Anquet Outdoor Map Navigator

fast, print option, offline desktop app

only UK maps

Platforms: Windows, iOS, Android, macOS Maps OS Landranger & Explorer, Harvey Superwalker, Harvey British Mountain Features: track recording, offline desktop maps (Premium Plus), GPX- compatible

Offline: yes anquet.com

COSTS

£3.99 for iPhone & Android apps; free for Windows; OS Premium £ 24 auto annual renewal, £30 for one year; Premium Plus £32 auto annual renewal, £40 for one year; Harvey Superwalker £15.50 each; Harvey British Mountain £ 24.95 each

Launched back in 2001 offering maps on CD, Anquet was one of the first companies selling digital mapping.

Since it began it has moved with the technology and now offers subscriptions for downloads to smartphones and computers, providing a service rather than a one-off sale.

When I last tried Anquet 10 years ago one-off downloads had just begun and CD mapping was still available. It worked well then and it still does. Downloading the app to both PC and smartphone was fast. The maps downloaded and opened quickly on the latter, but were slow on my ageing PC.

An excellent feature with the OS Premium Plus subscription is the option of downloading the app and maps to your desktop computer for planning routes and printing. I find this more versatile and faster than using a web browser. It’s much easier to plot a route on a large screen than a small one so this is a very useful feature. Routes can then be synchronised with your smartphone or printed out.

There’s no 3D or augmented reality feature. Anquet says it is concentrating on “getting more done with simpler interfaces” and a third version of OMN will be launched later this year, available to current subscribers. I don’t miss 3D, but I do fine augmented reality useful for identifying distant features. It’s not essential though. You can record tracks and waypoints and sync them the desktop.

I found Anquet OMN easy to learn and powerful. As a combined smartphone and desktop app it’s excellent.