# OnX or Basemap



## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Camofire had a 30% off deal on the Basemap app and I "pulled the trigger". I have the OnX now, but my subscription is close to expiring. Has anyone used both of these apps and what are the pros and cons of each? What would you consider the most "User Friendly" ?


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

I was having a lot of problems with onX this year, when I would mark something, like the blood trail from the buck I shot, it would constantly move my pin around, I just had to stop using the **** thing, it also would say I was facing a direction I knew for a fact I wasn’t


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

I've made no secret I hate OnX, it failed me at a time I most needed it (it lost all the cached maps and info opening morning of the hunt with no cell service). OnX folk were extremely rude when I contacted them post hunt. Screw them.

I since bought US Topo Maps Pro, I think it cost like $13 with NO subscription. its way easier to use, has the simplest caching I've ever seen and has never once lost anything or failed to work. Its easy to backup plot points and other info too. It has tons of layers of different info (different map views/types), more than I'd ever need to use.

To cache an area, simply hit the Cache function, zoom in or out until the area boundary is fully seen, then drag two corners of a box around to cover the area, then just select how many layers of zoom you want and you're done. I have a 128gb sd card in my phone now, half of that are cached topo maps... I have most of the state of Utah on there, alot of Wyoming and Alaska.

-DallanC


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

The only thing that I depend on my phone to do is to make phone calls, and if you are out in the sticks that may be questionable. 

For mapping and locations I'll stick with a stand alone GPS with the state chip in it, do they even still sell the state chips? I know that the last time that I went to update mine they wanted me to purchase a subscription instead of just paying for the update.


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## Wbrim (Sep 5, 2021)

I probably don’t use any of these to their full potential... this year was the first time ive used anything besides my good old trusty Garmin GPS. It feels a little more comfortable knowing I can swap out a couple AA batteries if it gets low, since my phone battery can go really fast when there is spotty service... other than that, I’ve had no issue with OnX.
I like the idea of the US topo, no subscriptions tho... thanks for the tip!


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## flyfisher20 (Aug 5, 2011)

Having used both I can say I prefer Basemap for the simple fact that I get 50 states with Basemap for the price of one state with OnX. Functionality is essentially the same. The new XDR Navigation feature is pretty nice with Basemap as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Corey (Aug 26, 2021)

I am not techy at all and had onX for 2 years and never touched the potential of all the features but the maps were good and played a little with the tracking feature that seemed good and was fun to look at what I covered later. I have friends that have large bordering ranches that we spend a lot of time on and the property lines are less than accurate including public land borders. they have surveyed and marked the line over the years and some are way off so I’d be poaching if I didn’t know where I was already. I think they definitely will get you in the ballpark and fence lines help, though they aren’t always right either. I was waiting for the camofire deal to come around again and the BaseMap deal came up first so I got it because it was cheap. In my small scope of use I don’t think the BaseMap is any more or less accurate, but I noticed that the maps were less detailed with location names, springs, etc and I just liked the maps on onX so now I have both until next year… It probably depends on how much of the features you’re going to use, if you just want some general idea or are going to use all of the map layers and markers etc. also, one state or want to look at all of them, 50 State onX is spendy. If nothing better comes along, next year I will probably get the 50 state onX hopefully on the camofire deal.


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## taskswap (Mar 11, 2021)

OnX has the best/most updated satellite views, but the worst UI and features. Downloading offline regions is torture, you have to do it section by section. And if a buddy texts you "elk down" for a pack-out, it's a huge pain to put in raw coordinates to get there. Basemap has more features and easier to download offline areas of any size, but is updated less often and can be glitchy/weird. I also use Caltop and Locus Pro and love them. YMMV.


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## utskidad (Apr 6, 2013)

I ran onx the last two weekends. Got a deal on annual subscription on Father's Day. I hunt in a no-cell service area. I had downloaded the area maps on my desktop earlier and moved them to my phone. When I get to no-cell area I put it in airplane mode so I don't burn battery looking for cell towers that aren't there. I had no problem in the field. I used the topo maps, the topo and satellite combined (I find it helpful to know what's timbered and what's not in the area), and the landowner features. No problems. Satisfied with my purchase. I did find myself at one point sitting next to a "behind this sign is national forest" old sign. Nothing on the Onx indicating I was near private property. I wrote it off as an old leasehold. There were signs of abandoned ranching improvements that had gone to waste. 

I do also run an etrex for a real how-to-get-unlost tool. I would not bet my life on a fragile cell phone for that.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

I use Basemaps. They had some initial bugs that really screwed me on a trip and made the app useless, but they seem to have straightened that out.


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## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

Ray said:


> I was having a lot of problems with onX this year, when I would mark something, like the blood trail from the buck I shot, it would constantly move my pin around, I just had to stop using the **** thing, it also would say I was facing a direction I knew for a fact I wasn’t


I've had the same problems, but I've attributed them to GPS fixing on the pin moving around. I've found that if you zoom the map all the way in, and give it a min, it will stop moving, then i'll drop my pin. 

Now, the compass feature in OnX, where it tell you your going one way, but you KNOW your going a completely different direction, that is the compass in your phone, which is what the app uses for which direction you face.

