Comparison

You Need A Map vs Pocket Earth PRO

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

Head to head
About

You Need A Map

This app provides detailed offline 3D topographic maps of the entire USA. It includes terrain, roads, water bodies, and landmarks, functioning even without a cell signal. It's ideal for navigation and emergency situations where connectivity is unreliable.

Highlights
  • Offline 3D topographic maps
  • Covers all 50 US states
  • Works without cell signal
  • Shows terrain, roads, and landmarks
  • GPS tracking and track replay
  • Detailed feature information display
  • Satellite image overlays
Features
Read full description

If you get lost or in an emergency, YOU NEED A MAP! A map that covers the entire USA, all 50 states. A map that works everywhere even without a cell phone signal. A map that shows not just roads but also terrain, streams, lakes and other landmarks. Note: If you would prefer a small app that caches online maps covering the entire world, please see the More by GrangerFX section below and try the free Scenic Map app. Get You Need A Map if you want an offline map the entire USA as a single large download. The paid apps have built in maps with full resolution terrain. Your iPhone has a great online map but all it takes is one wrong turn and you could find yourself lost with no cell phone signal. What is the fastest way back to the highway? Should you go forwards or back? Is there a better road just a short distance away? Is there a raging stream or an steep cliff between you and the road? YOU NEED A MAP! You Need A Map is a huge application. It has to be. It contains every mountain, hill, stream, lake, pond, freeway, highway, local road and track. In addition it contains many buildings, trails, railways, points of interest and polygon features. It has everything you need to find out where you are and what is around you anywhere in the USA. Most navigation apps on the iPhone and iPad must transfer all their maps from servers on the internet. This can be slow in areas with only 2G coverage or completely unavailable in wilderness areas where a map would be most useful. You Need A Map solves this problem by storing maps directly on your iPhone or iPad. This extremely fast high quality software renderer is the first of its kind for mobile devices. If you do have a cellular or WiFi internet connect, Satellite image overlays add breathtaking detail and realism to the maps (tap preset 2 or 4 when Online Map is enabled). You can use them as you travel to see what is hidden from view at ground level. This takes moving maps to a whole new level. Tap the arrow in the toolbar to enable GPS tracking. As you move, you will generate a track file which you can replay. You can also import GPX tracks generated in other programs and play them. While recording or playing a track, the map will be centered on the current location and rotated towards the direction of travel and rendered in 2D or 3D with silky smooth animation. When playing a track, you can speed up, slow down, pause, restart or skip to the end. Send your GPX tracks to other apps or email them. Want to learn more about a map feature? Click the target icon and center it under the compass rose to display its name, feature type, urban area, state, elevation and coordinates. You will also see a bearing line back to your current GPS location or from your location to a selected waypoint. The status will display the direction and distance along with the map and GPS elevation, the track length, and your current speed and direction of travel You Need A Map uses the same code as Scenic Map and has most of the same features. These include many map customization options, customizable waypoints, direction and bearing information, a smooth scrolling moving map display while driving or flying, city search and much more. You can also get the full feature set of Scenic Map with an in-app purchase including the new online maps of the entire world. Documentation, detailed coverage maps, installation guide and blog are available on ScenicMap.com You Need A Map covers the entire USA including all 50 states Map data © OpenStreetMap and contributors under the Open Database License You Need A Map supports GPS tracking while the app is in the background. Caution: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

About

Pocket Earth PRO

Access detailed worldwide maps and travel guides offline, saving on data charges. Features topographic maps, online routing with offline voice guidance, and extensive travel information. Ideal for travelers and outdoor adventurers.

Highlights
  • Detailed worldwide offline maps
  • Topographic contour maps
  • Offline voice guidance
  • Extensive travel guides
  • GPS track recording
  • GPX/CSV import/export
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

• Detailed worldwide maps and travel guides • Topographic contour maps for the outdoors • Works completely offline even with GPS • Great when abroad or in the wilderness, NO data roaming charges • Online routing with offline Voice Guidance and much more! « Reviews » “I love this technology” – Natali Morris, Tech Reporter, NBC’s Today Show Editor's Pick Best Offline Map App – thedigitaltrekker.com “The best travel app in the world… Don’t leave home without it!” – bonvoyageurs.com “Very impressive app with unmatched features.” – toptenreviews.com « Maps » • Beautiful Retina quality maps at a fraction of the size! The fastest and most beautiful offline maps on the App Store! • Detailed and interactive worldwide maps! More than 100,000 places & completely free! • Access your maps online and offline! Saves on data roaming costs! • Personalize the maps to show the info you want! • Online Routing with voice guided turn by turn directions. Save your multi-stop itineraries for offline navigation! • Online street address search and contacts integration! • Did we mention everything is offline? Works anywhere- cities, small towns, even in the middle of nowhere. Never any roaming charges. We dare you to try it! « For the Traveler » • Find out about thousands of interesting places - hotels, restaurants, bars, tourist sites, even get metro and public transit info! • Our super wide area Nearby search is also super fast! • Have all the travel info you need with more than 25,000 detailed Wikivoyage Travel Guides and more than 1 million Wikipedia articles in 7 languages! All offline of course! • Customizable Pins and favorites groups! Add notes and mark and share favorite spots! • Share maps links and your current location (SMS, Facebook, WhatsApp, Email, etc)! « For the Adventurer » • An in-app purchase option offers topographic maps. Get high performance, high accuracy 10m / 50ft contour display world-wide. The ONLY offline app that lets you download large areas, even entire countries! Contours are displayed on our existing maps for all Activities. • Hiking and Cycling maps! Great for geocaching and getting off the track! • GPS track recording lets you see what route you took! Great for hikes, cycling and off road! Never get lost again! • Import/Export support for GPX and CSV files! Share with friends using PE Archives. • Displays and lets you search for map coordinates (including DD, DDM, DMS, MGRS, UTM/UPS, GeoHash, and what3words)! • Numerous GPS settings for your preferred configuration including compass and heading arrow or rotation, look ahead mode, accuracy and recording settings. ...and much more - so try it out! « How's it Work? » Just select the cities, regions, or even whole countries you want to download, and it will be available for offline use, complete with information on thousands of POIs (Points of Interest), travel guides and Wikipedia articles. To do this we utilize community driven open data from a number of amazing projects. We use some magik to compress and package it in a format optimized for mobile devices. Pocket Earth then renders its beautiful vector maps on your device using our OpenGL ES based MagikMap technology. To learn more about Pocket Earth or the community driven open data sources that we use, please visit our website. Don’t forget this: 1. Using the GPS features of this app can significantly affect battery life. Only leave GPS enabled when you need to use it. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Pocket Earth only uses GPS in the background for route navigation and gps track recording features. 2. This app uses data from the amazing community driven open mapping project called openstreetmap.org! Coverage detail may vary by region, please visit our website to check the map detail for your regions of interest. 3. Does not currently support all asian texts on the map (Chinese, Japanese, etc).

