What happened to OnX this year?

[KHNC]

Guess you just have to decide what‘s more important, pretty interface or product that works . I dumped onX years ago due to it missing many LO names vs Gaia having them. I’ve yet to have an issue with Gaia in the field. I will agree OnX does have a more modern interface.

I also like paying $39.99 a year for all states and the same if not more layers then OnX plus I can add my own layers.

I also like that Gaia works with Apple car play, just a nice extra.

Get a version of OnX that is working, and NEVER Update it no matter what. I have not had any issues in two years. It is much easier to use than GAIA. I have a discounted code for OnX. The cost isnt terrible.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

FYI: Don't trust the trails on OnX, half the time they are not where they are supposed to be or don't actually exist. We now have a running joke about trying to find one of these trails and ending up in the bottom of a ravine crossing a river at 4am...

Yeah we experienced this quite a bit this year. Sometimes the road or trail was hundreds of yards away, sometimes they don't exist at all. I don't recall having that issue in the past.

Thanks for the Gaia input, will definitely be checking it out as I do like to have alternatives.

 

[electricIdaho]

Onx has worked great for me every year except this one. In the middle of hunting season doing a track and it freezes up. I have to start and exit out of it several times for it to respond and then it's very laggy. All offline maps as I dont have service. When I do get into service it seems to move a lot more smooth but laggy. Due to the constant "not responding" I'm definitely looking for an alternative.

 

[stonewall]

This was the first year I tried OnX while on a buddies hunt. Initially it seemed like a neat app, but as I used it more, I was not a big fan. I prefer the free topo maps I have uploaded to my Garmin instead as they were easier to read. The big issue I have is "No Ownership Data" shown for known private property that's been there for decades. Land was not posted no trespassing, and the gate was unlocked (even though it looked locked at a glance). There was no way to know whether we could hunt it, couldn't look up the ranch or owner via NMG&F since OnX gave no data. Ultimately did not go in. OnX should easily be able to download the e-Plus data from NMG7F and show, in real time on the maps, what's legal and not legal to hunt (who choose RO and who is unit-wide).
Saw a bull (beef) that was seriously hurting, and wanted to call the rancher. No phone numbers or contact info, What good is the ownership data other than listing ranch name?
There were several user things I hated about OnX. For example, if I have a map set to rotate with me (North isn't always up), and I touch the map to zoom or set a waypoint, it immediately reverts right back to North is up. This makes is much tougher to set distant way points. Usability just wasn't there...I have no plans to renew my subscription in the future.

some counties in NM don't have the land ownership files electronically available...as such onx doesn't have it either. i called them a couple years ago on this issue

 

[Packin_packout]

I have seen significant issues with Onx this year. Running an S10 Plus and I have had to reach out to support several times. Issues include
1. Failure to update actual position... Google Maps shows me being in position a Onx is off in the weeds
2. Maps have been downloaded and then they disappear
3. Tracking not working reliably... big disconnect on the tracking but my watch was able to keep track of where I was. None of this was in areas where I would expect canopy cover issues with GPS performance... and my office phone which is the exact same model was able to track with trail running app.

I have reached out to them from a support perspective several times with unsatisfactory results. Nothing other than please update has been the response. Powering down and resetting the phone appears to be the only reliable way to make sure Maps actually stick. The location problem seems to happen after the phone has been running for more than a day or two. It is not phone related because I have verified by swapping my Onx application between my office and personal phone.

As soon as I get through this season this thing is getting flushed. I hunt in multiple different States every year and paying for a tool that does not work reliably is a no-go.

I am currently working the boundary between public and private and having an incorrect location can cause a lot of problems where there are not fences. If you shoot something across the unmarked boundary and your phone was telling you you are good and it is wrong ... you are still liable.

I really like the ui and location logging capabilities but the basic underlying software has to work. They need to go look at some skilled Android code Developers and this is coming from a hardware software engineer.

 

[Johnboy]

I didn't read this entire thread, so maybe these were already mentioned...

I used my Samsung Galaxy S10 in Colorado in September, maps downloaded, offline, airplane mode, location function enabled. The tracker never worked with multiple attempts -- it literally tracked nothing except elapsed time. Simply getting OnX to update to find current location took opening Google Maps and hitting the current location button, then toggling back to OnX. Maybe this is a phone setting issue rather than an OnX issue -- I don't know for sure. Nevertheless, it was highly annoying.

Perhaps related to the above issue, the goto waypoint function never updated as I proceeded toward a waypoint. I had to cancel the goto and repeat the goto command in order to get an update on distance to destination. Most of the time I reverted to estimating distance based on the scale in the corner of the map screen.

