What is map Streaming?

Streaming is a term used in many modern applications where the data being viewed by the user is in fact kept on servers in the cloud and downloaded as required. Netflix, Amazon and the BBC stream movies and TV shows to your TV or computer. Spotify streams music to your phone.

With Anquet, in many ways like say Google Earth, we now support streaming of map tiles. When you consider that say the complete of GB in OS 1:25,000 Explorer HD is about 28GB of data, that would be a lot of storage required.

With Anquet streaming, as you view a new area, we simply download the map tiles required to fill the screen over your internet connection. As you move the map, we stream more mapping. We also cache the mapping locally, so areas that you frequent often will load from your machine.

If you have a good internet connection, streaming can be quite advantageous – no large long downloads and nothing to manage. The maps will just download as you require them, and it all works quickly and smoothly.

Of course, if you wish to use your laptop away from an internet connection, say in a caravan, then downloading the map data is the best way for you.