The Hema app for you iPhone and iPad has been very well received. Having HEMA Australia wide mapping service on your iPad for a fraction of the price of a dedicated navigator is a “no-brainer”. Check it out here : iTunes 4WD Map
But like there dedication to keeping their maps up to date, the team at HEMA have delivered a new, lightweight and fun app AND at an even lower price!
I had to make three phone calls to HEMA just to get my head around how a company could make something so cool and charge less for it. Lets give the app a run down.
The new HEMA app combines navigation and interactive content with connection to the groundbreaking Hema Explorer Cloud to empower touring, 4WD and camping adventures like never before. Hema Explorer’s intuitive mix of navigation, travel content and additional on and offline features signals the future of tablet and mobile navigation.
Hema Explorer features reliable Hema maps in tandem with Australia-wide street, terrain and satellite mapping, offering outdoor adventurers multi-perspective trip planning and in-depth navigation with real-time location tracking.
That is great for inroad use and makes this app very versatile, but really for the offroader here is some real fun facts
- 40,000 interactive points of interest (POI) specific to campers, four-wheel drivers, caravanners and everyday tourers, (covering everything from campsites and caravan parks to lookouts and 24-hour fuel.)
- Online access to detailed weather forecasts and rain radar (ideal for real- time and prospective trip planner)
- Advanced trip recording
- Access to the new Hema Explorer Cloud (making the app is a complete trip companion for all types of outdoor adventures.)
- Take Photos and upload them to the cloud either in a secure private folder or to share with your friends online
- Share you tracks publicly, with select friends or for the real hot fishing spot jut keep it for yourself.
Rob Boegheim, managing director of Hema Maps: “Hema Explorer empowers users by giving them content and features never before seen in a navigation app in Australia, We have created a tool that can navigate explorers, inform trip planning and make remembering and sharing those trips a real pleasure.”
Recording trips and customising them on a device is simple. Hema Explorer uses the internal GPS receiver of smartphones and tablets (The ones that take a sim card) to find and track a user’s current location, leaving a breadcrumb trail behind as they move.
Users can create custom waypoints with descriptions and notes, and can even take geo-tagged photos to pin pictures to specific locations. (This would have been ideal when during a recent road trip to Port Douglas the wife saw an old military jeep stashed in the bush just north of Townsville. They kids were asleep so we didn’t stop and when we tried to find the same place on the way back but couldn’t.)
For me one of the coolest features of Hema Explorer is the Explorer Cloud, an online hub where you can sync and share your trip profiles all in one place.
After syncing your waypoints, tracks and photos your trip profile can then be shared directly to Facebook and Twitter! So you can boast about having a good time while your mates are stuck at work.
You can also add it to the public trip gallery on the Hema Explorer Cloud. The ability to visually (if you choose) display every detail of a trip all in one place and share it anywhere, anytime takes Hema Explorer Cloud to the cutting edge.
Truly a powerful tool for sharing adventures and discovering those of other explorers.
“We have been exploring Australia for the last 30 years to make the best navigation solutions possible for on and off-road adventures. All that experience and knowledge has gone into Hema Explorer, resulting in an end-to-end travel partner that can help guide and record everything from casual weekend road trips to remote 4WD and camping adventures,” said Rob Boegheim.
HEMA Explorer App Pricing
AU$49.99 on the App Store and available now
AU$49.99 on Google Play Store,
I had this app on my Ipad air II it uses too much internet bandwidth so its expensive to use if you are mobile on he mobile phone network. I deleted it after it cost me over $100 in one month. Also you need to be in mobile phone range. I have reverted back to Hema Maps and WickiCamps.