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Vector maps (Map styles)

Overview​

Vector maps are designed to be the default map data source for OsmAnd, so you need to download them to your device. Vector maps support a huge range of map styles for many activities like cycling, hiking, riding by car or snowmobile, etc. Each map style can be tuned to highlight or hide specific objects and switch between day and night mode. Map vector data could be augmented by vector data and displayed with default Map style, for example, Contour line information. You can create your own OsmAnd map style to demonstrate the necessary information.

Use cases​

Configurable and custom map styles are one of the main advantages of OsmAnd. Each user can customize the map display to suit himself and his hobbies, configure it to display or hide certain map objects, the sizes and colors of these objects, and change the scale at which certain objects are displayed.

Default Map styles​

OsmAnd offers you many map styles and data layers that fit by default. Let's take a look at the main ones for day and night modes.

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Map rendering β†’ Map style

OsmAnd​

OsmAnd style is the default style of map rendering, general-purpose style. It offers details about the city such as streets, buildings, transport stops, etc. Simplified rendering to have cleaner maps in the populated cities. Key features: routes, surface quality, access restrictions, road shields, paths rendering according to SAC scale, whitewater sports features, topography features like contour lines.

OsmAnd map style

Touring view​

Touring style with high contrast and maximum detail. Includes all options of the OsmAnd default style, while displaying as much detail as possible, in particular roads, paths, and other ways to travel. Clear "touring atlas" distinction between road types. Suitable for day, night, and outdoor use.

Touring view map style

UniRS and LightRS​

Modification of the default style to increase contrast of pedestrian and bicycle roads. Uses legacy Mapnik colors.

UniRS and LightRS styles are author styles that render the basic map information but in different colour schemes.

UniRS style: Modification of the default style to increase contrast of pedestrian and bicycle roads. Uses legacy Mapnik colors.

UniRS map style

LightRS style: Simple driving style. Gentle night mode, contrasting orange styled roads, dims secondary map objects, topography features like contour lines.

LightRS map style

Nautical​

For nautical navigation. Features buoys, lighthouses, riverways, sea lanes and marks, harbors, seamark services, and depth contours. Read more about Nautical maps.

Nautical map style

Winter and ski​

For skiing sports. Describes the pistes, elevators, cross-country trails, and obscures secondary map objects. Winter and ski style is designed to help you with winter sports navigation: you can see the ski slopes and other details such as the difficulty of the slopes and elevator markers. Key features: the convenient display of slopes, elevators, and other skiing features. Less of the distracting secondary objects of the map. Read more about Ski maps.

Winter & Ski map style

Topo​

For hiking, trekking, and nature cycling. Readable outdoors. Contrasting roads and natural objects, different route types, advanced contour line options, extra details. Adjusting "Surface integrity" distinguishes road quality.

Topo map style

OSM-carto​

This style simulates default web OpenStreetMap style. Web source code is available at Github, OsmAnd code at Github.

OSM-carto map style

Desert​

For deserts and other sparsely populated areas. More detailed.

Desert map style

Offroad​

For off-road driving based on 'Topo' style and for use with green satellite images as an underlay. Reduced main road thickness, increased thickness of tracks, paths, bicycle and other routes.

Offroad map style

Snowmobile​

For snowmobile driving with dedicated roads and tracks.

Snowmobile map style

Map Legend​

Map legend is a visual explanation of the symbols used on the map. It typically includes a sample of each symbol (point, line, or area), and a short description of what the symbol means. For example, a short segment of a blue sinuous line may be labeled 'rivers'. Map legend of OsmAnd maps you can find here.

Map Fonts (Android)​

When writing local names in simplified/traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (Map language), incorrect hieroglyphs or even squares may appear. This happens when the device does not support the required fonts. Some issues with these incorrect fonts are described on our GitHub page: 3911, 8187, 9400, 10862. To solve this problem, the Android version of OsmAnd has the option to download the required fonts.

Download map fonts for simplified/traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean maps:
Menu β†’ Download maps β†’ Other β†’ Map fonts

Map fonts Android version Map fonts version

* Contour Lines​

Contour lines are represented as vector maps that are displayed as elevation lines. You need to enable the Topography plugin, download the data for your region and configure the display. Feature is not enabled by default and needs to be purchased first.

Contour lines are available for all map styles and modes and could be configured via the Contour lines menu.

Android Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ [object Object]

Contour lines map style

More information about Contour lines.

* Nautical depth​

Nautical depth contour lines allow you to define areas of equal depth. They are designed to visualize changes in topography below the water surface. Nautical depth is available for all map styles and modes and can be adjusted whether or not the Nautical map view plugin is enabled.

