OnX CarPlay interface sucks. (a warning, not a rant)

[Figmo]

Pro Tip: avoid Onx. Their CarPlay interface sucks.

I’m here to warn others: if using it with CarPlay is your goal (and why shouldn’t it be if you own a Bronco), then OnX is not for you.

I’ve got this HUGE screen right in front of me at all times and OnX does nothing more than give me a topo map with a bunch of squiggly lines on it. What a ripoff.

Now…I know what you’re thinking: “aren’t ALL maps just a bunch of squiggly lines? Can’t you read a map?”

Real maps have road names and place names on them. OnX does not. (e.g. “is that trail to the right FS road #404? “ OnX ain’t saying)

Real maps have a scale. (e.g. “is that next turn a mile away? 10 miles away? 100 miles away?” OnX ain’t saying)

So you’re left constantly digging out your phone to figure out what‘s around you and up ahead. Might as well keep your Bronco screen displaying album art from SiriusXM because you’ll get no useful information from OnX on it.

The interface OnX presents on the Bronco screen is a joke and it obviously just something they slapped together in an hour so they can advertise “we support CarPlay” - It does not support CarPlay with anything of any usefulness to anybody.

I paid the money so you don’t have to. You have been warned.

With all that said, are there any good offroad nav systems out there that are actually useful on the Bronco dash? I’m tired of looking at my phone like some kind of sap. I own a Bronco, dammit!!

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[Dadsquatch]

This is very helpful, as I was about to pull the trigger on OnX. I’d like to know what’s best/actually useful as well.

 

[BigRed13]

Following for info on a good setup. Anyone try Gaia with their Bronco?

 

[Dover157]

On-x works fine on my 8” screen. But I don’t worry about road names when I’m on a trail. Can zoom in easy enough to see where I am in relation to the trail I want to be on. I also like the offline ability and will usually cut and download a map using the laptop before I go to a new area. Have created routes I want to take that way too. I also find it handy to mark my route traveled when in a new area so that I can find my way back out. Guess it depends on what your wanting out of your nav program. I personally use Waze when I need someone telling me where to go.

 

[DarkHorseDarling]

I second this motion. Not being able to drag the map around via touch is frustrating.

 

[Figmo]

On-x works fine on my 8” screen. But I don’t worry about road names when I’m on a trail. Can zoom in easy enough to see where I am in relation to the trail I want to be on. I also like the offline ability and will usually cut and download a map using the laptop before I go to a new area. Have created routes I want to take that way too. I also find it handy to mark my route traveled when in a new area so that I can find my way back out. Guess it depends on what your wanting out of your nav program. I personally use Waze when I need someone telling me where to go.

You’re right - which is exactly the problem with OnX. Absolutely nothing you say you like about OnX is available or useful on the Bronco screen via CarPlay.

Easy to zoom? Sure…but are you now looking at feet? Miles? Hundreds of Miles? Where are you in relation to the trail you want to be on? Again, no scale so no way to tell how far away ”where you want to be” is. Download maps? Not from CarPlay. Create routes? Yeah…sorry…not via CarPlay. Mark the route you’ve traveled so you can find your way back out? Ooooo….so sorry…OnX CarPlay doesn’t support that cool feature either.

Literally the ONLY THING OnX CarPlay does is allow you to view/pan/zoom an unlabeled , unscaled map.

Don’t get me wrong, OnX on a laptop/tablet is great for all the reasons you mentioned (and more). I could always duck tape a tablet to the roll bar of my old beater 1988 Suzuki Samurai if I wanted to. But I don’t want that. I’m looking for something that allows me to ditch the laptop and take advantage of this beautiful 12” touch screen built right into my Bronco’s dash.

And OnX most certainly ain’t even close to being that.

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

Following for info on a good setup. Anyone try Gaia with their Bronco?

Been using Gaia via Android Auto on a road trip over the past week. When it works, it works well. Not sure if it's my phone (old Samsung S10+) or Android Auto but it wouldn't always track my position. I actually like using Gaia for a road map too, much better than the crappy Ford Nav maps. Problem would be that I would start things up and it was all there and working, then shift into reverse, rear camera comes on, when it goes back to Gaia the marker is missing and it's just hung up. Sometimes it would wake up and start tracking again, sometimes with a bunch fiddling with it, it would work, sometimes not. I use a wireless charger (not the Lux one) and if it was locked up my phone would get real hot so I think it may be the phone causing the issue, just not enough beans to keep up with the wireless connection and the wireless charging.

