I did get the GPS function in Viewranger to run more aggressively, this probably helps run down the battery which is an issue others have noted.

[Billbobaggins]

More observations: Google maps updates quickly and zeros in on the right location. So far I haven't got ViewRanger to fully adapt - it does improve accuracy but not as well as Google maps. It has a setting by which it turns off the GPS function after it get "an accurate fix". I can't seem to turn that "turn-off when accurate switch off" try as I may, although I do ask for the GPS function in ViewRanger to run continuously. It seems that ViewRanger's standard of being accurate comes to be within perhaps 250 feet of true location - not very tight. And even if I did get the GPS function in Viewranger to run more aggressively, this probably helps run down the battery which is an issue others have noted.

I just turn mine on and it works... seems accurate enough to me and certainly not 250 feet out.

[Ben Nachie]

I goofed by failing to do something obvious related to my just previous post. I compared my location as portrayed in Google maps with my location portrayed in ViewRanger and BOTH are about the same location: hundreds of feet from where I am. Sorry.

Does this happen all the time, in all locations?
I'm thinking maybe you are indoors and have no GPS reception. Step outside for a few minutes and try again.

[Ben Nachie]

Do you have 'location services' enabled in your phone's settings? If you don't then your apps cannot access the GPS device in your phone and will fall back on the location of the cell phone mast that you happen to be connected to.

[Protanope]

I am encouraged by Billbobaggins response.

Ben Nachie - my only errror in my 3 recent posts was posting the 2nd post too quickly. I do indeed have location services turned on for the Apps I have mentioned.

I'm out of the country which impairs me assessing the accuracy of the OS Maps App, but I tried the next best thing and compared the OS Locate App to my Garmin Montana and I found they said I was 14 metres apart from myself. I'd say that is better accuracy than I am getting with ViewRanger, but in theory one could use OS Locate App in conjunction with ViewRanger if you care that much. Bilbo says he finds it unnecessary.

Bottom line for me is I want to have my Garmin Montana along with me even if only for secondary use.

NOBODY has yet commented on the problem I noted getting fine map details from the OS Maps App and whether Viewranger allows better zooming in. I'm so ridiculously cheap I haven't yet bought a tile to test it - aversion to duplicating the cost of OS Maps for which I was possibly unwise to buy an online subscription!

[BobMcBob]

Viewranger allows you to download the 1:25000 OS map tiles so you'll get the same resolution as on OS Maps. It uses GPS to determine your location, it does not use the phone network at all, indeed it'll run without any phone signal.

Your inaccuracy is almost certainly due to having the power saving features enabled. I assume you're using an iPhone? Switch all the power saving features off and it'll be as accurate as OS maps.

[Protanope]

BobMcBob

Thank you for your comment: I was aware that my iPhone could estimate location without having phone call capability but had mistakenly assumed some degraded ability to triangulate off of distant cell towers. Your flat declaration of GPS capability caused me to do a little research and indeed you are right. However, Garmin devices are superior in a North American context because of the ability to also use better information available about variations in atmospheric density affecting sat signals. It appears the iPhone would be superior in a European context where the ability to use a different source of such atmospheric information comes into play in a way the Garmin device isn't built to use. My experience is mostly in Canada.

I don't usually use power saving features set on my phone because recharging either in the car or in any building is typically available with no less than 12 hours delay. The way I use my phone, that works for me.

With respect to 1:25000 OS Maps: I get a different level of ability to zoom in on those maps depending on whether I access them on my desktop machine so the limit is 100 ft on the map being about 7/8 inch on my screen. If I try to access the same OS Map using the OS Maps App on my iPhone I am severely limited in the degree to which I can zoom in the 1:25000 maps to the point that the twists and turns in some paths are not fully and correctly represented consistent with what I can see accessing the same map on my iMax. So the question is, if I accessed that same map through a purchased map tile on ViewRanger, would my ability to zoom in to see all the details be impaired similarly to how it is impaired in Ordinance Survey's own iPhone Map App?

Thank you for your consideration.