Cartographer vs Digital ROW Utilities
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Cartographer
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Cartographer is a toolkit for map lovers. - Measure distances, perimeters, and areas by tapping points on the map. - Save places to your Atlas with names, notes, colors, and icons, then group them into collections. - Compare two maps side by side with ease. Terms of service can be found here: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Digital ROW Utilities
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Digital ROW Utilities is a professional field data collection app for documenting underground and aboveground utility infrastructure to ASCE 75-22 standards. CAPTURE UTILITY ASSETS ⢠Point and linear feature capture with iPhone GPS ⢠AI-powered infrastructure detection (fire hydrants, manholes, valve boxes) ⢠LiDAR depth measurement on iPhone Pro models ⢠Material certification scanning ā photograph a cert tag and auto-fill specs via OCR ⢠Upload cert PDFs for provenance tracking ⢠Geotagged photo documentation ASCE 75-22 COMPLIANT ⢠All Table 2-4 mandatory attributes included ⢠Quality Level auto-calculated from GPS accuracy ⢠Positional Accuracy Levels ⢠Feature types, conveyance, cross-section, dimensions ⢠Data certification with SHA-256 audit trails AR VISUALIZATION ⢠View WFS utility data overlaid in augmented reality ⢠See captured assets, imported KML files, and digitized PDF plan sheets - all layers at once ⢠Utility-color-coded by domain (water, sewer, gas, electric, telecom) EXPORT 11 FORMATS ⢠GeoJSON, CSV, KML, KMZ, DXF, PDF Report, and more ⢠Material cert PDFs bundled in KMZ exports ⢠Real coordinate projections (WGS84, Web Mercator, UTM) ⢠AES-GCM encryption for sensitive infrastructure data FIELD WORKFLOW ⢠Permit management with work area mapping ⢠WFS catalog with 230+ utility data sources nationwide ⢠Cross-app integration with Digital Traffic Control Diary ⢠Material cert photo saved with each asset for traceability GPS & POSITIONING ⢠iPhone GPS with auto-calculated quality levels ⢠External GNSS & RTK support in beta testing - visit purposebuilt.systems to participate ⢠18 state CORS networks pre-configured including Iowa IaRTN Built by Purpose Built Systems for contractors, utility engineers, and DOT inspectors who need professional field documentation. Visit https://purposebuilt.systems for beta testing, support, and updates.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Digital ROW Utilities at none against Cartographer's 5. Digital ROW Utilities also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Cartographer sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Digital ROW Utilities asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Cartographer | Digital ROW Utilities |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | ā | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No ā better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 ā better |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Second Party Software LLC | PurposeBuilt Systems, LLC |
In-app purchases
Cartographer
- Cartographer Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Cartographer Pro Yearly$19.991 Year
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$4.99
- Big Tip$14.99
Digital ROW Utilities
No in-app purchases





