Offroad and Track Navigation at 2021: Onx vs Gaia Gps vs Mapout

 Which app is best for off-road navigation - is still not so easy to answer. Because our demands are also very different. A tour operator wants to be able to plan and share tours lasting several days, while the lone traveler is happy to have an orientation off the beaten track.

Depending on the travel region, offline maps are more important, in Europe thanks to the increasingly better 4G network, this function is losing importance. So it's easy to be tempted to rely on Google Maps, along with Maps.me and Wikiloc.

For a long time I was able to keep my head above water with MotionX, but unfortunately this app is no longer maintained and updated.

But today I want to introduce you to three apps that each have the potential to become your new main navigation aid off the paved roads.

The best thing to do now is to take a quick 45 minutes to watch the following video insights.

Gaia GPS vs ONX

Mapout overview in 5 Minutes at both Videos

As you can see, we have three very powerful tools here that are very well suited for off-road navigation. The learning curve is sometimes considerable, but depending on the degree of use, it quickly makes up for the time invested - if it can be used to create drivable routes.

For Android users, Mobac Satkarten + Oruxmaps + Mapsforge is a powerful solution, but it looks like a lot of work. Osmand could also be included in the extended evaluation.

Conclusion

As always, it is more challenging when you need to cover larger regions for offline use, such as on a Silk Road or Trans Africa - where the Internet is often not yet stable enough or too expensive.

Here then only satellite - views downloaded will miss the topographic contour lines, only topogrphic maps are in the wild camp search again somewhat limited. Gaia is probably currently the best solution - but also requires the longest training period.

As a traveler with only one vehicle, you can also turn back sometimes, the way is ultimately the goal. I will probably continue to rely on a combination of apps. Mapout for discovering new routes and Wikiloc for finding already known tracks. I currently do without an offline satellite view, or would rely on Onx. How do you handle this issue?

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