Messages

What is the difference and advantage of VTM (when it works)?

Symbols and names rotate with the map, see attached.

I think VTM also supports 3D mapping, like on a satnav... if the app supports it...

I've just uploaded the latest release of the OS Map theme (v20231218) which now includes fixes and updates for many issues you all reported to me. A very big thank you to all for reporting your findings, I hope this release will be OK enough to finally release into the Locus Map store, my next task.

Here is a list of the changes in this latest release:

• Removed residential roads from filled in residential areas at zoom level 12.
• Removed unused categories and tidied up style menu definitions
• Added colour icons to style menus to indicate options by colour groups, green=hiking, orange=cycling, purple=mtb, brown=urban, black=roads, white=non-OS.
• Added option "Show symbols earlier" so you can have less symbol intrusion at Z15 and lower, useful in urban/city areas.
• Added option "Building names earlier" so you can have more building namers appear earlier from Z16 onwards.
• Added option "emphasise all sealed roads too" so you can selectively also highlight ALL roads that are sealed, or disable (if you prefer a less distracting urban view).
• Added footpath names visible from Z16.
• Changed "surface textures" options to also include all steps, footpaths and bridleways.
• Changed option "road surface/grade textures" to "surface textures" to be shorter menu entry.
• Changed option "emphasise road surface/grade textures" to "emphasise surface textures" to be shorter menu entry.
• Changed size of covered reservoir symbol at Z13/Z14 to be smaller.
• Changed unclassified roads to appear from Z12 (was Z13).
• Changed smaller service roads to appear from Z13 (was Z12).
• Changed 50k pylons to be smaller at high zoom levels.
• Changed place name priorities to work better.
• Fixed missing bridges casings at Z13/Z14.
• Fixed symbol/pattern filenames to be have matching cases in both theme and filing system - enables theme to work correctly with OruxMaps.

Thank you everyone for feedback and bugs found so far, I very much appreciate it and will work on these to get a fixed release out ASAP. Attached is my fix list so far.

Hi Everyone,

Finally the wait is over. After 2.75 years of tweaking in my spare time, I have finally completed the update to the OS Map theme.

The links to the theme are in the first post, which has also been updated with the latest release notes, comparison screenshots and links to the latest PDF legends (also bundled in the theme itself).

The theme now works as a ZIP theme, so no need to unzip anymore.

I am a little worried about the size of the theme files now, they have doubled in size... so please let me know if this causes performance issues... I am considering splitting the theme into 6 separate files: 1:25k, 1:50, Dynamic and again for night theme... but would prefer not to...

If you are wondering why the release date on the ZIP is 20231013, this was the original planned release date and I was about to upload when LocusMap switched from v3 to v4 LoMaps and I realised I needed to update the theme to cope with the new map and its tags etc...

The theme has a lot of improvements regarding footpaths, including with the change to v4 LoMap maps a massive improvement, especially if you are a fan of the original Ordnance Survey Maps, as LoMaps now support tags to distinguish between the different types of public rights of way, which in the UK, are not always as simple as access yes|no:



Some of the map features can be disabled using the options for non-OS content or accessible/designated paths, as they are not in the original Ordnance Survey maps, but are (I think) very useful additions that enhance the maps.

In the UK these different types of public rights of way (PROW) which define restrictions on who/what can use them:



There is a new option in the theme to highlight PROW and this uses the same colour scheme as the UK waymakers shown above.

I realise that in other countries you do not have the same waymarkers, restrictions or even possible tagging yet in your country's OSM data. But please remember that this theme is aimed as emulating the Ordnance Survey maps and so is largely aimed at users of the OS maps, which obviously will be located in the UK.

I am planning to upload the OS map theme into the LocusMap store, but I would like to identify any teething issues first as I have made a massive number of changes/improvements. So please provide feedback if you find anything wrong. Thanks in advance, Karl.

If I use the dynamic setting the beer glass symbol displays as I wanted but when zooming ok the map doesn't display the "PH" abbreviation. If I set the map to just 1:50k the PH displays when zoomed in but again, not, when zoomed out to1:50k.

Yes, this is because all elements in the map only appear at a predefined zoom level and not before. This will depend on the map creator and the settings they used. For example with the latest OAM v5 maps bars and pubs appear at zoom level 17. They will disappear at zoom level 16 and lower, regardless of what the theme is defined to do.

