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View Topo Maps On Your iOS and Android Device (FREE)

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View Topo Maps On Your iOS and Android Device (FREE)

Post by X-Treme »

Updated to reflect availability on Android.

Alright all you map addicts, you can now download and view all those FREE topo maps that Natural Resources Canada (NRC) and the USGS make available online on your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch and Android devices. This comes courtesy of a little app call 'PDF Maps' by a Canadian company called Avenza Systems Inc. (See the bottom of this post for additional device compatibility information.)

So let's get started!

First thing you'll need is the app. You can download it by clicking here (click on the 'View in iTunes' link you find on that page then download the app from within iTunes). Or, you can also install the app directly from the App Store app on your device. Just do a search for 'PDF Maps'. When you launch the app the first map that loads will be the 'Getting Started' map. Go ahead and play around with that map, it's a tutorial on how to use the app.

Now let's download a topo map file. There are two ways to do that. You can download maps directly from within the app or you can download them from a web site.

Downloading maps from within the app

If you are presently viewing a map tap the 'Map' button on the top-left of the screen. If its not there tap the screen to reveal it. On the 'PDF Maps' screen tap the '+' in the top-right. Tap 'From Avenza PDF Map Library. This will load the Safari web browser and take you to a web site set up by Avenza where you can download maps in geospatial PDF compatible formats. Scroll down to find the links to both the Canadian NRC Topographic Maps or the USGS Topographic Maps. Once you've downloaded a map it will load directly in the app. The map file will be imported and rasterized so it can be used by the app. Be patient it will take a couple of minutes.

Once the file has been converted, tap the map name to view the map on your device's screen. You can pan around to see different areas of the map and pinch to zoom in on specific areas. You can drop waypoints and even turn on the compass to orient the map in the direction you are facing. I'll let you play around and discover the rest of the features.

Downloading maps from a web site

Now, at the time of this posting, Avenza's list of NRC maps isn't complete. If you want a complete list of available maps you'll need to go directly to the NRC website. Note that NRC is in the process of updating all their topo maps and converting them to the new GeoPDF format so you may not find all the maps for the areas you're interested in yet. Visit the NRC site regularly as many new maps are added almost monthly. To figure out which map tile you want visit the Toporama Topographical Maps web site.

This link takes you directly to the Canadian Natural Resources GeoPDF maps download directory

This link takes you directly to the USGS Map Store (downloads are free)

Now, with the map file downloaded to you computer launch iTunes and with your device plugged in and selected in the left-hand sidebar click on the 'Apps' tab. You should see a list of all the apps installed on your device. Now scroll down the page into the 'File Sharing' area. You should see 'PDF Maps' listed in the Apps section. Select it and then click on the 'Add…' button at the bottom of the pane on the right. Now navigate to where you downloaded the topo map and select it. Now click on the 'Sync' button in the bottom right corner of the iTunes window to send the map to your device. Once the sync is completed you can disconnect your device and quit iTunes.

On your device launch the 'PDF Maps' app. Navigate to the 'PDF Maps' screen and tap the '+' on the top-right of the screen. On the 'Add a Map' screen tap the 'From iTunes File Sharing' button. On the 'Import From iTunes' screen select the map file under 'Select a File to Import'. Again, the map file will be imported and rasterized so it can be used by the app.

Be aware that this doesn't work with just any old topo map file, the files have to be in the new geospatial PDF format (GeoPDF is a compatible geospatial PDF format,) and not just topo maps. So if you find any national/provincial/state park maps or city maps in geospatial PDF format feel free to load them up as well. Some are available directly from within the PDF Maps app. Just follow the instructions I posted above.

Have fun!

Expected functionality from each device.

iPhone:
  • The iPhone contains both a full function GPS chip and antenna as well as a compass. If you activate those functions the app will show your location on the map if you are physically located within the co-ordinates of the map you are viewing and will orient the map in the direction you are facing.
iPad:
  • The iPad Wi-Fi only model contains a compass only and can use location services*. If you activate the compass it will orient the map in the direction you are facing. If you are within an area of known Wi-Fi hotspots the app will try to show your location on the map if you are physically located within the co-ordinates of the map you are viewing.
  • The iPad Wi-Fi + 3G modal contains both a full function GPS chip and antenna as well as a compass. If you activate those functions the app will show your location on the map if you are physically located within the co-ordinates of the map you are viewing and will orient the map in the direction you are facing.
iPod Touch:
  • The iPod Touch does not contain a GPS chip or compass but does use location services*. If you are within an area of known Wi-Fi hotspots the app will try to show your location on the map if you are physically located within the co-ordinates of the map you are viewing.
*Location Services uses available information from local Wi-Fi networks if you have Wi-Fi turned on and you can connect to the network. This feature isn’t available in all areas.

UPDATE!

Android Devices:

Android Play Store.

PDF Maps is now available for Android devices. As with iOS devices it works best with devices that have an imbedded GPS chip which usually means all smartphones and some tablets. Check the specs of your device.
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch (FREE)

Post by Jayman »

Thanks Gino! Great find!
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch (FREE)

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Any way to download it on a Apple computer?
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch (FREE)

Post by HolidayNation »

Thanks G, put it on the touch last night, tre cool :)
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch (FREE)

Post by X-Treme »

the x kid wrote:Any way to download it on a Apple computer?
You can download the maps to ANY computer and open them. They are just PDF files with some extra data in them that makes them useful for mapping purposes. The app only comes in an iOS version and since laptop and desktop computers lack a GPS chip and antenna you don't get the benefits of the extra features imbedded in the geospatial PDF format.

If you're interested you can get more info on geospatial PDF from this Wikipedia article.

The actual PDFs from NRC and USGS are in GeoPDF format which was developed by a company called TerraGo Technologies and uses Adobe's geospatial PDF format as a container. TerraGo makes a plug-in for the Windows version of Acrobat Reader that allows you to interact with the additional data in a GeoPDF file. No Mac version of the plug-in is available yet.
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch (FREE)

Post by X-Treme »

Please see the bottom of the original post. I added further information about the functions you'll get depending on the device you're running the app on.
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch (FREE)

Post by the x kid »

Sorry,just saw all the other Apple products.Thought I would ask.
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch (FREE)

Post by x-fisher »

That is an awesome app, thanks.
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch (FREE)

Post by Denasings »

Nice. Thank you. I am checking into it now.
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iOS and Android Device (FREE)

Post by X-Treme »

UPDATE!

Android Devices:

Android Play Store.

PDF Maps is now available for Android devices. As with iOS devices it works best with devices that have an imbedded GPS chip which usually means all smartphones and some tablets. Check the specs of your device.
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iOS and Android Device (FREE)

Post by SlaveX »

Hmmm, may as well check that out, thanks Gino! :thumbup:
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Re: View Topo Maps On Your iOS and Android Device (FREE)

Post by ECosta »

Just downloaded the full map of ontario 4.99$ lets see how it looks :D
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