Having Gaia working off road is great, have gotten very used to their maps and interface. Wish it would project the info like altitude, average speed, elapsed time, etc like on a phone/tablet, but oh well.

 

[Kickit]

I’m definitely interested in hearing more about people’s experiences with Gaia as I’ve had similar frustrations with onX. For now I’m just back to a good old fashioned atlas and road map

 

[BigRed13]

Been using Gaia via Android Auto on a road trip over the past week. When it works, it works well. Not sure if it's my phone (old Samsung S10+) or Android Auto but it wouldn't always track my position. I actually like using Gaia for a road map too, much better than the crappy Ford Nav maps. Problem would be that I would start things up and it was all there and working, then shift into reverse, rear camera comes on, when it goes back to Gaia the marker is missing and it's just hung up. Sometimes it would wake up and start tracking again, sometimes with a bunch fiddling with it, it would work, sometimes not. I use a wireless charger (not the Lux one) and if it was locked up my phone would get real hot so I think it may be the phone causing the issue, just not enough beans to keep up with the wireless connection and the wireless charging.

Having Gaia working off road is great, have gotten very used to their maps and interface. Wish it would project the info like altitude, average speed, elapsed time, etc like on a phone/tablet, but oh well.

That’s what we used on our overland camping trip. Was hoping for better interface into the dash screen. Was very happy with it otherwise, especially the downloadable maps as we were out of cell service often. Looking forward to trying to do the same with the Bronco as it’s a little more nimble.

 

[orion]

Been using Gaia via Android Auto on a road trip over the past week. When it works, it works well. Not sure if it's my phone (old Samsung S10+) or Android Auto but it wouldn't always track my position. I actually like using Gaia for a road map too, much better than the crappy Ford Nav maps. Problem would be that I would start things up and it was all there and working, then shift into reverse, rear camera comes on, when it goes back to Gaia the marker is missing and it's just hung up. Sometimes it would wake up and start tracking again, sometimes with a bunch fiddling with it, it would work, sometimes not. I use a wireless charger (not the Lux one) and if it was locked up my phone would get real hot so I think it may be the phone causing the issue, just not enough beans to keep up with the wireless connection and the wireless charging.

Having Gaia working off road is great, have gotten very used to their maps and interface. Wish it would project the info like altitude, average speed, elapsed time, etc like on a phone/tablet, but oh well.

You need to bug Gaia about this. It worked flawlessly like a year ago but now does this. I started a thread on it but no one had the issue I guess. Your the second person that has had this same issue. For me, it started doing this last October time frame, before that, perfect...

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

Yeah, Gaia has been a little figidty over the past few months. We did the BajaXL (in my 3rd gen 4Runner) a month ago and was using my tablet. Waypoints would disappear, then show back up, others had that issue too. Didn't have any waypoints marked this time using it on the phone/Android Auto but now that I think about, seems similar

 

[contented]

I like onX and use it as an off road navigation aide and tracker while I'm on the trail. It's especially useful if I'm exploring a new area. I like knowing if I'm on public property or about to stray onto private. Will use it in conjunction w/ printed trail guides in areas like Moab and Colorado. Yes, zooming and dragging is a pain, but so is Apple Maps. Tried Gaia and Avenza, but my choice is onX.

All of the mapping solutions out there have their own distinct personalities - Trails Offroad, onX, Gaia, Avenza, etc. Some give you turn by turn directions others not. I don't think any are standalone solutions like we're used to w/ Apple/Google Maps, Ford, Waze, etc. One has to choose what works best for them.

So far I'm sticking w/ onX.

 

[Combustion_King]

i tried onX for the free trial. I could not find most of the class 6 roads in NH I wanted to check out, bc they're not labeled as such. i can see this app working decent in maybe a huge well know area, but for little closed road trails and un maintained new Hampshire stuff in my area, it was crap.

 

[BroncoTrail]

I use the Gaia GPS app connected to my 12" screen via my Google Pixel 6 Pro and it works very well. I can zoom in/out, pan around, and see waypoints. I am pretty sure that I can't click on the tracks or waypoints on my Bronco screen, but luckily I can still use the Gaia GPS app on my phone while it's connected to my Bronco, unlike Google Maps. So if I want to click a Waypoint to see the label for it then I just check on my phone real quick. I don't really need to do that that often anyway.

 

[Jon_chimpo]

The Ford trail map system should be released soon.

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