I’m not an RVer, and I don’t spend weeks on the road. I take about 2-3 trips per year in my little Prius hotel-on-wheels. I found iOverlander a few years ago and loved it for the community-sourced reviews to find places to pull over and sleep while in-between destinations. I was pretty excited to see there was a new app, iOverlander 2! But after downloading it, the excitement abated. I kept the old app for now, and right away noticed that you didn’t name the new app iOverlander 2. Why wouldn’t you update the name? Now there are two app versions on my phone with the same name. Also, it’s not really optimized for the iPad, it just enlarges the iPhone screen 2x. I do like the Favorites feature, which was sorely missing in the old. It looks like the updated app is fairly new, so I can overlook some of the bugs and clunkiness. But iOverlander 2 has a LOT of bugs! The initial Check-In process seems OK and the app leads you through the steps to successfully enter the check-in. From there, though, the update/editing is a hot mess. For example, the morning after I checked in, I wanted to add one sentence. If you edit a check in, there is no “Save” or any way to save the edit. You can only back up and lose the edits. Adding photos is just as frustrating. After a lot of wrangling, you may be able to upload photos, but then (again), no “Save” or indication that your uploaded photos are saved. After trying many times, somehow the photos I wanted to upload showed up in the app - but still not the sentence I wanted to add at the end of the check-in. When I arrived home, the web site showed the sentence I added but not the photos! And then when I added the photos on the web, somehow the web interface added 3 of the same photo. The web interface similarly has no bug-free editing capability. And then there is the new monetization scheme. Look, I recognize that you need to support development, and you should make money too. I am very willing to support apps like this and do so frequently. But for consumers, there is a cost/benefit calculation. If I was a frequent RVer, I would absolutely go Pro for $60 annually. I’m not - I use the app a couple of times a year for several nights. I’m not going to pay $60 for those 4-5 nights a year. I think you need to think about another level, maybe $15-20 a year, that gets rid of the unbelievably obnoxious and loud ads, The ads just blast at you, ruining the experience. I’m OK with the single state download, and I’m sure the Pro RV folks are happy to have the ability to download all the states they are visiting. An intermediate plan will take care of light users like me, and provide an experience that leads to an upgrade path as they use it more and more. Pricing yourself out of the market is going to result in fewer casual users, leading to less long-term users and open the door to competitors. Hoping this sparks some thoughts at iOverlander! Thanks!
Developer Response
We know we have a lot of improvements to add on our app and subscription options. These are complex and we did not have the resources to build all the options we wanted for launch. But we hear you! And we are working on this! If you need some How-to videos there is an entire series of short videos on our @iOverlander YouTube channel.
They basically took the original app and locked everything behind a greedy, shameful paywall. Annoying ads pop up constantly and you have to download the region you’re interested in traveling too in order to view it’s camping spots. Problem is, for example, you can only download 1 state at a time before you run out of “free space” and get a prompt that you need to upgrade in order to see more. Completely pointless app and the features you get with a subscription isn’t worth switching over. Stick with the original app.
Developer Response
Thank you for your feedback. The decision to offer a paid subscription was out of necessity to sustain iOverlander. We wish we could remain completely free forever, but after 10 years of attempting to run iOverlander that way, we know it is not possible, it was start charging or shut down. Our original app is still free and without ads, we will keep it available as long as possible. You are able to manage your points by removing one set and then adding another, so you are not bound to just one set of POIs. This change was required because of the massive amount of points iOverlander has around the world. Our old app faced many challenges because there were too many points to load, and because the points needed to be available offline.
Have been using original version which worked well except couldnt filter out closed sites.
Tried version 2 but it doesnt work:
1) does not show any marked locations on the map even with all filters off.
2) doesnt show my favorites that I saved on the website. Synced the app multiple times to no avail.
So, pretty much useless, going back to original version.
Developer Response
I believe you missed the Red Triangle on the explore screen that "says no places found". If you click on that you will see you can download POIs in that area. This change was required because of the massive amount of points iOverlander has around the world. Our old app faced many challenges because there were too many points to load, and because the points needed to be available offline. really love the update to the original app. LOVE the fact that now you can see your favorites with a little heart on the icon. HUGE help when you’re mapping out several spots before you loose internet/cell service. also love that you can now download maps which is always a concern with off-grid wild camping. Graying out places that have been marked as closed are a massive help. can’t tell you how many times i would tap on a place in the original app only to find out others have marked it as closed. Good update overall.
I have been using iOverlander since 2019. I was so excited to see an updated version come out with some amazing additions like map downloading and favoriting spots.
We find and log all of our campsites and other things all over the world on iOverlander. From national forest lands to Walmart parking lots, iOverlander has cataloged thousands upon thousands of places you can camp— many of them for free. It also has spots for water, dump stations, paid campgrounds, propane filling stations, and a lot more.
We really find the user reviews on each spot and photos helpful to give us a preview of what to expect at spots.
iOverlander has been an absolute game-changer for sticking to our travel budget and planning trips. Best of all, it’s community-driven, so the more people use it, the more robust the database becomes.
Traveling, iPad is the perfect solution: portable, 12V charge, larger screen. Why isn’t it (yet) optimized?
Developer Response
We fix this bug in version 2.2.57 please update the app to the latest version and you should be able to use it in the iPad. Please send us an email at support@ioverlander.com if it was not resolved. If it was, add a star ;) I live full-time in my RV and I have been using IOverlander for a few years to find locations to stay at and to find water re-fills. It has been super helpful to see all the locations and reviews from the overlanding and van-life community.
IOverlander 2 has added some useful, new features. I especially like the “my favourites” filter to quickly find all the places I have previously stayed at and it has become easier to look at the pictures people submit. I also appreciated the new, polished look. Everything seems to be working smoothly so far.
Hopefully with this Pro version there will be good (financial) support for the developers so they can keep adding more features such as being able to enter GPS coordinates or city-lookup.
Thank you iOverlanders and its developers!
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