OS Maps: Walk, Hike, Run, Bike Reviews

by Dr Poston

When I originally installed the apps and upgraded to Premium, everything worked fine. I logged out, but could never log back in with my premium subscription, both on the website and on the smart devices. I was finally able to log back on to their website but only by changing my password, which is ridiculous. And when I used the new password on my iPhone and iPad, in both cases I received the message that an unexpected error had occurred. Technical support did their best to help but the issue remains unresolved.

There’s another feature of OSMaps that is very annoying (this was before all my technical issues). The screen has a window with the option to start navigation. I only wanted to look at the route, not navigate. Unfortunately this window takes up a significant part of the screen, blocking a large part of the map. For some unknown reason, you can not close this window, and tech help said that OSMaps developers aren’t currently going to change it.

All in all, it’s a great app when it worked for me, and most people don’t appear to have had the problems I’ve experienced. I hope that tech people read this and do some more development work.

by Jonathan M.C.

I downloaded a paper map, checked all was good. Later drove to remote location with no mobile phone to do a hill walk. Opened OSMaps and nothing worked: it had logged me out and refused to show my downloaded map. There I was, in the wilderness, and no electronic map! Thankfully, I brought paper map. OSMaps is useless to me if it requires mobile data to operate on hill walks!

by Bucky Edgett

As of 2022-02-08, my copy can’t allow setting up account—with which to add more detailed maps—because “failed to retrieve country settings.” Blah.

As of 2022-02-13, now won’t even log me in because “failed to retrieve email server,” or soemthing. My email server is working fine. I am suspecting that this thing only works for people in the UK.

by Yankee Strider

Created a custom map of most of Pembrokeshire (250K) for an upcoming hike. Once it finished downloading, I zoomed in and out, scrolled, etc. It only took a few seconds for OS Maps to quit. I tried again with similar results. A separate custom online map of SE Wales had the same trouble.

I had fewer problems with paper map downloads (OS maps that have a digital activation code). This makes me think that OS Maps was not thoroughly tested with large offline maps (>250K).

I will make sure that I carry paper maps for now.

by CuttAngler

In July of 2016 I used OSMaps for walks in the Yorkshire Dales. I had planned the trip carefully, researching walk routes on the Internet, and downloaded about a dozen offline maps, a key feature of OSMaps , designed so you can view a map in a wilderness area without data connectivity. The maps saved ok, but I discovered when I tried to use them, that if I loaded a saved route on top of an offline map, it would crash immediately.. On my first walk I had to abandon OSMaps altogether and use a paper map. Later I discovered I could use OSMaps if I loaded the map I needed for the upcoming walk using wifi in my hotel. As long as I didn't save it, it would persist in cache and I could load saved routes on top of it. So I finished the trip using OSMaps that way. That's why a 2* rating. When I contacted customer support after my trip to report the problem, they admitted this was a known bug if you save more than "3 or 4" offline maps.

by Multatuli2

I’m a big user of Ordnance Survey hiking guides, particularly the Pathfinder series, but don’t see a way to integrate these routes into OSMaps .

Am I missing something?

by Jfsavage

Update. OSMaps works great with no internet connection. Disable mobile data for OSMaps and it works great.

Having purchased paper maps, I’ve used OSMaps to download the off-line version. OSMaps continually requires me to re-login, and I frequently have to re-download, or at least verify the download, before I can use the maps. Horribly flaky behaviour.

by AJSoaks

OSMaps developers are pretty casual with their users’ safety. Offline maps are an important safety tool on a hike and if you can’t rely on them being available (or if they’re not available at all zoom levels), it can be a risk to use them on a hike. Given that this is basically a government funded endeavour, it’s terrible how careless they are.

by Will505

Like OSMaps for the rights of
way and download map feature (which worked fine for our trip), but subscribe through the website and not in OSMaps . A one month subscription through OSMaps ran out on the last day of the month (after only 2 weeks) and not after 30 days. The in app subscription also didn’t reflect in our account on the website. Subscribing instead through the website also works for OSMaps and it lasts for the appropriate amount of time from activation (you might also be able to find a discount code for it).

by Alabama Brit

I got OSMaps just before starting out on a week-long walking holiday and was a little unsure about it as I love paper maps . It was incredibly useful. As we walked in the rain and on top of windy cliffs it was much easier to use OSMaps than do battle with a paper map. It can be used offline so internet connection isn't vital. The image quality is excellent. It doesn't get blurry when you zoom in or out. I like the feature that shows you exactly where you are and that you can record your routes and distances. The only slight issue I have with it is if you have it set to record your route and then try to move the map to see where you are heading (or zoom out) the map automatically centres back on your current location. But all in all a great addition to the OS range.

by DavidP 4200

All you get on trying to log in to the iPhone/iPad app is “Unknown error occurred. Please try again.” Really helpful.

I paid for the Premium version so that I could import routes. Just getting the login working on their site was a chore; their domain and session handling seems a mess. And now I find the iPhone app is effectively useless. Can I have my money back please?

by Trek Epic

We use OS Maps app all across the UK @TrekEpic, love it!!! Can't wait for our next walk!

by Demmie2020

For armchair travelers and walkers too.