Above: At first glance, there doesn’t seem much difference between the two apps. I’m just hoping the new one is just as reliable as the old one.
I’ve been using the ViewRanger app for a few years now and have come to completely rely on it. And despite my phone battery giving out once and leaving me lost in the middle of nowhere, I’ve got nothing but praise for it.
So having spent sometime getting my befuddled brain around the app, and putting all my Goyt Valley walks on it, I was a bit concerned when I heard that ViewRanger is being taken over by another app – OutdoorActive.
I’ve got the paid-for version of ViewRanger, which gives access to the 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey maps, but I know many people get on fine with the free version. All free and paid-for subscriptions are being automatically transferred from VR to OA.
I found this page on the web which explains about the changes. And it doesn’t sound like all of them are positive:
The acquisition of ViewRanger has actually frustrated a majority of its users. VewRanger’s route plotting and navigation features don’t work at the optimal level as they used to before the acquisition. It seems that Outdooractive has also missed out on retaining many beloved features of ViewRanger. GPS acquisition, route alignment, and many other features work inconsistently. Loss of access to previously purchased maps on ViewRanger is also another noteworthy drawback.
It also says that the OA app is complex and glitchy:
One of the primary features of an outdoor app is reliability but Outdooractive seems to be lacking it. The app isn’t very user-friendly and intuitive. It’s difficult to use some features like route finding, planning, and exporting as the app tends to crash more often. When you reopen the app, the changes aren’t saved most of the time. The new user-interface is also poorly designed, and the overall performance is very slow.
It seems like nothing stands still in our new digital age. But I find that many of the changes aren’t for the better – they just frustrate and over-complicate. So I’m hoping that the changes won’t leave me scratching my head in the middle of a field somewhere, wondering why I ever abandoned my map and compass.
Click below to view all the Goyt Valley walks on OutdoorActive.
