Comparison

Poison Maps vs Anchor Plus

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

Head to head
About

Poison Maps

Discover millions of points of interest and routes worldwide, accessible even offline. Explore diverse categories like food, attractions, and transport, with features like directional signs and radar modes for easy navigation.

Highlights
  • Offline POI and route access
  • Extensive POI categories
  • Directional signs to offscreen POIs
  • Compass, radar, and scanner modes
  • Unique gesture for rapid panning
  • Apple Watch app integration
Features
Read full description

Poison Maps (“POIs on Maps”) is the ultimate app for finding Points of Interest anywhere in the world. It includes millions of POIs and routes, all stored on your device for use even when offline. The app contains every possible category of POI: food, hotels, banks, toilets, fuel stations, tourist attractions, leisure, parking, shops, hills, towns, transport, hospitals, churches, schools, libraries, civic buildings, rescue services, and much much more. It also contains 4 million miles of colour-coded routes, such as railways, subway maps, bus routes, cycle routes, hiking trails and ski pistes. The POIs and routes are all taken from the fantastic OpenStreetMap project. The app includes many unique features: • a toolbar at the bottom of the screen that allows you to display what you want in just 2 or 3 taps; • signs pointing to offscreen POIs, so that you never miss a nearby POI; • compass, radar and scanner modes that display the nearest POIs in different ways; • a unique gesture that allows rapid panning by temporarily zooming out (using 3D Touch when available); • back and forward buttons that help you retrace what you have looked at (like on a browser); • an Apple Watch app that shows what you want in only a few taps (or just one tap of the complication); Compass mode simply shows signs to the POIs. This is particularly useful when you just want to know what is around you or which way to head, and you haven’t got time to inspect a map, such as when cycling or hiking. It also works offline and is perfect for people who hate maps: they just follow the sign to where they want to go. It is also great at viewpoints to identify what hills, towns and structures you can see. Radar mode and Scanner modes are similar but also include a map that rotates around the current position. They include radar “rings” to show the distances from the current position. Scanner mode uniquely positions the GPS dot at the bottom of the screen so that you can see much more information in the direction that you are pointing. The unique panning gesture requires just one touch of one finger instead of the multi-finger gymnastics required by the traditional “pinch to zoom” approach (although that is still available). It also provides a quick way of zooming out and back in again when you are not sure what area the map is showing. It is a brilliant and completely original use of 3D Touch but also works fine on iPhones without it (using a long touch). The Apple Watch app also allows you to select any category in just a few taps. When you have selected a category then the nearest POIs are shown on a mini-map with the details listed below. The watch app also provides navigation to a POI, and you can even phone a POI from the watch! These are just some of the unique aspects of the app. All the usual map features are also provided, such as super-fast searching, directions, bookmarks, POI information, favouriting of brands, and much more. You can even create your own POIs, such as where you parked your car. Note: This is the full global version – if you want to give the app a try first then please click on the 'Related' link above and install one of the regional versions. Not only can you try the app for free, but these versions only take up about the same space as 2 or 3 music albums.

About

Anchor Plus

This app provides advanced anchor alarm functionality with features like Siri integration, Home Screen widgets, and Apple Watch control. It also includes weather forecasts, man overboard alerts, and a map view with drift history for enhanced safety and convenience while boating.

Highlights
  • Siri Shortcuts and voice commands
  • iOS14 Home Screen widgets
  • Apple Watch remote control
  • Email status updates and alarm alerts
  • Man Overboard (MOB) alerts
  • Map view with drift history
  • Current and 7-day weather forecast
Features
Read full description

More than just an anchor alarm. Enjoy these great features: - Use Siri Shortcuts and voice commands to set the anchor alarm - Set the alarm during anchoring (current position) or afterwards (bearing & distance) or coordinates - Support for iOS14 Home Screen widgets - Day and night theme, metric or imperial, various alarms - Apple Watch remote control, set the anchor from your watch - Receive email status updates and alarm alerts on another device - Scan the QR code and monitor the anchor status from another device - Man Overboard provides bearing to steer and distance back to MOB point - Map view with drift history - Current and 7 day weather forecast with wind alerts - Tropical weather from the top severe weather providers around the globe - Compass and anchor retrieval tool with bearing and distance to anchor - Support for MFi external bluetooth GPS on WiFi only devices - Use the anchor assistant to determine the correct scope and provide a visual representation of where your vessel should be after the anchor is set - Switch language from with the app - Airdrop data to another device - Send text alerts to another device via WhatsApp or Signal

Screenshots

Poison Maps4 screens
Anchor Plus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Anchor Plus at 100% against Poison Maps's 77%. Anchor Plus also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). Poison Maps's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.6). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Poison Maps costs $1.99 and Anchor Plus $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Anchor Plus holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Poison Maps's written reviews are positive against 100% of Anchor Plus's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Poison Maps ships an update every 5 months, Anchor Plus monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Poison Maps versus Anchor Plus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPoison MapsAnchor Plus
Price$1.99$1.99
Rating4.4 (7 ratings)4.7 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings77
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS8.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size1.3 GB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCCS LtdRoy Cadman

Customer experience

Poison Maps

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative23.1%

Anchor Plus

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Poison Maps

No in-app purchases

None

Anchor Plus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Poison Maps free?
Poison Maps costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Anchor Plus free?
Anchor Plus costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Poison Maps or Anchor Plus?
Anchor Plus is rated higher. Poison Maps averages 4.4 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Anchor Plus averages 4.7 from 7 ratings.
Do Poison Maps or Anchor Plus have ads?
Neither Poison Maps nor Anchor Plus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Poison Maps or Anchor Plus?
Poison Maps ships an update every 5 months, and Anchor Plus monthly. Most recently, Poison Maps was updated on October 29, 2026 and Anchor Plus on October 25, 2026.

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