Buh Bye OnX .... Hello GAIA!

[granite7]

Mine just renewed through the App Store and I don’t remember seeing any warning. Maybe this is another reason to sign up through the website.

Honestly, it is no problem. The date is easily visible looking at your account in the app. I knew it was coming up and I planned to renew.

I use the app year-round. I just finished downloading maps with the Kansas 2020 WIHA layers for pheasant opener this weekend.

 

[wyelkhunter]

Excellent thanks!! What happens if you click on "McKinney", for example?

It gives you a physical address of the property . legal name property is held under and number of acres

 

[zog]

Yep I got an email from GAIA ahead of time that they were going to renew my subscription and gave time to opt out.

Excellent! That shows respect for their customers and confidence in their product. Go GAIA! They just got a new subscriber.

 

[Elnicko]

Using OnX kills the battery on my phone pretty quick which is my biggest complaint about the app. Has anyone had the same issue with Gaia?

 

[cnelk]

Using OnX kills the battery on my phone pretty quick which is my biggest complaint about the app. Has anyone had the same issue with Gaia?

Even in airplane Mode?

I seldom used OnX when I have cell service so I was always in Airplane Mode with very little battery usage.
Im sure Gaia will be similar

 

[Elnicko]

Ya, no matter what I try it eats the battery.

 

[Brendan]

In Gaia you have the option for different modes: "Keep Alive" keeps the screen on, great for if you're plugged in and using it in the car. Or, turn that off, only allow location permissions in the background, and use airplane mode.

With any app, if you allow it to track you all the time (on purpose or by mistake) it's going to eat battery a lot quicker.

 

[deerhunt1988]

Follow the link below for instructions on adding Google Earth imagery to Gaia.

Gaia GPS: Adding Google Earth Imagery

Finally got around to this, and figured I'd share as I hear complaints from time to time about satellite image quality. Summary: Log into your account and use this link: https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/mapsources/ And this datasource link: https...

www.rokslide.com

 

[AD42]

Any idea on how this compares to basemap? Caltopo? Huntstand?



It would be great to see some type of review of all the hunting mapping apps.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[AD42]

Recently my onx GPS on my phone doesn't update when I open it so I have to open Google maps and locate myself then go back to onx.

Anyone have this problem or a fix?

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[TomJoad]

I’m another dual subscriber to onX and Gaia. 10 years ago I only ran onX. Then about 3 years ago I was on an ascent of Mt Rainer with some guides who were dialed and Gaia came up. Anytime I get the chance to powwow with mountaineering guides I always use it as a chance to evaluate and dial in my gear and process. At that time I didn’t know Gaia had any hunt functionality but was looking for an OnX backup since I’ve had field failures with that app. Fast forward and now Gaia is my primary and OnX is my backup. The layers are the game changer. Being able to bring in alt layers from outside resources is critical. USGS topo vs Gaia’s native topo (or OnX) is the best example.

As for battery life as several have mentioned with both apps it’s all about your device settings. Keep airplane mode on but also do not actively lay tracks during the hunt or it will ping your gps even when you have your screen off. I just open it briefly to reference my position relative to topo features or a pin I’m moving towards. If you use it more like a traditional topo for occasional reference you’ll get days of battery out of your device. Another thing I do is make sure all other apps are closed in the background to insure nothing else is trying to ping gps.

 

[orionthehunter1]

Gaia is all i use anymore. The reasons have been stated numerous times in this thread already

 

[dla]

Gaia is much better than onX. Cheaper too

I bought OnX for $19/year for one state (Idaho). What is the going price for Gaia for 1 State, 1 year?

 

[justin davis]

I bought OnX for $19/year for one state (Idaho). What is the going price for Gaia for 1 State, 1 year?

Oh wow that’s pretty cheap. When I did OnX it was $99. I believe. And it would renew yearly even when I didn’t want it. It was a pain to shut off.

gaia is $40 for all 50 states

 

[Ironman8]

I’ve been using Gaia for 6 years now back before it was a subscription. Bought it for like $25 and I guess I’m grandfathered in since I don’t have an annual fee.

