cycle.travel stores them in whatever your operating system’s standard app storage is. You can’t download a square twice. If you click a highlighted square to unhighlight it, then click Download, it’ll remove the square. Hope that all makes sense!

That makes a lot of sense. I should have known you'd designed it well! Many thanks for your quick reply.

Pippa

I'm struggling with this a bit too.  I tap a square to download.  I get the blue circle going round.  It seems to complete without a problem and gives me the file size.  I go to Files on my iphone and then Browse and Downloads.  Up comes an OS file with a kb size which is different from the one I got; and which goes no further.  No map!  Have I got the wrong end of the stick somewhere?  Peter

Peter, I know nothing about IOS but on my Android I can't locate the downloaded maps - but then again, I don't need to - they are for the app, not 'general use' maps.

Perhaps you could confirm if the maps have been downloaded by opening the IOS equivalent of 'offline maps'? Any maps you have downloaded should be pretty clearly visible - on my Android phone they are a bright green square. Note: You may need to zoom out to see the relevant areas.

Alternatively, put the phone in airplane mode (ie no wifi/no data), open the app and scroll to the area where you have attempted to download the map(s) - if you can see the detail (try zooming in) then the map has been downloaded. 

If it hasn't downloaded, I'd check that you have sufficient memory and that any security controls you have allow CT to download maps. 

Absolutely, the offline maps are not files that you can (or indeed need to) find on your phone. They’re just cycle.travel downloading the mapping for its future use, so when you’re viewing that area, you can be sure you’ll have mapping available. I’m currently cycling through France and downloaded the maps for my full ride in advance so that I knew I wouldn’t get lost even in areas with no reception!

Thanks both for your help.  I see what you mean about the files/offline maps distinction.  I have turned on airplane mode.  Wayfarer then gives me a good level of detail for the whole of the UK not just the areas I have tried to download.  But OS is very reluctant.  One or two of the downloaded areas go down to 1:50,000 but the rest stay at 1:250,000 or just very fuzzy.  Incidentally - on CT's Offline Maps which shows the whole of UK in tiles the ones I think I have downloaded are a greyish blue colour while all the rest are bright green!  That seems to be the reverse of on your Android phone. I am sure this is all user error.  Is there a way of discarding whatever I have downloaded so far and starting again?  

Clarification.  The offline map tiles start off as standard green; go to grey blue after download; then go to bright green if I tap them again after download.

Wayfarer then gives me a good level of detail for the whole of the UK not just the areas I have tried to download. But OS is very reluctant.

Peter, I think there may be some confusion. First of all, it is not possible to download OS maps. CT has the rights to display them live but not to allow users to store them offline. What you are seeing are the results of the 'cache' or temporary memory. You have looked at an area online, you've gone offline but your phone 'remembers' some of the detail. 

It's the same with the Wayfarer maps (which you say you haven't downloaded and are not downloadable for me) - what you are seeing is 'temporary' memory that will be replaced over time if not looked at. 

Have a look at this thread that shows the download options.

To discard or delete the downloaded areas that you no longer need, it should simply be a matter of opening 'Download offline maps' in the settings, seeing what is downloaded, then tapping on the squares you no longer want. The specifics of IOS may be slightly different but pick one area and test it out.

It might be helpful to explain how you want to use these downloaded maps? 

Most users will download maps before going on a tour in order to be able to navigate each day's ride without needing internet access. Of course, they need to download the routes, too! It is especially common for people going abroad and being fearful of roaming charges. 

As such,  the need for a variety of map styles is probably minimised - the planning has already been done. To my mind, the 'navigation' map should be clear and simple - as the default CT map is. 

We do need downloaded maps to use the search function on the app (but not to search for accommodation) so that is another reason to download. 

Thanks very much indeed Hobbes (sorry I don't know your first name).  You are right - I was confused but you have made things a lot clearer and I think I've got it sorted as a result.  I have downloaded routes but I wanted the downloaded maps in case I decide to go off piste a bit.  It's a week's ride along the Solway coast  - so if I keep the water on the left on the way out and on the right on the way back I shouldn't go too far wrong in any event.  This is the first time I have used CT for a tour so I was just interested in exploring its potential on a simple ride before I try anything fancy.

What you have explained has been really helpful and I am well  impressed with this level of support!  Peter  

Spot on as always Hobbes!

One slight addition - if you have downloaded an area, you’ll get both cycle.travel and Wayfarer maps. The two are the same base data, just with a different style applied (colour, fonts etc.). But everything else isn’t downloadable for offline use. 

Thank you. I like your philosophy. I am on the road now and CT is working well.