From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

Q: What offline free adfree loginfree trail hiking apps do you use most?
A: ?

For another thread, I just listed the main ones that I use most while
hiking, where they have to work offline, and they can't have an account.

croy wrote:

After clearing "much stuff" from memory, for one 4-mile hike this morning, the phone's GPS had no hiccups, and I got a complete track recorded with no gaps or stoppages. I hope this is a fix that repeats.

If you're in the USA, nothing beats the USGS free geoPDFs which can be read into many free apps such as Avenza & PaperMaps for location & tracking.
<com.Avenza> limited to 3 maps, but you can swap them out at will
<ca.abbro.androidmap> unlimited but not as good a GUI as Avenza

For standard offline maps, this app reads in many free map databases.
<net.psyberia.offlinemaps>

Almost nothing can beat the open source SatStat for GPS utilities, although many programs appear to have used their source code to create their adware.
<com.vonglasow.michael.satstat>

To "Clear APGS Data", this simple app makes it the very first button:
<com.mirfatif.mylocation>

The best standalone compass, I've found, is Azimuth Compass.
<ro.overwrite.azimuthcompass>

The best standalone altimeter, I've found, is Altimeter.
<org.ssandon.altimeter>

The best standalone track logger, I've found, is GPS Logger.
<eu.basicairdata.graziano.gpslogger>

The best standalone GPS-to-SMS I'm-here, I've found, is GPS to SMS.
<ru.perm.trubnikov.gps2sms>

For hundreds of USA parks, the best single all-inclusive trail map is
<com.trailheadlabs.outerspatial>

There are tons more in my hiking folder (e.g., weather apps, star maps, sunset/sunrise timing, step counters, wildfire info, radio apps, etc.

All those apps are free, ad free, and they work completely offline.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

On Sat, 2 May 2026 19:03:54 -0600, Maria Sophia
<mariasophia@comprehension.com> wrote:

Q: What offline free adfree loginfree trail hiking apps do you use most?

Geo Tracker. There are upsells, but the free version does everything I
want.

[...]

If you're in the USA, nothing beats the USGS free geoPDFs which can be read >into many free apps such as Avenza & PaperMaps for location & tracking.
<com.Avenza> limited to 3 maps, but you can swap them out at will <ca.abbro.androidmap> unlimited but not as good a GUI as Avenza

Is <ca.abbro.androidmap> a URL? I' don't recognize the format.

[...]

Almost nothing can beat the open source SatStat for GPS utilities, although >many programs appear to have used their source code to create their adware.
<com.vonglasow.michael.satstat>

Using Google Apps (on the phone), I couldn't find the pure app, only derivitives.

[...]

Thanks for all that--I will explore when time permits.
--
croy
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

On Sun, 03 May 2026 09:18:08 -0700, croy <croy@spam.invalid.net> wrote:

Using Google Apps [...]

Make that Google Play Store.
--
croy
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

On Sun, 03 May 2026 09:18:08 -0700, croy <croy@spam.invalid.net> wrote:

On Sat, 2 May 2026 19:03:54 -0600, Maria Sophia ><mariasophia@comprehension.com> wrote:

Q: What offline free adfree loginfree trail hiking apps do you use most?

Geo Tracker. There are upsells, but the free version does everything I
want.

Here is a link to a sample of what GeoTracker will email to my desktop computer:

https://postimg.cc/233bJ5k4
--
croy
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

croy wrote:

Using Google Apps [...]

Make that Google Play Store.

I gave the unique package names which means they're all easily found.

All my apps are from well-known archives, mostly Google Play's repository (which I use without a Google Account, for privacy on my degoogled phone).

Some are from F-Droid.
Some from GitHub.

But absolutely zero are from apk archives. I don't trust 'em.
But they may be fine, but I've never needed them unless I needed an old
version of an app that I couldn't find on F-Droid, Google Play or Github.

Since I was just listing what I use on my device, those were the unique
package names, which, with a google search, will bring up the URLs.

I wrote up plenty of map tutorials on this ng which have the full
URLs but I also gave the name of the apps so folks can find them.

For example, Avenza is the acknowledged standard for using the free USGS topographic maps while backcountry hiking, so you can look up Avenza.
*Avenza Maps* Offline Mapping by Avenza Systems Inc., In-app purchases
Free, ad free, 4.6 star, 72.6K reviews, 1M+ Downloads
<https://www.avenza.com/avenza-maps/>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Avenza>
<https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id388424049>

Likewise with Paper Maps which is the open source Avenza replacement.
*Paper Maps* by Abbro Inc, In-app purchases
Free, ad free, 5K+ Downloads
<https://www.paper-maps.com/>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.abbro.androidmap>
<https://apps.apple.com/app/nextmap/id1147385120>

If you like hiking in parks in the USA, then OuterSpatial is useful.
OuterSpatial for Android:  <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trailheadlabs.outerspatial>

If you ask me, but don't ask Vanguard because he doesn't believe me,
very many payware/adware satellite stat apps are copies of SatStat
*SatStat*
<https://gitlab.com/mvglasow/satstat>
<https://f-droid.org/packages/com.vonglasow.michael.satstat/>

Here's a link to the offline-maps app, but you can find these easily.
<https://www.offline-maps.net/>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.psyberia.offlinemaps>

And of course, there's always OSMAnd+ which is completely free also.
*OsmAnd& Maps & GPS Offline by OsmAnd, In-app purchases
Free, ad free, 4.5 star, 153K reviews, 10M+ Downloads
<https://osmand.net/>
<https://f-droid.org/repo/net.osmand.plus_431203.apk>
<https://f-droid.org/en/packages/net.osmand.plus/>
<https://github.com/osmandapp/OsmAnd>
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand.plus>
<https://www.amazon.com/OsmAnd-Maps-Navigation/dp/B00D0SA8I8>
--
The advantage of a degoogled phone is privacy but you need to be clever to
get full functionality that others pay for, completely for free.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

croy wrote:

Geo Tracker. There are upsells, but the free version does everything I >>want.

