PlaceTrack vs NavOffroad
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PlaceTrack
This app provides comprehensive location journaling and sharing for families. It tracks speed, altitude, and activity, with optional real-time sharing and directions to loved ones' locations. It also supports GPX track import and comparison.
- 24/7 location journaling
- Real-time family tracking
- Speed, altitude, and activity data
- GPX track import and overlay
- Street-level image viewing
- Optional safe location sharing
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PlaceTrack is a modern, cross-platform, full-featured location journaling and sharing app, available for iPhone, Apple Watch, and other platforms, and also offering compatibility with Car Play. It keeps a history of your locations 24/7 with almost no impact on battery life, capturing data on speed, course, altitude, and user activity. Additionally, its optional sharing features allow you to track your loved ones, monitor their travelling speed, get directions to their current location, and view street-level images of any place they are or they have been. You can also overlay and compare your location or your contacts' locations against a GPX track. This can be imported from files, Strava, or Apple Watch workout routes, as the app integrates seamlessly with HealthKit. In short: - personal location journaling h24 - Apple Watch and CarPlay compatibility - context data: location data can include location history, speed and course, altitude, whether you’re walking, running, moving in a vehicle or resting - Healthkit/Apple Watch and Strava integration for GPX import - optional safe location sharing with the people you trust, in real time - GPX merge, map overlay and export - POIs (Point of Interest) support and sharing - live data: force a contact’s device to immediately send a fresh location - passive and battery friendly: run in the background with no noticeable impact on battery life, location is periodically updated as the device moves - you are in control: set who sees your current location or who has access to your location history with fine-grained access controls Other features: - excellent battery usage: PlaceTrack uses SLC mode (Significant Location Change) and region monitoring, NOT continuous background. PlaceTrack is suspended in the background most of the time and is woken up only when you move significantly (detected using cell towers signal); most of the time it just sleeps and the GPS hardware is powered off to preserve battery. Install the app and forget about it - save your location history for later viewing - optionally share your recent location or location history with authorized PlaceTrack contacts - forced contact location updates: you can ask for a live location update from a contact and the backend platform will silently ask your contact device for a new location update - delayed sync: stores your locations when network is unreachable and pushes them to the PlaceTrack servers when you're back online - in-app streetview images - track overlays: import route data from Apple Watch, Strava and GPX files - location sharing works using address book phone numbers: your phone number is authenticated through an sms code on your first activation - your data, including your phone number and location, is always sent on a secure connection (ssl) and is never shared with any third party
NavOffroad
Explore off-road with advanced mapping and navigation tools. Track your real-time position, customize maps, and import your own data. Plan routes, record tracks, and view detailed location information.
- Real-time position tracking
- Multiple map styles
- Custom map style import
- Off-road trail display
- Import custom data (GeoJSON, GPX, KML)
- Record and share tracks
- CarPlay integration
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NavOffroad gives you powerful tools for exploring off the beaten path. Features include: • Locate yourself and follow your real-time position. • Choose from multiple map styles (powered by ©Mapbox). • Add your own custom ©Mapbox styles. • View off-road trails with details directly on the map. • Import your own features - tracks, POIs, routes, overlays - from GeoJSON, TileJSON, COG, PMTiles, GPX and KML files. • Drop pins, including what3words locations. • Search for locations. • Record and share tracks. • View detailed info about your current location. • Use seamlessly on CarPlay, including secondary cluster displays. • Optimized for ultra-constrained networks, e.g., direct-to-cell satellite phone service. • Plan routes and manage data with the companion web app at https://app.navoffroad.com . • Access optional map layers: public lands, topographic overlays. In the app's help select 'More resources' and follow the link to additional online data resources. • Display a weather forecast.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: PlaceTrack at 5.0 against NavOffroad's 4.5. PlaceTrack also leads on price ($5.99 vs $9.99) and chart position (#197 vs unranked). NavOffroad's advantage is review sentiment (67% vs 55%). On ratings volume, update cadence, 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
PlaceTrack costs $5.99 and NavOffroad $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PlaceTrack holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 55% of PlaceTrack's written reviews are positive against 67% of NavOffroad's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
PlaceTrack ships an update every 4 weeks, NavOffroad fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PlaceTrack | NavOffroad |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 4.5 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 55.2% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 4 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #197 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.1 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 77 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nico Tranquilli | Stephen Denham |
Customer experience
PlaceTrack
NavOffroad
Bugs and requests
PlaceTrack
Reported bugs
67 issues- Network status error
- Crashing issues
- App closes when accessing contacts
- AutoCheck-In Setup Failed error
- GPS always active
Show 62 moreShow fewer
- Background checkins not functional
- App crashes
- Background updates not working
- Cannot log in to Google with 2-step auth
- Application specific passwords do not work
- Known bug for weeks, no response to support emails
- App updated, but not fixed
- Updates only every 3-6 hours
- Background updates not working on 3G
- Background updates don't work
- App freezes and stops updating
- Location updates only when far away
- App self restarts a lot
- Map not showing
- Does not detect cell tower switching properly
- Location delayed
- Buttons are a tad small
- Crashes constantly
- Does not update location in background
- Updates location only when about 6 blocks away
- App updates location only when opening app
- Stops updating in iOS 4.1
- Map not showing
- Does not detect cell tower switching properly
- Location delayed
- Buttons are a tad small
- Crashes constantly
- Does not update location in background
- Updates location only when about 6 blocks away
- App updates location only when opening app
- Stops updating in iOS 4.1
- Background updates don't work
- App freezes and stops updating
- Location updates only when far away
- App self restarts a lot
- Map not showing
- Does not detect cell tower switching properly
- Location delayed
- Buttons are a tad small
- Crashes constantly
- Does not update location in background
- Updates location only when about 6 blocks away
- App updates location only when opening app
- Stops updating in iOS 4.1
- SMS code not received
- Account locked
- Network status error
- Crashing issues
- App closes when accessing contacts
- AutoCheck-In Setup Failed error
- GPS always active
- Background checkins not functional
- App crashes
- Background updates unreliable
- Login problems
- No refund
- UI has only 1 language
- Not working anymore
- Useless application
- Not secure
- Account locked
- SMS code not received
Requested features
17 requests- Introduce metric system option
- More website tracking options
- Update to work with Google+ location
- iPad version
- Send location when power status changes
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Enable different set of options when plugged in
- Email locations in Google Earth format
- More settings parameters
- Add avatar functionality
- Larger map view
- Force manual sync intervals
- Scheduled updates (20-30 min)
- More battery life settings (customizable)
- Push notifications for nearby friends
- Manual check-in option
- Open in maps button
- Visualisation of the entire route
NavOffroad
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PlaceTrack
No in-app purchases
NavOffroad
No in-app purchases








