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16-12-2021, 22:25
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#1
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Living on board
Boat: Custom 35, Corroboree
Posts: 172
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Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
I am planning our Indian Ocean crossing, and getting across the Pacific and up through Queensland, Australia and the Great Barrier Reef we relied on Ovital Maps for offline earth images and real time positioning. The app is not working anymore, and I suspect that Ovital Maps has been forced off the market.
Does anyone have any suggestions for an alternative free or low cost mapping app to replace the Ovital Maps app that can show satellite imagry of the earth and also show your position? I use an IOS iPad.
Thanks in advance.
Eric
__________________
Eric W. Sponberg
Naval Architect (retired)
St. Augustine, FL
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17-12-2021, 01:29
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#2
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,142
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"
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18-12-2021, 16:39
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#3
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Living on board
Boat: Custom 35, Corroboree
Posts: 172
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
On another forum there are a number of comments suggesting "Offline Maps" but the versions that are advertised do not mention anything about offline satellite imagry--except for Pocket Maps.Lite, with Pocket Maps Pro version being only US$0.99. It seems to be rated pretty well, 3.8/5 on 26 reviews.
So, has anyone tried Pocket Maps.Lite or Pocket Maps Pro?
TIA, Eric
__________________
Eric W. Sponberg
Naval Architect (retired)
St. Augustine, FL
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18-12-2021, 17:00
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Panschwitz, Germany
Boat: Woods Mira 35 Catamaran
Posts: 4,235
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
SAS Planet?
Tons of chart sources & Sat image sources including Navionics, can cache everything locally, save MB Tiles and is free of charge.
Also with GPS input.
Easy to use.
Not sure if there is a Mac version though.
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18-12-2021, 18:13
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#5
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Living on board
Boat: Custom 35, Corroboree
Posts: 172
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Franziska
SAS Planet?
Tons of chart sources & Sat image sources including Navionics, can cache everything locally, save MB Tiles and is free of charge.
Also with GPS input.
Easy to use.
Not sure if there is a Mac version though.
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Thanks, Franziska. I checked the Apple App store and SAS Planet does not appear.
Eric
__________________
Eric W. Sponberg
Naval Architect (retired)
St. Augustine, FL
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18-12-2021, 19:39
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Panschwitz, Germany
Boat: Woods Mira 35 Catamaran
Posts: 4,235
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ewsponberg
Thanks, Franziska. I checked the Apple App store and SAS Planet does not appear.
Eric
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Maybe you can run it with parallels or a similar windows install on the Mac?
Or get a cheap second hand windows notebooks create & save your maps as mbtiles in SASplanet and import them into your Mac or iPad software.
Possibly sell the notebook thereafter.
OpenCPN exist for Mac as far as I know and can use MBtiles.
You find a lot of info here:
https://gisenglish.geojamal.com/2018...y-all.html?m=1
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18-12-2021, 19:39
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SF Bay Area
Boat: Other people's boats
Posts: 1,105
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
For an iPad, SEAiq combined with VentureFarther will get you offline imagery.
If you can load sasplanet on a laptop and export BSB/KAP files you could probably skip the VF part and load the KAP files directly. Might be wise to do that even with the VF route, so that you have a backup and can reload if necessary.
Unfortunately it probably doesn't meet your cost criteria; about $50 for the app and assume $20 for a year of downloads from VF. I am hoping though that you have some other charts on hand, and are only needing this for the satellite images.
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19-12-2021, 01:32
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#8
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Living on board
Boat: Custom 35, Corroboree
Posts: 172
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by requiem
For an iPad, SEAiq combined with VentureFarther will get you offline imagery.
If you can load sasplanet on a laptop and export BSB/KAP files you could probably skip the VF part and load the KAP files directly. Might be wise to do that even with the VF route, so that you have a backup and can reload if necessary.
Unfortunately it probably doesn't meet your cost criteria; about $50 for the app and assume $20 for a year of downloads from VF. I am hoping though that you have some other charts on hand, and are only needing this for the satellite images.
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I run iNavX on duplicate iPads for my charting software, one iPad is always a backup to the other. The iPads need to be recharged periodically, so while one is charging, the other is active. We leave these down below at the chart table most of the time so that they don't get wet (and they do have water resistant cases). Only when maneuvering in and out of harbours do we have an iPad at the helm mounted on a bracket on the binnacle frame.
I do not want to do hardware and software gymnastics to get something to work. And I do not want to run my laptop computer for charting (which requires AC current to keep charged.) I have never been able to get OpenCPN to work anyway, nor do I understand it. The iNavX app is easy to use, it is versatile and very intuitive, has a great user interface, and can accept charts from most available sources.
All I want for additional charting is an app that shows satellite views of the earth while offline which at the same time shows my position on the view. This is great for sailing near, around, and in atolls and island groups where the detail of the waters in satellite view complements the charts. Ovitalmap did this, but apparently, it no longer works because of copyright infringement with Google. For example, the last time I used Ovitalmaps was this past August coming into Darwin from Queensland. It worked fine. But now, on starting it up, I get no view of the world to begin with, nor any working option to download maps. All that appears is a blank gray screen. So I am assuming that the app simply no longer works.
I checked if I need to be a registered user--all registration entries were blank. So I filled them in with User Name and Password, plus security questions, and Date of Birth to register as a user. It would not accept my Date of Birth (??? it provides the calendar, how can it NOT accept a Date of Birth if you specify it to begin with). So registration failed. Needless to say, I am frustrated with OvitalMap.
As I said a little while ago, I have found another App called Pocket Maps which is available at the Apple store for Apple products and it apparently has satellite imagry. Does anyone have experience with Pocket Maps?
