Avenza Maps: Offline Mapping App Reviews

I use this app to access US forrest service trails. There is never cell service so internet based map apps fail. This app works great since the map is stored locally. The reviewers talking about the need for wifi to use this app are incompetent or dont understand that the point is to load an app BEFORE you are in the field. Since the FS maps are free, I feel guilty about receiving so much value for free.

I use this almost every weekend with the NY NJ Trail Conference maps for backpacking and hiking. I also carry the paper maps, but you cant beat this. Even in areas with no phone signal, the map is available as it it downloaded onto your device. I also use it on my iPad to plan out routes off of established trails by creating waypoints that I export to my handheld GPS or by importing them to the Avenza app running on my iPhone.

I have used this app countless times for backcountry hiking excursions and international travel. Many of the free international maps have better road and navigational detail than your paper maps. Highly recommended!!!

This is a great app. Carry all of your maps in the palm of your hand. The resolution of the maps is spot on.

I use this app for hiking and it is amazing. You download the maps (some are free, others you have to pay a small fee which is worth it if youre going to go to the same state park or recreation area more than once). It uses your phones gps location to track you and show you where you are on the map at any given moment. Perfect for those places that are remote and you have no signal. With this app, I can feel free to explore new trails without being afraid of getting lost. Highly recommended!

I am a geology student and I do lots a mapping in the field. This is one of the most useful tools I have. By far the best app of its kind.

This app is so good Im actually writing a review! I use it to download Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Maps for motorcycle riding and it does exactly what I need it to do. I still carry paper maps just in case, but its a lot easier to just whip my phone out and look at it.

Not overly wowed by the resolution on the Park City trails map. For $2.99, not a good value. More of a .50 cent break even (more like). May not buy more if this is the standard

This has got to be the best backcountry map app on the market. Free with lots of useful free maps. Maps for purchase are reasonably priced. Support is excellent. The map I wanted wasnt available. One email to support and three days later it is available. Lots of useful features. Couldnt be more impressed!! Great job Avenza.

The app is GREAT couple features i would like to see added tho, 1. Ability to draw a route/track on the map 2. Ability to GPS waypoint that route,the convert it to a .GPX file that i could mail to myself and use in other apllications or load into a handheld GPS like a Garmin or Magellan. 3. Ability to print a map view with waypoint/track data. Am sure i could screenshot it then do it but from the app would be better,if it isnt available already? With the ability to draw a route,would make it nice to plan a hike or whatever and load it to a handheld GPS for those that rely more on them in the back country. other than that is am Great app to get a overview of the area your going to.

This app is very useful for tourism, research, hiking, setting waypoints, etc. I am very impressed with its ease of use and abundant availability of downloadable maps.

It locks up as soon as you log in

App and maps have always worked well in the field-gps location picks up quickly on iphone5s; never had an issue w/ lock up or crashing; looking forward to using the new version w/ the "collection" feature allowing easier scrolling through map sets!

Hate giving this a single star bc Ive loved using it for years, but after the recent upgrade, performance declined and the functionality to click on left/right/up/down arrows on one map to see list of your map options in that direction (incl most importantly adjacent one for navigating seamlessly) disappeared. Now the last update to fix bugs and remove 7 support fixed performance, but the adjacent map functionality is still no there. Huge loss.

I waited several weeks after the new update to write a review to get the full experience. I use this app almost every day and have to say Im disappointed. 2 main set back: poor rotating maps feature and degraded exporting feature. For starters, it is almost impossible to zoom in on a map without rotating it. Very annoying. There needs to be a rotation lock. Also, add a compass bearing when rotating so you know what bearing is straight up. And bring back the compass bearing when double tapped on the location arrow, so when actively rotating the map, you know what bearing you are facing. Secondly, exporting points, tracks, and lines has been degraded. They now all come out as points when exporting KML, and no longer open in Google Earth- I get an error. I hope these issues get fixed, this app just went from 5 stars to 2 with this last update.

I use this app exclusively with the New York/New Jersey Trail Conference hiking maps. The maps are gorgeously reproduced so that looking at the app gives me a more zoomable, more useful, higher-resolution, but otherwise identical version of the paper map. Add to this the fact that I can see where on this map I am and you’ll see why my paper maps stay in my backpack as emergency backups these days. This part is awesome. The huge problem with the app is that route tracking plain does not work. If all you want is to know where you are, then fine (that works well). If, on the other hand, you want to track your hike to get accurate distance, speed, climb/descent data, then you’re bound to be disappointed on virtually each and every hike. The issue is that the software will not automatically eliminate outliers. This means that when you get that spurious GPS reading (and you WILL get it) that says you are 100 miles away, then the app will take it as an accurate reading and render all your captured data worthless. After you get that bleep, your distance will be hundreds of miles (instead of 5 or 6), and your average speed will be thousands of mph (instead of 2 or 3). I have worked with dozens of GPS apps and products and have yet to see another that suffers from such a silly defect. I hope they fix this soon… it wouldn’t take much effort for a college intern to do so for them.

Nice additions in the newest version! The folks at Avenza have created a very powerful tool for your smart device here. I love the ability to export my points or tracks for use with GIS software. I like the new seamless maps folder option, although I think it could be improved. Bring back the arrows when a folder is not set up as seamless though. I wish I could add other cloud services such as one drive instead of Dropbox. One great app.

Professional wildfire fighters rely on this software for showing our location on custom maps. It is simple to use and reliable.

The best hiking maps! Great gps tracking as you go.

This is a great APP. I downloaded a dozen PDF maps from the forest service including several mountain bike maps and they all worked excellently in the app.