Review: Routebuddy — Mapping Software for Mac OS

Like most Mac owners I prefer to work in native applications rather than rely on PC/Windows applications that run under an emulator. There are few areas of software that do not now have native Mac versions available, for example, MS Office, Photoshop, most popular finance packages and so on are all there.

One area that has been badly served is computer mapping. In the UK neither of the market leaders Anquet of Memory Map have yet produced Mac OS versions of their products (although Memory Map has created a version to use on the iphone). Anquet do have plans to produce vesions for both the iPhone and the Mac but they are not with us yet.

For a long time now I’ve chosen to stay with paper maps rather than play around with installing Windows on my Mac. But now a small UK based software house, Routebuddy Ltd, has produced a Mac option — Routebuddy — that allows its maps to be both run on the Mac and on an iPhone. Routebuddy currently sells a range of maps for North America and the UK, including both OS 1:50 and 1:25 maps (UK is complete and the US will be shortly).

I’ve been using Routebuddy for a few months now. Here is my review.

Routebuddy distributes both its programs, and maps, over the web. This is a simple retail system that works very well.

You purchase Routebuddy as you would purchase any web application, using your credit card through Kagi and then entering an authorisation code that is emailed to you. Routebuddy comes with a small selection of map samples for you to play with. There’s a section of an OS Map for the Afan Valley, a topgraphical map of Yosemite and a road map of Santa Fe. You can download a demo version of Routebuddy here. A license for Routebuddy currently costs around $99 or £65.

Maps

Once you’ve bought a copy of Routebuddy you’ll need some maps. The Routebuddy map store can be accessed from the program itself, with the Routebuddy Store operating pretty much like iTunes does. Currently both road maps and topographic maps are available.

Roads maps are available for: the USA, most of Europe, Australia and Asia.

Topgraphic maps are more specialist but there is an increasingly useful range here including:

* US Geological Survey 1:24K maps

* OS maps — both 1:25 and 1:50

Both map systems seem to offer complete national coverage. For the purposes of the review I shall concentrate on the OS maps for the UK.

Routebuddy store prices are pretty competitive with bookstore maps. Maps can be bought individually in print map equivalents, or they can be bought in special editions.

The 1:50K OS series can be bought in special versions. I’ve bought a copy of the entire British Isles for £99 and a number of individual 1:25K maps.

Both 1:25 and 1:50 maps can be bought in regional editions and there are regional park maps available at 1:25

Routebuddy are working quickly to extend their range and (through their web forum) they are receptive to ideas and suggestions for new maps to work on — I’ve currently suggested they add ISGN mapping of France at both 1:25 and 1:50.

So, once you’ve bought a map or two how does the program work?

The Program

Open up the main program window and you’ll see something that is instantly recognisable to any Mac owner.

(Click on map for larger version)

The left hand column brings together maps, links for the store and purchased maps and, finally, places or routes that you have saved and placed in the ‘Places’ section — as you would with any folder in the Mac’s finder window.

At the top of the window you have some simple controls: move map; zoom; a ruler command (draw a line between two points and it will give you distance); A waypoint command; a route command; search and navigate.

Insert a waypoint and you can then add as much background information as you like via. the information popup.

Routes can be simply entered using the route option. You simply add a series of waypoints until you get to your end point — a double click will complete the route. You will have a Start point, a series of mid points and an End Point. Detail for each individual waypoint (active on the screen) will be displayed in the text box beneath the map window. Here is a route:

Create a route and detail box underneath the map will not only feature the information for each waypoint but will give you the length for your complete route.

Routes — and waypoints — are easily saved. Routes can be saved with or without the individual waypoints (without is usually better when you have finalised your route). Routes can be altered, added two and merged quite easily. Individual waypoints in a route can be edited, changed or replaced.

Routes and map pages can be printed to any colour printer. The print window will automatically adjust to the dimensions of your route, your route being shown is a bold blue colour. Whole routes can be printed and carried instead of actual maps.

Additional/External Information

Two need features can be seen in the right hand side of the top part of the window — an Online and an Earth button.

You have your map in front of you, with a waypoint or a route highlighted. Click Online and a Google Maps browser window will open at the relevant point. Click Earth and Google Earth will fire up and will display the terrain for your route.

Both of these features are useful when route planning.

What’s Missing?

So far so good. This is a powerful program that works quickly and looks stunning using a large screen. However, there are some features that are still under development that are important for the hillwalker.

Firstly, Routebuddy currently work only in longitude and latitude. It does not supply OS grid references.

In reality this is a nuisance rather than something that creates real problems. It is pretty easy to read off the map reference as you would on a normal map. However, what you cannot do is find the letter code that precedes each grid reference. When route planning i tend to have the OS Get-a-map service open in a browser window so that I can can gather this missing information quickly. One slightly annoying thing about this is that if you use these maps on your iphone the OS Grid numbers are available!

The second annoying thing about Routebuddy’s topographical maps is that it does not give you the height of a waypoint or the cumulative height gain for a route.

The Routebuddy Forum features a number of people (including me) asking for both OS References and height to be implemented asap. Routebuddy have announced that OS Grid References will be implemented very soon (March 2010) and that height is also being worked on.

I guess the issue here is that Routebuddy is a small company and one that is trying to do a range of things. In their defence Routebuddy claim to be developing more advanced technology than their established rivals, using vector graphics rather than simple bitmaps, although I’m not sure whether this will give me any advantage!

Export

Waypoints and routes can be exported using a range of formats which makes exchanging your routes easy and uploading them to a GPS straightforward. Formats supported include the native GPX file, Google KML, TomTom Itinerary, Tom Tom POI, GeoCahching LOC,and CSV.

I haven’t used a route from RB in a GPS as I still prefer to carry a map but I see now reason why this doesn’t work well/

Routefinder Atlas for the iPhone

One potential advantage of using Routebuddy is that your maps can also be used on your iphone. Maps are transferred from either a Mac or Windows using a WI FI network. The link works well. Once installed you have to re-enter the license code you received when purchasing the map.

Routebuddy in Use

Despite the missing grid references and height I’ve found Routebuddy a good program to use. It is pretty intuitive, doesn’t take much time to learn and it is very effective.

I’ve been using Routebuddy to plan my TGOC Challenge route and it has speeded up route planning quite effectively. I have been a little annoyed at still having to count contours to calculate height although to be fair this is far easier in a decent magnification on the screen which is certainly clearer than working to an actual OS map.

Support

Support is effective. A manual is available for download and is integrated into the help system of the program. A Routebuddy Forum can be used to gain advanced support and in my experience queries are answered quickly, although you’ll often find that someone else has been there before you and the answer is already on the foru,m.

Conclusions

Routebuddy is a classy program which works well (and integrates well) with Mac OS. I always prefer to use Mac OS rather than Windows as it seems just easier all ways round. Routebuddy will integrate with any other Mac program in the usual way.

The quality of the screen display is first class and maps can be zoomed to quite high levels before the image degrades. The ability to instantly look at the terrain in Google maps is great, even if it is a little frightening sometimes. And the instant Google Map popup compliments OS maps well. I’ve found basic use of Routebuddy to be a joy.

However, hillwalkers will worry about the lack of OS Grid References and Height. Routebuddy is not a cheap program although it feels like good value for money, especially if you purchase a regional or national set of maps.

If you are worried about these lack of features then you might want to evaluate the demo and keep on eye on the news section of the Routebuddy Website.

For me — even without Grid Refs and height — Routebuddy has proved its worth.

Routebuddy Website

Routebuddy for Mac

Routebuddy Maps

Routebuddy Forum

Routebuddy Atlas for iPhone