You can usually find a file called tagmapping.xml where you download your maps from and this defines the "rules" for when certain items will be visible. The theme can also restrict when they appear too. Here is the entries for OAM v5 tagmapping.xml that affect the pub symbols in OS map theme:
   <osm-tag key='amenity' value='pub' zoom-appear='17' />
   <osm-tag key='amenity' value='bar' zoom-appear='17' />

For OS-Dynamic, the map theme uses the following zoom levels for both styles:
   - OS-50k for Z15 and below
   - OS-25K for Z16 and above

So what you have observed seems correct, if a bit annoying.
Personally I would like pubs to be visible much earlier. They appear at Z16 in LoMaps...
Hope that helps.

Have you selected Dynamic Scale in the theme's style menu?

Sent from my moto g(6) plus using Tapatalk

[Link to latest release:]

The OS Map theme tries to emulate the Ordnance Survey 1:25k and 1:50k map styles as closely as is possible within the constraints of Locus Map and data provided by the vector maps. It should work with both LoMap and OAM maps (v3 and v4). I must give credit to John Campbell for his Voluntary UK theme that I used as a starting point (v. 190101).

The OS Map theme also provides a darker variation of OS style of map designed for use at night-time to help avoid spoiling night-vision whilst keeping a recognizably Ordnance Survey style of map.

The theme now consists of four main theme files, day/night for v3 maps and day/night for v4 maps. There are two PDF map legends, one for day and one night.

Here is a comparison of the same map rendered with: Internal Theme, Voluntary UK, OS Style and my new 4 OS map styles:


SCROLL TO VIEW THE COMPARISONS >>>>

Here are the list of all the changes made for each release:

v20200427
Initial release for v3 maps only

v20200529
Added v4 map support
Added option to highlight toll roads (default is not highlighted). Highlight means orange outline and orange dots as you zoom in.
Added option to set OS style roads names (pathtext) for countires that are left hand traffic or right hand traffic. This is only applicable to dual carriage ways.
Added drawing of footpaths and bridleways that are on dashed track/service roads.
Added thicker dashed 1:50k style for airport runways (was using thinner 1:25k for 1:50k before)
Added defibrillator symbol (non OS symbols)
Added OS text symbols for: Libraries, Shelters, Cairns, Caves, Adits [Mines, Mines (dis)], Waterfalls (Falls in blue)
Added library buildings to list of important building, i.e bolder outlines.
Added place markers for towns/cities (similar to Elevate theme) at low zoom levels (e.g. 5-7).
Added support for sizing of town/city names based on population density (popcat)
Changed borders (admin_level) to improve support for non-UK counties by grouping togther Parishes=9/10, Districts=7/8, Counties=5/6, National=2/3/4
Changed pharmacy amenity symbol to also include chemist shops (non OS symbols).
Changed order of options, putting least changed options towards bottom of list.
Changed embankments to draw at a higher level priority to avoid them being overdrawn by water ways and residential areas.
Changed footbridges to draw at a higher level priority to avoid them being overdrawn by water ways.
Changed tunnels to use smaller dashes for better match OS map style.
Changed 1:50k trunk_link and motorway_link roads to use correct/matching outline widths on bridges.
Changed highway labels at zoom levels 7-12 to use captions instead of pathtext for OS labels
Changed priorities of several symbols to improve visibility of churches, information and museums at lower zoom levels.
Changed car parks at lower zoom levels (upto zoom 15) to only show ~|destination|customers|public car parks.
Changed hill name sizes slightly larger
Changed (corrected) selection of national hiking routes to only include iwn|nwn, i.e. remove rwn|lwn|uwn.
Changed (corrected) selection of national cycling routes to only include icn|ncn, i.e. remove rcn|lcn|ucn.
Changed (corrected) wells so they now get displayed.
Changed doctors captions from red to black text.
Changed v3 theme place names to match/harmonise to style used on v4 theme.
Removed tourism brown dashed ways accidentally left in from donor theme (UK Voluntary)
Removed access cross hatchings on footpaths accidentally left in from donor theme (UK Voluntary)
Removed surface dashes on 'white' roads accidentally left in from donor theme (UK Voluntary) - If this is going to be in the theme then I need to think about how to do it in an OS style way...

v20200530
Fixed validation errors (one was a real issue in V4 theme for railway stations at zoom 13, rest were technical errors but not impacting display of maps).

