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Offline-searchable POI on Android

James Decker shared this question 3 years ago
Answered

Hello, I want to use LocusMaps to plan and hike in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California including Desolation Wilderness, Emigrant Wilderness, John Muir Wilderness, etc. I'm a former Garmin user who is trying out LocusMap as an alternative. But I'm frustrated by the lack of clarity on what exactly paid maps include.... elevation data? route data? searchable Points of Interest?


After much research I purchased LocusMap because it can calculate routes offline using Brouter. But now I find that it cannot search for POI in the maps. That's a nasty surprise, if I pay for a map but then can't search to find the names of trails, lakes, or peaks that appear on that map. As a Garmin user, this kind of thing is unthinkable. If I'm out in the mountains and need to look up a map feature for which I did not previously create/import a waypoint... is it true that there's no way to Search for it? Do any paid maps have offline-searchable POI? If so, which ones?


Thanks for your help,

J

Replies (5)

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Hi James, LoMaps contain offline POIs - we call them LoPoints. You can search them in menu > LoPoints (beta).

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LoPoints do not include trail names, lakes, passes, cols, peaks, etc. Garmin POI include all of these, so it's confusing when LocusMap tries to conflate the two. With LoPoints a user has to hunt and peck through nested menus by category in order to see wether or not some point exists in the database and almost always (for thuhikers in Sierra Nevada) it does not. So LoPoints are not functional as POI.


Back to my actual question: are premium paid maps in the LocusMap store any different? What are NeoTreks? I can find no description that tells me clearly what NeoTreks or John Thorn USGS or TerraQuest offer different from the LoMaps. I'd be grateful if someone could point me to even a basic description or comaparison of these paid products. Surely I'm not supposed to buy blindly, am I?

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Well, with no reply... I gave it a try. Had to purchase LoCoins (what the hell, is that to avoid Google's refund policies?) to download NeoTreks for Yosemite National Park. Imagine my disappointment to find that it's not a vector map and only includes Zooms 10,11,12,14,15. So less detail than the free LoMaps. And no POI data is included, so there's still no way to search for trail names, lake names, etc. when offline. Why isn't this basic information made clear before a buyer is made to purchase 500 LoCoins and then 100 LoCoins in a separate transaction, in order to spend them on a blurry unsearchable map?


Ignored, and now feeling scammed. Bummer! Taking another look at Orux Maps now.

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Hi James,

sorry to keep you waiting, I was offline for a few days of vacation.

LoPoints contain OSM database of points of interest. Unfortunately, we don't have any other offline POI database for use. Other map providers' products in Locus Store do not provide them either. Descriptions of maps are available in Locus Store as were provided to us by the providers/publishers.

If you are not satisfied with the NeoTreks maps, please send your Google Play order ID, I'll refund your money back.

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Thank you, I just returned from the trek that I had been prepping for so didn't see your reply until now. My two order IDs for the LoCoins used to buy Neotreks Yosemite are:


Order number: GPA.3348-3173-1337-53343 $6.72

Order number: GPA.3373-7263-0329-09024 $1.34

Order date: Aug 27, 2020 12:50:19 PM PDT


It seems like "Zoom levels are limited to 10,11,12,14,15" ought to be added to the description. The absence of searchable POI's for every map element seems like a significant difference that will throw off all former Garmin users. Could be worth an explicit note in LoPoints documention. Your explanations and accomodations here are very much appreciated!

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Hi James,

your purchases have been refunded (at our cost - the map has already been downloaded).

Our LoPoints are rendered from the OSM database of points of interest. Unfortunately, we can't make sure the database is detailed enough all over the world, it depends on the activity of the local OSM community. As Alistair has written here, for example, Somerset UK contains all required POIs. We are just app developers, not map or POI providers so we have to rely on sources from third parties.

Michal

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Bear in mind navigation app is very different from a mapping provider, some map providers like viewranger and trailforks also provide apps. Locus is great in that its multi purpose and has a massive colelction of maps available for every taste, but it is reliant on what the map providers make available.

Lopoints do include some of the geographic things you mention, I think it must depend on the area and whether OSM list them, in Somerset UK I have peaks and trail names etc mentioned in the lopoints.

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