Disappointed in OnX

[FlareBlitz91]

Nice to see OnX on here answering questions, taking feedback, and making improvements!

I've tried OnX twice (1 year each), plus Gaia and GoHunt over the last 5 years. Here's the list of things that keep taking me back to Gaia:

1. OnX is not great for planning hikes, Gaia has much, much more advanced hike planning tools. Since most of my western hunting is really similar to hiking, being able to see the elevation change and predict travel times on a planned route or line that I draw is critical.
2. the android auto compatibility of Gaia is also fantastic for driving, to my knowledge there is not an equivalent capability in OnX hunt.
3. It is also easier to determine the status of a road in Gaia, i.e. who is allowed to drive on it? I've hunted in many areas where the OnX roads on the map were not drivable for various reasons. The Gaia links to the MVUM info is more reliable.
4. Custom map sizes for offline maps. Gaia lets me select whatever rectangle I want and save it as a map at whatever level of detail I want. No need to overlap a bunch of small maps to get the highest resolution.

Making these tweaks would definitely impact my subscription decision.

The road issue is my number one gripe and only one here that I don’t have an answer for, i hate having to jump to MVUM maps in Avenza to see if something is even a road or not.

 

[elkyinzer]

Wow kudos for responding to feedback.

I'll leave a significant hangup from the eastern community. Aerial imagery from summer with leaves on trees is virtually useless. All OnX inagery in my area is this useless garbage. Huntstand is much better at providing multiple aerial imagery options. I prefer the UI of OnX and would go back if only the map layers would improve.

 

[Precisionbear300prc]

I got a subscription to OnX for my hunt this month. I did the trial and I liked how it looked compared to my GPS when zoomed out more and looking over an area. I installed it on both my Android phones which I took with me. When leaving I figured I didnt need my GPS but decided to take it anyway and I am glad I did.

Navigating the roads and looking at areas when I got there I had no issues. I didnt realize what I was missing. Then I went for some hikes where I was trying to go to a point and I noticed that I had no indication as to which way I was traveling. I pulled up the app on my phones a countless number of times and I noticed that on 2 of those times I had the fan/flashlight thing on my location dot showing my facing direction, both times on my Motorola but never on my Samsung. Both times once the screen timed out and I opened it back up it was gone. This made it really hard to navigate. Thank goodness I had my GPS with me.

I only use huntstand now. I use to have OnX but it was doing really weird things when i was deep in the woods so i got rid of it and switched

 

[okcaveman]

ON X was a big let down for me last fall on a trip to Alaska. Pretty sure that my location didn't update but 3 or 4 times on an 8 day trip.

 

[onX Hunt]

re-read your post, so is this like Air-drop on an iphone? Cool beans if it works that way.

@onX Hunt say it's so!

Unfortunately, we do not have airdrop built into the app as an option for sharing at the present moment, but I will get in touch with the engineering team and pass that request along to them.

 

[onX Hunt]

My direction indicator on my OnX doesn't point the correct direction either, not that I would ever trust it even if it did. I always carry a compass, technology can fail.

It sounds like the compass on your phone may need to be calibrated. If you're on an iPhone, go into your Settings> Privacy & Security> Location Services> System Services> Compass Calibration. I sometimes have to toggle the compass calibration slider a couple of times for my phone compass to update. If you're still seeing an incorrect reading after those steps, shoot our customer service team an email at [email protected] and they can take a deeper look at your account and see what may be causing that issue.

 

[onX Hunt]

I'd like to see an option for a group.
Let's say 2 buds and I are going on an out of state hunt and we end up doing a couple scouting trips. We split up and scout different drainages and find different things like water, wallows or potential camps spots. It would be great to be able to set a zone and any info one of us loads in that zone can be used by the rest of the group. Make it so we can share this info phone to phone without cell signal so when you get back to camp at night everyone can update the group hunt by using the wifi on their phone if cell signal is not available.

Kris

I definitely see the benefit to a feature

The road issue is my number one gripe and only one here that I don’t have an answer for, i hate having to jump to MVUM maps in Avenza to see if something is even a road or not.

I'm happy to look into this for you. Can you give me a bit more detail on what you mean by "the road issue."

 

[onX Hunt]

Wow kudos for responding to feedback.

I'll leave a significant hangup from the eastern community. Aerial imagery from summer with leaves on trees is virtually useless. All OnX inagery in my area is this useless garbage. Huntstand is much better at providing multiple aerial imagery options. I prefer the UI of OnX and would go back if only the map layers would improve.

That is good feedback, and I have good news on that front! We are working to acquire leaf-off imagery for many states east of the Mississippi. I do not have a full list of the areas we are hoping to update this year at this time, but I will try to update as I know more.

 

[robby denning]

Unfortunately, we do not have airdrop built into the app as an option for sharing at the present moment, but I will get in touch with the engineering team and pass that request along to them.

OK, per the earlier posts in # 55 and #57 by @Jethro & @bsnedeker one is saying you can't transfer waypoints between users even without wifi, one is saying you can. Please clarify.

 

[Jethro]

OK, per the earlier posts in # 55 and #57 by @Jethro & @bsnedeker one is saying you can't transfer waypoints between users even without wifi, one is saying you can. Please clarify.

Attempt to clarify:

Air drop does work without having wifi signal. @bsnedeker was right about that.

