OS Maps Premium subscription

l £25.99/year or £3.99/month l www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

orDnAnCe Survey is best known for its paper maps but its digital offering is extremely well known and highly respected. This makes the oS Maps smartphone app and website with a Premium subscription from the national mapping agency in the uK an obvious port of call for many people.

The oS Maps app is free to download, and the free version provides standard, greenspace and aerial mapping of Great Britain while you have a data connection. If you plan on heading off the beaten track where mobile signal may be sporadic, the Premium subscription at £25.99 per annum is a must.

With the Premium option you get oS explorer 1:25,000 and oS Landranger 1:50,000 maps, which allows you to download sections of Great Britain. you can’t, however, download the entire GB map so you have to select smaller areas such as the north Lake District and the south Lake District as two maps. Downloaded maps remain available on your device even after the subscription ends.

one of the great features of the oS Maps app is that if you purchase an oS explorer or Landranger paper map, there will be a code included so you can download a digital offline version of the map to your smart device. Both digital downloads using map codes or the Premium subscription allow you to import, record and export GPX route files so you can follow predefined routes when out in the field. Alternatively, simply using GPS will pinpoint your current location.

The oS Maps app is easy to use and the ability to download such a wide range of map types in a single download for offline use makes it a convenient option. Viewranger, conversely, requires you to download oS Landranger, explorer and Satellite maps separately. The ability to import and export GPX files for routes is also an excellent feature.