The Onxmaps app, X-hunt, is crap.

[JasperFrank]

A new neighbor was using this as a reference as to boundaries. He got a bit in to my property thinking it was real. I can't blame him, he thought he was with in his rights. But the App was way off. Which I could show him after finding original pins and other survey markers. Then, I looked at what the site was saying, and everything was off... by a lot. So don't use this App, before contacting a land owner. Its not accurate. And I would not trust it in any way.

 

[jyoutz]

A new neighbor was using this as a reference as to boundaries. He got a bit in to my property thinking it was real. I can't blame him, he thought he was with in his rights. But the App was way off. Which I could show him after finding original pins and other survey markers. Then, I looked at what the site was saying, and everything was off... by a lot. So don't use this App, before contacting a land owner. Its not accurate. And I would not trust it in any way.

It actually works well in the rural west where ownership boundaries tend to be along section lines according to general lands surveys and parcels are large. Not so good with smaller parcels and metes and bounds land surveys.

 

[JasperFrank]

We found the the end point on a major section line that was my boundary. And the App was 100 feet off that pin into my property as a GPS reading. Just say'en. Don't trust these Apps using smart phones thinking that the app has any legal value.

 

[jyoutz]

We found the the end point on a major section line that was my boundary. And the App was 100 feet off that pin into my property as a GPS reading. Just say'en. Don't trust these Apps using smart phones.

Yeah 100’ accuracy isn’t going to be always achievable with the GPS system in a smart phone. It’s good enough for the hunting areas I frequent where the lands are a mix of various federal, state and private open range ranch lands.

 

[oosik]

Yes - jyoutz, you are correct. My southern property line is a full section line. My northern property line is a quarter section line. The east and west lines had to be surveyed and marked.

 

[Birdhunter1]

I use that app alot, my uncle also uses it alot. Each of us got within 10' of a known survey pin on the farm, but we have great cell phone service, each of us were connected to actual wi-fi and clear and open skies.
the app is great, it is designed to show property boundaries but is not designed as a survey tool. As a hunter or other outdoor enthusiast it gets you close and a responsible and respectful outdoorsman you should give yourself a buffer on property boundaries anyway.

I use it riding horses in the Shawnee National Forest alot, it works everywhere I have been. When I have hunted in Wyoming the app worked as designed, even a game warden out there told me you breadcrumbs will hold up in court saying you did your best not to trespass and didn't, but like another guy said alot of those lines are old and on section lines. Small properties not on section lines get harder to pinpoint.

Again it is a guide not a surveryors tool and it is a great app.

 

[2manyrocks]

There are enough boundary line disputes as it is without adding "my cell phone said the line is here" to the already long list.

 

[ponytug]

I use that app alot, my uncle also uses it alot. Each of us got within 10' of a known survey pin on the farm, but we have great cell phone service, each of us were connected to actual wi-fi and clear and open skies.
the app is great, it is designed to show property boundaries but is not designed as a survey tool. As a hunter or other outdoor enthusiast it gets you close and a responsible non desiring outdoorsman you should give yourself a buffer on property boundaries anyway.

I use it riding horses in the Shawnee National Forest alot, it works everywhere I have been. When I have hunted in Wyoming the app worked as designed, even a game warden out there told me you breadcrumbs will hold up in court saying you did your best not to trespass and didn't, but like another guy said alot of those lines are old and on section lines. Small properties not on section lines get harder to pinpoint.

Again it is a guide not a surveryors tool and it is a great app.

WiFi location accuracy is very very different from GPS location accuracy for a number of technical reasons, and if you have both, the boundary locations are going to be a lot better. Many app users aren't so lucky.

All the best,

Peter

 

[34Willys]

The app is great. Your neighbor is an idiot.

 

[JasperFrank]

There are enough boundary line disputes as it is without adding "my cell phone said the line is here" to the already long list.

That's what I thought also at first. New tech.... new issues. And people are so trusting of these apps that you have to walk them to the pin, have them run the app over the pin, and show them the app is giving an incorrect overlay.

 

[2manyrocks]

And if you can't find the pins, then they jump to conclusions based on some phone app. More than once, I've seen markers disappear.

 

[JasperFrank]

The app is great. Your neighbor is an idiot.

I don't think he is an idiot. We shared a few beers the other night, and I realized that I'm of an older generation, he is of a newer one where, apps and cell phone GPS are part of their lives, and trusted to be accurate. In my case, his app was way off, and he should have contacted me before doing any sort of work. He is young, a really nice person, with a starting family, and new to the area, and I'm not a litigious sort of person. So I'm giving him a pass on this one indiscretion.

 

[paulsharvey]

I use Basemap personally and at work; BUT, it certainly can be off; often when dealing with ROW, and then a utility easement and adjacent parcel; it can/will often show that utility easement as part of the road ROW; But it can really help with getting close enough. If you really need to know exactly where a property line is; there is no substitute for a surveyor who is putting his professional license on the line. Even finding old property corners, are you sure that is the right 5/8" rebar, or the right 3/4" iron pipe? What if the county bought 5 ft of ROW, and didn't remove the old corners, and just placed new monumentation.

You will often see 'layer shift' on property appraiser aerial imagines as well; and I Think this is what Onyx or Basemap or whatever is using to produce their maps/property lines. What that layer shift is, the property lines and the aerial images don't exactly match, maybe due to scaling, curvature, heck, the Coriolis effect *I know that's not a factor, I'm joking*

 

[EddieWalker]

I was told by a surveyor that those types of apps rely on the maps provided by the County Tax Assessor. It's easy data for them to obtain that gives a general idea of where things are, and who owns what, but they clearly say on their websites that the information is not accurate.

That surveyor said that they use it all the time to get close to where they need to be, but not for anything else.

On my land, and on my neighbors land, it's all broken up into various sized parcels that we are taxed on. Some of them are just an acre or two, while others are 40 acres or more. On the County map, the one acre parcels are the same size as the 40 acre parcels.

 

[nyone]

My county has parcel mapping via a website with tons of information. I find even that is not accurate.

The town owns a bit of land next to mine and basicly sent me a "clean up or else letter" for garbage my neighbor had on the town property. They thought I owned the property..but they owned it.

 

[JeepHead]

I have an app called Elevate Parcel and it is DEAD ON to my property lines the surveyor marked.

 

[bcp]

I have an app called Elevate Parcel and it is DEAD ON to my property lines the surveyor marked.

Only good for 20 counties in Indiana.

Bruce

 

[JeepHead]

Only good for 20 counties in Indiana.

View attachment 872687

Bruce

Well, that's news to me! Makes me wonder if surveyors are the ones who upload that data and why it's so accurate.

 

[John_Mc]

Most states supply the data from their tax maps, which are DEFINITELY not survey grade. The apps are fine. There is a saying in the computer world: Garbage In, Garbage Out. That's the case here: the apps are only as good as the data provided to them by the states.

 

[riptides]

My own surveys of my properties don't align. And some apps get confused with Gps and 3d layers.