Altimeter Elevation Watch vs Plotter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Altimeter Elevation Watch
Track your current altitude, daily peak, and elevation gain during outdoor activities. View your altitude in your car via CarPlay or on your iPhone's Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Record and review your routes on a map with elevation-colored lines.
- Real-time altitude tracking
- Daily peak and elevation gain display
- CarPlay integration for in-car altitude
- Live Activity and Dynamic Island support
- Route recording and map review
- History tracking (daily, monthly, yearly)
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Check your current altitude and see how much you have climbed. Altimeter shows your altitude, daily peak and elevation gain on hikes, bike rides and mountain drives. Use it on iPhone and Apple Watch, or view your altitude in CarPlay. ALTITUDE IN YOUR CAR The native CarPlay app has its own view for altitude, climb or descent per minute, grade, direction, peak and gain. It is an altitude display, not a navigation app. Set it up before driving. ALTITUDE WITHOUT SWITCHING APPS Start a Live Activity on iPhone to see altitude, peak and gain on the Lock Screen. Compatible iPhones also show these values in the Dynamic Island. Live Activity and the native CarPlay app are separate features. Widgets and Watch complications show your latest available altitude data. LOOK BACK AT YOUR ROUTE Record a track and open it on the map later. The line is colored by elevation; the color scale shows lower and higher sections. Daily history shows your altitude profile, peak and ascent. Monthly and yearly views help you compare your altitude history. FIT IT TO YOUR DAY • Display altitude in meters or feet • Check altitude on Apple Watch • Use Siri or Shortcuts to start a Live Activity or ask for your altitude • Optionally use existing Flights Climbed data from Apple Health in your analysis BEFORE YOU START Readings depend on GPS reception, sensors and location permissions. Background features require appropriate permissions. iOS and watchOS limit widget and complication refreshes; these are not continuously live displays. The app does not replace professional measurement equipment, navigation or safety equipment. ACCESS New users can try the app for two days. Continued access then requires a monthly subscription, annual subscription or one-time lifetime purchase. Existing purchases can be restored in the app. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Plotter
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Plotter at every 3 days against Altimeter Elevation Watch's every 11 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
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.
Altimeter Elevation Watch ships an update every 11 days, Plotter every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Altimeter Elevation Watch | Plotter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (73 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 33.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 73 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 122 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bernhard Hering | Yigit 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 moreShow fewer
- 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 moreShow fewer
- 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
Altimeter Elevation Watch
- Support Development$12.991 Year
- Lifetime$34.99
Plotter
- Plotter Monthly3 Days trial$4.001 Month
Questions
Is Altimeter Elevation Watch free?
Is Plotter free?
Do Altimeter Elevation Watch or Plotter have ads?
Which is updated more often, Altimeter Elevation Watch or Plotter?
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