MotionX-GPS with OpenTopoMap

I have an iPhone. It wasn't always like this. Before I had my current iPhone 6 I had a Nexus 5. Whenever I went for some casual hiking I used Locus Pro to plan my route and it was working amazingly well. When I started using my iPhone I had this sudden realisation though that Locus Pro was not available for iOS. Obviously, this happened just right before a trip so I started googling crazily what could be a feasible alternative for iOS.

After some research I encountered MotionX-GPS, which was deemed to be one of the best outdoor navigation apps for the Apple ecosystem. Of course a barebone navigation app is completely useless if there are no good maps in it. And that's where I got stuck since, because I wasn't quite satisfied with the maps that MotionX-GPS was offering. I wanted to have a bit more detailed map, possibly showing some paths on the map so I could orientate myself easier.

Well it took me some time but eventually I found that OpenTopoMap could be a good free alternative to use with MotionX-GPS. Unfortuntely it wasn't fully trivial how to integrate it with it. Fortunately after some try I could do that. This post intends to show you how to use OpenTopoMap with MotionX-GPS.

Custom map types

To add OpenTopoMaps you have to add a custom map type to MotionX-GPS.

You will see the map preview appearing right below the text fields. It means that MotionX-GPS was able to download the map tiles and display it to you.

Using the Map

So, now that we have the OpenTopoMaps added to our maps, let's start using it. Go back to the Map. It's still displaying the original map that you have selected by default.

Voila OpenTopoMaps is loading on your screen :) Enjoy!

We hope you found the summary useful. If so, save this link for later or share it with your friends. Have a nice trip! Trekhunt team ❤️