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Show β†’ Nautical depth

nautical_depth_width_and nautical_depth_color_and

More information about Nautical map view.

Show borders​

This feature gives you the ability to switch on or off the display of the vector layer of previously downloaded maps from the list of available ones. Its general purpose is to hide areas and borders of downloaded maps when viewing the main map, especially if you have a lot of them.

The borders of the downloaded maps start displaying at zoom level 7 and are no longer displayed at zoom level 3.

tip

Downloaded maps are displayed in Green in the Android and iOS versions of OsmAnd when the "Show borders of downloaded maps" feature is switched on. Archived maps in the Android system and those maps that can be updated in iOS are displayed in Orange.

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Show borders of downloaded maps

show-borders-andr

Configure Map Style​

Map mode​

The map is displayed according to the day or night mode selected from the list. And by default and for all new users, the map style corresponds to the light or dark theme selected in the system settings of your device.

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Map rendering β†’ Map mode

ParameterDescription
Sunrise/sunsetSwitches between day and night modes based on sunset and sunrise data at your location.
DayThe map view is always displayed in daytime mode. Light theme.
NightThe map view is always displayed in night mode. Dark theme.
Light sensorThe light sensor is used for day and night modes.

Details​

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Map rendering β†’ Details

Parameter and Description
More details. Showing polygons, trails, points, signs at low zooms on the map. It means you can see more details on your map at low zooms. Note: rendering on your device may be not fast.
Map parameter - More detailed
Show road surface. Showing type of surface of roads. Colour of the road helps you to understand what is the surface of the road is: asphalt, grass or sand etc. Look at Map legend.
Map parameter - Road surface
Show road quality. Indicates the quality of the road. Indicates the smoothness (slope) of the road. How smooth your roads are: good, bad, possibly terrible, etc. Look at the Map legend to determine the smoothness of your road.
Map parameter - Road smoothness
Show access restrictions and toll. Showing access of roads: private or permissive, or only for emergency, or maybe toll road. Look at Map legend to find your road access.
Map parameter - Road access
Show Low Emission Zones. Showing green board and labels "LEZ" for Low Emission Zones in cities. A Low-Emission Zone (LEZ) is a geographically defined area which seeks to restrict or deter access by certain polluting vehicles with the aim of improving the air quality. It will help you not receive penalties in the green city center.
Map parameter - Low emission zones
Color-code buildings by type. Coloring buildings and places have special colours for each category: regular buildings, industrial, commercial, etc. Look at Map legend to find your colour for the building.
Map parameter - Coloured buildings
Street lighting. Showing street lighting on the map. On the map, you can see illuminated and not illuminated streets, underground illuminated ways and temporarily illuminated streets. Look at Map legend.
Map parameter - Street lightning
OSM mapper assistant. Special setting for mappers. Showed refs, remarks, comments on the map from other mappers.
Map parameter - Map assistant
Nautical depth contours. Showing nautical depth contours on seas. You need to have a nautical plugin and download Nautical maps.
Map parameter - Depth contours
Nature reserve. Showing green board and labels "NR" for Nature reserve territory. A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest.
Map parameter - Nature reserve

Routes​

In OsmAnd it is possible to highlight GPX routes from Openstreetmap related to different outdoor activities (hiking, cycling, running, etc.). You can select one or multiple routes layers at once. However, it is important to note that if different routes meet at the same point, only the color of the uppermost layer will be visible (see map legend).
When you click on the shield icon with a route number or flag, a context menu with available options is displayed. In some cases, you may find several routes intersecting at a certain place. When you select one of the routes, the Track context menu appears. In this menu there is an option to save the route in the device memory in GPX format, which will allow you to use it later for GPX navigation.

