Hema or Exploreoz app?

[scarry]

We have used both Hema apps on an iPad for travelling for quite a few years but need to update.
The Hema Explorer app suited our needs the most,not the 4x4 app.

Can’t decide between the two.Hema or ExploerOz.ExploreOz has great reviews,they seem better than Hema.

We don’t use all the functions,just need the best up to date regional maps around,and where camping sites are,which is what Hema has.Hema will also show what amenities are at the camping sites.

Not interested in the HX Hema device,don’t want another device.We use the iPad for many other things as well while away,so always have it with us.I use it for work as well.
Not interested in around town,Google maps does the job well.But it is often useless out of town.

Feedback appreciated.

[Tins]

I have the Traveller and Tracker apps from ExplorOz. I only have an iPhone which is a little limiting to use as an overview. But I like it. I like that I can record tracks simply and then upload them to my screen at home, and I like that I can plan my routes at home and sync them to my phone. I haven't yet got the licence for EOToppo 2024, but my 2021 one still works fine, iow they don't cripple you if you don't update. They have a great forum imo for questions and sharing routes.
AFAIK it still doesn't work with CarPlay, but I don't need it to. I will get an iPad when it's time to travel. Want one for film and foto editing anyway. I have pretty much all the maps they offer I think. This is the storage used.
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Is it better than Hema? Well, it was when I got it. That's a few years now. I think I'd be checking out how the licences work if I was choosing again. But I see no reason to change.

[Tins]

iPhone screen, main topo map, std magnification:
189150
This is just a local map to me.

[simonmelb]

I like Hema maps for route planning / general touring. On IOS you can also access them via the Memory Map app. $99 for the official Hema 2022 Maps perpetual license for all your devices. Australia – Hema 4WD Maps – Memory-Map Outdoor Navigation Apps | Ordnance Survey | Hema Maps (https://memory-map.com/maps/australia-hema-4wd-maps/)

Not sure if there is any difference in the Hema maps accessed via Memory Map vs the actual Hema apps? Update: Ah it’s the same, see here: Hema 4WD App – Memory-Map Outdoor Navigation Apps | Ordnance Survey | Hema Maps (https://memory-map.com/maps/australia-hema-4wd-maps/hema-4wd-app/)

And if you want higher res topo maps you can’t go past the free GetLost maps which work on Avenza maps app on iOS. Just a moment... (https://www.getlost.com.au/) eg GetLost have 1:75k for Qld and 1:25k for NSW.

[Tins]

Yes. I like to have a few in my arsenal. Used to have VMS also but gave up on that..
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Sygic kills the big boys for turn by turn accuracy for day to day stuff, but it wasn't free, Still get updates though.

Never getting rid of my paper maps. Ever.

[scarry]

Ended up going with ExploreOz,with the EO Topo maps,on an iPad.

Didn’t want to go with different apps,easier with one.Also one off payment of around $110,no subscription.App can also be shared to different devices,family and friends.Can be used offline as well.
It seems to work well,and is exactly what we needed.The maps are very high resolution,way better than we had with Hema.

To get the better Hema maps,one has to also get their map package,which is a payment of around $50 a year.Then you have to flick from one map to another which is a pain.I looked at the trial,and even small places like Fraser Island is split up into different maps.
With EO Topo,it works seamlessly with the traveller app,and is easy to zoom in and out and get the high resolution map,which appears to be better resolution at maximum zoom than the best Hema maps.

With Hema the points of interest such as camping spots,which is all we had on,often covered place names.This doesn’t happen with Exploreoz,although with Exploreoz one has to zoom in more to see the individual points of interest.

Anyway,see how it goes,thanks for the advice.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

The worst thing about Sygic is the late shortcuts, that and the fact it abandons you in the middle of no-where. GPS chip apps dont always GPS...

[Tins]

The worst thing about Sygic is the late shortcuts, that and the fact it abandons you in the middle of no-where. GPS chip apps dont always GPS...

True. But for urban or main highway based turn by turn it's fine. It doesn't require an active mobile connection, unlike many. I doubt I'd get it again, but 10 years ago it was streets (groan) ahead of Google and Apple, and in many ways still is. I was disappointed it didn't have any truck specific functionality, but I have never found one that does, not that I would trust anyway.

There's a new worry for you, Pedro. Bridges. Weight limits, and clearances.... Don't want to give your new toy a haircut[bigsad].

[austastar]

Hi
I found Sygic was surprisingly good once actually on the back roads, but was difficult to convince it to leave the more formal routes

Cheers

[Tins]

Hi
I found Sygic was surprisingly good once actually on the back roads, but was difficult to convince it to leave the more formal routes

Cheers

I just go the way I want and let it catch up.

