Recently, the OpenCycleMap server in our app has been slow. This is the map source labeled as CloudMade Topo or CloudMade Cycle in the app*, depending on which version you have. To address this, we now have an alternate OpenCycleMap provider in the app that is working better.
The new tiles are provided by Andy Allan, the creator of the OpenCycleMap, via a bulk service more appropriate to our needs. We plan to integrate this more directly soon, but for now you can access it as follows.
Get Faster OpenCycleMap in Gaia
- within Gaia GPS, go to Settings->Map Store
- add the “OpenCycleMap” source (it’s free)
- restart the app
- there should now be a sixth source under Map Sources, which you can switch to
If you are used to using the USGS topos, these maps are a good alternative abroad, and they even provide better detail than the USGS maps in some parts of the US. For my hikes, I like to download both types of maps and take them both along.
* I want to note, in case any other software developers are reading, that us switching providers was not CloudMade’s fault, and it was in fact CloudMade who suggested we use Andy’s server instead. CloudMade continues to provide Gaia and our other apps with awesome maps and services, and I can’t recommend them enough to other map developers. In fact, CloudMade stood up the original OpenCycleMap proxy in large part because Gaia needed it, and it was always one of those temporary solutions that lasted forever.
So, thanks to CloudMade and Andy Allan for helping us get these maps back to fast again, and making it possible for us to be in business at all.