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Routes

Configure Map Routes section

Parameter and Description
Cycle routes
Route. Color routes according to their individual local color (if present on OpenStreetMap) and hiking shield symbol. Look at Map legend.
Map routes - cycle routes
Node networks. Color routes according to their node network type (international, regional, local).
Map routes - cycle-node-networks
Mountain bike routes
MTB scale. Show trails according to MTB scale. Look at Map legend.
Map routes - mtb trails
IMBA. Show MTB trails accorgind International Mountain Bicycling Association MTB IMBA. Look at Map legend.
Map routes - mtb trails
Hiking routes
OSMC. Color routes according to their individual local color (if present on OpenStreetMap) and hiking shield symbol..
Map routes - hiking osmc
Network affiliation. Color by network affiliation.
Map routes - hiking network
Node networks. Color routes according to their node network type (international, regional, local).
Map routes - hiking node networks
Difficulty classification. Showing classified hiking trails (SAC scale or CAI scale) in mountainous areas with regard to the difficulties to be expected by colour.
Map routes - alpine hiking
Ski slopes. Showing colored routes of ski slopes. This setting is provided by map style "Winter and ski".
Map routes - ski slopes
Horse routes. Showing colored routes and symbols for riding horses.
Map routes - horse routes
Whitewater sports. Showing icons of access, dangerous areas, tourism of whitewater sports.
Map routes - whitewater sport
Running routes. Used for named, numbered, or otherwise designated running routes used primarily for athletics. Data for these routes are taken from OpenStreetMap project: The tag route=running
Fitness routes
Fitness trails. A fitness trail is a trail or path equipped with obstacles or stations along its length to exercise the human body for the purpose of improving health. Data for these routes are taken from OpenStreetMap project: The tag route=fitness_trail
Fitness routes
Travel routes Shows previously uploaded specially configured user routes taken from OpenStreetMap categories. Android only.
Travel routes Travel routes

Transport​

When navigating in cities, you need to see public transport in more contrast, as well as stops. You can tap a public transport stop and select one of the public transport routes or stops from the list. Train routes are also displayed in this setting.

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Show β†’ Transport

Parameter and Description
Transport stops. Showing public transport stops.
Map transport stops
Bus, trolleybus, shuttle routes. Showing bus, trolleybus, shuttle routes.
Map transport bus
Tram and train routes. Showing tram and train routes.
Map transport tram
Subway routes. Showing underground routes.
Map transport subway

Hide​

Sometimes we need to hide objects on the map for better vision. For example to hide water while using the Underlay layer of Satellite online maps.

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Map rendering β†’ Hide

ParameterDescription
BoundariesHide regional boundaries inside of countries, but state boundaries are visible.
PolygonsHide all polygons of natural objects, special function for Underlay/Overlay layer.
BuildingsHide all polygons of buildings.
Hide waterHide all polygons of water (seas, lakes, reservoirs etc.)
House numbersHide house numbers on the map.
Proposed objectsHide proposed objects, those objects which are planned for a building, but only have a project (projected roads, crossroads, buildings etc.)
POI iconsHide POI icons from the map. But labels of these POI will be on the map.
POI labelsHide POI labels from the map. But icons of these POI will be on the map.
Underground objectsHide all underground objects, like tunnels, passes, floors, etc. Special for clearing maps on cities from non useful objects.
Overground objectsHide all overground objects. Special for seeing only underground objects like tunnels, passes, etc.

Road style​

Special settings for roads, where you can change the colors to match the road atlas or add high-contrast roads or bold outlines for roads.

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Map rendering β†’ Road style

Parameter and Description
Default. Default style for highways. Look at Map legend.
Map road style default
German road atlas. Style of German road atlas.
Map road style german
American road atlas. Style of American road atlas.
Map road style american
High contrast roads. The high contrast of roads.
Map road style high contrast
Bold outline. Bold outline for roads.
Map road style bold outline

Text size​

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Map rendering β†’ Text size

Example
100%
Map text size 100%
200%
Map text size 200%

Map magnifier​

This setting helps to change the magnifier of the map. It is applicable for raster & vector maps. For raster maps it applies a magnifying effect, so text labels look bigger or smaller. For vector maps it provides a more or less detailed map, if you put it to a low value it will produce a noisy / slow map.

You can choose this setting by long-click to "+" or "-" button on the screen or:
Android Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Map rendering β†’ Map magnifier

Example
75%
Map magnifier 75%
200%
Map magnifier 200%

Map Language​

The Map language option is used to configure the spelling of names on the OsmAnd map for zoom levels 7-20, inclusive. For zoom levels 2-6, the names are displayed in the language set for OsmAnd in the system settings menu (see Display language article).

If the names on the map are not translated into the desired language by the OSM community, you can use transliterated names: Use latin name if missing (Android) or Transliterate names (iOS) switcher.

Menu β†’ Configure map β†’ Map rendering β†’ Map language

Example
Local names
Map language local names
Ukranian names
Map language ukranian
Show local names
Map language local
Transliterate names
Map language transliterate

Custom Map style (own map style)​

If you have your own or 3rd party custom map style created according to Specification, you can install it on a device in the following ways.

  • Copy *.render.xml file on devices & Open with OsmAnd.
  • Rendering styles could be exported & imported via Standard import / export dialogs. So if you create an example '*.osf' package which will work as a plugin that could be shared with other people.

After that, you could select your own map style in the menu.