AlpineQuest & OfflineMaps

I am excited to use this app, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get any of the maps that are listed on the program under Online Maps, to download to the SD card. I am happy with the maps I see at this time, but am unable to figure out how to access them with no network on my phone. I checked the help portion of the site, but I am still stuck.

Thanks for any advice.

Mike

Hi,
Thanks for using AlpineQuest.
You have nothing to do but displaying the online map to store it on the SD memory card.
Every displayed area is stored, and you will be able to display it again when being offline. Try it by turning on the airplane mode on your phone.
Let me know if it's alright,
Best regards

I have a tangentially related question - how often does the local cache get refreshed? Is it refreshed every time you view it and have a network connection, or is it allowed to become a certain age before it is downloaded again?

I ask because I see certain minor differences between http://www.opencyclemap.org/ and the AlpineQuest cycle/hike map, and I am wondering if the version on my phone is older.

Hi,
Thanks for your question.
The cache is not refreshed by AlpineQuest. If you want to refresh the map data, you can remove the online map cache folder from the cache folder of AlpineQuest (folder '/alpinequest/cache/<mapid>' and file '/alpinequest/cache/<mapid>.DB', with <mapid> the ID of the online map - displayed in the map details).
Best regards

But it doesn't download all zoom levels, does it? I can look at a zoomed out area of map, and that's the only level downloaded, right? Then when I need to zoom in whilst off-line: whoops, you're in the dark! It would be neat if there was a download available that would cover the whole of the UK (and maybe elsewhere) in all the zoom levels (if necessary, split into major areas). Everybody messing around in MOBAC to create their own maps of the exact same places over and over, seems a little inefficient (not that I don't appreciate what is already a pretty great app).

Hi,
Yes you're right only the displayed levels are cached.
You pointed an interesting idea about using commonly created offline maps, avoiding users to download and re-download tiles for the same areas. I'll think about that.
Here is a detailed answer that explains why the caching feature in AlpineQuest is so limited.
Best regards