The features and functionality will continue, as part of Outdooractive, and the same UK team will continue development. Outdooractive is based in the alpine town of Immendstadt in Bavaria and now has offices in several European countries. OS maps will continue to be available. Whilst their subscription lasts current ViewRanger subscribers get a matched subscription to Outdooractive and when it expires they will be offered a significant discount on renewing with Outdooractive. I am sorry to see the name go, and I really hope Outdooractive will prove as good.
Despite the new offerings in terms of map content and features, there is still some doubt about whether OutdoorActive can currently support the requirements of high-end users. Some feel that the extra functions — which include weather information and more options for sharing routes and photos — add unnecessary clutter and complication.
Really disappointed in this. A sad beginning to the year. Some users have also questioned the reliability of the new app. Craig acknowledges that there have been some teething problems with OutdoorActive — particularly for Android users. Not all feedback has been negative. The only feature that I miss is a satellite map view. It's pretty similar but somehow cleaner to read.
I'm loving it. The plan, according to Craig, is to continue moving key functions across from ViewRanger and to iron out any glitches so that the new app can offer the same performance as ViewRanger. The viewranger app has given me peace of mind, kept me safe and enabled me to travel to places I wouldn't have without it. Any gifted OA subscription will not automatically renew when it expires. ViewRanger credits do not transfer to Outdooractive, but they are taken account of when they set you up initially and obtain an incentive in OA.
You can continue using ViewRanger, it is not stopping, but we are only doing maintenance on it now, no new development. Outdooractive bought the company behind ViewRanger, with the aim of combining the two to make the best possible outdoors app and service. So we do expect most people will choose to move to Outdooractive over the coming year.
But you are welcome to stay using ViewRanger too. This would also likely mean any existing maps, tiles etc. However, having tested the OA app recently, I find it lacking. Not least in the area of reliability in the field.
Can the current OA do that? Trust takes ages to acquire. VR had mine. OA needs to work hard to get it. At least I can still rely on VR whilst I search for its successor. Might have to revisit the OS and MM apps again. Thanks for this Chris! It is true that in OA I get access to the same maps but only with an Internet connection. I can download small areas for offline use but have to think ahead to do this. They disappear once you sign out.
Access to the set of maps I purchased will continue if I request by email every year. I signed up for ViewRanger and after a month or so received an email about the Outdoor Active takeover, so I took up the offer and since that time have been using both VR and OA.
Have either of them let me down? Only VR during a weekend in the Lakes before the transfer to OA, with it constantly stopping tracking my route, so by the end of each day walking I have 15 or so short routes recorded.
But I suspect that was user error as I had only just installed the app and signed up for a subscription. For me OA is a good app that works and has all the features I want. Then there is the website. How did you get you Apple login details transferred? I bought VR maps for most of the country. They are on my current phone and can be used with no internet connection. On OA, when I am out on the hills and have no internet connection, quite often the case, I will not be able to access the maps unless I downloaded them before starting out.
These downloads are not permanent, unlike VR. And when I buy a new phone, I will lose my lifeline of downloaded VR maps for ever. Is this correct? PilgrimChris writes that he has lifetime OS maps — so do I — or I did until today — been switched off!
No longer any acccess to the lifetime subscription, only purchased tiles. This is very bad…. Chris — very good post, thanks. I think that your summary captures most of the disappointments and concerns that I see VR users are expressing. I can only think that the VR people were offered more money by OA than they could sensibly refuse for their product, but have grossly underestimated brand loyalty.
Any assumption that VR users will automatically transfer their loyalty to OA is, if Google Play reviews are to be believed, misplaced. I am so disappointed. I only just started using ViewRanger as the free app — living in cambodia to track our tourist trails and also our patrol team patrols. You are exactly on point — reliability is the main feature that made VR my preferred app for navigation in the mountains. VR has won my trust over and over again.
The app, to me, is the equivalent of a trustworthy friend. That will work for me. Just received an email from VR that stated that when my subscription ends I will still be able to continue using the free version of VR. A lot of users were fans of the in-app full UK OS mapping 25k and 50k add on that made VR a trusted companion up on the hills.
I have been a just of ViewRanger for over 2 years. I use it a lot for planning routes on both road bike and mountain bike for leading rides with British Cycling groups. Today I linked my account with OutdoorActive and tried to create a simple road bike route. The experience was a dreadful step backwards from that of using ViewRanger. It worked ok if I got the waypoint in the correct place first go, but if I changed my mind, the only thing I could do was delete the last waypoint — there is no way of dragging any of the waypoints and it was not possible to drag the route itself into a different road.
I have purchased a lot of maps through ViewRanger and I am not at all pleased that I will lose the route planning functionality that I have hitherto enjoyed. What consultation was there with users? Nobody asked me! The app is obviously designed to make as much money as it can. Thankfully my maps are still showing in VR. I can only agree with you Valerie. Unless OA bought it just for market share, their handling of the takeover has been an object lesson in incompetence. VR was beloved for its reliability and that seems to have gone.
I just discovered a great new website for plotting cycle trips. Export the to GX and op in VR. I was using this website already for a year. For planning its much better then VR. Hi, Pilgrim. I have been using VR for 3 years, actively. I put tutos french speaking on Youtube, about using VR. Now what? We need benchmarks, and also organize some sort of a users union to discuss with OutdoorActive, Iphigenie, Openrunner ….
Like you say, there are no real like-for-like competitors — VR was the best. I wish you luck and still hope that someone will fix VR, but honestly that does not seem likely. In-app OS use is a deal breaker for me. Have I misunderstood this? I too am disappointed, as VR has worked flawlessly for me even on some very long walks in the UK and elsewhere.
But what a shame we are even having this discussion. I use VR most days and not experienced any issues. Clearly, a mistake as you rightly point out Chris. However, I had the impression at the time that OS mapping updates would not be possible if I did not link the two. Buyer walker beware I suppose.
Mapping updates are still being honoured as the app is not only being maintained, but is still available to download from Google Play Store last time I checked AND map tiles are still available for purchase within the VR app.
Nothing within it has changed, I still have all my lifetime maps and I use it as I always have. People who linked their account to OA have experienced some issues with VR though. Thanks for the quick reply Chris, much appreciated. The nub seems to be whether one linked VR with OA or not.
I shall go back to them again and ask for my VR subscription to continue on the basis that they unlink delink? Hi Robert, Sorry for the delayed response. User error is s difficult term in this instance. I nearly fell for it myself!
The VR app continues to contain the splash screen prompting to link accounts — I just ignor it. So you can highlight the tiles you need individually or by area. Then download map tiles directly into the ViewRanger app, wherever you are and whenever you need them. These map tiles can be purchased using the same ViewRanger credit you use to purchase routes. To load your account with pre-paid credit tokens - buy ViewRanger credit via our web shop or In-App Apple.
Pre-packaged Regional or whole country mapping Alternatively, you may simply want to buy the whole of your country or region and have it always ready to use.
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