Scenic Map vs Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Scenic Map
Explore the world with detailed 3D topographic maps, accessible even offline. Stream and cache global maps for use without cell service. Features include satellite overlays, customizable map styles, and GPS tracking for navigation and route replay.
- Global 3D topographic maps
- Offline map caching
- Satellite image overlays
- Customizable map styles
- GPS tracking and route replay
- GPX track import/export
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A 3D topo map with coverage of the entire world. The map is streamed directly from Apple's servers and cached on your device for use when there is no cell coverage. Use Scenic Map in a car, a boat, a plane or while hiking. It is like having the entire Earth in your pocket. Satellite image overlays add breathtaking detail and realism to the maps (tap preset 2 or 4). 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. To get started, tap the arrow button in the toolbar to begin GPS tracking and center the map at your current location. The spinner in the status bar shows that the map is being loaded. The spinner stops when the map is fully cached at that location. You can scroll around the map or tilt the map with a two finger vertical swipe to see it in 3D. Use the two finger vertical swipe gesture to tilt the map for a 3D view. Scroll like a map or fly like a flight simulator. Enable Joystick Gestures in the Settings menu and then fly around the terrain using a virtual joystick. Prefer only 2D maps? Enable the 2D Map option in the Settings menu. Scenic Map is simply the best 3D topo map available for a mobile device. You will see incredible detail while scrolling, rotating and zooming perfectly smoothly. You will see every road even if you zoom out to the altitude of a satellite. As you zoom in, you will see every small bump and hollow of the Earth and terrain features as small as ten meters. Unlike old fashioned topo maps, Scenic Map’s roads and trails are up to date thanks to OpenStreetMap.org. It contains polygons for urban areas, shopping malls, an ever growing number of buildings and many other features, The best lake, pond, stream and rivers from the USGS and Canadian public databases are also included. Your tracks can be replayed with video like controls to speed up, slow down, pause, restart or skip to the end. You can display existing tracks while recording another if you want to retrace your route. When online, you can automatically create a route from your current GPS location to any other point on the map. Tracks can be received from or sent to other apps in GPX format. GPS recording stops automatically after you have remained stationary for some time or you can choose to manually stop tracking by tapping on the top track in the Tracks view. Never before have maps been this customizable. For example, you can turn on or off the roads. You can change the lighting direction or remove terrain shading entirely. You can display contour lines even over satellite images. There are five presets which let you quickly switch between map styles. Use Metric, English or Nautical units and choose one of four different coordinate displays including UTM. Want to learn more about a map feature? Tap the target icon and center the feature under the compass rose to display its name, type, urban area, county, 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 bar shows the bearing direction and distance along with the map and GPS elevation, the track length, and your current speed and direction of travel. In-app documentation is provided in the Help section at the top of the Settings menu. Links are provided in the documentation to detailed coverage maps, tutorial videos, installation guide and blog at ScenicMap.com Map data © OpenStreetMap and contributors under the Open Database License Scenic 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.
Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer
View various offline and online maps, including vector and raster formats. Supports tracking, route search, and customizable interface units. Offers contour lines and drinking water source data.
- View Mapsforge offline vector maps
- Offline raster map support
- Online and WMS map support
- GPX import/export
- Scalable interface
- Worldwide free offline maps
- Contour lines
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The Cartograph Lite app views Mapsforge offline vector maps, offline raster maps, and online/WMS maps. It supports tracking, route search, overlays, hillshading, reliefs, track drawing, and has many other features. Pro-version: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cartograph-2-maps/id1082995961?ls=1&mt=8 ### Lite Version Features ### - View Mapsforge offline vector maps. - Offline raster maps: Locus SQLite maps, MBTiles, TwoWays/CompeGPS RMAP*, Oruxmaps SQLite*. - Online map support (including WMS - Web Map Service maps), e.g. OpenStreetMap, OpenCycleMap, OpenSeaMap, WikiMedia hillshading. - GPX import and export (basic KML import support). - Scalable interface (e.g. to increase button sizes). - Units: Celsius, Kelvin, Fahrenheit, metric, imperial, nautic. - WaterSupply.at drinking water sources. - Worldwide, free offline maps. - Contour lines (Mapsforge maps). ### Additional Pro Features ### - GPS Track recording. - Full support for Mapsforge styling/render themes (including hillshading) and layers. - Custom online map sources. - Offline hillshading (from HGT/SRTM elevation data). - Offline relief shading. - Offline slope map. - Support for Mapsforge multi-maps (multiple .map files stitched into a single map). - Night/day mode. - Manual track drawing and editing. - Route altitude profile and elevation/slope visualization. - Online route search. - Live tracking and polling (using custom server, GPSies.com, or Cartograph server). - Support for Mapsforge POIs, offline POI search, and dynamic POI loading. - Compass. - Decimal and degree coordinate modes. - Customizable user interface color (dark, light, and colors) and size. - Strava upload. * RMAP and Oruxmaps use various map projections and support is experimental. Please contact us if a map does not work so that we can add support for your projection. Further information: http://www.cartograph.eu Getting started: https://www.cartograph.eu/gettingstarted Help&Tutorial: https://www.cartograph.eu/docs User manual: http://www.cartograph.eu/downloads/usermanual_en.pdf YouTube how-to videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn9EOg5h3yY&list=PLP8X6xYv-qCz46hplsfGLW1LNgywBZrTk Full version: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cartograph-2-maps/id1082995961?ls=1&mt=8 Drop us a line if you have questions, feature requests, or other comments: http://www.cartograph.eu/contact ### Maps ### - OpenAndroMaps.org: very good maps for outdoor activities.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Scenic Map at 67% against Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer's 30%. Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.1). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Scenic Map ships an update every 3 months, Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Scenic Map | Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better | 30.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.1 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | GrangerFX | Harald Meyer |
Customer experience
Scenic Map
Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer
In-app purchases
Scenic Map
No in-app purchases
Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Scenic Map free?
Is Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer free?
Do Scenic Map or Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Scenic Map or Cartograph 2 Lite Map Viewer?
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