Android

Here’s a comparison of two popular Android hiking apps – Backcountry Navigator and Atlogis US Topo Maps Pro.

I previously wrote about Gaia GPS vs. BCN, and it’s clear that Atlogis is a distant third. In this case, it comes down to the maps. I could take some fun jabs at the usability and performance of these apps relative to one another, but maps make the rest moot.

I’ll also note that we’d like you to compare Gaia GPS to both apps – we’ll give you a refund if you prefer our competitors, and we’ll give you a free GaiaPro subscription if you write to tell us why you like Gaia GPS better. Email support@gaiagps.com.

BackCountry has Better Topos than Topo Maps Pro

If you are looking for USGS topo maps, then you are much better off using Backcountry Navigator than Atlogis. BCN uses the same USGS topo maps that we do in Gaia GPS – the amazingly clear and updated USGS topos provided by CalTopo. On the other hand, Atlogis seems to have stitched together their own quilt of USGS topo maps – you can tell because of the ugly watermarks they superimpose on what are actually government maps.

Atlogis maps are also just obviously less clear and inferior – CalTopo renders the images to a higher resolution with a better method.

I can’t help but point out that Gaia GPS is best of all in this respect – not only do we have the clear CalTopo maps, but we let you adjust the hill-shading in the app itself, if you have a GaiaPro add-on. Personally, I prefer to have hill-shading turned off in the field. See for yourself which USGS topo is the best:

Backcountry vs. Atlogis vs. Gaia GPS

BackCountry has Better Map Selection than Atlogis

It might be that if you are looking for a weather app, Atlogis is what you want. There are a lot of weather layers, and like Gaia GPS, you can animate weather radar in the app and get some forecast info.

But for offline satellite imagery, international maps, and special sources like hunting layers and NOAA nautical charts, Atlogis isn’t going to do it for you.

Conclusion

I think people who buy Atlogis Topo Maps Pro do so for very random reasons, related to marketing and effort to promote the app. BCN is just better, and Gaia GPS is best of all.

Email support@gaiagps.com and let us know what you think.

Since the dawn of Android, BackCountry Navigator has been the market-leading outdoor app. The developer behind the app took his long experience on Windows and translated that to the new Android platform, and BackCountry Navigator was the best for a long while.

With the latest release of Gaia GPS, things have changed. I can now say Gaia GPS is competitive with BackCountry Navigator in many ways, and overall, the best outdoor GPS app for Android. If you have to make the choice, buy both. If you think I’m wrong, send an email to andrew@gaiagps.com, and I will personally give you a refund.

What Makes Gaia GPS Better

Gaia GPS has many advantages over BackCountry Navigator now, both with regards to speed and performance, and features. Most importantly:

1. Faster map display
2. Sync, share, and backup with GaiaCloud
3. Better maps

Faster Map Display

The most obvious difference between the two apps is that Gaia GPS displays maps smoothly and beautifully, while BackCountry Navigator flashes black and white as you move the map, which creates a jarring and unsatisfying map experience.

Though there are many capabilities that Gaia GPS has that BackCountry does not, it is this basic map display disparity that makes Gaia GPS obviously better on launch. BackCountry Navigator’s developer will have a hard time matching the smooth, openGL-based maps Gaia now offers.

Sync, Share, and Backup with GaiaCloud

The biggest feature difference that sets Gaia GPS aside from BackCountry Navigator is that Gaia GPS works across all of your devices (Android, iOS, and computer).

Similar to DropBox, you can share a short link to any track, waypoint, or photo, and browse your data online at cloud.gaiagps.com. And if you enable GaiaCloud, getting a new Android phone or dropping your smartphone in a river doesn’t wreck your tracks.

Better Maps

Gaia GPS has many map sources that you cannot get in BackCountry Navigator. For example, Gaia includes MapBox cloudless aerial and up-to-date road maps, which we license for use in GaiaPro. Gaia also includes Inland River Charts, Geology Maps, and National Park visitor maps. We are always working to add more public land, charts, boundaries, and other professional map sources to our catalog.

Also, while you have to purchase map packs like “Alaska Public Land” from BackCountry Navigator, Gaia conveniently makes all of this public data available to you without a hassle. You can always view all of the maps we make and license online for free, use them in the apps, and you can view them in layered fashion with a GaiaPro subscription.

Why Gaia GPS Overtook BackCountry Navigator

Bottom line, Gaia GPS performs better than BackCountry Navigator today because we put more effort into Gaia GPS than Crittermap does into BackCountry Navigator. We started out on iPhone, and we focused on making the best iPhone GPS app for years. While we did that, we outsourced the Android development.

As of May, we brought Android development in-house, and we made it our #1 priority. We put nearly 1,000 work hours into Android since then, and we’re not slowing down. Those work hours mostly come from an engineer who last worked at Google for 4 years (CTO and Founder Anna) and our lead developer Jesse, who besides being a great programmer, thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail.

Conclusion

If you start looking into what outdoor GPS app your should buy for your Android, you’ll see several choices come up on Google, including Gaia GPS and BackCountry Navigator. Choose Gaia GPS if you want the best app, and choose BackCountry Navigator if you want the old leader.

I could list a bunch of other features, like weather overlays and heads-up display that you won’t find in BackCountry Navigator either, but it’s really the core mapping and data capabilities that will make Gaia GPS better than BackCountry Navigator over the long haul.