Here is a link to a sample of what GeoTracker will email to my desktop computer:

https://postimg.cc/233bJ5k4

It's one of the best hiking apps, if people are willing to lose a bit of privacy, where that screenshot is beautiful, showing a 3.05 mile track
length, with a maximum speed of 2.96 MPH, for a duration of 1:30:27, of
which 1:28:32 was actual movement, averaging 2.02mph overall, but averaging 2.07mph moving. The wiggly speed chart is nice too.

It has the altitude diference of 170 feet, 338 feet vertical ascent, 199
feet max altitude, and 675 feet of vertical distance, down to a minimum altitude of 30 feet and a vertical speed of 0.13 feet per second.

The elevation profile, over time, chart is also very nicely done.
I like the color-coded tracks also, but I'm not sure what green is versus
red versus orange and yellow on the Google Maps satellite view.

On the bottom was 9 degrees of maximum slope, -36 degres of minimum slope,
and -4 degrees of average slope.

Overall, it's an excellent hiking log app!
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

Maria Sophia, 2026-05-03 03:03:

Q: What offline free adfree loginfree trail hiking apps do you use most?
A: ?

For another thread, I just listed the main ones that I use most while
hiking, where they have to work offline, and they can't have an account.

What exactly defines "trail hiking"?

OSMAnd is open source and can use offline maps and GPX tracks for
navigation. Or do you mean apps with specific routes for hiking?
--
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

Arno Welzel <usenet@arnowelzel.de> Wrote in message:

Maria Sophia, 2026-05-03 03:03:

Q: What offline free adfree loginfree trail hiking apps do you use most?
A: ?

For another thread, I just listed the main ones that I use most while
hiking, where they have to work offline, and they can't have an account.

What exactly defines "trail hiking"?

I wondered that. My hiking days are over, but I still take 10 mile
walks.

OSMAnd is open source and can use offline maps and GPX tracks for
navigation. Or do you mean apps with specific routes for hiking?

I use OSMand too, on this Android tablet and (whisper it) on an
iPhone. I often import someone's track as a guide to the altitude
changes and then actually walk with a paper map.
--
Remove numerics from my email address.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

Dave Royal wrote:

What exactly defines "trail hiking"?

I wondered that. My hiking days are over, but I still take 10 mile
walks.

My days of hiking the South Kaibab to Bright Angel on the Colorado for the night and then back up to Havasupai Gardens to the top, are also well over.

Most people who live in boonies like I do, hike the Santa Cruz mountains,
where trails abound from the Silicon Valley to the Ocean 30 miles LOS.

OSMAnd is open source and can use offline maps and GPX tracks for
navigation. Or do you mean apps with specific routes for hiking?

I use OSMand too, on this Android tablet and (whisper it) on an
iPhone. I often import someone's track as a guide to the altitude
changes and then actually walk with a paper map.

Good questions!

Everyone defines hiking the way they see fit.
But it's fundamentally different in every possible way, from driving.

So the hiking apps are completely different from driving apps.
They serve a completely different dataset need.

For example, following a pre-planned route (which could be someone else's track) using spoken directions, while hiking, and leaving a breadcrumb
track log (for viewing later) is nothing like navigation while driving.

There's no comparison between hiking and driving.
A. You can't use the same maps
B. You can't use the same apps

Even those who live in flatland, flock to the parks to hike on weekends.
Each of these hikes requires some type of offline navigation activity.
a. You might draw a route on a map with your finger,
b. You might follow that route using voice navigation directions,
c. You might pick a far off hilltop to get to by dead reckoning,
d. Doing so may require compass with bearing read out verbally,
e. It might benefit from an altimeter read out verbally,
f. You'll need to avoid the boundaries of private property,
g. If it's more than one day, you'll need weather & star maps,
h. And if the weather is iffy, you'll want a weather app,
i. And you may even take an established named park trail,
j. You may breadcrumb your entire journey like "croy" does,
k. And back home, you may want to look at graphical stats too,
l. Even when on trail, you'll need emergency SMS location apps,
m. And maybe a radio (we usually carry a ham radio) on the phone.
etc.

All of those I've set up in one fashion or another on my phone.
A. To me, that's hiking.
B. And those are hiking apps.

Note that hiking databases are completely different than driving maps.
Notice that most people are familiar with Google Maps on the phone.
i. But Google Maps doesn't cut the mustard for hiking.
ii. But neither does OSM if the landscape isn't perfectly flat.
iii. Although OSM has its place compared to USGS topo maps
iv. For example, dry creeks are labeled in OSM but not in USGS maps

Note that hiking directions are completely different than driving ones.
I. When driving, you turn left at Main Street in 1 miles
II. When hiking, you head west at 275 degrees for 50 feet


--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

On 5/4/2026 9:59, Maria Sophia wrote:

Everyone defines hiking the way they see fit. But it's fundamentally different in every possible way, from driving.

Oh I dunno. When I'm on my treadmill and watching a movie on my (on
topic) Android tablet I'm often in a scene that has me driving/racing
down the roadway...

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2