Iphigénie | The Hiking Map App Reviews

by Hatuxka

IphigénieTheHikingMapApp, being free and utterly simple seems at first another insignificant free app. BUT in action traveling throughout several regions including around Paris IphigénieTheHikingMapApp is an amazing tool. With a 3G or MiFi based wifi connection and using the GPS-equipped iPad, one can access detailed roadmaps without unfolding the very large, expensive and diabolically folded road maps common sold in France in the front seat, cutting off the driver's view and generally causing nervousness in the midst of trying not to miss still ANOTHER exit or a haphazardly posted road sign. Instead you can quickly access your region, your route itself, and expand to incredible detail or get a regional view. Plus, you location is shown by a little icon that is animated and not too small but not too big to be distracting. Get this if you plan to travel in France by car and by the time you will be there will be micro SIMs you can pop in and you've got a mobile stack of French roadmaps for free (right now). Saved us at least twice from being lost or ending up on the wrong auto route, which in France is a costly (literally) mistake.

by Logicalnot

App extrêmement limitée. Vous n'êtes habilités qu'à zoomer et vous déplacer dans une carte de France. Certes la qualité des cartes dépasse largement l'offre de Google map mais l'absence des fonctionnalités les plus basiques est atterrante.

Affichage d'escargot (app volontairement bridée! pour inciter à l'achat d'un module payant.)
Pas de possibilité de recherche (l'achat d'un module est également obligatoire)
Pas de bookmarks
Pas de cartes vectorielles (on a faire a des
Pas d'options d'affichage (n'avoir que le réseau routier par exemple)
Pas de liens directs pour email
Pas de liens vers panoramio
Pas de liens vers Wikipédia
Pas de possibilité d'export (jpeg, Email, etc.)
Interface peu pratique : le menu caché disparaît aussitôt apparu)
Stratégie marketing... critiquable: faites simple, offrez une app lite et app pro.

Conclusion: cette app est une pré-beta prématurée, et semble avoir été mise sur le marché pour faire plaisir à un chef de service non qualifié. La France quoi.

by Glennhill

App wants $$.$$ for 1-year license !? That's not ?Free"
For the money wanted get yourself a Michelline Map with far far more details, or rely on maps.google in Safar.
Minus 5 Stars. Truly I mean it.
You guessed it, I deleted within minutes.

by Jb1607

I paid for the renewal, still no access. ....sad and frustrating

by ZenWitch

This is a demo with little functionality and FAR LESS functionality than the free Google Maps, which works perfectly throughout France. When you start up, you will see a notification saying, “Licenses server: To subscribe to the service see the info page.” You must go to the in-app subscription page to buy the full version for US$5.99 AND to get the Geoportail license you must pay US$16.99 after the one free month for a one-year subscription. Being able to search for a specific address is only available in the Vmax module

Just to compare IphigénieTheHikingMapApp with the included Google Maps I search Menton, France, the last main town going up the Côte d'Azur (aka French Riviera) before Italy. When trying to get down to street level, iPhiGeNie couldn’t show any detail at all that would make it useful: No street names, no points of interest, and no route numbers. Maps easily showed all of that, plus could pin point my exact location, track where movement, and it’s free!

The best part of IphigénieTheHikingMapApp is the maps are the indigenous maps showing details you would see if you bought a folding map with terrane, elevation, and surface but not necessarily street detail. Having said all that, I probably actually would be IphigénieTheHikingMapApp and pay the subscription fee if I did a lot of driving or was an avid explorer or more remote areas. Then I could see it being very useful as a supplement to Maps. But to just find my way around, just use Google Maps. (Note well: You do need a 3G iPad/iPhone to get real-time tracking of your current location. You do NOT have to subscribe to a 3G service to get this. 3G iPads/iPhones have the GPS tracking built-in independently of whether you have cell service or not.)

by Short Tack

After MotionX Drive failed to load local maps in France due to a (permanent) network error, I switched to IphigénieTheHikingMapApp as a navigation aid. Pleased with the ability to see where we were and where we were going, especially on country roads in the middle of Normandy. We even got (briefly) on a farm track that was mapped as a country road. (It was), but we knew how to route around.

For most travelers, the ability to pre-load any level of map detail via WiFi will keep your France data downloads to a minimum, and save huge amounts of money on a one or two week trip. The iPad ability to zoom out and then zoom in to the 200 meter level is great and much appreciated.

My wife the Navigator liked IphigénieTheHikingMapApp so much she wants an iPad.

Note: the tracking and planning features are rudimentary. And you'll have to pay for a map update subscription after a few months, so one strategy would be to buy/install the month of your trip.

Overall, I would use MotionX Drive if it worked in France as it has turn-by-turn voice instructions.

Bon voyage!

by Longshadows

The price is extremely good value and the maps supported are excellent and up to date, but the interface is cryptic. The support documentation is all in French. So, unless you have a pretty good grasp of French, be warned.

I downloaded a section of maps for the Dordogne region, for off-line use to avoid data rates, taking up a lot of space on my iPad, but I have no idea how to delete them, after I return from holiday and no longer need them.

Okay, this is French mapping program, but get real, many English-only speaking people travel to la belle France and would enjoy IphigénieTheHikingMapApp. I'd give it five stars, if it had English documentation.

by Bonrandonnee

Ok, so obviously several reviews are in English and the lack of English documentation is an issue they should address eventually. But as it is--for me at least--things speak for themselves! It's maps, people: you zoom in and out and back and forth and voila, all of France is on your device. I'm currently one month into a year-long hiking journey in France and the $16 price has paid for itself dozens of times over (each IGN map, printed, is not only cumbersome and heavy, but quite expensive) already. The GR trails are extensively mapped and nearly *every* feature is named and displayed, from the Louvre to ramshackle outhouses in Provence. The trail blazes themselves are sometimes sparse and less than perfect; it is then that IphigénieTheHikingMapApp is worth its electronic weight in gold. DO YOUR RESEARCH to determine if it's the right app for you, and take advantage of the English section on their website's forum BEFORE you buy. Do that, and I promise you'll thank your lucky etoiles for IphigénieTheHikingMapApp every day.