Currently though OnX doesn't have air drop as a sharing option. So sharing OnX waypoints is via text or email which will require cell service or wifi.

Hope that helps. Apologize for any confusion.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

One easy way to share waypoints offline...just read out the coordinates. I don't like using my buddy's shared waypoints anyway since I can't edit them. I want it to match my waypoint coloring system.

 

[bsnedeker]

Attempt to clarify:

Air drop does work without having wifi signal. @bsnedeker was right about that.

Currently though OnX doesn't have air drop as a sharing option. So sharing OnX waypoints is via text or email which will require cell service or wifi.

Hope that helps. Apologize for any confusion.

@robby denning Looks like you need to move over to Android: The SUPERIOR phone operating system!!!!

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using Tapatalk

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

@robby denning Looks like you need to move over to Android: The SUPERIOR phone operating system!!!!

Sent from my iPhone 13 using Tapatalk

Fixed that for you

 

[FlareBlitz91]

I definitely see the benefit to a feature

I'm happy to look into this for you. Can you give me a bit more detail on what you mean by "the road issue."

So on OnX the general symbology for unimproved roads is the parallel double dashed lines, but this has wildly different connotations even in a similar geographic area, compared with Forest service Motor Vehicle Use Maps which have several different tiers of forest road with different symbology and meanings as well as seasonal closures etc.

What this looks like in practice is I’ll be looking at a piece of public land I’m interested in hunting, see those double dashed lines implying a road access (which could be good or bad) I then have to download the MVUM for that unit into Avenza and cross reference that location to see which roads are serviceable, open, etc at that time of year. Which is annoying but okay, what’s worse is for lands that don’t have such readily available secondary road maps it leaves a real roll of the dice to see if something marked as a road is actually a road or not. I’ve met a locked gate more than once or found a “road” to not actually be one.

So i just know that this data isn’t reliable and plan contingencies for access etc.

For what it’s worth this isn’t a deal breaker or anything, I’m happy with the product you guys offer, it’s just my one point of annoyance.

 

[robby denning]

Attempt to clarify:

Air drop does work without having wifi signal. @bsnedeker was right about that.

Currently though OnX doesn't have air drop as a sharing option. So sharing OnX waypoints is via text or email which will require cell service or wifi.

Hope that helps. Apologize for any confusion.

That does! So if I create a note in my phone with the waypoints, I can share that note airdrop to my buddy, and he can copy the coords into onX?

And @SteveAndTheCrigBoys I agree but I’ve had much trouble trying to type in coords and have them work. and not just in onX but when I ran basemap too. Seems like they alway open up in the UK or middle of the Caribbean. I‘m sure it’s operator error, but you’re right, that’s always an option

And @bsnedeker I see your android fan boy post lol

 

[onX Hunt]

OK, per the earlier posts in # 55 and #57 by @Jethro & @bsnedeker one is saying you can't transfer waypoints between users even without wifi, one is saying you can. Please clarify.

I just checked with our engineering team, and to create a share link within the Hunt App, service is required. So currently, there is not a way to share markups without wifi or cell service.

 

[onX Hunt]

So on OnX the general symbology for unimproved roads is the parallel double dashed lines, but this has wildly different connotations even in a similar geographic area, compared with Forest service Motor Vehicle Use Maps which have several different tiers of forest road with different symbology and meanings as well as seasonal closures etc.

What this looks like in practice is I’ll be looking at a piece of public land I’m interested in hunting, see those double dashed lines implying a road access (which could be good or bad) I then have to download the MVUM for that unit into Avenza and cross reference that location to see which roads are serviceable, open, etc at that time of year. Which is annoying but okay, what’s worse is for lands that don’t have such readily available secondary road maps it leaves a real roll of the dice to see if something marked as a road is actually a road or not. I’ve met a locked gate more than once or found a “road” to not actually be one.

So i just know that this data isn’t reliable and plan contingencies for access etc.

For what it’s worth this isn’t a deal breaker or anything, I’m happy with the product you guys offer, it’s just my one point of annoyance.

I appreciate the feedback and I will pass it along to our GIS folks.

I did also want to double check if you have used or are currently using the Motorized Roads and Trails Layer on your onX App? That data comes to us from the Forest Service and should the MVUM data that you are using in Avenza.

 

[FlareBlitz91]

I appreciate the feedback and I will pass it along to our GIS folks.

I did also want to double check if you have used or are currently using the Motorized Roads and Trails Layer on your onX App? That data comes to us from the Forest Service and should the MVUM data that you are using in Avenza.

You know what, I’ll go ahead and eat my hat.

I’ve been using the app for a few years now and apparently the addition of that data layer flew under my radar. Thanks!

I do think it’s funny that every “issue” people have had has been trouble shot by either other users or you, this was the only problem i thought was legitimate but it was my error as well.

I won’t be cancelling my subscription anytime soon.

 

[robby denning]

You know what, I’ll go ahead and eat my hat.

I’ve been using the app for a few years now and apparently the addition of that data layer flew under my radar. Thanks!

I do think it’s funny that every “issue” people have had has been trouble shot by either other users or you, this was the only problem i thought was legitimate but it was my error as well.

I won’t be cancelling my subscription anytime soon.

lol, you're in good company including me.

I've learned that before I assume something electtronic isn't working, it's likely me.

 

[svivian]

Its awesome that someone from onX is on here and so willing to help and answer questions!