Comparison

Scenic Map vs Awesomap

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Global 3D topographic maps
  • Offline map caching
  • Satellite image overlays
  • Customizable map styles
  • GPS tracking and route replay
  • GPX track import/export
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Awesomap

This app enhances your existing iOS maps by displaying four times more detail, including street names and points of interest, with sharper satellite imagery. It allows you to adjust the zoom scale for comfortable viewing and is optimized for Retina displays.

Highlights
  • Displays four times more map detail
  • Sharper satellite imagery
  • More street names and points of interest
  • Adjustable zoom scale
  • Optimized for Retina displays
Features
Read full description

See more of the world at once! Awesomap gives you the iOS maps you already use and love, but makes everything quite a bit smaller and sharper, so your screen can show significantly more of it – four times more, to be precise. More street names and points of interest. Sharper satellite imagery. Oh, the sheer amount of detail! Exactly what the Retina display was meant for. In case the double precision makes things a bit too small for your liking, you can also choose another, more comfortable scale. (Setting the scale slider to the minimum gives you the exact same scale as the normal iOS Maps uses.) Just remember – Awesomap also eats four times more map data, so it's best suited for use over a fast Wi-Fi.

Screenshots

Scenic Map4 screens
Awesomap4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Awesomap at none against Scenic Map's 1. Awesomap also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 67%) and ratings volume (373 vs 3). Scenic Map's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 63 months). On price, rating, ads 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

Both are free to download. Scenic Map sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Awesomap asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Scenic Map against 4.7 for Awesomap. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Awesomap has 373 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of Scenic Map's written reviews are positive against 100% of Awesomap's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scenic Map ships an update every 3 months, Awesomap every 63 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Scenic Map versus Awesomap: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScenic MapAwesomap
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3 ratings)4.7 (373 ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3373 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 63 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.110.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGrangerFXJanne Käki

Customer experience

Scenic Map

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Awesomap

All ratings373 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral3.5%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Scenic Map

One-time1
  • Scenic Map Features$4.99
None

Awesomap

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scenic Map free?
Scenic Map is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Awesomap free?
Awesomap is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Scenic Map or Awesomap?
Scenic Map and Awesomap are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 373 ratings respectively.
Do Scenic Map or Awesomap have ads?
Neither Scenic Map nor Awesomap shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scenic Map or Awesomap?
Scenic Map ships an update every 3 months, and Awesomap every 63 months. Most recently, Scenic Map was updated on October 18, 2026 and Awesomap on October 14, 2026.

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