Seriously, this will be an issue no matter what GPS app you use. *Do you have magnets in your bino case?* I didn't before, changed up to Marsupial that does, and I immediately started having intermittent compass fail issues on OnX. Play with it at home, you'll see for yourself. Unfortunately the only way to re-calibrate the compass on your phone is to reboot the effing thing.

Side note: Your map location is different from which direction your facing. Grid coordinates are gathered from sat GPS, directional facing is from your phones compass. So your compass can be fubared due to magnets, but still have an accurate map location.

I've since gone back to the old school and started using a real compass I keep on a tether long enough to hold away from my bino case. I used to always carry one (USGI Lensetic), then stopped because I almost never used it (yeah, I know....), and started carrying this one instead:








Amazon.com : SUUNTO MC-2 NH USGS Mirror Compass : Camping Compasses : Sports & Outdoors


Amazon.com : SUUNTO MC-2 NH USGS Mirror Compass : Camping Compasses : Sports & Outdoors



www.amazon.com





Lighter, multipurpose, mirror gives additional functionality. Honestly, these GPS apps have made me entirely too reliant on electronics. I hate that. It makes landnav easy, but it's also made me lazy.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

I used baswmap that I downloaded and to tell you the truth….I'm about to go back to buying a topo map that I can lay out and use my compass. Old school I know, but I don't have to fiddle around trying to figure it all out and still wonder if its accurate. 

I'm not a techy and this new stuff is driving me crazy.


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Lone_Hunter said:


> I've had the same problems, but I've attributed them to GPS fixing on the pin moving around. I've found that if you zoom the map all the way in, and give it a min, it will stop moving, then i'll drop my pin.
> 
> Now, the compass feature in OnX, where it tell you your going one way, but you KNOW your going a completely different direction, that is the compass in your phone, which is what the app uses for which direction you face.
> 
> ...



Glad I’m not the only experiencing these problems! I do have magnets in my bino harness, I’ll have to play around with it and report back


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## taskswap (Mar 11, 2021)

I'm a software engineer and if that means anything, I personally would never use the compass in my phone. They're wildly inaccurate even if you calibrate them, and most people don't even realize they CAN be calibrated. GPS mapping apps are great: I personally prefer Locus in the field but also use OnX and Basemap (Caltopo is great too). But for map-and-compass work, bring a real compass.

I carry a button compass as my "backup tool": Amazon.com : Gracefulvara Mini Black Pocket Liquid Filled Button Compass for Hiking Camping Outdoor : Sports & Outdoors. These things are bigger than they look, they're a bit under 2" across which isn't much smaller than most compact card-style units. For $3 it's a great deal.

YMMV but I personally don't use paper maps because I hunt in Colorado and Utah, and let's face it guys, getting more than a few miles from a road or private property in either state actually takes some doing these days. It says something that the reason I use a GPS isn't to know where I am, but to make sure I'm not somewhere I shouldn't be. "Which way gets me home" isn't really the challenge anymore.


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## DreadedBowHunter (Sep 22, 2021)

I use BaseMap. Does anyone justify using GoHUNT for $159 per year? I looked into GH features which are interesting filters but my wife won’t let me get it just for a couple different features. 🤦🏼‍♂️


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## taskswap (Mar 11, 2021)

I have GoHunt Insider. I got it to help research a few states I want to hunt in future years. I can't say I'll renew every year because of the cost but it was helpful to figure out what tag/season/area options I had especially as a nonresident.

Their "hunt unit" writeups are sort of the same as you'd find in other tools ("mostly private land here, be prepared to get permission, etc. etc.") although they do seem to put a bit more effort in. And they have a user-comments section that's about what you'd expect (mostly babble) but has a few occasional gems from helpful souls.

As far as the app is concerned:
1. I'm not convinced the 3D feature is that big a deal - you can just use Google Earth for free for that, and the Gohunt 3D tool is really primitive IMO.
2. I do like that you can adjust the transparency on the public land layer, it's SO annoying in OnX/others when you turn that on and the satellite layer is obliterated by green overlay.
3. I think their water layer is more useful than in other apps.
4. I like their topo layer (pretty easy to read even with my old eyes in the field) but do NOT like their "hybrid" layer (terrain lines are too bold and distracting, and the basemap doesn't change enough to be useful).
5. Finally, as for tools, I usually judge that by a combination of track recording and ability to share data with others. I frequently hunt with one or two buddies, and a key thing there is "can they text me coordinates and I can go to them easily?" I would say no, I find it clumsy to "get my position and share it" (to users of other apps) and "get a pin from a buddy and get there via the app."

I don't regret the purchase - a combination of the stuff above made it worth buying for a year. But I don't think I would renew. HOWEVER, one difference is that GoHunt does seem to be actively developing their app all the time so it's possible they'll keep adding things that make it worth keeping...


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## DreadedBowHunter (Sep 22, 2021)

Thanks for sharing your opinion of GoHUNT app.
On BaseMap I just share my location with other BaseMap users and they can see me in real time, it comes in handy when you usually have to do audible Calls to get a location in the field.
I guess with GoHUNT the best feature is to shop for OTC nonresident tags but with the price of licenses and permits it’s already a huge overhead cost to then add Insider app price plus gas and supplies for the hunt....


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