About maps in general raster vs. vector features advantages, drawbacks and limits

Maybe "bigger picture" topics for the FAQ section? And other tutorial topics in the How To section? The manual is good on the what, but could be improved on the why. I should say there are some "big player" competing GPS apps that have no user manual at all, so Locus is already infinitely better.

okay, thanks for a tip for a knowledge base topic. I'll take care of it.

Hello,

Do you have any comments or answers to these questions/topics?

Thanks.

'm sure, some questions are answered in meantime.

so what do you miss?

I’m a thorough person and try to gather as much information as I can.

This was also the case before I have posted the above questions here. The reason: I couldn’t get the information from your sites (and also from other sites).

Since I’m not an expert in this field, and I haven’t attended any classes about this topic in the past weeks, I still don’t have ANY answer to ANY of the above questions; i.e. NONE of my above questions have been answered.

I know just as much about those questions (i.e. NOTHING) just like before.

If you don’t have the time for a thorough FAQ article or an extensive knowledge base topic, then please try to answer these questions with short answers.

Many thanks for your help – and also for this great software!

Well, I could try to answer each question in the original post, but pls allow me to state the following:

I always use vector maps from openandromaps: they are recent, they come with good themes (also on openandromaps) and ... it just works great. I recommend these maps to anyone that steps into using Locus (or cgeo).

The guys at OAM update the maps regularly (every month about); the maps can be auto-loaded into Locus via Chrome_on_Android; all countries (I want) are offered. When I go abroad I load the latest map (eg NL is 500mb) and all pocket queries and I can happily oflline do it all.

Working with OAM in combination with their themes is wonderful: via the themes you can make Locus show whatever you want (from car pov or hike pov), especially now with the new theme system in Locus. Read this for more: http://help.locusmap.eu/topic/amount_of_place_names_on_vector_maps#comment-18762

Hello R50,

Thanks for your generous help.

From what you say and from the info that can be found on the OpenAndroMaps.org web site, it seems that using their vector maps goes without question.

May we assume that the OAM vector maps are direct competitors to Locus? Even more so because they are free, while the Locus maps are paid-for maps?

So (besides the other 3 questions) the main question arises again:

How do the OAM vector maps compare to Locus vector maps?

Now I can see two advantages; they are free, and more importantly, they have better themes, in which you can select more granularly which items to display on the map.

I can’t yet see any drawbacks compared to Locus vector maps.

Do Locus vector maps offer ANY advantages compared to OAM vector maps?

Thanks for your help.

All the best!

I must admit I never used the Locus vector maps myself. But having used the OAM maps for quite some time now, I can say I am missing nothing. Especially combined with the themes (which I expect work equally well with any vector map, also from Locus), I take out the views that match my need at the time: when in car I switch to 'car' obviously, but when in field I often use one of the themes like the new ones now, or 'volatile': that brings out the smallest track in the woods, but now highlighted nicely. I just think that working with Locus icw vector maps plus themes is magic.

Thanks.

It seems that you are a more experienced user than me.

I think that the other powerful mobile mapping/navigation application is Orux.

Can you tell me how does it compare to Locus?

What are its strengths and weaknesses against Locus?

Obviously I would be more interested in its advantages, if there is any.

E.g. is Orux capable of adding waypoints to a route AFTER the recording is finished? Locus can’t.

See also here: http://help.locusmap.eu/topic/ability-to-add-waypoints-to-an-already-saved-track

I admit I know of Orux and installed it a few times, but deleted it again. Somehow it did not click back then (2 years ago?). I use Locus mainly for geocaching. I do not do that much with tracks or navigation. In my car I have a TomTom that I 'helped' and load in the same pocket queries (after conversion with GPSBabel). When I started geocaching I used an Android phone and I am still doing that. No Garmin for me. And I always surprise many a cacher with the tricks I can pull off with the tool set on Android. Only the battery life is the shitty thing, obviously. Before I moved into Locus I used CGeo: I also respect these guys, they work hard to keep up with GC changes, but basically the native level of integration (API) from LocusPro+geocaching4locus gives a lot more and a lot smoother than CGeo can. Plus the feature set of Locus is unbeatable. At the same time that kinda also beats Locus itself as the same hord of cachers knows of Locus but somehow cannot get to work with it. People always ask me 'how to do this and that'. Normally I then take their phone and fully config Locus and send them off.

