OffMaps is an application for the iPhone or iPod touch which can be downloaded via the Apple AppStore. Online map services consume quite a bit of bandwidth and mobile internet services are often limited. Therefore many users are looking for offline solutions for map services. Map services are of particular interest if your are travelling abroad. And in this case roaming charges can be very expensive. Also the fast access to maps at remote destinations can be enhanced.
OffMaps used the community driven map service platform OpenStreetMaps. OffMaps allows you to access maps and location bookmarks and stores Openstreetmap snapshots directly on the device for any area and zoomlevel. It also has two modes:
- an online and
- an offline mode.
Whenever possible OffMaps will use the online mode, but this can be configured. In online mode you can pan and zoom normally through the world map. Map images that have not been cached will automatically be loaded and saved to the cache for later offline use. You can also search for locations around the world, add bookmarks and preload whole areas in a zoom range of your liking. Of course you can view your own location too.
In offline mode you can only view maps of areas that you have previously seen or preloaded. You can view your current location and bookmarks, but can’t use the search as this requires the large CloudMade database that is only available online. You can even add local bookmarks by tapping the map at any location.
Features:
- Maps with cache and download function
- Online Search for places, cities and features
- Bookmarks (offline and online) with internal search
- Display of own current location with accuracy indicator
- Map scale in kilometres or miles
Storage Space of Offline maps by cities:
| City | Most detailed | -1 zoomlevel | -2 zoomlevels |
| Barcelona, ES | ~37 MB | ~10 MB | ~3 MB |
| Berlin, DE | ~125 MB | ~35 MB | ~8 MB |
| Boston (incl. Cambridge), USA | ~50 MB | ~13.1 MB | ~5 MB |
| London (center), UK | ~30 MB | ~9 MB | ~3 MB |
| New York (incl. Jersey City), USA | ~170 MB | ~45 MB | ~12 MB |
| Paris, FR | ~60 MB | ~15 MB | ~4 MB |
| San Francisco, USA | ~75 MB | ~20 MB | ~6 MB |
At the most detailed zoomlevel the screen covers approx. 300 meters in width, at the medium details approx. 600 meters and at the “Important streets” level it covers approx. 1km in width.
[via offmap.net]