 

[Jbark60]

I had hell with OnX this year. As someone else mentioned they updated it in the beginning of September which was a terrible idea. The map had huge swaths of private labeled as public lands. After reaching out to OnX 15 times and 2 weeks it was finally fixed. Hopefully they get it together for future hunting seasons.

 

[Johnboy]

I have seen significant issues with Onx this year. Running an S10 Plus and I have had to reach out to support several times. Issues include
1. Failure to update actual position... Google Maps shows me being in position a Onx is off in the weeds
2. Maps have been downloaded and then they disappear
3. Tracking not working reliably... big disconnect on the tracking but my watch was able to keep track of where I was.

I just posted nearly the same issues with the same phone. Maybe it's phone-related. I had my Delorme PN-60 as a backup, and it recorded tracks reliably when I tested it after becoming frustrated with OnX.

Interestingly, in northern Alaska last fall (September '19), I used Gaia with the same phone on a float hunt, and it never gave me a single issue. Stayed locked and ready for 12 days afield.

It's a mystery.

 

[Jwknutson17]

Issues with onx here also this year. Used Basemaps and garmin program 99% this year. I only still have onx for when others share way points.

 

[hutty]

Just tgot back from 10 days in Wyoming. Four of us were all using ON X and only issue to report was one day could not share a waypoint. Besides that no other issues to report. We were all using I Iphones and had downloaded maps ahead of time. I used airplane mode and low battery mode and did not have battery life issues.

 

[mvmnts]

onX as an app, as a mapping tool, is straight trash. But I cannot live without their land ownership layers. They're just too good. None of their competitors are really focused on the hunting space, so they are reining champs when it comes to land ownership data. And onX unfortunately doesn't have the technical chops to build a feature-rich, high performance and RELIABLE suite of apps. Performance on desktop is also miserable. I keep a master of all my hunting data in caltopo and just cross reference into onx when I am looking at new areas.

 

[JLane330]

some counties in NM don't have the land ownership files electronically available...as such onx doesn't have it either. i called them a couple years ago on this issue

Thanks for the info. Given that, the free CarryMap App with the BLM files tells me what I need to know (private vs public with no ownership data).

 

[manitou1]

I have been a hard-core OnX fan for years. It has been pretty dependable for me until this year. Pure junk this season. I had to restart my phone multiple times daily. The app constantly lost my waypoints, wouldn't show property lines or ownership many times. A royal PIA when hunting DIY back country. If it continues, I will be shopping for a more reliable product.

 

[hobbes]

I've been using OnX and Basemaps. I've used OnX for around 5 years now and have never experienced the problems that I see brought up. Maybe I'm just lucky. If anything, my maps load faster this year.

I've not fallen in love with Basemaps. It takes forever to load maps with any detail and I hate how dark the green NF layer is. The maps look great besides the NF coloration, but I've not found it as user friendly. I probably just need to use it more.

 

[trophyhill]

Do you guys carry a gps as well? If I were to experience most of these issues with my OnX, I’d simply reach in and turn on my old trusty Garmin 60CSX with land status chip and continue hunting. I don’t need to know the landowners names. Just where those boundaries are. That GPS has NEVER failed. Also as even more redundancy, my InReach has a pretty decent topo map as well

 

[Dos Perros]

Do you guys carry a gps as well? If I were to experience most of these issues with my OnX, I’d simply reach in and turn on my old trusty Garmin 60CSX with land status chip and continue hunting. I don’t need to know the landowners names. Just where those boundaries are. That GPS has NEVER failed. Also as even more redundancy, my InReach has a pretty decent topo map as well

I personally don't use a stand-alone GPS, but I do have an InReach Mini and my Fenix watch. I'm going to get one of the new Garmin InReach's, Montana or something, the full size with actual decent touch screen, but more for super cold weather where the iPhone battery is not dependable. Not sure if it would be my main navigation tool or backup to phone at that point since I'll still for sure carry my phone.

 

[cnelk]

^^^^ You'll regret that touch screen in 'super cold weather'

BTDT

 

[jjentringer3921]

I use a galaxy 8 and was pretty frustrated with Onx. Hiked in 14 miles only to suddenly have my maps not work. Then throughout August and September the tracker frequently didn't work, and it would have difficulty keeping track of my location. I haven't had these issues before, but gps mapping is something I really need and want to be dependable. I also pay for a yearly subscription, but primarily use it 1 month out of the year. It is frustrating when it doesn't work that 1 month. I wish Onx would stand by their product and either offer refunds or extend the service due to malfunction.

 

[AaronMColeman]

I have an old iphone that I use OnX on. Works great, I'm a little scared to upgrade now! The phone has OnX only, I download maps at home on wifi, then it's on airplane mode when not at home. I'll use this setup until the phone is 100% dead and buried

 

[kbrown5897]

was an amazing tool on my elk hunt

Agreed!