Ordnance Survey Locate
Ordnance Survey released an iPhone app to help you pinpoint your exact location in the United Kingdom. Whether you are completely lost or on a long trek and just want some reassurance, this is a helpful app to show you where you are.
The app uses your GPS location and converts this into an OS grid reference, so that you can plot your exact position on a paper map. As it uses GPS it doesn't need an internet connection to work.
The app also contains a digital compass, and an "about" section full of tips and tricks to help you navigate.
As always at ProCamping, we love how technology can be used to assist your adventures, but do not rely on technology alone — too many times we've been out to find our phone battery has died mid-hike.
The OS Locate app was available for free from the app store, with an Android version following shortly after.
At the time, this is what OS offered
When OS Locate launched, it filled a genuinely useful gap. Full digital mapping apps existed, but they were relatively heavyweight, and not everyone wanted (or had signal for) a full interactive map on their phone. OS Locate was deliberately narrow — it did one job, converting your GPS position into a proper OS grid reference, and it did it offline. For anyone who already carried a paper Explorer or Landranger map and just wanted a reliable way to plot their own position on it, that was exactly the right amount of app.
That single-purpose design also meant it was small, quick to open, and unlikely to drain your battery the way a full mapping app with tile downloads and route tracking might. In an era when smartphone battery life on the hill was a much bigger worry than it is now, that mattered.
Where it fits into OS's digital offering today
Ordnance Survey has since consolidated its digital tools. Rather than maintaining separate apps for separate jobs — a grid-reference locator here, a bundled map-download code there — everything has moved into the single OS Maps app, covering navigation, route planning, offline map downloads and grid references in one place. It's a sensible move for OS, and a more familiar pattern generally: standalone utility apps from this era have mostly been absorbed into one flagship product rather than being maintained side by side.
If you're after the same grid-reference functionality OS Locate offered, it's now just a feature inside OS Maps rather than something you'd install separately. The core idea — using your phone's GPS to give you a proper OS grid reference offline — is exactly as useful today as it was in 2014.