That said I had no idea they had hunt unit and landowner info. That must be fairly new or maybe that’s only available in the subscription option(?) Is this something you download from external sources or through the Gaia app?

I only ever use it in the field as a mapping/navigating tool and not as much as a scouting tool. Scouting gets done on a computer with GE and any waypoints get exported to Gaia before the hunt and topo/imagery layers of the hunt area get downloaded before the hunt.

I’ll get about 3 days of battery life checking it periodically for topo/terrain features when getting a heading and navigating. I will do some in-field scouting with the previously downloaded imagery layer, if needed, when the elk decide to not be in my drainage lol.

A little hack I found is to scroll around your chosen download hunt area while on WiFi and you’ll have a cache of the areas that aren’t downloaded that you can still view in the field when out of service. It tends to be lower resolution, but it still works in case you have to branch out further than expected. You would need to do this for your topo and imagery layer to have the cache for both, as an example.

Having an active track definitely sucks battery faster so I don’t do it much.

 

[granite7]

I’ve been using Gaia for 6 years now back before it was a subscription. Bought it for like $25 and I guess I’m grandfathered in since I don’t have an annual fee.

That said I had no idea they had hunt unit and landowner info. That must be fairly new or maybe that’s only available in the subscription option(?) Is this something you download from external sources or through the Gaia app?

I only ever use it in the field as a mapping/navigating tool and not as much as a scouting tool. Scouting gets done on a computer with GE and any waypoints get exported to Gaia before the hunt and topo/imagery layers of the hunt area get downloaded before the hunt.

I’ll get about 3 days of battery life checking it periodically for topo/terrain features when getting a heading and navigating. I will do some in-field scouting with the previously downloaded imagery layer, if needed, when the elk decide to not be in my drainage lol.

A little hack I found is to scroll around your chosen download hunt area while on WiFi and you’ll have a cache of the areas that aren’t downloaded that you can still view in the field when out of service. It tends to be lower resolution, but it still works in case you have to branch out further than expected. You would need to do this for your topo and imagery layer to have the cache for both, as an example.

Having an active track definitely sucks battery faster so I don’t do it much.

Sounds like you have the free access that anyone has when they download the app today. When you subscribe, you can just download the maps you want. When you are premium, you have access to more layers.

Free versus Premium Membership

What's included in a Premium Membership to Gaia GPS? Unlock Gaia GPS's potential with a Gaia GPS Premium Membership. Learn about the added features and maps that come with a Premium Membership be...

help.gaiagps.com

 

[dwent]

Never did understand how OnX got so popular with Gaia being an option. I had OnX a while ago and it ran poorly and drained my phones battery too fast. Paying state by state was a turnoff too.

I haven’t been on OnX recently but I can tell you Gaia is always adding new and useful layers. The infrared fire maps were very handy during the fire season here in Southern Oregon. Recently they added “current” satellite layers which seem to be up to date within a week or two, which is good for checking snow. With as much as I use it, I’ll gladly pay the $40 per year.

I wish they’d add a ruler tool though somewhat akin to the one in Google earth as it would be pretty handy for ranging.

 

[Ace531]

Never did understand how OnX got so popular with Gaia being an option.

One word: marketing. There's a reason they are a sponsor on just about every other hunting show out there.

 

[Erict]

I wish they’d add a ruler tool though somewhat akin to the one in Google earth as it would be pretty handy for ranging.

They do. Go HERE for instructions. The way I have my settings it will display in feet up to about 655' then anything longer is displayed in .1 miles. I'd guess that there is a way to override that to always display feet, or yards, or meters, etc.

 

[ElMuercielago]

Was looking at this the other day after reading the suggestions in this thread. Super awesome app with the exception of one thing: icons! As someone who hunts a large variety of different animals; it is beyond annoying to not have specific icons to quick-reference waypoints on the map