Offline countryside maps on the iPad 3

[foxyrick]

Firstly, I know very little about iPads; I don't have one - yet.

I'm thinking of buying an iPad 3 primarily to use for countryside mapping. The high resolution display would be great for reading maps on.

The first catch is it needs to work offline, with maps preloaded into memory. No data connection for quick-fix GPS, just GPS alone.

The second catch is that I need to use custom maps, most likely created by Mobile Atlas Creator (MOBAC) on a PC.

Now, I've found an app called Galileo that says it caches maps for offline use (nice, but not the maps I need), and can use MOBAC-created maps with an in-app purchase.

Does anyone use Galileo and can comment on if the system works nicely offline and with custom maps? Do such things as route navigation and trail marking work?

Any other suggestions welcome too, if there is anything better I would like to know. I'm operating on a tight budget so can't afford expensive commercial packages though. The iPad purchase would almost clean me out.

/Rick.

 

[Gabriel1]

Hi Rick,

You've probably seen this already but I might as well point you in this direction anyway http://galileo-app.com/help.html

As for GPS, as long as you have a cellular iPad you will have GPS. The GPS circuitry is on the cellular chip but you don't even need to activate the cellular part as the GPS function will work anyway.

The Archangel

 

[leelai]

Hi and welcome to the Forum!

Well I know nothing of this app Gilileo but it does look like it may suit your needs.

I also do long drives in the country and off road driving where there is no Internet coverage, I have downloaded maps from the apps MapsWithMe and Navfree and use these on my drives although I don't think these apps will suit you as far as adding maps but they do supply maps for downloading. I use the free apps

If you have a 3G/4G iPad the GPS works without an active sim as the GPS chip is built into the iPad itself. With the navfree one I can plot a route at home on my Internet and I can then view it on my journey without coverage. I take screen shots of the maps if I want to remember where something is (press the off and home buttons simultaneously, this will take a photo of your pad screen and save it in your camera roll)

Not sure if any of this will help you or not but good luck with your quest.

 

[foxyrick]

Ahh... important information about the GPS being on the cellular chipset. I should have checked the datasheet more closely instead of just assuming the iPad simply had GPS. Thanks!

I definitely need to create my own maps, partly because of the cost of commercial maps. It got cost-prohibitive a few years ago when trying to use memory map on PocketPC devices.