When my wife and I left North American shores in 2017 to explore Africa, the mobile app iOverlander had only been in circulation for about two and a half years. The crowd-sourced travel software launched by Jessica Mans and Sam Christiansen was still only in its infancy, but as we toured the continent over the next 24 months, we watched iOverlander’s user community, its well of useful data, and its accuracy grow by leaps and bounds. We often contributed to the app in the hopes that our experiences could help travelers in remote corners of Africa the same way others’ helped us. iOverlander has long been a go-to resource for adventurers of all stripes, and now it’s miles better with the launch of iOverlander 2.0.
iOverlander 2.0’s new aesthetics are crisp and clear.
In those early days, iOverlander definitely had its constraints—the map data was limited, the UI/UX was rough around the edges, the aesthetics were clunky, and the small team of moderators often struggled to keep up with the ever-expanding bulk of user-generated content. Search was non-existent, and it was certainly no navigation tool. Despite these drawbacks, iOverlander quickly became the travel app for explorers worldwide. It was fulfilling many of the best promises of the internet—leveraging technology to connect like-minded users with useful information and supporting a global community of overlanders. iOverlander is still not primarily a navigation tool, but version 2.0 (on iOS and Android) addresses nearly all of the previous iteration’s shortcomings.
More fine-grained amenity filters make finding your next perfect spot easier.
First and foremost, the look and feel of the new iOverlander is incredibly modern, and the new map data is richly detailed with multiple new map styles and layers. Some very basic functions take a bow in 2.0, such as dark mode, UI in more languages (currently Spanish and Portuguese, with more coming), a “Favorites” function for saving and organizing your best spots, and even more advanced filtering tools. Also debuting is “Quick Check-in”, for adding verifications and site data in a hurry without a bunch of typing. Limited-scope state and region downloads make for less data usage when you’re counting your megabytes on that pre-paid SIM card in Suriname.
Detailed offline maps for paid subscribers have deep layers of cartographic data.
Even more importantly, iOverlander 2.0 introduces a paid subscription model. In addition to axing the ads, the upgrade includes an advanced global search, offline maps, and the ability to download more iOverlander places. The subscriptions come in two flavors, Pro and Unlimited. The Unlimited level doesn’t include more functionality, but it does allow for more places and offline maps to be downloaded over the Pro subscription. After a one-week trial, Pro is $59.99 per year, and Unlimited is $99.99 annually. You can also elect to pay monthly, $5.99 per month for the former and $9.99 per month for the latter. This is a big step for an app and an organization that has relied on user donations and ad revenue to keep the lights on for most of its existence. Sounds like a bargain to me.
Images: iOverlander
Listen More: Overland Journal Podcast :: Jessica Mans on the Past, Present, and Future of iOverlander
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