Hip Charts vs Qaittym

Hip Charts brings NOAA ENC nautical charts to your iPhone—completely free. Pan and zoom the map and official NOAA charts load automatically over Wi‑Fi or cellular. Download chart areas ahead of time for offline use on the water, including custom polygon boundaries. Measure distances right on the chart. Choose how charts look: • Default — NOAA’s standard chart tiles; fast and simple • Customized — adjust depth units, text size, harbor/shoreline structures (breakwaters, piers, docks), routes and marina info, and sharper rendering Need help reading symbols? Open Settings → Chart Legend for NOAA’s official U.S. Chart No. 1. Everything in the app is free. No subscriptions, no paywall. This app does not fulfill chart carriage requirements for regulated commercial vessels under Titles 33 and 44 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Qaittym ("I'm back") is an independent mountain safety app for Almaty, Kazakhstan. The developer does not represent the Kazakhstan Emergency Ministry, the Almaty Rescue Service or any other government body. You head into the mountains. The app knows where you went and when you're due back. If you don't check in, your trusted contact automatically receives an SMS with your route, your last known location and clear instructions on what to do. The search starts right away instead of a day later. HOW IT WORKS 1. Pick a route and your check-in deadline. 2. The app prepares a notice to the rescue service under Kazakhstan Emergency Ministry Order #363, addressed to the official Almaty Rescue Service mailboxes. Under a minute instead of calling 112. 3. Back safe? Tap "I'm OK" — straight from the lock screen notification if you like. 4. Missed it? Thirty minutes after your deadline your trusted contact gets an SMS. THE TIMER RUNS ON A SERVER Dead battery, broken screen, phone in the river — the alert still fires. The countdown lives on a server, not on your device, which is exactly why the app helps in the worst scenarios and not only in convenient ones. A PAGE FOR THE PERSON WHO CARES The SMS links to a page that is ready for action: route map, departure time, group size, last known location, a "Call 112" button and a script to read out to the dispatcher. 15 ROUTES IN THE ILE ALATAU Kok-Zhailyau, Big Almaty Lake, Furmanov Peak, Butakovka waterfalls, Uchitel Peak, Mynzhylky, Talgar Pass, the Cosmostation, the Gorelnik, Bukreev and Panorama huts and more. Real tracks, honest distances and elevation gain, realistic timing. Plus a list of 86 peaks and valleys under the names rescuers actually use, so the dispatcher recognises the place at once. YOUR OWN TRACK Hiking your own line from Wikiloc, Strava or Garmin? Attach the GPX when you register — rescuers and your trusted contact see your actual route, not just the trailhead. OFFLINE SHELTER MAP 19 rescue huts and posts on a topographic map that works with no signal. You see where you are, which shelter is nearest, how far it is and which way to walk. The map is cached in advance — no internet needed in the gorge. WHAT TO PACK Every route comes with a gear list matched to its difficulty: water, a warm layer, first aid, whistle, headlamp, emergency blanket. Most mountain incidents come from an unprepared start, not from bad luck. FREE, NO TRACKING No ads, no subscriptions, no accounts, no analytics. Your profile stays on the device. Route data goes to the server only so the alert can fire. IMPORTANT Qaittym is a notification and alerting tool. It does not guarantee rescue and does not replace calling 112, preparation, gear and common sense. In an emergency, if you have signal, always call 112. OFFICIAL SOURCES The duty to notify rescuers and the list of mountain locations are set by Order #363 of the Kazakhstan Emergency Ministry, 27 August 2025 (Ministry of Justice #36696). Primary source — the Adilet legal database: https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/V2500036696 Emergency Ministry: https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/emer Almaty Emergency Department: https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/emer-almaty The app only helps compose the notice and send it to the public mailboxes of the Almaty Rescue Service. It is not a government service and does not replace the official channels — 112 and eQonaq. Languages: Russian, Kazakh, English.