When you run into useful features then just propose it on this forum. The guys are more than willing!

That brings me to another pro of using Locus: it is fun because of the way it is supported. When I report something, the countdown starts and surely Menion will reply within 0.02 ms :) The level of interaction between 'clients and supplier' is great. I like to use Open or Closed SW that is being supported like that. Compare it to another fun piece like XBMC/Kodi. That is the way to hook up people to your product and bring it to real life. Now I start to sound a bit over the top, so I stop. Just use Locus, step over the learning curve you will not be disappointed.

Sorry, forgot to check beforehand: 1.1GB versus 129.9MB.

I've compared (by switching back and forth) the Ireland maps from both sources (using the same theme from OAM for both), and if there are differences I didn't find them.

There is one rather intangible difference: what to pay? Christian from OAM offers his maps for free, but keeping maps for just about the whole world up to date certainly isn't free for HIM, so he relies on donations - how much do you give?

With Locus it's a straight business deal: you pay a very small amount of money, for which you get a map.

Decide for yourself which scenario you prefer.

I've looked again - this time at a hilly area; there ARE some differences.

I'll try to add four screenshots:

Built-in theme "Stadt" (town or city), OAM theme Elevate XL, both first with OAM, then with Locus.

Nr.

and the fourth

Ooops - number 2 seems to have been lost in transmission. Here it is.

It seems I'd better call it a day; suddenly number 2 is back - no idea why.

Just ignore the fifth picture.

Joachen,

1. you should add all images into one post

2. it is always needed to compare map + theme from same source. Locus Maps with OAM themes may cause troubles, as well opposite.

3. there definitely have to be any differences in visual side, but content should be very similar as both maps use same data sources

4. you are correct. Most people consider OAM as they are free, but without Donations, they can't exists. We do not receive any donations, so our price is here to cover cost of server side solution and partially a time of Petr (employee of Asamm soft.), who take care about creating of these maps.

Just my two cents ...

Thanks for uploading these screenshots.

Really there aren’t big differences – one might try both maps, and especially the various themes.

Off-topic:

The other thing (ability to add waypoints to already saved tracks) which is equally very important and a fundamental thing imo, is yet to be tried out whether OruxMaps is capable of doing or not.

For the discussion about this and voting, see here:

http://help.locusmap.eu/topic/edit-track-creation-of-waypoints

It's about time to close this topic so let's do it quickly:

1 - Free vs. paid

All free online maps are raster maps? - Yes.

All maps that can be downloaded from Locus Store for permanent off-line usage are vector maps? - No.

2 - Raster vs. vector

Please shed some light on the different kinds of maps, in general. What important characteristics do they have? What are the differences? - the main difference is in the way of rendering - vector maps are rendered in the app from raw data, raster maps are just images (tiles) seamlessly patched to create a map,

Size? In general, for the same area, the size of a vector map is how many percent of the size of a raster map? - vector data amount to cca 10%-20% of raster data

Which is more detailed? Can it be said that vector maps are (nearly) always more detailed – or occasionally a raster map has more details? - it depends on the map provider, mapped area etc.

Let me remark that for Slovakia, not the Locus vector map is the most detailed. - Locus vector maps are rendered from OSM source and OSM community in Slovakia obviously is not active enough.

The SHOCart map has time embedded into the map, so for trek tour purposes, I deem it more detailed and more usable than Locus vector map. - Yes that's right, the reason is given above.

But again: what generalizations can be said about Locus vector maps (especially against other maps)? What advantages do they have compared to different kinds of raster maps? - See http://docs.locusmap.eu/doku.php?id=manual:user_guide:maps_locusmaps

Are there drawbacks, too? - drawbacks are the same as with other OSM based maps - some areas are not properly mapped

3 - Online vs. off-line

Are online maps always raster maps? - Yes.

Are offline maps most of the time vector maps? - No.

4 - OpenAndroMaps

What can be said about OpenAndroMaps?

I see that they offer vector maps for free. - That's the answer of the previous question.

How do those vector maps compare to Locus vector maps? - The data base is the same (OSM), the mapkey is different

Advantages? Drawbacks? - the same as with LoMaps.