Buh Bye OnX .... Hello GAIA!

peterk123

WKR
Joined
Sep 7, 2020
Messages
458
Location
Montana
Does this Gaia service require using a cellphone? I like that my separate GPS device just has the OnX chip inserted into it and so I don't have to use my phone for that stuff. Does this Gaia service have an offline option like that? Where you can DL what you need and be able to run it and work with it without cell service and without using a cellphone?
Yes. You download maps you want to use and after that all you need is GPS service. I highly recommend doing that all the time because if you do not and your cell service is spotty, your tracking can lock up. In offline mode (downloaded maps) you never have an issue.
 

TheGDog

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Jun 12, 2020
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3,405
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OC, CA
Yes. You download maps you want to use and after that all you need is GPS service. I highly recommend doing that all the time because if you do not and your cell service is spotty, your tracking can lock up. In offline mode (downloaded maps) you never have an issue.
As I said I do not want to use my phone for that. I want to use my handheld GPS for those purposes, so I'm not burning battery on the phone. (I typically walk around with it on Airplane mode since never cell-service in the areas I go)... So I'm interested to know if it can be used in that same way... downloaded... perhaps onto a little microSD card and shoved into my eTrex 30?
 

peterk123

WKR
Joined
Sep 7, 2020
Messages
458
Location
Montana
As I said I do not want to use my phone for that. I want to use my handheld GPS for those purposes, so I'm not burning battery on the phone. (I typically walk around with it on Airplane mode since never cell-service in the areas I go)... So I'm interested to know if it can be used in that same way... downloaded... perhaps onto a little microSD card and shoved into my eTrex 30?
Sorry, misunderstood the question.
 

Brendan

WKR
Joined
Aug 27, 2013
Messages
3,875
Location
Massachusetts
As I said I do not want to use my phone for that. I want to use my handheld GPS for those purposes, so I'm not burning battery on the phone. (I typically walk around with it on Airplane mode since never cell-service in the areas I go)... So I'm interested to know if it can be used in that same way... downloaded... perhaps onto a little microSD card and shoved into my eTrex 30?
Want to make sure you're understanding it: You do not need cell service to use Gaia, or any of these apps. Phone can remain on airplane mode the entire time and doesn't burn any battery in the background.

You download maps at home, on wifi, with the phone charged up (or on cell in the field if you want). You go hunting, leave the phone on airplane mode, GPS and downloaded maps continue to work fine with minimal battery use when you need them. I basically open the phone look at the app for 30 seconds or however long (topo, satellite, land owndership, navigation, whatever), put it back to sleep. Lasts quite a while. I don't even carry a dedicated GPS anymore, especially when I have my Inreach and my watch as backups.
 

Afineis91

FNG
Joined
Jan 12, 2021
Messages
15
Ohhh Man.

Just for sh!ts and giggles, I purchased Gaia to give it a try (for a lot less $$$ than OnX!)

So far it blows OnX outta the water.

I can scroll thru ALL 50 States, see where public land is at, land ownership, send waypoints to friends, on and on!

I typically hunt multiple states each year and being able to have the same APP features throughout each state is so nice!

No more BETA 3D updates in September like OnX did - that was a deal breaker.
How much was the subscription? Is it still blowing OnX out of the water???
Ohhh Man.

Just for sh!ts and giggles, I purchased Gaia to give it a try (for a lot less $$$ than OnX!)

So far it blows OnX outta the water.

I can scroll thru ALL 50 States, see where public land is at, land ownership, send waypoints to friends, on and on!

I typically hunt multiple states each year and being able to have the same APP features throughout each state is so nice!

No more BETA 3D updates in September like OnX did - that was a deal breaker.
How much is the subscription? Is it still better than OnX?
 

WyoKid

WKR
Joined
Aug 6, 2019
Messages
325
Posting this response for the benefit of all - someone had a question about accessing all the layers, such as migration routes or wildfires. In short, you must have the Premium to access the full maps and layers for all states and hunt areas.

Right now there is a Gaia discount code on their website - $36 for the Premium for a full year.

It really depends on your level of membership - there are 3 levels: Free, Basic Membership or Premium Membership.