Screenshots

You Need A Map4 screens
Pocket Earth PRO4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: You Need A Map at Free against Pocket Earth PRO's $6.99. Pocket Earth PRO's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (1.8K vs 53). On 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

You Need A Map is free to download; Pocket Earth PRO costs $6.99 up front. You Need A Map sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Pocket Earth PRO sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pocket Earth PRO holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pocket Earth PRO has 1.8K ratings behind it against 53, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of You Need A Map's written reviews are positive against 85% of Pocket Earth PRO's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

You Need A Map ships an update every 4 months, Pocket Earth PRO every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
You Need A Map versus Pocket Earth PRO: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterYou Need A MapPocket Earth PRO
PriceFree — better$6.99
Rating4.4 (53 ratings)4.8 (1.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.9% of reviews85.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings531.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank—#109 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.112.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB33 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGrangerFXGeoMagik LLC

Customer experience

You Need A Map

All ratings53 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral1.9%
Negative11.3%
Written reviews89 reviews
Positive71.9%
Neutral11.2%
Negative16.9%

Pocket Earth PRO

All ratings1,814 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews353 reviews
Positive85.3%
Neutral3.4%
Negative11.3%

User reviews

You Need A Map

From 53 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🗺️ Excellent offline maps
  • ⛰️ Detailed terrain and 3D view
  • 📸 Useful for photography planning
  • ✈️ Great for pilots and aviation
  • 🌲 Ideal for backcountry/remote areas

Room to improve

  • 💾 Large file size
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🗺️ Missing specific locations (e.g., Isle Royale)
  • 📉 Outdated map data in some areas
  • ❓ Unintuitive at times

Pocket Earth PRO

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Offline maps and GPS functionality
  • 📍 Detailed maps with points of interest
  • 🌍 Works well internationally
  • 🗺️ Comprehensive map data
  • 🔍 Excellent search and navigation

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🗺️ Maps can be outdated
  • 🔍 Confusing user interface
  • 💰 Hidden costs for some features
  • 🔄 Frustrating map download process

Bugs and requests

You Need A Map

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Dark mode alphanumeric display issue
  • App crashes when touching GPS icon
  • App won't open after update
  • Download issues
  • 3D feature purchase unavailable

Requested features

9 requests
  • Prioritize favorite waypoints
  • Update satellite imagery
  • Improve search functionality for towns/streets
  • Add BLM and state trust land overlays
  • Add Retina display graphics for new iPads
Show 4 more
  • Provide a user guide within the app
  • Add status icon for GPS signal acquisition
  • Make maps selectable by region to reduce download size
  • Improve street name alignment/readability

Pocket Earth PRO

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to restore purchased features
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Geolocation not working on some devices
  • Slow or failed map downloads

Requested features

6 requests
  • Offline route planning and navigation
  • Ability to import/sync GPX files
  • Improved user interface and discoverability
  • More frequent map data updates
  • Customizable map icons and labels
Show 1 more
  • Support for multiple user accounts

In-app purchases

2 purchases

You Need A Map

One-time2
  • 3D MappingFree
  • Scenic Map Features$4.99
1 purchases

Pocket Earth PRO

One-time1
  • Topographic Maps$4.99

Questions

Is You Need A Map free?
You Need A Map is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pocket Earth PRO free?
Pocket Earth PRO costs $6.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, You Need A Map or Pocket Earth PRO?
Pocket Earth PRO is rated higher. You Need A Map averages 4.4 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while Pocket Earth PRO averages 4.8 from 1.8K ratings.
Do You Need A Map or Pocket Earth PRO have ads?
Neither You Need A Map nor Pocket Earth PRO shows ads.
Which is updated more often, You Need A Map or Pocket Earth PRO?
You Need A Map ships an update every 4 months, and Pocket Earth PRO every 6 weeks. Most recently, You Need A Map was updated on October 18, 2026 and Pocket Earth PRO on October 20, 2026.

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