[V8Ian]

I just go the way I want and let it catch up.
That tends to work in areas with which one is familiar, ergo no necessity for map usage, not so much when the navigator has no knowledge of the terrain or options.

[Tins]

That tends to work in areas with which one is familiar, ergo no necessity for map usage, not so much when the navigator has no knowledge of the terrain or options.

For me it's more about difference. I usually have an overview of where I am and my destination, from prior experience or map perusal. Thus I rarely need the app to talk me all the way there. So I often will take alternate routes to the one suggested, and let the app take over for the fine details, such as chez Ian, or the first time I went to the house you dropped me at from the airport.

But, I tend to have a kind of map in my head. Not everyone does. And mine doesn't always work, as a recent excursion into the wilds of Gunnedah demonstrated. Added hours to my journey. Still, got to see stuff, which is always welcome after years of watching things go past at 100 KMH which is the life of a truck driver. I wasn't following the app..... But it told me where I was, which is the first thing to know in map reading. And Sygic was better than Apple or Google, as there was no mobile service. ExxplorOz was as well, but I didn't need the extraordinary detail it offers that time. It's good to have more than one string to your bow.

[Robmacca]

Keen to hear of your experiences with EO, especially when travelling and going in and out of cell service areas... A mate that I travel with have it and he continually complains about it, but he is not a member of the EO website so I don't know if that has any effect or not... Is has experienced various issues of blank screen to no maps,etc but this may have been all sorted by now with App updates...

I think it also comes down on "how" u use these Apps, etc. For me, I create tracklogs (that track on the roads, not point to point straight lines) of where I plan to go, then add POI waypoints of what I want to see and then I package this all up into a GPX file that I then upload to my iPad/iPhone Navigational Apps and also into my Garmin GPS. I found this works well. The mate I travelled with tried to upload my GPX file into his EO App and it looked a nightmare with lines going in all directions. Apparently it has something to do with the way EO App looks at the data within the GPX file (it looks into the time stamping of the breadcrumbs/points within the GPX File and if they are not in order, then this causes issues)






Ended up going with ExploreOz,with the EO Topo maps,on an iPad.

Didn’t want to go with different apps,easier with one.Also one off payment of around $110,no subscription.App can also be shared to different devices,family and friends.Can be used offline as well.
It seems to work well,and is exactly what we needed.The maps are very high resolution,way better than we had with Hema.

To get the better Hema maps,one has to also get their map package,which is a payment of around $50 a year.Then you have to flick from one map to another which is a pain.I looked at the trial,and even small places like Fraser Island is split up into different maps.
With EO Topo,it works seamlessly with the traveller app,and is easy to zoom in and out and get the high resolution map,which appears to be better resolution at maximum zoom than the best Hema maps.

With Hema the points of interest such as camping spots,which is all we had on,often covered place names.This doesn’t happen with Exploreoz,although with Exploreoz one has to zoom in more to see the individual points of interest.

Anyway,see how it goes,thanks for the advice.

[scarry]

Keen to hear of your experiences with EO, especially when travelling and going in and out of cell service areas... A mate that I travel with have it and he continually complains about it, but he is not a member of the EO website so I don't know if that has any effect or not... Is has experienced various issues of blank screen to no maps,etc but this may have been all sorted by now with App updates...

To get the best maps i don't think you have to be a member of the OE website,just have the option of the EO Topo maps,which as i have said ,are very good.They dont seem to drop out,but it is early days.Hema seem to drop out regularly,particularly if zoomed in.With EO,and Topo,i can zoom in way further than i could on Hema,and with much better clarity.That was with the latest Hema using their trials.It was actually not much better than our 10 year old out of date Hema app.

But anyway,i will report back once we have used it more,particularly as you said,see how it goes off line.

[Tins]

To get the best maps i don't think you have to be a member of the OE website,just have the option of the EO Topo maps,which as i have said ,are very good.They dont seem to drop out,but it is early days.Hema seem to drop out regularly,particularly if zoomed in.With EO,and Topo,i can zoom in way further than i could on Hema,and with much better clarity.That was with the latest Hema using their trials.It was actually not much better than our 10 year old out of date Hema app.

But anyway,i will report back once we have used it more,particularly as you said,see how it goes off line.

Apart from the sticker you get, membership is worth it IMO. Access to the forum can give you lots of routes that others have done, which you can alter. I am a member, so I don't recall if access to the web based route planner is available to everyone, but I think it is from memory.