I started out with the Free but changed to the basic and then Membership premium within 6 months - if you already have the basic membership, Gaia let's you upgrade.

Get the Premium for $36 (there is discount code with Gaia right now)


For $36 a year, you get all states, all hunting, migration, snow fall, wildfires, slope, roadless areas, etc. You can also fully download any map or layer. A bargain IMHO.
I got fed up with onX and the cost and add on fees, which Gaia bundles with the premium.


Here is a basic run down of the 3 services:

With a free download, you can drop waypoints, plan routes, record tracks and follow your current location. You're limited to the default map source (Gaia Topo), and you cannot download maps to use when offline and out of service on Free.

With the basic ($17) you get Free + over 50 base maps that spans worldwide topo, road, and satellite maps. You can download maps for offline use (however, downloading layered maps requires a Premium Membership).

With Premium ($36), you get Free + Basic + the full Gaia GPS maps catalog (international, all states, all hunting maps, etc.) with over 250 maps and overlays:

NatGeo Trails Illustrated
Backroad Mapbooks Canada
ESRI World Imagery
France IGN
SwissTopo
NeoTreks US Topo
US Hunting Maps (GMUs, private land, public land, others)

With Premium you can fully use and download all layered maps. Apply any overlays to any map, such as hill-shading, contour lines, slope angle, migration, snow fall, wildfire maps, off road vehicle maps, wilderness maps, all trail maps, bedrock layers, tribal lands, cell coverage, etc.

Gaia has a discount code for the Basic Membership and Premium Membership.


Hope this helps.....
Once you have the premium, click in the top right corner to open the layers. You need the premium to access all the layers.
 

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Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
49
Used Gaia for several years now. Love it. Especially having all the states. I even used it today to help my wife who is a real estate agent find out who owned a residential lot that was for sale . I just used the private layer and there it was
 

WyoKid

WKR
Joined
Aug 6, 2019
Messages
325
How much was the subscription? Is it still blowing OnX out of the water???

How much is the subscription? Is it still better than OnX?
Still on sale.... cannot beat the price and more features than onX....and spends less on marketing and more on features for the user.
 

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CLB38

FNG
Joined
Jan 11, 2021
Messages
24
Location
Massachusetts
This has been an immensely helpful. I’ve been considering getting a mapping tool and the advertising budget had worked and I was about to buy onx. Gaia sounds like a superior option, and I’m glad I stumbled across this thread!
 

thegrouse

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 11, 2021
Messages
247
Location
Texas
I purchased Gaia on the Apple App store. I turned off the auto renew. It expires this week. I was out in the middle of nowhere on a 100 year old road and Gaia did not have it listed. I found it to be quite inaccurate. I am considering CalTopo for the upcoming year
 

Brendan

WKR
Joined
Aug 27, 2013
Messages
3,875
Location
Massachusetts
I purchased Gaia on the Apple App store. I turned off the auto renew. It expires this week. I was out in the middle of nowhere on a 100 year old road and Gaia did not have it listed. I found it to be quite inaccurate. I am considering CalTopo for the upcoming year
Many of the layers on Gaia are from Caltopo. Might want to consider that...

And, don't think Caltopo works off grid does it?
 

WyoKid

WKR
Joined
Aug 6, 2019
Messages
325
I took my first foray into hunting GPS technology today and subscribed to Gaia this morning. Now, can anyone recommend a good tutorial for Android online for this analog old man?
Gaia has some good tutorials on uTube and their website. But, out is pretty intuitive - just play around with layers, clicking on different icons, etc.
 

dla

WKR
Joined
Jan 3, 2019
Messages
302
Location
Oregon & Idaho
Still on sale.... cannot beat the price and more features than onX....and spends less on marketing and more on features for the user.
I bought OnX for $20 for Idaho. It works very well. I'm just a hunter/fisherman/camper that shares data with one other OnX user. I'm probably not a power user capable of appreciating the capabilities of gaia (for more money).

About the only thing I would like is underwater maps of lakes and reservoirs, and updated images in winter for ice fishing. I know I'm dreaming.
 