Thanks,
Eric
__________________
Eric W. Sponberg
Naval Architect (retired)
St. Augustine, FL
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19-12-2021, 23:02
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SF Bay Area
Boat: Other people's boats
Posts: 1,105
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
I'm not familiar with Pocket Maps. From a quick glance at the reviews and notes in the app store, it appears that one must select from pre-defined list, and areas not on that must be requested via the in-app feedback.
iNavX appears to have satellite functionality; but it is unclear for how long those images will be cached (i.e. is there a size or time limit?). If it's possible to get clarification from iNavX that on that point, that may be the simplest route. Otherwise, that uncertainty is a problem.
I too would like to hear about anything low-cost that doesn't involve gymnastics, but that does seem to be the price of free. My original suggestion was the simplest for me on an all-Apple workflow, but after thinking a bit, it might involve extra steps for you.
One other option, unfortunately still at a $36-$40/yr price point, is Gaia GPS which I use for hiking and which has two options for satellite downloads (MapBox and Mapquest). That would involve more work (downloading areas on each iPad separately) compared to a single locate & download step on the laptop and then loading on both iPads, but on the other hand it has better basemaps if you wanted to leave the laptop out of the workflow entirely.
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20-12-2021, 04:01
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Panschwitz, Germany
Boat: Woods Mira 35 Catamaran
Posts: 4,235
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by requiem
I'm not familiar with Pocket Maps. From a quick glance at the reviews and notes in the app store, it appears that one must select from pre-defined list, and areas not on that must be requested via the in-app feedback.
iNavX appears to have satellite functionality; but it is unclear for how long those images will be cached (i.e. is there a size or time limit?). If it's possible to get clarification from iNavX that on that point, that may be the simplest route. Otherwise, that uncertainty is a problem.
I too would like to hear about anything low-cost that doesn't involve gymnastics, but that does seem to be the price of free. My original suggestion was the simplest for me on an all-Apple workflow, but after thinking a bit, it might involve extra steps for you.
One other option, unfortunately still at a $36-$40/yr price point, is Gaia GPS which I use for hiking and which has two options for satellite downloads (MapBox and Mapquest). That would involve more work (downloading areas on each iPad separately) compared to a single locate & download step on the laptop and then loading on both iPads, but on the other hand it has better basemaps if you wanted to leave the laptop out of the workflow entirely.
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The SASplanet method I wrote about above is not complicated and does not involve complicated gymnastics.
Download the charts or Sat images (you can even choose between several providers) for free, save them as MBtiles and use them offline in any nav package which can handle MBtiles.
It's also a completely free system, as SASplanet is free too.
Only drawback you need to use a PC to use SASplanet or use one of the many Window emulators on a Mac.
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20-12-2021, 20:54
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Halfway around Australia
Boat: Hallberg-Rassy 40
Posts: 306
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
The Zulu Offshore app is free and has a feature where you can download sat imagery for available offline. I spent about AUS $200 and downloaded a 2x sat image of just about every anchorage I was likely to use around Oz. Plus it comes with plenty of comments, which have been handy. Has been working fine on my ipad for the last 3 months.
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/zulu-o...e/id1522412216
Ilenart
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20-12-2021, 21:40
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SF Bay Area
Boat: Other people's boats
Posts: 1,105
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilenart
The Zulu Offshore app is free and has a feature where you can download sat imagery for available offline. I spent about AUS $200 and downloaded a 2x sat image of just about every anchorage I was likely to use around Oz.
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This looks really promising, but I don't see anything about costs for downloaded imagery. Are there limits or in-app purchases?
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21-12-2021, 01:33
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Halfway around Australia
Boat: Hallberg-Rassy 40
Posts: 306
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by requiem
This looks really promising, but I don't see anything about costs for downloaded imagery. Are there limits or in-app purchases?
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I think the limit is 50 free tokens initially. If you look under the “Map Store” there are options for regional packs. I purchased the Australia Wide regional pack for $35, then purchased 300 tokens for $20 to download HD Satelite images (costs 2 tokens) for areas I wanted more details. Has worked pretty well for scoping anchorages and finding sandy spots (or not!).
Only thing I would not bother about is trying to add comments on the Offshore app. I tried but it has a download limit and runs out every time. Tried querying the help email and received no reply. Any comments I now add to the online app when I have cellular / wifi access.
Ilenart
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21-12-2021, 02:01
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#14
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Croatia
Boat: Elan 45 impression
Posts: 1,163
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ewsponberg
I am planning our Indian Ocean crossing, and getting across the Pacific and up through Queensland, Australia and the Great Barrier Reef we relied on Ovital Maps for offline earth images and real time positioning. The app is not working anymore, and I suspect that Ovital Maps has been forced off the market.
Does anyone have any suggestions for an alternative free or low cost mapping app to replace the Ovital Maps app that can show satellite imagry of the earth and also show your position? I use an IOS iPad.
Thanks in advance.
Eric
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https://www.navionics.com/fin/apps/n...g/try-for-free
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21-12-2021, 06:09
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Panschwitz, Germany
Boat: Woods Mira 35 Catamaran
Posts: 4,235
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Re: Ovital Maps is gone--What can replace it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilenart
The Zulu Offshore app is free and has a feature where you can download sat imagery for available offline. I spent about AUS $200 and downloaded a 2x sat image of just about every anchorage I was likely to use around Oz. Plus it comes with plenty of comments, which have been handy. Has been working fine on my ipad for the last 3 months.
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/zulu-o...e/id1522412216
Ilenart
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And with SASplanet the same costs you zero, nil, nothing in any size/resolution you want and with a choice of different sat image providers....
I'm quiet now, as I have mentioned it several times already. Merry x-mas everyone.
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