Maverick Pro – maps & GPS tracking app for outdoor lovers

by Antonio Wells Nov 28, 2012 1:05 PM – 1 Comment

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Maverick Pro is an off-road GPS navigator with offline maps support, compass and track recording. Use offline maps and GPS even without an internet connection. This app is great for hiking, boating, geocaching and other outdoor activities.

Price: Free, $4.99

Enter to Win either iPad Mini or Nexus 7!

Tested on: Samsung Galaxy S3, Nexus 7
Content Rating: Medium Maturity

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

A plethora of map providers to choose from!
Great mapping data when online!
Intended for outdoor enthusiasts!

Cons

Not true offline support. I’ve noticed that the maps show missing sections when used offline, and when used offline on a tablet- no map shows.
Doesn’t find your current location, always lists old Waypoints as current… weird
Convoluted navigation scheme.

Features:

First off, I must caution you, Maverick Pro is not a turn-by-turn GPS navigation app like default Google Maps, however the core benefit is that it is intended to be a GPS tracking tool intended for outdoor enthusiasts like walkers/runners, cyclists, boaters, hikers, geocachers, etc. Now that we’re clear on that, let’s jump into the benefits and features.

In my opinion the user interface could use some serious reorganization as there are features and components spread everywhere and it can be a bit disorientating initially (it gets worse on a tablet). The first screen obviously presents you with a map pinpointing your location. The “Maps” button in the top left lists all the mapping providers you can choose from i.e. Mapquest, Microsoft Maps, Nokia Maps, Wikimapia, and more. You can pinch-to-zoom or use the plus/minus icons on the top right. Tapping the green plus button just under the zoom buttons launches a series of options to either add a waypoint, share the location (lat/long coords with Google Maps link), search places nearby and more.

Now to the confusing bottom row of features within the app. In the bottom left corner you’ve find the Maverick icon, tap it and you jump into this interface with three pages you can swipe left/right. In the first page are features to track waypoints, these are marks you can track the distance, speed and altitude between the points (hint outdoor sports, hikers, climbers, etc.) Swiping to the second page has a compass and the third reveals a fancy Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, and Speedometer doohickey.

Continuing along the bottom navigation to the binoculars reveals where all the waypoints are stored for perusal, editing or sharing, tracks you’ve recorded, Places (an aggregate of information from Facebook, Foursquare, Google and Wikipedia), a web link to geocaches.com and if you dare… enter your own Lat/Long coordinates manually with a host of options there. Tapping the Flag icon is a shortcut to edit the current waypoint and the yellow dotted grid toggles your device’s GPS. Lastly you can quick toggle to track & record waypoints from the last information set.

Now on to the menu button actions; there you can Track, jump to a Page i.e. Map, Compass, Waypoint, etc., Share, toggle Map providers, and find your location. However, the latter and what I would consider the most important, often would not locate my actual current location yet stick to my home location which I’ve left. :-?

Maverick Pro Maps Don’t Load Correctly Without Internet – Comparison

I thoroughly challenged Maverick Pro to see if it could live up to the hype of truly being accessible offline and it #FAILED that test. I would notice while testing on the S3 phone it would constantly reach out to data when redrawing the map, so this got me curious to see if it working in Airplane Mode (no cell calls or Internet data). It would work but with issues, as seen in the screenshot above, it would leave out blocks of mapping data as you zoomed and moved the map around- not useful. Then I tried it on the Nexus 7 tablet, considering the use case that the app would be great for data-less tablets and as you can see in the screenshot above, it didn’t provide a map at all. This is something you do not want to find out if you’re in the mountains or deep woods lost without data. If you’re looking for a truly offline map app, try the recently reviewed MapsWithMe Pro or you can even save offline maps from Google Maps for free from the settings menu of that app.

: Maverick Pro My Location

: Maverick Pro Compass

: Maverick Pro Timer

: Maverick Pro Trip Computer

: Maverick Pro Predefined Waypoints

: Maverick Pro Places

: Maverick Pro Places from Foursquare

: Maverick Pro Map Providers

: Maverick Pro No Maps in Airplane Mode on Phone

: Maverick Pro No Maps in Airplane Mode on Tablet

: Maverick Pro Maps Don’t Load Correctly Without Internet

: Maverick Pro Maps Don’t Load Correctly Without Internet 2

: Maverick Pro Maps Don’t Load Correctly Without Internet 3

: Maverick Pro Maps Don’t Load Correctly Without Internet 4

: Maverick Pro Maps Don’t Load Correctly Without Internet 5

Usefulness:

I believe Maverick Pro can be useful to a niche group and not for everyone for the compass, tracking, and multiple maps features among outdoor activists like walkers/runners, cyclists, boaters, hikers, geocahcers, etc. The various map providers can come in handy as you may find one more detailed than the other. Plus it has advanced features for entering manual coordinates. I just find it very disappointing that you cannot get truly offline maps as it is advertised. It seems you need some kind of data to feed it initially, once cached it can go from there.

Ease of Use & Interface:

The convoluted user interface make using the app not so straightforward, as there more multiple ways to get to the same actions and the navigation scheme is spread all over the place. This is another area where the app could use some work.

Frequently Used:

I think this app will fare well among those that had a standalone GPS device back in the day and those who enjoy the outdoors. I foresee this app as occasional use for the niche market that desire it, as it’s not for everyone.

AndroidTapp.com Rating

AndroidTapp.com Rating! (3.6 out of 5)

Should you Download Maverick Pro? It’s hard to justify the $5 spend for the pro version, and in my test cases, it had trouble consistently locating me and worse, it was not a truly functional offline mapping app. It seems there was some need for an Internet connection to enjoy the proper experience. At best, I would recommend the freebie or encourage you to try others- which you may already have on your device.

Developer: Code Sector

Tags: Android App, Android Apps, AndroidTapp.com App Review, Geocaching, GPS, GPS Navigation, Maverick, Maverick GPS Navigation, Maverick Pro, Off-Road GPS Navigator, Running, Walking Navigation

Categorised in: Travel

1 Comment

By codesector on November 28, 2012 at 2:37 pm:

“often would not locate my actual current location” – your location is provided by GPS chip in your phone, please stop blaming GPS apps

You can create offline maps with Mobile Atlas Creator on your Mac or PC. But for most trips you can just scroll the map around your planned location. Every part of map you’ve seen will be also available offline.

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