Joined
Jun 23, 2019
Messages
1,317
Location
Florida,Dwneast Me,Catskills
Gaia has some good tutorials on uTube and their website. But, out is pretty intuitive - just play around with layers, clicking on different icons, etc.
Thanks for the reply. I've seen the YouTube tutorials and went catatonic trying to watch and understand them. I suppose at some point I'll absorb some of that, but right now, all I'm really interested in is how do I bring up the layer that shows public from private lands. That is really the primary reason I invested in the app. I want to know that the land I'm standing on is legal. If someone could point me in the right direction with that, I'm sure that down the line Ill pick up on some of the other features at my own pace. Thanks to anyone who can help me out.
 

BBob

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Joined
Jun 29, 2020
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4,391
Location
Southern AZ
Thanks for the reply. I've seen the YouTube tutorials and went catatonic trying to watch and understand them. I suppose at some point I'll absorb some of that, but right now, all I'm really interested in is how do I bring up the layer that shows public from private lands. That is really the primary reason I invested in the app. I want to know that the land I'm standing on is legal. If someone could point me in the right direction with that, I'm sure that down the line Ill pick up on some of the other features at my own pace. Thanks to anyone who can help me out.
This is for iOS, I'm sure android would be similar. Hit the layers icon on upper right of screen. At bottom hit + Add map layers. At this point I believe you select Feature/Weather, scroll to find and then select Private Land (US) and hit the + add in upper right corner. I think it will now end up on the inactive list in your layers, if so hit the up arrow and it will move it up to your active layers list. Once it's in the active layers you can now use the slide bar to change the transparency of that layer on the map.

Warning: If you enable too many ACTIVE layers and attempt to fully zoom in on the map the app will likely crash. I've been over this with GAIA and it's not an app fault but some sort of memory limit on the phone (iOS). It only happened to me because I had so many ACTIVE layers. I'd use the slide bar to turn them on and off instead of making them inactive.
 
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Brendan

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Joined
Aug 27, 2013
Messages
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Location
Massachusetts
I bought OnX for $20 for Idaho. It works very well. I'm just a hunter/fisherman/camper that shares data with one other OnX user. I'm probably not a power user capable of appreciating the capabilities of gaia (for more money).

About the only thing I would like is underwater maps of lakes and reservoirs, and updated images in winter for ice fishing. I know I'm dreaming.

Gaia is a lot less money than OnX if you consider that you should be comparing to the $100 version of OnX that gives you every state.

If you only need ID, that makes more sense though.
 
Joined
Jun 23, 2019
Messages
1,317
Location
Florida,Dwneast Me,Catskills
This is for iOS, I'm sure android would be similar. Hit the layers icon on upper right of screen. At bottom hit + Add map layers. At this point I believe you select Feature/Weather, scroll to find and then select Private Land (US) and hit the + add in upper right corner. I think it will now end up on the inactive list in your layers, if so hit the up arrow and it will move it up to your active layers list. Once it's in the active layers you can now use the slide bar to change the transparency of that layer on the map.

Warning: If you enable too many ACTIVE layers and attempt to fully zoom in on the map the app will likely crash. I've been over this with GAIA and it's not an app fault but some sort of memory limit on the phone (iOS). It only happened to me because I had so many ACTIVE layers. I'd use the slide bar to turn them on and off instead of making them inactive.
Thanks BBob! It was a bit different than you described, but led to an AH-HA moment. Appreciate the help, man. Thanks again.
 

maverick

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
Messages
193
Location
Oregon
GAIA just added 3D mapping on the desktop. Button and slider in the lower right of the screen. Works on thw couple maps that I tried.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
 

tdhanses

WKR
Joined
Sep 26, 2018
Messages
5,890
I bought OnX for $20 for Idaho. It works very well. I'm just a hunter/fisherman/camper that shares data with one other OnX user. I'm probably not a power user capable of appreciating the capabilities of gaia (for more money).

About the only thing I would like is underwater maps of lakes and reservoirs, and updated images in winter for ice fishing. I know I'm dreaming.
The $20 you spent gives you 1 state, the $36 for Gaia gives you all states, so you’re not really comparing pricing apples to apples, the ONX equivalent is $99.
 
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