Which App is best?

Circling back to this topic. For traveling I found OsmAnd with imported iOverlander data pretty much exactly what I was looking for. It actually does have a good amount of non-paved roads in many areas, works world-wide (with different data granularity), is 100% offline, navigation is fine, is highly customizable.

We've used it for our Alaska trip last year and it worked exactly as expected. Gaia wouldn't have worked at all. Ever tried to download maps for the entire Pacific Coast plus BC, Yukon, NWT, Alaska with any of these local trail apps?

If the goal is the occasional track or trail here and there – Gaia or OnX will likely work just fine. If the goal is travel, potentially international, these apps are utterly useless as they require WAY too much handholding, prep, and are utterly incompetent in normal navigation. For travel, I'd get a Garmin Tread or OsmAnd on a small(ish) tablet. I'm using it on an 8" iPad and find that to be perfect.
 
For traveling, here's a sample screenshot from our trip last year, showing potential camp spots (imported from iOverlander, dark green being official or semi-official places, light green are "wild-camping" spots):

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cug said:
For traveling, here's a sample screenshot from our trip last year, showing potential camp spots (imported from iOverlander, dark green being official or semi-official places, light green are "wild-camping" spots):

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I'm a sucker for open-source stuff, very interesting, thanks for the share!
 
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obchristo said:
Backpacker/Mountaineer first, Overlander second.

After about 10 years I finally left the Gaia platform. The last price increase did it for me. Gaia has been going downhill in tems of stability and growth since Outside bought it and the original developers left. I looked at OnX but it's siloed for different activities and I'm not playing that game.

I ended up going with CalTopo after running it and Gaia side by side for about 6 months. For my usage, it's mostly better. It's Satelite coverage is better quality and is updated more often. The maps print out better. It's more stable. Better folder organization.

There are a couple things about CalTopo that bug me. Only North orientation- no orientation based on movement. Definatly more annoying for vehicle based travel. By default- custom maps are saved for 7 days, not indefiantely. Gotta remember to change that with each map I create. Snap feature when creating routes seems a bit more finiky. I have to remeber that I am still early in with CalTopo so I will get better with time and experience.

I can tell you I am NOT missing app mvvmhabit Gaia- except for the Nat Geo maps- particularly the Baja Maps.
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ChatGPT said:
Has anyone here used LeadNav?
 
I have really liked GAIA, but lately at the encouragement of some friends have been trying the OnX app premium tier and the more I understand, the more I find it useful for route planning and finding good side quests!
 
In most of my travels, GAIA was what I used in just about every trip. The $35/yr was just at the sweet spot for an app of this caliber. Once it jumped up to $60/yr, I was out. That’s just crazy.
I used OnX for a while; however, a tad overbearing on the amount of data shown. I love doing my own route planning and the ability to hide gpx files not relevant to the current trip that GAIA offers is fantastic. I’m not sure if OnX offers the same thing, but having to opt out and trying to figure that out wasn’t within the realm of my patience spectrum.
I use a few different apps now, Trails Offroad, Avenza Maps and good ol’ Google Earth for reference.I still have the free versions of GAIA & OnX, I’m just not paying subscription prices for them anymore.
 
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