Which Trail App?

[bthomp]

Is the ToR CarPlay interface pretty good?

I’ve not used TOR carplay yet, looking forward to trying it soon.

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[T.Pigott]

I went with OnXOffroad only because I got 3 months free with Jeep Wave and I'm generally a cheap bastard...

Me too and I also have Gaia GPS as well. They both work with the Andriod Auto. Probably won't pay for OnX once the trial ends though. I have found, at least for where I drive, that Gaia shows more trails on Ft Gordon than OnX does.

 

[Speed331]

As far as I know TOR doesn't connect to Android Auto - I assume it's the same for Carplay.

The app does have a 'follow mode' - ie: it shows the trail map and your location on it. However it only works on your mobile device.

If you want to use it with AA or CP, they have a direct upload feature to Gaia GPS which does work with both AA and CP. That's the way I do it. TOR's trail guides are unmatched in my opinion, and you can use their maps with the free version of Gaia.


Right now Outside Online is offering all their services and apps for $29.99 /year. That includes Gaia premium...

 

[Ratbert]

Is the ToR CarPlay interface pretty good?

I'm not positive, but I don't think it's supported.

I'm currently without a running Jeep and discovered TrailsOffRoad while waiting for the rear end to get fixed. I'm thinking that I'll be using TrailsOffRoad to pick which trail we do and still use OnX to record it. It'll most likely be a combo of the two.

Note that OnX was initially horrible on Android Auto. It's significantly better now.

I tried Gaia a few years ago when I was clueless about all this stuff. I'm a tech guy and the fundamentals made no sense to me. I should probably try it again some day since so many people seem to love it.

 

[GATORB8]

@Speed331 @Ratbert

So the fact that it does CarPlay and doesn’t require a bunch of file importing is what drew me to OnX in the first place. At least on the CP side, it seems to have gotten better.

I have the free version of Giai, but it seems pretty useless without going through the hassle of importing maps from other sources.

I do have iPadMinis and a Bulletpoint tablet mount, but with all the effort and extra equipment there, the CP setup of OnX is so much easier.

The TOR info sounds pretty awesome, but seems like the additional effort involved just wouldn’t be worth it.

 

[Jeepn’]

As far as I know TOR doesn't connect to Android Auto - I assume it's the same for Carplay.

The app does have a 'follow mode' - ie: it shows the trail map and your location on it. However it only works on your mobile device.

If you want to use it with AA or CP, they have a direct upload feature to Gaia GPS which does work with both AA and CP. That's the way I do it. TOR's trail guides are unmatched in my opinion, and you can use their maps with the free version of Gaia.


Right now Outside Online is offering all their services and apps for $29.99 /year. That includes Gaia premium...

Gaia works with Apple car play!?!

 

[GATORB8]

Gaia works with Apple car play!?!

Yes, can’t really comment on how good is it if it’s setup and loaded in correctly.

 

[Ratbert]

@Speed331 @Ratbert

So the fact that it does CarPlay and doesn’t require a bunch of file importing is what drew me to OnX in the first place. At least on the CP side, it seems to have gotten better.

I have the free version of Giai, but it seems pretty useless without going through the hassle of importing maps from other sources.

I do have iPadMinis and a Bulletpoint tablet mount, but with all the effort and extra equipment there, the CP setup of OnX is so much easier.

The TOR info sounds pretty awesome, but seems like the additional effort involved just wouldn’t be worth it.

Agreed, but just look at TOR once from the perspective of "let's find a new trail to do tomorrow". In Colorado that's an overwhelming choice with OnX, to the point where we end up doing the same trails over again. You can't see the big picture due to all the details.

I'm really excited about getting my Jeep back so I can hit the "new to me" trails that we've found in TOR. They look amazing. We'll see!

 

[Speed331]

The TOR info sounds pretty awesome, but seems like the additional effort involved just wouldn’t be worth it.

Uploading from TOR to Gaia is a two click process. You do have to give permission to connect the first time. After that it's pretty seamless. Once uploaded, the trail is on the Gaia map as soon as you open it.

 

[UniqueUserName]

I have all four: onX, Trails Offroad, Gaia, Alltrails.

I started with onX because I've used onX Hunt Maps for years but it frustrates me that I buy the upgrade for land ownership with Hunt Maps but have to buy it again if I want it through Offroad (I'm not willing to buy it twice, so I have to switch back and forth between the apps if I want land ownership info) Both are supported on carplay. IMO: Trails Offroad usually has more trail info/detail when you're actually on the trail and you don't have to pre-download a bunch of offline maps (TOR is now also supported on Carplay). I will often run onX through carplay and TOR at the same time on a tablet when on trail. I intent to keep them both.

I bought Gaia to try as it has a broad feature set and I believe it has greater flexibility for offline maps. However, I haven't taken the time to train myself on it yet.

I don't use Alltrails and only have it because I unwittingly renewed it thinking I was renewing TOR at the time.

 

[Speed331]

The TOR info sounds pretty awesome, but seems like the additional effort involved just wouldn’t be worth it.

Also vis-a-vis TOR. It's not just that the trail guides are really well done, the user reviews of the trails really detail changes in the trail since the guide was made. As it can be years before they can update a trail guide, the users really go out of their way to update difficulty ratings and changes due to use/weathering/rerouting etc. It is super helpful for knowing exactly what you'll be facing on the trail.

 

[Jeepeto]

I started with AllTrails but switched to TrailsOffRoad. Much richer feature set. The ability to download all maps a state at a time instead of individual trails, has great trail details and waypoints, lots of detailed photos, map view is much better, very active development and user community. overall they are a better company in my view. The downside with TOR is that its focus is purely off-roading / camping (but that’s also why it’s a better app for off roading). If you’re looking for hiking paths, this is not the right app.

TOR + export to Gaia for me. I’ve got onX and all trails premiums too but rarely reference them. Gaia layers library is fantastic

 

[GATORB8]

Kind of interesting looking at the differences. TOR seems to definitely be better than AllTrails for locating, but OnX does seem to have a pretty solid set in its library, all though less detailed trail information on the ones that TOR does have.

Uwharrie is about an hour and a half for us. Here’s some shots. OnX and AllTrails premium. Gaia and TOR free.

May cancel AllTrails and swap to TOR.

 

[dragoneggs]

Thanks for this thread. While I use Gaia Premium I totally forgot I had TOR as well. Played around with it today. Very nice to see what is around you and read the write up/pictures of the trail and waypoints.

 

[bthomp]

TOR + export to Gaia for me. I’ve got onX and all trails premiums too but rarely reference them. Gaia layers library is fantastic

Interesting. I'll check out Gaia again, to see if it will be a good companion app for me to use. I haven't looked at it for a few years.

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