OnX CarPlay interface sucks. (a warning, not a rant)

[malt_liqueur]

The Ford trail map system should be released soon.

If only

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[dgorsett]

I have OnX hunt and Android. My understanding is that only OnX Trail (not Hunt) is compatible with Android Auto and the Bronco...True?

 

[telenerd]

I have 3 national forests to chose from for exploring in my Bronco. I’ve used Gia, Onx, and the Bronco app. After much time with all them they have their pluses and minuses. The layout on Onx is a pretty map, but real world practically it misses the basic functions of maps. When driving with Onx it often very confusing where you actually are because those basic map functions are missing. I end up pulling up Gia instead or the Bronco App.

After using the Bronco trail app, their topo maps are very good but the imagery is not high resolution like Onx. Tracking way points is simple but I am not able to track routes. Gia gives you all the details after doing a route like elevation, top speed, ect.

If the Bronco app had route tracking and better imagery I’d probably just use that 100% of the time. So for the mean time I will continue to flip between the different apps when I need a certain feature.

 

[Durangatan]

I use OnX on an iPhone 13 Pro for backcountry use, and love it.

 

[HalfmuleFarmer]

Yeah, I hear the OP’s complaint. Feel ya. I’m pretty new to the trail experience, and what sucks is one’s expectation that the OnX CarPlay app is going to give you the OnX tablet experience — and it doesn’t. Not even close. So what I’ve found I’m doing is using OnX on my tablet to get my route planned the night before, saving my route, and trying to get as visually familiar with it as possible. But the CarPlay app is next to useless, and I’ve found it easier to just use the phone (when necessary) in combination with whatever other map will be displaying better on the dash display, either Apple maps or Ford nav. That way I get to see two different maps which is sometimes useful.

But OP is correct, it’s maybe dumb for OnX to even make a CarPlay app when it’s so compromised compared to the phone/tablet version. You get your hopes up when you subscribe, and then it’s disappointing, bcause in reality the CarPlay screen is really just a supplemental piece to the phone/tablet app, which you still need to be running at the same time. All the CarPlay app does is display a recognizable enough map to save you from having to look at the phone every 15 seconds.

In OnX’s defense, developing for the CarPlay platform probably severely constrains the programming environment and limits the UI options.

 

[CalvinT]

For now I’m just back to a good old fashioned atlas and road map

They don't need a cell connection to work and the batteries never go bad. Just learn how to read a map and use a compass.

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