Gaia GPS
  • 7-Day Free Trial Gaia GPS Premium
  • Out and Back Podcast
    • Adventures

      How to Avoid Another Deadly Avalanche Season

      January 21, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      The Best Advice We Received in 2021

      December 26, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Avalanche Safety with Snow Science Expert Bruce Tremper

      November 30, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Everything You Need to Know About Satellite Communicators

      November 10, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Planning a Thru-Hike Next Year? Here’s What You…

      October 21, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      A Definitive Guide to the Best Camp Coffee

      September 30, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Owls and UFOs with Ultralight Expert Mike Clelland

      September 9, 2021

  • Offroad Podcast
    • Gaia GPS

      Monique Song: How a City Girl Became the…

      April 7, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      TrailRecon Explains How to Become an Overlander Overnight

      March 9, 2022

      Adventures

      How to Stay Married on a Long-Distance Adventure

      February 9, 2022

      Adventures

      How to Go From ‘Desk to Glory’ in…

      January 12, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      The Best Advice We Received in 2021

      December 26, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Gaia GPS’s Best New Overlanding Maps and Features…

      December 23, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Inside the Never-Ending Road Trip with Dan Grec

      November 20, 2021

  • Adventures
    • User Stories
  • Activities
    • Backcountry Skiing
    • Boating
    • Emergency Response
    • Fishing
    • Offroading
  • New Features
    • Gaia GPS

      Meet Map Packs: A Totally New Way to…

      May 9, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Top 10 Ways to Use Waypoints

      April 14, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Discover & Reserve Campsites Right From Gaia GPS

      February 22, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Navigate from the Dashboard with Improved Android Auto

      February 4, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Trailforks Mountain Bike Trails now in Gaia GPS

      January 13, 2022

      Android

      Gaia GPS Year in Review: Best New Maps…

      December 28, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Gaia GPS’s Best New Overlanding Maps and Features…

      December 23, 2021

  • New Maps
    • Featured

      Find Phone Signal With Cell Phone Coverage Maps

      May 2, 2022

      Adventures

      Using Gaia GPS to Find Free Camping in…

      March 9, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Discover Snowmobile Trails Across the Globe

      February 9, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Get Worldwide Ski Resort Reports in Gaia GPS

      January 25, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Trailforks Mountain Bike Trails now in Gaia GPS

      January 13, 2022

      Android

      Gaia GPS Year in Review: Best New Maps…

      December 28, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Gaia GPS’s Best New Overlanding Maps and Features…

      December 23, 2021

  • Home
Gaia GPS
  • 7-Day Free Trial Gaia GPS Premium
  • Out and Back Podcast
    • Adventures

      How to Avoid Another Deadly Avalanche Season

      January 21, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      The Best Advice We Received in 2021

      December 26, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Avalanche Safety with Snow Science Expert Bruce Tremper

      November 30, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Everything You Need to Know About Satellite Communicators

      November 10, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Planning a Thru-Hike Next Year? Here’s What You…

      October 21, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      A Definitive Guide to the Best Camp Coffee

      September 30, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Owls and UFOs with Ultralight Expert Mike Clelland

      September 9, 2021

  • Offroad Podcast
    • Gaia GPS

      Monique Song: How a City Girl Became the…

      April 7, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      TrailRecon Explains How to Become an Overlander Overnight

      March 9, 2022

      Adventures

      How to Stay Married on a Long-Distance Adventure

      February 9, 2022

      Adventures

      How to Go From ‘Desk to Glory’ in…

      January 12, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      The Best Advice We Received in 2021

      December 26, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Gaia GPS’s Best New Overlanding Maps and Features…

      December 23, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Inside the Never-Ending Road Trip with Dan Grec

      November 20, 2021

  • Adventures
    • User Stories
  • Activities
    • Backcountry Skiing
    • Boating
    • Emergency Response
    • Fishing
    • Offroading
  • New Features
    • Gaia GPS

      Meet Map Packs: A Totally New Way to…

      May 9, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Top 10 Ways to Use Waypoints

      April 14, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Discover & Reserve Campsites Right From Gaia GPS

      February 22, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Navigate from the Dashboard with Improved Android Auto

      February 4, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Trailforks Mountain Bike Trails now in Gaia GPS

      January 13, 2022

      Android

      Gaia GPS Year in Review: Best New Maps…

      December 28, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Gaia GPS’s Best New Overlanding Maps and Features…

      December 23, 2021

  • New Maps
    • Featured

      Find Phone Signal With Cell Phone Coverage Maps

      May 2, 2022

      Adventures

      Using Gaia GPS to Find Free Camping in…

      March 9, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Discover Snowmobile Trails Across the Globe

      February 9, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Get Worldwide Ski Resort Reports in Gaia GPS

      January 25, 2022

      Gaia GPS

      Trailforks Mountain Bike Trails now in Gaia GPS

      January 13, 2022

      Android

      Gaia GPS Year in Review: Best New Maps…

      December 28, 2021

      Gaia GPS

      Gaia GPS’s Best New Overlanding Maps and Features…

      December 23, 2021

  • Home

Gaia GPS vs. BackCountry Navigator for Android

by Andrew Johnson January 8, 2014
by Andrew Johnson January 8, 2014

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.

1
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Andrew Johnson

Andrew founded Gaia GPS. He writes code and manages the business.

previous post
EasyTileServer – Serve Your Own Maps
next post
Android Update with GaiaPro, Facebook, Weather Radar, and More

You may also like

Meet Map Packs: A Totally New Way to...

May 9, 2022

Fastpacking 101: What You Need for This Running-Backpacking...

May 5, 2022

Natural Navigation Clues: How to Find Your Way...

May 4, 2022

Find Phone Signal With Cell Phone Coverage Maps

May 2, 2022

Top 10 Ways to Use Waypoints

April 14, 2022

Monique Song: How a City Girl Became the...

April 7, 2022

How to Air Down Off-Road Tires for Overlanding

March 23, 2022

How to Check for Snow on the Trail

March 10, 2022

TrailRecon Explains How to Become an Overlander Overnight

March 9, 2022

Using Gaia GPS to Find Free Camping in...

March 9, 2022

Keep in touch

Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

Popular Posts

  • 1

    How to Read Topographic Maps

    July 1, 2021
  • 2

    How to Save Phone Battery Life in the Backcountry

    March 25, 2021
  • 3

    How to Download an Entire State Map with Gaia Topo

    August 19, 2021
  • 4

    Unlock Adventure with Gaia GPS on Outside+

    September 30, 2021
  • 5

    Using Gaia GPS to Find Free Camping in National Forests

    March 9, 2022

Categories

  • Adventures
  • Android
  • App Comparisons
  • App Updates
  • Backcountry Skiing
  • Boating
  • Company News
  • Emergency Response
  • Featured
  • Fishing
  • Gaia GPS
  • Gaia GPS Offroad Podcast
  • GaiaCloud
  • Hikes
  • How-To
  • Hunting
  • iOS
  • New Features
  • New Maps
  • Newsletter
  • Offroading
  • Out and Back Podcast
  • User Profiles
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • RSS

@2022 - All Right Reserved. Gaia GPS


Back To Top