Offline is the whole point of OzExplor. As long as you have the maps, a GPS equipped device that can see the sky, it works brilliantly. As it should, of course. And, when you have internet access, you can plan your route for the next day from your camp on your device, and then send it to the app on the same device for offline use. Dunno if this works on Android, but on real tablets it does😎. Have a play, Paul. I have to say that it's perhaps not as polished as some of the big boys, but I think you'll be surprised at its capabilities.

Oh, I don't think it updates in the background, so prolly good to check before you go, but as I said, my toppo licence is from 2021 ( I haven't been away much ) and it's still quite adequate.

[Tins]

Oh. Licence is cross device, so when I get an iPad the maps from my iPhone will work seamlessly. It does not, however, work across OS. So, If you had an android fone and an iOS tablet you would need to pay twice. I've heard they may be working on this, but.....

[John_D4]

I had been using the paid Hema subscription until it last trip to Blinman. I had downloaded the maps to my older iPad and found Hema useless as it wouldn’t load the correct maps.

What I mean is: I’d have a set map and zoom ratio, then I’d drive and Hema would follow me and move the map accordingly so my location was always at the centre of the screen. Unfortunately once I drive off the edge of the map it wouldn’t refresh to the new map. Turning off and back on again wouldn’t help.

I’ve ended my subscription. I haven’t ruled out buying a HX2 but at the current moment Hema isn’t working for me

[Tins]

I had downloaded the maps to my older iPad

Current version of OzExplor Traveller app requires iPadOS 14.0 or later. That came out in 2020. So your iPad needs to support that.


Supported Devices: iPad Air 2, iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (4th generation), iPad mini 4, iPad mini (5th generation), iPad (5th generation), iPad (6th generation), iPad (7th generation), iPad (8th generation), iPad Pro 9.7-inch, iPad Pro 10.5-inch, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation)

Source: Apple.com

[dirvine]

I know Ozi explorer does not work on apple devices. But to me its the best by far, and once you learn how to use it then its a breeze. I dont want to advertise another forum, but Swaggie (not sure if same person on this forum) developed a add on that makes it more user friendly in landscape layout. Don't know if it has been updated since (I got it in 2018) as I am no longer a member of that forum. They seem to hate LR owners and cannot stand it when a mirror is held up to their behaviour. As for maps I use Getlost maps (google it) They are constantly being updated with more features and work just great. Cover all states and are free...although they do ask for a donation if you can afford it.

[loanrangie]

I know Ozi explorer does not work on apple devices. But to me its the best by far, and once you learn how to use it then its a breeze. I dont want to advertise another forum, but Swaggie (not sure if same person on this forum) developed a add on that makes it more user friendly in landscape layout. Don't know if it has been updated since (I got it in 2018) as I am no longer a member of that forum. They seem to hate LR owners and cannot stand it when a mirror is held up to their behaviour. As for maps I use Getlost maps (google it) They are constantly being updated with more features and work just great. Cover all states and are free...although they do ask for a donation if you can afford it.

David, which map set are you using, i have the 75K Vic maps and wondering if the 25K is worth the 17gig download.

[AK83]

David, which map set are you using, i have the 75K Vic maps and wondering if the 25K is worth the 17gig download.

Yep ... but depends on what you're doing(exactly).
If you're exploring every nook and cranny in every state forest, for sure.
If you're like my brother and stick to main sealed roads only, not worth it.

I'm assuming that you read maps easily, and don't get distracted by too much detail on a map .. so I think you will find it useful.(I do).

Do you use OziExplorer on PC too?

[loanrangie]

Yep ... but depends on what you're doing(exactly).
If you're exploring every nook and cranny in every state forest, for sure.
If you're like my brother and stick to main sealed roads only, not worth it.

I'm assuming that you read maps easily, and don't get distracted by too much detail on a map .. so I think you will find it useful.(I do).

Do you use OziExplorer on PC too?

I use to but find that the android version works well enough for my use,i could just download them and try it.
I have a 64gig sd card in my head unit just for maps so have plenty of space.

[dirvine]

David, which map set are you using, i have the 75K Vic maps and wondering if the 25K is worth the 17gig download.

I am using the East and West in in 2 large sheets for Victoria. I have no problem with storage as I have a large size micro card in my tablet. I have every state loaded no problems. Plus a whole lot moreother maps, ie hema, etc

[loanrangie]

I am using the East and West in in 2 large sheets for Victoria. I have no problem with storage as I have a large size micro card in my tablet. I have every state loaded no problems. Plus a whole lot moreother maps, ie hema, etc

I just tried to load the full set but the free version of Avenza only accepts 2 so i will get the large sheets and try them. Looks like that's only for Ozi Explorer which i already have so Avenza is out.