A. to Z. London Street Atlas

Product Information

The map index contains over 300,000 entries with nearly 100,000 streets, over 200,000 postcodes, plus thousands of places of interest, hospitals and rail stations. All can be located on this high quality map within a few seconds using the search feature or by browsing the index. The search now reaches out to the internet for additional selections when an internet connection is available. The map is stored entirely on the mobile device and using the map requires no internet connection and hence is fast, ideal for iPad devices as well as iPhones and will work anywhere (even underground). Optionally, if you do have internet connectivity you will benefit from enhanced search results and a link to alternative views on an internet based map. Iris also remembers the former era fondly: "I came to London in 1967. Lived in Earls Court. Everyone had an A-Z permanently on their person. How else could Auzzies, Canadians and people like me, from the North, get about. No mobile phones or sat nav. Good days."

You can use your device’s inbuilt location services to show your current location on the map or follow your movements as you travel. Anita hits on a happy side-effect of paper maps: "I love a real map and the memories of all the places I have been." Paper does that somehow. We remember tracing our routes across the streets in a way that just doesn't happen on a screen. A wealth of addtional information and options regarding your journey is provided & many versions come with "Live information" that enables you to Geographers' A–Z Map Company was the official supplier of atlases and maps for the 2012 Olympic Games and 2012 Paralympic Games and produced detailed maps for the Olympic Park in Stratford, as well as all the other venues that were used during the games in London and throughout the United Kingdom. They produced three special maps detailing transport information on getting to the venues and also provided information on events related to the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. In addition, A–Z provided special sections relating to the Games in their 2012 editions of their main UK-wide and local maps. The A-Z London smartphone map apps don’t compete with these services, but they do offer some real advantages for use in London. One standout feature is app performance. Offline access means that there is no need to stand around and wait for a signal, and no roaming data charges to pay. You can even use your A-Z maps on the tube. The second big advantage is the mapping quality. A-Z mapping is renowned for being easy to use, up to date and accurate. It wouldn’t be fair to expect a free global map service to match this.

Mapping London’s favourite part of the book is the final section, looking at specific London locations – those which have radically changed since the first A to Z was produced. We particularly like the way the examples in this section are mapped – with an old A to Z map showing the former layout, immediately beside or above a brand new A to Z map to exactly the same scale. For example, the area around Battersea Power Station has comprehensively changed as these two maps show: An area extending to: London Zoo to the north, Tower Bridge to the east, Tate Britain to the south and Kensington Palace to the west A great map, a little bit more memory taken then the average app, but it gives me a most intuitive look at what makes up GReater London then other maps can provide.” The main brands of smartphone come with their own free mapping and location apps, most commonly powered by Google, Microsoft (Bing), Nokia (Here), and most recently Apple. The apps provide a global mapping database that covers the full range of scales from a world map down to the neighbourhood level. They provide location searches and multiple mapping layers, such as road mapping and aerial photography. Higher functionality can include turn-by-turn routing and public transport info. The accuracy of the mapping and the app functionality varies between the apps mentioned above, and within each app it commonly varies by country. Comparison of A-Z app and iOS A-Z London apps Magnificent! The map I’ve been using all my life, now in crystal clear form on my phone. Being able to rotate the map to any angle is a total winner. I’ve now retired my battered and beloved paper A-Z as a result.”

So what are people saying about the A-Z apps? We’re delighted with how well the apps have been received, with reviewers complementing the quality and value for money. Just take a look on the app store for your mobile device. in 1972, the company name was changed from Geographers' Map Company to Geographers' A–Z Map Company.

"Use mine every day!"

The map installs completely on the device so that it is available instantly anywhere and with no internet connection.. Unless indicated to the contrary, the index shows districts and various facilities or places of interest in colour to make them easy to see., with separate listings of hospitals/healthcare facilities and railway/underground/etc, stations. All versions all include a diagram of London Transport’s Underground/Overground/DLR network. Stanford’s presentation of the individual atlases includes an image showing the extent of the coverage. Suddenly, large chunks of the population had free access to a zoomable, scrollable map of the capital, on a device half the size of the smallest A-Z. Better yet, inbuilt GPS furnished us with a little blob, to indicate current location. You could even get a street view and satellite view. A-Z (now owned by Collins) have kept up by releasing their own apps ( iOS/ Android), but the paper version is increasingly rare. In one scheme, the letters JIHGFEDCBA represent the digits 1 to 9 and 0, so that HFD would be 357, indicating a publication date of March 1957. This seems to have been used on all the company's folding maps, and possibly also those in book form. John dislikes digital maps: "The apps are thoroughly inadequate. If they weren't, I would toss the paper one in the bin." He doesn't elaborate.