GPS vs maps.earth
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
GPS
This app provides detailed location data including speed, altitude, and coordinates. It offers various map views and tracks your journey statistics. Customize settings for units, display, and background operation.
- Current heading, course, speed, coordinates, altitude
- Street, topographic, and satellite maps
- Cached maps for offline viewing
- Trace statistics (time, distance, altitude, speed)
- Customizable coordinate and unit formats
- Background tracing and automatic pausing
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"GPS" gives you access to your iPhone's GPS functionality and more. The simple display shows your current: - Heading (where a compass is available). - Course - Speed or Speed Average - Coordinates - Altitude Street and Topographic maps are available along with aerial or satellite photos. Once viewed maps will also be held cached for a day. And trace statistics including: - Time and Distance - Minimum and Maximum Altitude - Average and Maximum speed. Via the settings you can: - Choose between Latitude & Longitude formats and UTM coordinates. - Choose between meters or feet and formats. - Choosing Speed or Average Speed. - Keep your iPhone awake. - Trace while GPS is in the background. - Automatically pause when you stop. - Shutdown when the battery started getting low. more features are on the way... www.onwhat.net/gps
maps.earth
Discover the world with low-stress directions powered by OpenStreetMap. This open-source application prioritizes user privacy by not displaying ads or selling data, focusing solely on providing a pleasant mapping experience.
- World exploration
- Low-stress directions
- OpenStreetMap powered
- Ad-free experience
- Data privacy focused
- Open source
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Explore the world and get low stress directions powered by OpenStreetMap. maps.earth is built on open source. We never show you ads or sell your data. We just want a nice map.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: maps.earth at Free against GPS's $0.99. maps.earth also leads on rating (3.2 vs 2.4) and update cadence (monthly vs every 11 months). GPS's advantage is chart position (#165 vs unranked) and device support (3 vs 1). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
maps.earth is free to download; GPS costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
maps.earth holds the better App Store score, 3.2 against 2.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 26% of GPS's written reviews are positive against 33% of maps.earth's.
GPS ships an update every 11 months, maps.earth monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | GPS | maps.earth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 2.4 (7 ratings) | 3.2 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.6% of reviews | 33.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #165 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Void Stop Pty Ltd | Michael Kirk |
Customer experience
GPS
maps.earth
Bugs and requests
GPS
Reported bugs
15 issues- Phone screen goes black with waterproof case
- Maps blank/unavailable
- OpenCycle maps no longer loading
- MPH does not work
- Speed takes long to update and jumps around
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- Average speed greater than max speed
- Update in standby only works briefly
- Coordinates aren't close
- Elevation inaccurate
- Map is horrible
- Gray lines instead of map
- Location doesn't change when moving
- Screen refresh incomplete
- Version not developed for iPhone message
- Crashes phone
Requested features
20 requests- Ability to choose projection (e.g., UTM)
- Substitute other maps
- Facility for feedback/contributions
- Type notes with GPS coordinates
- Save location details as a picture
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- Retina graphics
- More recent SDK technologies
- Red display for night vision
- Trail line follow on map
- Tracking function on map
- Coordinate format selector
- Optional history recording
- More descriptive 'Sleeping' preference name
- Display 'Satellite Signal Not Received' instead of inaccurate coordinates
- Lose the serif typeface
- Integrate compass headings
- Type in GPS coordinates and find a location
- Compass or similar for direction
- Waypoints and other typical outdoors use
- Access to better maps
maps.earth
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
GPS
No in-app purchases
maps.earth
No in-app purchases
