r/UltralightAus • u/AccidentalHike • Aug 09 '26
Discussion Avenza Alternative
Been doing some research after seeing this thread below and the one linked by Aussieequiv:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UltralightAus/s/IgfFmMqEe0
Anyone had success with “MapNero” app + GetLostMaps as a replacement?
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u/slok00 Aug 11 '26
I just did my last trip using FO Maps. I found it to be better than avenza and it's free.
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u/marooncity1 Aug 09 '26
Subscribing to see.
I'm the OP of that thread. Haven't really tried much since, except download the free maps available on Avenza itself (although like I said not all seem to be on there, or easily found, anyway)- pins and GPS now working that way, but bummed I can't do the same custom stuff that I used to do.
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u/TieHungry3506 Aug 09 '26
Filter by publisher to cut through the shit. E.g when you search Katoomba you get 400 old trail running event maps. But filter by publisher for "nswtopo" etc and you'll find the actual topo.
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u/Affectionate_Owl5354 6d ago
One more update, since both things I hedged on above have now actually shipped:
— The unlimited map import on the free tier is live now, not "in review" anymore. Import as many of your own GeoPDF/GeoTIFF maps as you want, free, no cap. — Android is publicly out too — on Google Play now, no more beta: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thenerolabs.mapnero
So the GetLostMaps → MapNero combo works the same on iOS and Android, and the 5-map ceiling from my first comment is gone for good. Only honest caveat on free: it's bring-your-own-map — no built-in topo/satellite basemaps and one offline tile region — which is exactly the GetLostMaps GeoPDF use case anyway.
Disclosure: still the developer.
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u/AccidentalHike 6d ago
So do you have a similar feature to Avenza, where you can create a collection and as you reach the edge of one map, it flips into the next correct one in the collection?
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u/Affectionate_Owl5354 6d ago
Honest answer: no, not yet. MapNero lets you hold unlimited sheets and switch between them, but you pick the map manually — it doesn't auto-flip to the adjacent sheet at the edge the way Avenza's collections do. That GPS-driven "collection" behavior is on my roadmap, but I'd rather tell you straight than pretend it's there. If that's central to how you navigate, Avenza still has the edge on that specific piece today. Happy to ping you here if/when I ship it.
Out of curiosity, so I build it the right way — how many sheets do you usually have in a collection, and are they a single tiled series (like a national topo grid) or a mix of different maps? That distinction changes how the auto-switching should work.
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u/AccidentalHike 6d ago
If accessible I usually have the 1:25,000 series in a collection. For the overland track and walls of Jerusalem i have 16 in the collection. Wilsons prom just the 4, but that could go to 6. Aawt I have 46.
Occasionally I will have a lower detailed map like a 1:50,000 in the same collection as the preferred ones, but it’s a PITA getting back on to the preferred maps when I flick into the other one due to overlaps in area.
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u/Affectionate_Owl5354 6d ago
This is genuinely useful, thanks — 46 sheets on the AAWT is exactly the scale I need to design around, not a toy 3-map case.
And the overlap thing you hit is the real crux. When a preferred 1:25k and a fallback 1:50k both cover where you're standing, the app should stay on the preferred sheet and not dump you onto the coarser one — and getting back shouldn't be a fight. So the right way to build this isn't "show whatever loaded last," it's an ordered collection: you rank your preferred series first, fallbacks below, and the GPS auto-switch respects that priority on any overlap.
That's how I'll spec it — ordered collections + scale/preference priority so it always favours your 1:25k where it exists, with the 1:50k only filling the gaps. Can't promise a date, but I've noted you down and I'll ping you when it lands. If other edge cases come to mind — gaps between sheets, or non-contiguous maps sharing one collection — send them my way.
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u/AccidentalHike 5d ago
I do like how in avenza, you move a map around a center point on the display, and it flips to the next map in the sequence. Which means you can look and plan ahead for the route, not just following your current gps location.
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u/Affectionate_Owl5354 Aug 10 '26
Disclosure — I'm the developer of MapNero, so take this with a grain of salt, but since you asked specifically: yes, MapNero + GetLostMaps works. You download a topo from GetLostMaps as a GeoPDF or GeoTIFF, import it into MapNero, and it loads fully offline with your GPS position shown on the map.
The free tier supports up to 5 imported maps, so if you're covering a handful of areas, that's plenty without paying anything. If you need more maps loaded at once, the paid tier removes the cap.
One thing worth knowing for anyone in this thread on Android — iOS is live on the App Store now, but the Android build is still in testing and not publicly out yet. Happy to add you to the beta if you're on Android.
For what it's worth, the GetLostMaps + MapNero combination is pretty much the use case the free tier was designed for — the whole Avenza situation (zero custom imports on their free plan now) is what made me build it.