Outdooractive 4+

Still Meh as top review outlines

The take over from ViewRanger should have afforded a good platform for UK users and the developers chance to build on brand strengths. However, the use of their own topography maps in place of the standard coloured key open cycle/open maps means the chance to plot a route is lost when doing anything other than walking. The choice to upgrade to an even higher subscription for cycle specific maps is pure greed, especially when the ViewRanger app had a good set of accessible tools at a reasonable price, all of which have easy to use map key.

The Pro subscription at least continues with OS maps but for the love of God, please make a key for the other map types and differentiate between a bridleway and a footpath. Trying to plot hookups on a bike trail without breaching a footpath is near impossible with the standard lines used in Outdoor Active maps and the colour removal from Open Street Maps is naughty. Colour is the way forward, not a different length line that is impossible to tell unless super zoomed in. Red and green work for all other maps…surely you can do this. ViewRanger did this and flipping between both allowed good checking and quick ease of use when plotting.

You took the ability to plot routes out of ViewRanger but didn’t account for UK users needs or why they opted for the app, so come on, sort it out. And don’t be greedy with it.

Handy app for hiking

I have recently tried out a few walking apps and I liked View Ranger the best. I then saw that they were merging with Outdooractive so I thought I’d give it a try. I used the app in real time today on a walk and I thought it was good.

I like how you don’t have to have your phone unlocked the whole time as you can scroll down on the lock screen and see how long you have left to walk and other information. It originally had km but I quickly changed to miles in the settings. I liked how you could take photos of your route and it saved at that point on the map. I had a try of the Skyline feature which showed the names of the landmarks as you hover your camera over them. My only niggle with this is that is showed some landmarks that were miles away and I wanted to just save a photo of the interesting points I could see in front of me. Perhaps there is a way to narrow the distance on this feature. Also, I liked how when I went off track, the voice in the app alerted me while my phone was locked in my pocket.

Overall, I am happy with it but I have given four stars for now; I had to do quite a bit or research on the website to understand how to use it and I still feel like I have a lot to learn. It is also hard to edit routes that you search for as you have to export and import them again to do simple edits.

Serious potential but expensive

This is a very comprehensive app with lots of map types and has too much to review properly here. However, I would like to highlight a couple of issues that have prevented me from going past the trial period. 1. The direction indicator attached to the location marker is too small to see (I’m over 60 and need to use reading glasses for small/feint things) On a cold hillside in the Lakes having to remove outer gloves to get to my glasses was an issue, even then I could barely see it! My wife who wears glasses had the opposite issue, having to remove her outer glove to shift her glasses to see. Please use something like OS maps red arrow head or a blue fan like most other apps to show direction. I know you can double press the location arrow to to make the map move to sight your route but that leads me to my second point. 2 as it was very cold I was using liner gloves with touch screen patches, as the location arrow is in the corner next to the menu at the bottom I kept catching the menu and changing the page, so frustrating! Then having to remove my glove in serious wind chill to change it back was not pleasant. As my review is titled great potential but fundamental issues need to be addressed before paying this much money.
April 2024- any chance this request will be actioned this year?

Developer Response ,

Hi Need for good music, Thank you for your review. We are always looking to improve our users' experience, and we appreciate this feedback on the location & direction indicators. If there is anything additional you would like to see in the app, please contact our Support Team at service@outdooractive.com.