v20200607
Split v3 and v4 theme files into separate day and night theme files so they can have different map=background tags, different PDF legends and increase performance.
Added night mode symbols for transmitters, windmills, wind turbines, lighthouses, ruins/archaeological, battlefields, telephones, helipads, bollards.
Added night mode PDF legend.
Added four .lnk files to map the two PDF legends to relevant four theme files.
Changed priority of cemetery symbol lower than church symbol.
Changed night mode track core colour to match service/residential roads.
Changed night mode tunnels to use own night equivalent of day tunnel colours.
Changed night mode steps to look similar to day time steps and less like a ladder.
Changed night mode turning circles and passing places to be more visible.
Changed area ways for residential roads to match residential road outlines for all map themes.
Changed AED, playground and shooting symbols to remove white outline/background to match other symbols.
Changed 50k toilet symbol to fix errors in tiny-svg rendering.

v20210103
Added cycle lanes and cycle tracks with display option "cycle lanes/tracks".
Added option to hide hiking route diamonds.
Added option to hide cycling route circles.
Changed emphasise hiking routes to highlight routes with route label from zoom level 7 to 14, 15 upwards as before.
Changed emphasise cycling routes to highlight routes with route label from zoom level 7 to 14, 15 upwards as before.
Changed emphasise hiking routes highlight colours, green for national and yellow for local.
Changed emphasise cycling routes highlight colours, red for national and blue for local.
Changed (renamed) option "left/right hand traffic road labels" to "drive on the left/right side" as this option now also affects oneway cycle lanes/tracks.

v20210210
Added captions for beaches, mud flats and sand banks.
Added captions for fells.
Added customer and private parking symbols.
Added cutlines (in woods/forests)
Added ditches that are barriers.
Added earth banks using typical OS slope pattern.
Added emphasise cycle lanes/tracks options using purple highlight colour.
Added gullies, rendered as OS cutting pattern.
Added hedges as a non-os option.
Added military bunkers (active and dis-used) symbols.
Added post boxes with red circle for left hand traffic and yellow square for right hand traffic - symbols to match the typical post box shape/colour used in LHT/RHT countries.
Added public artwork symbol.
Added town hall as an important building (bolder outline of building).
Added town hall symbol.
Changed abandoned/disused railways to render before rivers.
Changed climbing symbol to be larger.
Changed embankments for footpaths to be narrower.
Changed grade1 tracks to be thinner and matching the rest of the tracks.
Changed many railway/highway tunnels to render as transparent dashed outlines.
Changed OS 50k cycleways (single black dashes) to appear sooner from Z14.
Changed piers and walls to render after waterways to avoid being hidden by waterway areas.
Changed tidalflats that are hidden under water areas to be visible.
Changed waterways (in a major way), now they are all rendered as casings first and then as cores to avoid blue lines where they join.
Removed erroneous rendering of "water_park" as water, this was an incorrect understanding of its purpose (thanks John Percy for the hint).

v20210216
Added "dash unsealed roads" overlay option to give unsealed roads a dashed outline/casing.
Added "road surface/grade textures" overlay option to give unsealed roads a texture pattern that represents the type of surface, from Z14 onwards.
Added "emphasise road surface/grade textures" overlay option to highlight roads surfaces at lower zoom levels, from Z12 onwards.

