# Touch GIS — Field data collection, mapping

> Intuitive professional field data collection and mapping tool for GIS professionals. (iPhone/iPad app by TouchGIS.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/touch-gis/id1469504766 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [TouchGIS](https://appshunter.io/developer/1737526594)
- Category: Productivity, Navigation
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.00/5 from 32 App Store ratings · 28 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.6 · 79 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2019-11-04
- Data updated: 2026-08-13
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/touch-gis/id1469504766/reviews.md

## What is Touch GIS?

Touch GIS is the most intuitive professional field data collection and mapping tool. It's a super-powered field notebook enabling you to collect any kind of data, in any environment, online or offline, and transfer it easily to your preferred desktop GIS. We believe your data collection tools should amplify your capabilities, not limit them, which is why we focus on keeping your forms and attributes totally customizable in the field.

Join thousands of professionals utilizing Touch GIS as their mobile GIS app to enhance their field work in geologic mapping, ecological mapping, civil engineering, mineral exploration and mining, natural resource management, landscape architecture, and more.

FEATURES
- Easily capture new Points, Lines, Polygons, and Circles in the field.
- Quickly and accurately draw new lines and polygons with free draw mode and vertex snapping.
- Adjust feature class attribute forms in the field at any time.
- Get multiple perspectives by switching between basemaps in the field.
- Download basemaps for offline use.
- Export to many industry standard formats.
- Snap, mark up, and attach photos to locations.
- Measure planar and linear feature orientation using our clinometer tool with strike/dip, dip/dip direction, or trend/plunge formats.
- Add custom base maps with WMS/WMTS.
- Add raster images like Geospatial PDFS or GeoTiffs and other overlays to your map to see your location in context.
- Add team members so your whole team has access.

Supported file types:
- Shapefiles
- KML and KMZ
- Geospatial PDF / GeoPDF
- GeoPackage (GPKG)
- GeoJSON
- GPX
- CSV
- World File
- Geotiff
- JPG
- PNG

Customizable attribute types:
- Description
- Date & Time
- Photos
- List Of Values
- Checkbox
- Address
- Number
- Website
- Phone Number
- Attitude / Orientation for Geologic features

Pre-loaded feature classes supporting many different use-cases:
- Forestry
- Geology
- Real Estate
- Stream Surveys
- Water Infrastructure
- Wetlands management
- Create your own fully customizable data attribute forms, and update them in the field as needed.

Terms of Service: https://www.touchgis.app/terms-of-service
Privacy Policy: https://www.touchgis.app/privacy

## Key features

- Create Points, Lines, Polygons, Circles
- Customizable attribute forms
- Offline map tile saving
- Export to industry standard formats
- Attach photos to locations
- Clinometer tool for orientation
- Add custom base maps and overlays

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro License (Annual) | $299.99 | per year |
| Pro Subscription (Monthly) | $29.99 | per month |


## Recent user reviews (10 of 28)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/touch-gis/id1469504766/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Great

*2026-07-07*

A really solid, simple, clean GIS app that lets me do everything I need it to, and does it all really well

### 5/5 — An Exceptional GIS app

*2026-04-22*

Our company began using Touch GIS last year after using Garafa’s GIS Pro app for over a decade.  We’ve used it for data collection for thousands of miles of corridors, spanning steep ridges, plains and public and private lands.

GIS Pro was very efficient, but with iPadOS updates, it was struggling to keep all the UI buttons, windows and icons from running off the screen or disappearing.  Behind the scenes, I was putting in a lot of effort to keep the data collected clean and uncorrupted from encoding mismatches.

When using GIS Pro, I’d have to use the app on an iPad mini v1 running iPadOS 8 to create an exportable offline container file.  Exporting the ‘cregion’ file would make every other GIS Pro app crash if it were running a newer iPadOS.  I’d have to AirDrop these files to newer iPads for cloud distribution.

Switching to Touch GIS was very easy.  The interface and workflow are similar to GIS Pro.  Interactions are smooth, and creating feature class templates is far more flexible.  Making detailed drop-down lists used to take hours.  Now you can copy and paste lists from field to field and make edits quickly.

Offline maps are easy to define or import, with no 100MB limit per region. Attribute table text is reliably exported using UTF-8 encoding, eliminating the mojibake issues we faced previously.

Our field workers have used multiple apps from Esri and others, but far and above, prefer to use Touch GIS when creating or viewing GIS data.  Because fields have greater flexibility and we haven’t had to rely on other apps like Excel, we’ve been able to significantly increase our data collection and processing efficiency.

The developer has been exceptionally responsive. Several improvements we requested—like enhanced offline mapping and UTF-8 compliant exports—were implemented quickly. It’s clear Touch GIS is actively developed and will continue to evolve.

While the app is free to install, exporting data to Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, GPX, CSV, and other standard formats requires a subscription.  If you need a GIS app for work or research, probably the best way to decide to use Touch GIS would be to subscribe for a month and test out its abilities.

### 5/5 — Sewer Cleaning Company

*2025-12-02*

What a fantastic addition to our tech tool belt. Mike is great and quick to respond with any questions or Suggestion you may have!!!

### 4/5 — Mj

*2025-05-12*

Thanks to the good team and the new update that solved the location registration problem.

### 5/5 — Works great!

*2025-03-28*

I am a water meter and Backflow tester. I have some customers in agriculture that have multiple wells in multiple areas. This app makes it easy to create a folder for each customer and can drop pins at each location with a description and pictures for each site. I have to test annually and sometimes it’s hard to remember each location. This app allows me to get a phone call from the customer and a site name and I have all the info and pictures to know exactly where the well is. The customer does not need to guide me after the first time. If I still don’t recognize the pictures, you can get directions from Apple Maps straight from the app. Highly recommend this app!! It can do so much more but for my small business I could not be happier. Mike the general manager answered all my questions when I sent a contact us request. Go download it now!!! 👍🏽

### 5/5 — The ultimate tool for geologic mapping and field data collection

*2025-03-10*

I’ve been using Touch GIS for over 6 years as a professional geologic mapper and field geology instructor and I never go to the field without it. After trying out most other well-known apps (like Avenza, Field Move, Collector, StraboSpot), I have always stuck with Touch. The app has an intuitive design and is super easy to set up, with preset and customizable feature classes and the ability to import vector and raster data. You can store a variety of imagery and topographic base maps at different scales for offline use from right within the app, which is a lifesaver when you’re out in the field without service.

In the field, you can see your position on any number of stored base maps and quickly drop and label points, record notes, add photos or sketches, draw lines, or create a track using the GPS. What makes Touch stand out above the rest are its on-the-fly customizability and the versatile line-drawing tools. These and other features - like photo annotations and the built-in Attitude Tool for recording strike/dip data - make fieldwork much more efficient so I can keep moving and stay on task.

For team mapping, I’ve found Touch GIS very useful, even when we’re out of cell service. At the start of the day, we use Airdrop to share files and custom feature classes with set fields and pick lists, so everyone is on the same page and collecting data in the same way. Once back in the office, we can export our data in a variety of formats including CSV, SHP, and KMZ for use in desktop GIS software like ArcGIS, QGIS, and Google Earth.

The app keeps getting better with regular updates and new or enhanced features. If you need a mobile GIS app that is easy to use, customizable, and works seamlessly with desktop GIS, then Touch GIS is definitely the way to go. It has been an absolute game-changer for my fieldwork, and I highly recommend it.

### 5/5 — Great mapping app

*2025-02-11*

I have been using this app in the field for about 4 years to make geologic maps. The app is very powerful, and captures many of my field GIS needs. There was a hiatus for a couple years in updates and support but the new owner / developer is making regular updates and fixes now. The app is much more stable as a result. He has also been receptive to suggestions for future updates to add functionality for geologic mapping work flows and raster data import options. I’ve used many of the available mapping apps and Touch has the most true GIS functionality.

**Developer response:** Thank you for your feedback!

### 5/5 — Best mobile GIS

*2024-11-12*

This app is the best mobile GIS app on the market.

### 3/5 — Has potential but crashes constantly

*2024-09-28*

The title says it

**Developer response:** Thanks for the review. Since you posted this review we've made a number of fixes and driven the crash rate down by more than 66%. If you're willing to try the app again, I would love to get your feedback!

### 2/5 — Not for professionals

*2024-07-26*

I wrote a very favorable review several years ago, but I simply can’t recommend this app anymore. The issues persist, and the developers clearly do not have the resources to debug it sufficiently that it can be counted on for client work. It is unstable and will often lose the ability to export data in CSV or SHP (or frankly any other usable format). 

It is the only program where changes can be made on the fly to add feature classes while mapping and allow easy drawing similar to pen and paper in the field. The structure collector is also excellent. 

Don’t get suckered in by that - it’ll screw you eventually.

**Developer response:** Sorry to hear that you're still having issues. We recently brought on staff and are working our way through fixing bugs as quickly as we can, but this process takes a considerable amount of time to ensure that we don't break other things in the process.

## Frequently asked questions about Touch GIS

### What is Touch GIS?

Touch GIS is a professional mobile application designed for intuitive field data collection and mapping. It enables users to gather various types of data in any environment, both online and offline, and seamlessly transfer it to desktop GIS software. The app focuses on providing customizable forms and attributes to enhance fieldwork capabilities.

### What are the key features of Touch GIS?

Key features include the ability to easily create points, lines, polygons, and circles in the field, with options for freehand drawing and vertex snapping. Users can customize feature class collection and attribute forms, switch between base maps, save map tiles for offline use, and export data to standard formats like Shapefile, KML, and GeoJSON. It also supports attaching photos, using a clinometer tool, and adding custom base maps and overlays.

### How is Touch GIS monetized?

The application is available for free with the option for in-app purchases. This model allows users to download and explore the core functionalities without initial cost, with premium features or expanded capabilities available through purchase within the app.

### What file types does Touch GIS support for export?

Touch GIS supports a wide range of industry-standard file formats for data export, including Shapefile, KML and KMZ, GeoJSON, GPX, CSV, World File, GeoTIFF, JPG, PNG, Geospatial PDF, and GeoPackage (GPKG). This broad compatibility ensures easy integration with various GIS software and workflows.

### Who would benefit from using Touch GIS?

Professionals in fields such as geologic mapping, ecological mapping, civil engineering, mineral exploration and mining, natural resource management, and landscape architecture can significantly benefit from Touch GIS. It is designed for anyone who needs to collect and map data efficiently in the field, especially those working with GIS.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.23.0 — 2026-06-21

Increased the decimal precision of square kilometers and square miles in area calculation, as well as other minor bug fixes and optimizations.

### 1.22.0 — 2026-05-17

This version expands support for GeoPDFs to handle more coordinate systems and metadata formats.

### 1.21.1 — 2026-05-01

1.21.1 fixes a couple of bug that caused Geospatial PDF imports to sometimes have transparent backgrounds when they should not.

### 1.21.0 — 2026-04-27

1.21.0 adds the ability to share projects and features in the GeoPackage format, as well as adding import support for the Related Tables extension for Photos and simple attributes.

### 1.20.0 — 2026-04-03

Version 1.20.0 adds options for importing Geospatial PDFs in low, medium, or high resolution formats so you can choose the best option for the task at hand and the device you're using. It also expands the number of supported spatial reference systems when importing GeoTIFFs beyond those that have EPSG designations.

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-13.*