The other day I was discussing the secret feature of OS Map app, that is (in my opinion) a real game changer to finding hikes and walks in your surrounding area – especially during this lockdown. Since then, I’ve luckily been able to get a day of beautiful weather to explorer a route, and use the app, and so I thought I’d take a moment to review my first experience with it.
Pros
Let’s start with what I really enjoyed from using the app:
Great Design
The whole app is well-designed with a real feeling that thought and care has been taken about its layout and general use. It is clear within a few minutes of playing, that the app has not gone down the generic map app approach, and instead thinking about it’s key users: Walkers, Runners & Cyclists. The maps are clean and very clear.
The detail on the unlocked maps (from purchasing and linking your Ordnance Survey map to your account), is second to none. I can not overemphasise the crispness and clean details on the map.
Route Suggestions
Genuinely a game changer for me. I often find with my anxiety I stick to what I know. It is difficult for me to break out of the ‘known’ to explore and have adventures outside my comfort zone. This unfortunately means I am stuck doing the same old routes, which discourages me from going out in the first place.
As I trust Ordnance Survey, and have done since I was an 8-year-old cub scout, the routes there are automatically trusted too. I know that they are safe, and I am able to push my anxiety to one side knowing (and seeing) exactly where I am meant to be on the map at what time. The routes are graded as leisurely to crazy difficult (not the official terms lol), all the information is there.
I also used the “Offline Maps” feature, which obviously saved the route to my phone, giving me an additional piece of mind that I wasn’t relying on the cell tower signals. But saying that, I also took the OS Map I purchased too ‘just in case’ – as it was my first time using the app (like I said, anxiety).
Cons
Lack of Lock screen map
Frustratingly, I have been trained (rightly or wrongly) by other map apps that my phone’s lock screen will display my map / route. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the case on the OS Map App. So each time my short-term memory issues arose, for example ‘am I turning left before or after these woods I’m approaching?’, then I had to stop hiking, login with my passcode to then answer my question.
I totally appreciate I am a rare situation, however I’m sure I asked that question 4 or 5 times while I was hiking towards those woods. Each time having to stop and check. I’d really appreciate the option within the app to turn on lock screen maps to allow ‘at a glace’ reference, that I am so used to from using a paper map for years.
Apple Watch
Viewranger App has the ability to use your Apple Watch to see map / route.
The Apple Watch integration is unfortunately disappointing. The notifications for being ‘off course’ were quiet and almost missed several times. Only saving grace in my situation was I realised the track I was on was snaking down a hill, and the route had used straight lines to illustrate the data. This is in my mind, totally forgivable. The system was responding correctly in the situation, just the situation was thankfully fine.
The disappointing element was the lack of haptic feedback from the watch. Once again, I may have been trained by other Map apps to assume this – especially while driving, however if the app knows my location and route, surely haptic feedback when I should be turning left and right would be an awesome addition. Maybe a countdown vibration to the turn every few metres, then a clear arrow on the watch screen. This simple addition would completely change my opinion of the quick reference map, as mentioned above. A quick, clear glance to be able to navigate seamlessly would be an outstanding addition. As mentioned before, I am a rare breed of user. I totally appreciate that in my review.
Weird glitches
Finally, a few little teething issues I encountered while on and preparing for my hike:
- I was on a loop route. The route percentage tracker stayed at 0% the whole route round. I later realised that because I didn’t start specifically at the start/finish point for the route, but joined and finished a little way from that point due to where I live, the app didn’t acknowledge I had started the route. There doesn’t seem to be a way to move, personalise or trigger your start/finish point on a loop route.
- While browsing the routes available to you on the app, there are sometimes clusters of routes starting from the same area – symbolised by a number. Once you click a route from the list to review, there doesn’t seem to a way to return directly to the list. Instead, you have to come out of the area of the app, then go back to repeat the ‘search’. Even then, the routes seem to be in a different arrangement, so you lose track of where you left off.
- Distance measurements are either Kilometres or Miles. Unfortunately I am the weird generation that knows miles for long distances, but metric for short distances. A great addition would be the ability to set the app to use a combination of metrics depending on your preference on short and long distances. For example, the route is 3.8 miles, in 10 metres turn right.
Conclusion
This app is definitely a must get for adventurers and explorers. The quality of the app is truly excellent, and you can tell that a lot of time and effort has been invested in it. The clarity of the maps themselves, and the ability to change the version of the map you’re using on the fly, is genius work. All my niggles are just those, mainly because I feel these small additions would take the app from excellent to superb. It’s almost through frustration that the team has clearly envisioned and executed on a terrific app, that all these small niggles are overshadowing their overall brilliant work.
If you’re wanting to do something new, get a map, input your code printed on the map cover in the app, and get outside! It’s really that simple.
OS Map App
Free
Pros
- Clean & Modern Design
- Lightweight App - No crashes
- Route Suggestions, with offline maps
Cons
- No Lockscreen Map
- Poor Apple Watch intergration
- Search for routes needs improvement
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