Comparison

Altimeter Elevation Watch vs Plotter

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Altimeter Elevation Watch

Track your elevation and altitude gain in real-time with this app. Designed for outdoor enthusiasts, it provides a precise altimeter directly on your Apple Watch face or iPhone home screen widget, allowing you to focus on your activity.

Highlights
  • Real-time altitude and elevation gain
  • Apple Watch complication
  • iPhone home screen widget
  • Live Activity on iPhone
  • Graphical daily profile
  • Monthly and yearly analysis
Features
Read full description

Track your current altitude and elevation gain at a glance, whether you’re hiking, climbing, mountain biking, or driving mountain roads. Altimeter – Elevation Widget & Watch Complication gives you a precise altimeter for your Apple Watch and iPhone. Keep your current altitude visible on your watch face, home screen, and iPhone Live Activity. The native CarPlay dashboard is a separate view designed for the drive, with current altitude, climb or descent per minute, grade, direction, peak, and gain. Try Siri with: “Siri, start Live Activity in Altimeter.” You can also ask: “Siri, what is my current altitude in Altimeter?” This app is designed for outdoor lovers and works as: • A complication for Apple Watch Series 4 or newer (watchOS 10.6 or later) • A home screen widget for your iPhone Features: • Real-time altitude and elevation gain • Complication for Apple Watch faces • Native CarPlay dashboard: current altitude, climb/descent per minute, grade, direction, peak, and gain • Live Activity on iPhone: current altitude, peak, and gain on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island • Home screen widget for quick altitude checks • Siri, Shortcuts & Spotlight: start Live Activity, ask for current altitude, save altitude readings, and get ready for the new Siri experience this fall • Graphical daily profile and gain timeline • Heatmap + flowline for monthly and yearly analysis • Background significant-location updates for efficient day profiles • HealthKit Flights Climbed support for more robust gain calculation • Switch between meters and feet Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Plotter

Read full description

Plan your flight by hand with Plotter on iPhone and iPad. Place a transparent navigation ruler on the map, align the rotating grid and keep your measurements, drawings and study notes in one workspace. A MANUAL PLOTTER ON YOUR MAP • Move, rotate and resize the ruler. Turn its gridded disk independently of the body. • Align the grid with map meridians, read reciprocal directions and choose nautical or statute miles. • Zoom in for shorter distances: distance marks recalibrate to the map scale. • Record your own readings, then compare them with calculated references when you choose. DRAW AND KEEP YOUR WORK Use Apple's drawing tools for pens, markers, erasers, colors and line widths. Apple Pencil works on supported iPads. Drawings stay attached to geographic positions when you pan or zoom. Add your own VOR, VOR/DME, NDB, airfield and reporting-point symbols, names and notes. Routes, drawings, symbols and student notes remain saved on your device when you reopen the app. Share a complete study document or export route JSON/GPX and navigation-log CSV. MAPS THAT TRAVEL WITH YOU Choose a whole-world package of approximately 4.05 GB or 8.53 GB, or download the visible area at your preferred detail level. Check size, follow progress, pause and resume. Offline coverage ends at the downloaded area and detail level; zooming further adds no new data. Initial downloads need internet and sufficient storage. PLAN AND LEARN Use route, wind-correction, heading, time, fuel and E6B calculations with your own inputs. View NOAA METAR observations and their timestamps. Optional GPS recording works while the app is active. The interface supports English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. Map place names depend on the available source data. No separate Plotter account is required. SUBSCRIPTION Map and study tools require a monthly auto-renewing subscription. Eligible users receive a 3-day free trial, then the U.S. reference price is USD 4/month. Apple shows the actual local price, currency and trial eligibility before you confirm. Without a trial, payment applies when you confirm the purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. The subscription renews monthly unless canceled. To avoid trial renewal, cancel at least 24 hours before it ends in Settings > your name > Subscriptions. Deleting the app does not cancel the subscription. Expiry does not automatically delete saved work or downloaded files. Plotter is a planning and learning aid. The basemap is not an official or certified aeronautical chart. Use current official charts, NOTAMs, weather briefings and approved aircraft data. User symbols are annotations, not a live navaid database. Sharing a route does not file an ATS flight plan. New METAR requests require internet; map offline mode does not disable weather or Apple connections. GPS recording stops in the background. Privacy: https://akincijet.com/plotter/privacy/ Terms of Use (Apple EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Support: https://akincijet.com/plotter/support/

Screenshots

Altimeter Elevation Watch4 screens
Plotter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Plotter at every 3 days against Altimeter Elevation Watch's every 10 days. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Altimeter Elevation Watch sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per year and Plotter sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.00 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Altimeter Elevation Watch ships an update every 10 days, Plotter every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Altimeter Elevation Watch versus Plotter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAltimeter Elevation WatchPlotter
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (69 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews32.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings69 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB122 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBernhard HeringYigit Can Akinci

Bugs and requests

Altimeter Elevation Watch

Reported bugs

29 issues
  • CarPlay screen is black
  • Elevation incorrect (50K feet off)
  • Cannot get past 'Location Access for Altimeter' page
  • App display language is a mix of German and English
  • App takes over iPhone operation, requires deletion
Show 24 more
  • Watch complications do not update automatically
  • Watch complications crash
  • Watch complications only display meters regardless of setting
  • App does not download to watch
  • Altitude does not change
  • App does not work
  • Not compatible with watch series 3 cellular
  • Watch app does not work
  • Cannot get it to read in feet on iPhone or Apple Watch
  • Wrong altitude displayed
  • Accuracy issues (changes while stationary)
  • Settings reset, must be set again
  • Watch app crashes
  • Complication does not update
  • Complication shows "Altimeter" instead of altitude
  • Watch app crashes on opening
  • App does not work on Series 3 watch
  • App does not work on Series 4 watch
  • Complication limited to 999 meters
  • Units not changeable to feet on watch
  • Complication does not work with certain watch faces
  • Complication does not update as advertised
  • Units change to meters when phone is not present
  • App does not work while flying

Requested features

10 requests
  • French translation for options
  • Basic widget for CarPlay
  • Watch complication with large number for elevation
  • Ability to set watch complications to feet
  • Larger complication size for watch face
Show 5 more
  • Elevation gain/loss on watch complication
  • Use watch's barometer
  • Graph of elevation changes on iPhone
  • Option to select complication size
  • Direction of travel indicator

Plotter

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Altimeter Elevation Watch

Subscriptions1
  • Support Development$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$34.99
1 purchases

Plotter

Subscriptions1
  • Plotter Monthly3 Days trial$4.001 Month

Questions

Is Altimeter Elevation Watch free?
Altimeter Elevation Watch is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Plotter free?
Plotter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Altimeter Elevation Watch or Plotter have ads?
Neither Altimeter Elevation Watch nor Plotter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Altimeter Elevation Watch or Plotter?
Altimeter Elevation Watch ships an update every 10 days, and Plotter every 3 days. Most recently, Altimeter Elevation Watch was updated on October 14, 2026 and Plotter on October 8, 2026.

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