v20231013
Removed springs and wells from 50k maps, as per OS map's convention.
Added support for LoMap v4 maps.
Added options to control what is shown as psuedo public right of way: "accessible footpaths" and "designated footpaths".
Added mountain bike routes using purple cirlces with options to hide routes, circles or highlight the routes.
Added option to emphasise public rights of way using colours that align with the UK signage arrows.
Added permissive footpaths and steps in orange.
Added tidal footpaths, steps and tracks in light blue.
Added support for private footpaths in dark red.
Added naming of pedestrian ways (including sealed footways/paths)
Added naming of ferry routes.
Added allotments, ATMs, banks, breakwaters, fire stations, groynes, hunting stands/butts, ice cream vendors, police stations, recycling, sewage works (OAM), water works (OAM).
Added mountain range support for gullies and saddles (passes betweem mountains).
Added support for additional types of bridge: cantilever, aqueduct, boardwalk, trestle.
Added on street parking.
Added new types of parking (for public, customer and privte): underground parking and covered parking.
Added hollow circle markers for off-road cycle routes, on road routes remain as solid circle markers.
Added support for OAM to show covered reservoirs, cuttings, tree rows, os_open_data crags, peninsulas.
Added support for OAM peak distances to introduce and name mountain peaks in order of importance/size.
Added support for LoMap v4 maps to represent "public rights of way" using proper OS map symbology for public footpaths/bridleways, byways open to all trafficm restricted byways, other routes.
Changed for OAM maps to pseudo-represent "public rights of way", i.e. green/pink dashes for public hiking routes, designated footpaths and bridleways (note OAM does not support PROW tags).
Changed default options for 25k to be feature rich, and 50k to be OS minimal features.
Changed "public rights of way" to use slightly large dashes to be more visible and closer in style to OS maps.
Changed buildings in 25k views to merge as you zoom out, avoids clutter of lots of small buildings.
Changed order of drawing of features that were hidden under water, e.g. sand banks, rocks, tidal mud, etc.
Changed beaches to be transparent so the coastline shows through as represents a high tide water mark.
Changed what is included in residential areas to be closer to OS maps.
Changed garden symbol to be limited to public gardens only.
Changed contours to be slightly lighter and more in line with OS maps.
Changed spacing of route markers (diamond and circles) to be spaced slightly further apart.
Changed sealed footpaths to be shown as solid pedestrian ways.
Changed tidal mud and inland marsh to render more like OS maps, mud is just brown with no symbols, marsh is just blue marsh symbol.
Changed mini-roundabouts to be slightly larger to be more visible.
Changed golf symbol to also include miniature golf courses.
Changed naming of commons to appear sooner and lower zoom levels.
Changed preserved railway symbol to also include funicular and narrow_gauge railways.
Changed embankments to be slightly shorter triangles, reduces self erasure when they overlap or are close together.
Changed priorities of various symbols to prioritise those that align with OS map conventions first.

v20231218
Removed residential roads from filled in residential areas at zoom level 12.
Removed unused categories and tidied up style menu definitions
Added colour icons to style menus to indicate options by colour groups, green=hiking, orange=cycling, purple=mtb, brown=urban, black=roads, white=non-OS.
Added option "Show symbols earlier" so you can have less symbol intrusion at Z15 and lower, useful in urban/city areas.
Added option "Building names earlier" so you can have more building namers appear earlier from Z16 onwards.
Added option "emphasise all sealed roads too" so you can selectively also highlight ALL roads that are sealed, or disable (if you prefer a less distracting urban view).
Added footpath names visible from Z16.
Changed "surface textures" options to also include all steps, footpaths and bridleways.
Changed option "road surface/grade textures" to "surface textures" to be shorter menu entry.
Changed option "emphasise road surface/grade textures" to "emphasise surface textures" to be shorter menu entry.
Changed size of covered reservoir symbol at Z13/Z14 to be smaller.
Changed unclassified roads to appear from Z12 (was Z13).
Changed smaller service roads to appear from Z13 (was Z12).
Changed 50k pylons to be smaller at high zoom levels.
Changed place name priorities to work better.
Fixed missing bridges casings at Z13/Z14.
Fixed symbol/pattern filenames to be have matching cases in both theme and filing system - enables theme to work correctly with OruxMaps.

From v20210216  onwards the theme now supports road surfaces and sealed/unsealed roads:


The theme ZIP files and PDF legends are too large to attached to this post (limit of 2MB) so, I am now releasing everything via a shared google drive folder:

    OS Map Theme Releases

Link to latest release:

    OS Map v20231218.zip

Links to the latest OS Map Legends:

    OS Map Day Legend
    OS Map Night Legend

The theme is now provided in a ZIP file form that can be simply copied into Locus Map's _theme folder, e.g.:

\<root>\Android\data\menion.android.locus.pro\files\Locus\mapsVector\_themes (i.e. for LM Classic)
\<root>\Android\data\menion.android.locus\files\Locus\mapsVector\_themes (i.e. for LM 4)

No need to unzip the theme file anymore.

If you have already started using the earlier OS Map theme version then you probably should delete it before installing this updated version as it uses the same theme folder called "OS Map" but now uses four different named theme files - to cover day/night themes for v3/v4 maps.

Note that the legends are now included in the theme and can now be viewed directly from the theme menu in LM 3.46+ via a long press of the theme icon, see attached screenshot.

From v20231218 onwards, the theme now includes support for public rights of way (currently only LoMap v4 maps). There is now an appendix in the PDF legends that explains how these are interpreted, which is mostly UK specific: