Is anyone having issues with Gaia GPS?

[editjames]

I can not get anything to download on my iPad. I have internet connection. I am a paying member. I cleared my cache. It's a brand new iPad. For example, I zoom in using the satellite layer... and nothing is downloading. It's all a blurry image. I simply can not get it going. I uninstalled and installed.

I'm headed out for a trip in a couple hours and I wish this was more reliable. Not the first time I've had issues with them. Previously, their "servers were down."

 

[zgfiredude]

I downloaded a fair amount of mapping last night.....It took a bit to load, as in several minutes. I assumed that it was simply the volume of data I was downloading, but perhaps not. I DID have the spinning wheel (processing) indicator while the download was in progress. Just as FYI, don't know if it's related.

 

[Ubiety]

This thread is by a Gaia employee or something; maybe post there?

Maybe as a backup give onX or OB1 a try.
onX gives a free week or so trial to their premium service. Export your trip data from gaia then upload to onX. onX is playing catch up in some areas but I like their customer service and willingness to improve things better. Their approach to UI is miles ahead of gaia IMO. Disclaimer - OB1 is turning into an awesome app and I will likely switch over to it once they allow trip planning via the web.

Hope things work out! There is a reason I don't use gaia any longer and I am a complete cartography geek.

 

[Ubiety]

This is the best way to download offline maps in gaia IMO. Maybe give it a try to see if that gets you anywhere?

 

[Overland Omnivore]

My suggestion is get a iPad with as big a memory as you can because the maps eat up a lot of it

 

[Michael]

Hey all - yes! We are cramming on OB1 (Overland Bound One) to address key needs and concerns of our community - that's the goal! It is coming along quickly. We constantly improve the features, and add additional functionality. Coming in the next few weeks is Route Planning. We are putting it through the paces now in preparation for release.

@Ubiety I hear you! We will get there relatively soon. From the Overland Bound community what we here is that we want Route Planning in the app asap - and we will follow with web route planning.

 

[pluton]

Recently, I was downloading some maps onto the phone at home (WiFi + fast internet service): EXTREMELY SLOW map downloads at any time of the day or night. If it was free, it'd be OK. But it's not free, and this slow download s**t is going to lose them a lot of paying customers if it continues.

 

[Michael]

I’ll be interested to see if the issues with Gaia persist.

 

[shansonpac]

I download maps and layers to my iPhone from GAIA on a regular basis and it is important to follow the instructions @Ubiety posted exactly. Especially the part about which layers to choose. I typically download the new gaia overland layer as this incorporates a number of useful layers; satellite, and verizon cellular. While I have a ton of memory on my phone, I delete the maps when off the trail (except for places I visit a lot. I have a 100-200 mbps connection, and downloading even large maps takes less than 30 seconds. Not sure what is going on.

 

[DRAX]

I'm curious, those of you with slow download/sync performance are you all on Apple devices? I ask because Gaia on my iPad Pro is being annoyingly slow to download/sync but my Android cell phone with Gaia, connected to the same wifi and only a few feet from my iPad, is fast. Perhaps there's a bug in the iOS version causing slow downloads?

 

[shansonpac]

No problems with speed whatsoever with all Apple devices.

 

[shansonpac]

With any device app acting wiggy, on any platform, my first action is to restart the device. This clears up a lot. Log out and then back into the app. Last resort, delete and reinstall the app.

 

[Ubiety]

Not sure what the process is with newer Apple devices, but you used to be able to "reset the ram/pram" by pressing and holding the home screen button and power button at the same time. This fixed a multitude of problems that crept up. My current iphone does not have the home screen button so I am not sure what the process is for newer devices...

I guess I could use some search fu ;) iPhone RAM reset article.

Edit - no longer a gaia subscriber but did suffer the same map layer d/l speed issues most of the time, have fast enough cable modem internet access at home. OB1 / onX map downloads are impressively fast on my devices compared to Gaia. Especially OB1. Have not really used either OB1/onX on the trails so will have to wait to determine the overall quality of the downloaded maps.

 

[shansonpac]

Not sure what the process is with newer Apple devices, but you used to be able to "reset the ram/pram" by pressing and holding the home screen button and power button at the same time. This fixed a multitude of problems that crept up. My current iphone does not have the home screen button so I am not sure what the process is for newer devices...

I guess I could use some search fu ;) iPhone RAM reset article.

It is power button and up volume now. Then slide the power to off. Hold the power button until the apple appears.

 

[DRAX]

I'll also add that Gaia has basically always been slow to download on my iPad Pro since I started using it a couple of years ago, so for me this is nothing new. Various downloads seem to get stuck and eventually complete or I can stop and restart the downloads to get it to complete.

 

[Ubiety]

It is power button and up volume now. Then slide the power to off. Hold the power button until the apple appears.

Daddy's gonna need his dancin shoes for that ;)

 

[Ubiety]

I'll also add that Gaia has basically always been slow to download on my iPad Pro since I started using it a couple of years ago, so for me this is nothing new. Various downloads seem to get stuck and eventually complete or I can stop and restart the downloads to get it to complete.

Me too. Downloading offline maps with Gaia was always a process of start/re-start/re-start/re-start/re-start until you got them all.

 

[shansonpac]

@Ubiety, your method does it without having to shut down the phone (which also clears RAM). Thanks for the tip.

 

[Ubiety]

@Ubiety, your method does it without having to shut down the phone (which also clears RAM). Thanks for the tip.

Not my method - hahaha. Have not tried it but will in a bit because my iPhone/iPad both need swift kicks in the butt ;)

 

[GunRunnersActual]

Can’t say I’ve had this issue with Gaia, but every time it wants to download updated maps, it takes forever. I’ve also had it lag out on tracking me when I’m offroad. That lag might just be the gps in the iPad though, I’m not sure, but it makes me want to add an Inreach Mini to be the actual gps antenna for the iPad.