Formats! Why there is not a standard?

I am very frustrated by this.
Unfortunately, Orux can't be (yet) used for EVERYTHING. So I also use it along with other mapping applications. Those mostly are:

OSMand, for navigation
Cachesense, for geocaching

Both apps support offline maps. Even OSMand, that uses vector maps, allows the user to load tiled offline maps, for faster "rendering" (while using the vectors for navigation). Cachesense as well can use offline maps.
The problem is that every time I want to move my ass, I should download maps for Orux, maps for OSMand, maps for Cachesense.
That takes THREE times my... time, and three times my storage on the SD card.
TOTALLY inefficient.  

Why there is not a STANDARD? Couldn't developers agree on a shared fixed format to use, so that we poor users would just need to download ONE map that is being read from within any application we need?

Thanks

Hi Febs,
for geocaching I use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.droidcachebox&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImRlLmRyb2lkY2FjaGVib3giXQ..
Manual http://team-cachebox.de/index.php/en/
but you can use also https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cgeo.geocaching&hl=de
these both apps use the same mapsforgemaps as Orux, an for Cachebox you can use Mobac, but its a different map to Orux (Mobac)

The mapsforgemap is only a picture, thats why Osmand has different maps.
With a mapsforge map you cant routing like in Osmand
-> you will need 2 Maps, 1 mapsforgemap for orux and geaocaching, 1 map for Osmand

Regards
Teleskopix

Hello, Teleskopix

Cachebox: it is new to me, thanks for sharing. I will try. I am searching for something that allows to store EVERYTHING of a cache offline: listing, logs, pictures. So that when I'm outdoors (perhaps abroad) I don't have to search for a place with connectivity, consume batteries, and - if I'm roaming -money. And of course I want offline maps as well..
With cachebox I can use the very same offline map I downloaded for Oruxmaps? If I got it right they use the same sources but a different "offline storage" format. I am going to try as soon as I'll find the time.
C:geo: I started geocaching with it. It crashes often and most important I could not find a way to reuse my Orux mapfiles.

By the way: what I mean is not that I expect Oruxmaps format to be ubiquitous. I would rather hope for a standard SQLite format shared among all application, Orux included.

OSMand: it actually can ALSO show a layer of images on top of vectors!
If you save an offline raster map like that, you can view the map with any raster layout (for instance opencyclemap) and still use "underground" OSMand routing.
So it would be great to be able to use the same map there, as well

Hi Febs, 
Cachebox and Orux can both read this http://www.openandromaps.org/en/ maps
at the moment there is a litle problem, that will be fixed till tomorow.
Openandromaps are openstreetmap-maps, but the Size is very small (Germany 1.2 GB)
Cachebox can't read sqlite-maps from orux.
Cachebox is complete Offline, my Smartphone is only with WLAN online, I spend my money not for be Online samewhere outsight.
If you have questions to Cachebox ask me, I'm Beta-Tester and I have the rights to write in the manual.
You can also poste your Questions to cachebox here http://forum.geoclub.de/viewforum.php?f=114
you can ask in english, all developers will answer in english, and read here every day. Normaly it takes no longer then 2 hours for an answer.

teleskopix wrote:Hi Febs, 
Cachebox and Orux can both read this http://www.openandromaps.org/en/ maps
at the moment there is a litle problem, that will be fixed till tomorow.

Oh, OK, now I got it.
That is very nice indeed, and I hope that more and more apps will use openandromaps. Very handy.

What I meant, though, was the possibility to use SQLite rendered maps. For instance topo maps grabbed from WMS services.
I think it is probabily possible if only a standard is going to be defined. As far as I know OruxMaps SQLite format is no secret and probably there are other formats whose specifications are freely available.
I would love to have a folder such as
/storage/sdcard/maps
and place all of my maps there, so that all of my geo apps can "pull" offline maps from there and draw them on my display.
Openandromaps is great but it is still vector and though somehow limited. It is also OSM that is great... but incomplete in a lot of parts of my country[1]

teleskopix wrote:
If you have questions to Cachebox ask me, I'm Beta-Tester and I have the rights to write in the manual.
You can also poste your Questions to cachebox here http://forum.geoclub.de/viewforum.php?f=114
you can ask in english, all developers will answer in english, and read here every day. Normaly it takes no longer then 2 hours for an answer.

Thank you... I quickly tested in in lunch time for no more than three minutes and my sincere impressions are that it looks quite beta and counterintuitive. I will explain in private.

[1] By the way I am an OSM contributor as well.

febs wrote:I am very frustrated by this.
Unfortunately, Orux can't be (yet) used for EVERYTHING. So I also use it along with other mapping applications. Those mostly are:

OSMand, for navigation
Cachesense, for geocaching

Both apps support offline maps. Even OSMand, that uses vector maps, allows the user to load tiled offline maps, for faster "rendering" (while using the vectors for navigation). Cachesense as well can use offline maps.
The problem is that every time I want to move my ass, I should download maps for Orux, maps for OSMand, maps for Cachesense.
That takes THREE times my... time, and three times my storage on the SD card.
TOTALLY inefficient.  

Why there is not a STANDARD? Couldn't developers agree on a shared fixed format to use, so that we poor users would just need to download ONE map that is being read from within any application we need?

Thanks

Hi febs;

When OruxMaps was born, there was not an open standard format that could be used on mobile devices. The most common formats were closed (ozf, ....) or there were no libraries for java/android (geotiff, ecw,...).

The existing formats were only for Mercator projection maps (google like maps), so I had to use a new format.

But the first thing developers want are standards! and better if they are open!

Then we were incorporating support to different map types:
rmap
garmin
mbtiles
mapsfoge
...

But you're right, it has no sense so many formats

orux