GAIA GPS Membership Level?

[W I S N E R !]

I just switched phones and installed Gaia.  If I’m planning on working in conjunction with CalTopo, is premium necessary ($40/year) or is the basic membership ($20/year) sufficient?  Cost isn’t much of an issue, I’m just not convinced I need the premium level features (NatGeo maps, etc).

Thoughts?  Thanks!

[Pedestrian]

Also look at Backcountry Navigator; they’ve been working on an iOS version that’s supposed to be competitive (maybe in Beta now?). I’ve used it on an Android phone for a couple of years and I like it.

[W I S N E R !]

I had Backcountry Navigator for my Android, but I’m using iOS now…BN was fine for my needs but I’m looking at GAIA as it seems to be the standard these days.

[BlackHatGuy]

I think you’d be fine with the regular membership, especially for the areas in which you backpack. If you were going to backpack in a variety of national parks, or hunt outside areas you already know, a premium membership could be useful, but not for most of what I think you’ll be using it for.

[W I S N E R !]

Thanks Doug.  Yeah, CalTopo hasn’t failed me yet so I figure I might as well save $20 on the GAIA membership.

[Ben C]

Yeah, I’m also happy with the $20 version too.  Twenty dollah, no hollah.

[Terry Sparks]

Most of what you get with the added features of the $40 per year membership is for the unlimited access to Nat. Geo. Trails Illustrated maps you now get.   If you don’t need or use that map layer, you may as well save the $20.00.

[Matthew / BPL]

I like the Nat Geo maps a lot and really appreciate the layering feature in phone. Do you use multiple layers with transparency in Caltopo? I like overlaying slope shading in particular when thinking about off-trail routes.

There’s also a Satelite with Labels that I recently noticed. It’s got high resolution maps along with trail and lake names. I think that is a premium map?

[W I S N E R !]

Went with the $20 version.  ($17 actually if you buy from the GAIA site as opposed to in-app purchase).  I’m not that tech savvy so sticking to basic CalTopo and layers should be fine.

Right off the bat I can say that I think GAIA is a simpler interface and more intuitive than Backcountry Navigator.

[Olivier]

Noob question –> why not use viewranger? No membership required

[BlackHatGuy]

From what I can gather from the Viewranger website, it costs $20 for a US map, and then possibly another charge for certain trails (85% of trails are free). The $20 is a one-time fee instead of a subscription. I’ll stick with Gaia though because I know it (I’ve had it for a few years now).

[W I S N E R !]

I just came in from an overnight in which I got to play with GAIA a little bit.  So far I think it’s a better product than Backcountry Navigator.  Granted, I’m running it on a better phone than I had before, but it’s still more intuitive for this fairly non-tech outdoorsman.  I’m impressed how quickly I can get a GPS fix with it, leaving it off to save batteries but getting a location fix, dropping a waypoint, or finding any information I want to know within seconds of starting the app.

In my opinion, Backcountry Navigator had a fairly roundabout way of downloading and installing map tiles.  With GAIA I had everything I needed saved (all of Angeles National Forest) in a minute.  Fast enough that I can swap out maps at-will before a trip to save memory if needed.  I never felt BN was this user friendly.  Overall, I’m impressed with the interface.

[Matthew / BPL]

Craig, your experience is similar to mine.

Please forgive if you have figured this out already but did you see that you can download maps at home via wifi/LTE/whatever and then run your phone in Airplane Mode to save even more battery while on a trip?

[W I S N E R !]

Yeah, I’m downloading off wifi at home and running it in airplane mode; thanks for checking though.

 

[BlackHatGuy]

“then run your phone in Airplane Mode to save even more battery while on a trip?”

This largely depends on which airline you use…

[Jesus l]

Buying the  $20 TrailGroove e magazine comes with a free premium subscription to GaiaGPS

[Author]

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