Ooops! Good on you!
Kernow Hiker: god on you for being proactive!
I wish I had read the news about Map Provider Changes before I have paid membership! i cannot plot a route "in the middle of nowhere" (as i did before), because i cannot zoom in! i am very disappointed.....
Hi Mark. Thanks for the information. I’ve signed up with OSM and started adding those pesky missing footpaths following the guidelines from experienced mappers.
I used OS maps for walking and then for cycling (using a PC based app called Tracklogs used OS maps). I have seen OSM develop and a few years ago decided that it was mature enough to be trusted. Given that most GPS devices now are using OSM-based mapping, it makes sense to route using the OSM dattabase, too.
Personally, the latest change putting OSM and OS into Plotaroute is icing on the cake. Streetview is still available, and the only drawback for me is that some of the maps don't quite look as good as they used to (like the Terrain Map), but then I only used them for screen-grabbing a route to keep with my photos.
I'm definitely in the "happy" camp.
Kernow Hiker
" I was a little disappointed however to find that the autoplot feature still does not snap to some of those pesky footpaths that must be missing from the underlying geographical information system in use."
The routing is still using the underlying OSM mapping, and does not directly map from OS.
Well I was pretty disgruntled with the end of Google Maps. However a month later I'm getting used to the change. I have been doing a lot of work plotting up a route through Portugal if we are allowed out to play. Open Street Map is OK! In some ways better regarding detail but the beauty of google maps was its simplicity. Nevertheless It's going to be OK and I am pleased I won't have to change providers as Plot a Route still has the best plotting tools etc. Disgruntled no more.
Cool. I didn't know about the map inspector. That does help a lot. Thanks.
I've been a user of plotaroute for just over a year now and find it very useful for planning my walks. I have recently purchased a premium subscription because of the map provider change to Ordnance Survey maps. The previous option did not have enough detail as not all of the public footpaths were shown. Plotting a route required study of an Ordnance Survey map then turning off autoplot to guess the route of the "missing" footpath on my route. Having Ordnance Survey maps means that the footpaths are all visible in the plotaroute editor. I was a little disappointed however to find that the autoplot feature still does not snap to some of those pesky footpaths that must be missing from the underlying geographical information system in use. It is still an improvement though, as at least I can turn off autoplot and trace over the Ordnance Survey footpaths directly rather than guessing where they are.
Thanks for the OpenTopoMap suggestion John. We did look at this map style when we first started using OSM maps but opted for a different topo map style instead (our Terrain map). I don't think we would have room on our current map servers for another topo map, but its certainly something we can consider in the future. We can ceratinly look into the possibility of adding USGS as an option for printed maps - they may not provide the best contrast for showing routes though as they tend be be quite dark.
Diappointing indeed. Google's mapping tools are way inferior to Plot-a-route's tools, and nobody beats Google's maps. If only the two could work together. Honestly, I would pay double the current premium suscription price for that. But I understand the reasons. Thanks for the reply. You still have my business.