Issue w/ Downloading Maps is Fixed!
OCTOBER 2025: The issue with being unable to download new maps to my device has been fixed. when trying to download new maps, I would get an error message saying the map wasnโt available for download or something like that. I sent an email to the app developer last night, and six hours later he had responded and said the problem was fixed. And it really was! After all these years, this is still the best topographic map app out there for use in conjunction with hiking and exploring.
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This is an excellent product
I'm a land surveyor and this app comes in extremely useful. The quads are pretty well registered and the contours are quite accurate. The biggest downside is that many of the usgs quads are not current.
Nothing Better for Exploring
Iโve been using these topo maps for years - pretty much everywhere I go I download the local area with these maps if Iโm going to be out and about at all. Also, where I live I like to explore the back country, often overland with no trails or roads or on old two-track roads hours away from anywhere with cell service. These maps have been invaluable for offline use.
I would say, however, that the most interesting use has been the fact that the old WGS84 took maps this app uses show a huge amount of things that modern maps omit. Old structures, mines, prospects, old roads, trails, and miscellaneous items that have been forgotten by all - including modern cartographers - are shown on these maps. A lot of these old things are still around, and are still visible even on satellite maps, but if you were only using modern (non-satellite) maps you would never know they were there many times. I love detail, and I hate how modern maps ignore so many different features that are in fact extant. These maps are perfect in ways so many other newer maps fail.
A few things I wish it had though:
1. The ability to add kml files, including tracks and shapes etc.
2. A mode where the gps would still track but not force you to be centered on your position. The second tap just shows where you were when you tapped it the second time.
3. The ability to switch between a height map and the gps elevation. The app currently uses a hidden elevation map (the same thing it uses for the line of sight feature) to tell you your elevation, not the gps. There can often be pretty drastic differences between your actual elevation and the elevation it shows. Iโve seen these when Iโm flying my plane a number of times.
4. All of the above without a subscription and add on features you have to pay for as well (like the new app).
I would say, however, that the most interesting use has been the fact that the old WGS84 took maps this app uses show a huge amount of things that modern maps omit. Old structures, mines, prospects, old roads, trails, and miscellaneous items that have been forgotten by all - including modern cartographers - are shown on these maps. A lot of these old things are still around, and are still visible even on satellite maps, but if you were only using modern (non-satellite) maps you would never know they were there many times. I love detail, and I hate how modern maps ignore so many different features that are in fact extant. These maps are perfect in ways so many other newer maps fail.
A few things I wish it had though:
1. The ability to add kml files, including tracks and shapes etc.
2. A mode where the gps would still track but not force you to be centered on your position. The second tap just shows where you were when you tapped it the second time.
3. The ability to switch between a height map and the gps elevation. The app currently uses a hidden elevation map (the same thing it uses for the line of sight feature) to tell you your elevation, not the gps. There can often be pretty drastic differences between your actual elevation and the elevation it shows. Iโve seen these when Iโm flying my plane a number of times.
4. All of the above without a subscription and add on features you have to pay for as well (like the new app).
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Love this app
The new beta topo maps 2 has zero functionality, so please donโt stop supporting the original.
Almost perfect NO SUBSCRIPTION Topo app
I have used this app for years, iPhone 4 days. I wish the developer would update the maps but even as it is it is far more useful than most. It seems like itโs been abandoned which is sad. But itโs still worth it, You pay ONCE and have access to download Topo maps of the entire U.S. for as long as you want. All on your phone so no data connection needed. All is not roses though.
- alignment is seriously bad in some places. Laughably so. Central Washington state has maps so far out of alignment that adjoing maps look like cards tossed randomly on a table. I have paper USGS Topo maps of the exact same sections and those align perfectly. My National Geographic Topo maps of the same area align perfectly as does my Gaia GPS app. Not sure why these are so badly out of whack. Seems to happen somewhere in areas of various different states i have downloaded maps for
-there needs to be a GPS tracking feature. So the app lays down a trail that follows your progress and the tracks can be saved and recalled. The app is really lacking in usefulness without that feature. I am still having to use Topo! Which has this feature so I can save tracks of my adventures. I would love to not have to use Topo! anymore though because it was built for windows 95/XP and that ship has long since sailed.
-this isnโt 2000 anymore so the 36 map or whatever limitation that exists when downloading hi-res versions of maps should be removed. These maps are small and downloading even an entire state would be very manageable on todays fast WiFi connections.
- need to be able to import GPX files
-
- alignment is seriously bad in some places. Laughably so. Central Washington state has maps so far out of alignment that adjoing maps look like cards tossed randomly on a table. I have paper USGS Topo maps of the exact same sections and those align perfectly. My National Geographic Topo maps of the same area align perfectly as does my Gaia GPS app. Not sure why these are so badly out of whack. Seems to happen somewhere in areas of various different states i have downloaded maps for
-there needs to be a GPS tracking feature. So the app lays down a trail that follows your progress and the tracks can be saved and recalled. The app is really lacking in usefulness without that feature. I am still having to use Topo! Which has this feature so I can save tracks of my adventures. I would love to not have to use Topo! anymore though because it was built for windows 95/XP and that ship has long since sailed.
-this isnโt 2000 anymore so the 36 map or whatever limitation that exists when downloading hi-res versions of maps should be removed. These maps are small and downloading even an entire state would be very manageable on todays fast WiFi connections.
- need to be able to import GPX files
-
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