Comparison

Altitude Drive vs RV

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

Head to head
About

Altitude Drive

This app provides real-time altitude and elevation changes, displaying current altitude, vertical rate, and road gradient. It uses GPS and your iPhone's barometric sensor for enhanced accuracy, with a clear interface for both iPhone and CarPlay.

Highlights
  • Real-time altitude readout
  • Vertical rate of climb/descent
  • Road gradient percentage
  • Compass heading
  • 5-minute altitude history graph
  • CarPlay dashboard view
  • Privacy-focused, no data transmission
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

See your altitude change in real time. Altitude Drive fuses GPS with your iPhone's barometric pressure sensor for a live elevation readout on iPhone and on CarPlay. WHAT IT SHOWS • Current altitude in feet or meters • Vertical rate of climb or descent (ft/min or m/min) • Road gradient as a percentage — the same definition highway grade signs use • Compass heading with cardinal labels • 5-minute altitude history graph WHY IT'S ACCURATE GPS altitude alone is noisy and slow. Altitude Drive pairs it with your iPhone's barometric pressure sensor for the small, fast changes — so a single step or a subtle road grade shows up immediately, while the GPS keeps the absolute reading honest. DESIGNED FOR THE ROAD — AND THE TRAIL On CarPlay, a clean dashboard view shows altitude, trend, gradient, and heading at a glance. Color tells you both direction (red, white, or green for descending, level, ascending) and severity (green through yellow to red as the rate intensifies) without taking your eyes off the road. On the phone, everything is large, monospaced, and readable in motion. Mount it on the dash, hand it to a passenger, or take it on a hike. TRIP COMPUTER Like a car's trip computer, Altitude Drive remembers the highest and lowest elevation you reach and your steepest climb and descent. Reset with a single tap for a new drive — your trip is kept even across app launches. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT No accounts. No ads. No analytics. No third-party SDKs. Your location data is processed entirely on your device and is never transmitted anywhere. REQUIREMENTS iPhone running iOS 17 or later. Location ("When In Use") and motion permissions, asked once on first launch.

About

RV

Features
Read full description

RV-Pilot turns your iPhone into a set of instruments for your camper, van or motorhome: altitude, speed, heading, pressure, a level for parking, a trip log and more. It works on iPhone, in CarPlay and on Apple Watch. COCKPIT (FREE) • Giant GPS altitude with vertical speed, vertical accuracy and the altitude change since your last reset • Ground speed, magnetic heading with a rotating arrow, pressure with its 3-hour trend, standard barometric altitude and GPS coordinates • Share a photo with your altitude and coordinates overlaid • Metric, imperial and nautical units LEVEL ASSISTANT (PRO) Park level in minutes. RV-Pilot shows pitch and roll in degrees and a top view of your vehicle with the centimeters of wedge to place under each wheel, calculated from your own vehicle profile (length, width, height, wheelbase, track width and weight). • Phone in a holder on the dashboard? Calibrate its position once and the level works even when the phone is almost upright — either with a quick "set zero" on level ground or with a guided calibration that works on any ground. TRIP LOG (PRO) • Record your route with GPS track, distance, time, speed, total ascent and descent, maximum altitude and a live elevation profile • Keeps recording with the screen locked • End-of-stage summary, rename and delete trips, and export to GPX for your favourite map or hiking app • Your trips stay on your iPhone BAROMETRIC TREND (PRO) • Sea-level pressure graph over 3, 6 and 24 hours, adjusted with your GPS altitude so driving uphill never fakes a drop • Trend from "rising fast" to "falling rapidly" and a spoken weather alert when the pressure drops quickly • Optional background monitoring to keep recording while you park FLIGHT DISPLAY (PRO) An aircraft-style display: artificial horizon with pitch and roll, speed and altitude tapes and a heading strip. LIVE ACTIVITY AND WIDGETS (PRO) Keep altitude on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, and add the widget to your Home Screen. CARPLAY Four tabs — Navigation, Altitude (with pressure trend), Level (pitch, roll and wedge heights) and Trip Log (start/stop and live stats) — plus a dashboard with coloured instrument cells. Spoken alerts play through the car speakers. APPLE WATCH Altitude, barometric altitude, pressure, trend, vertical speed, coordinates, heading, the level with wedge heights and the trip log with start/stop on your wrist. VOICE ALERTS (PRO) Spoken warnings for altitude, speed and a rapid pressure drop, with your own thresholds, messages and any installed voice. FIVE LANGUAGES English, Italian, German, French and Spanish, with a built-in help guide. FREE AND PRO The Cockpit is free, and so are one CarPlay session and one Apple Watch session so you can try them. RV-Pilot Pro is a one-time purchase (no subscription) that unlocks the Flight Display, Level Assistant, Trip Log, Barometric Trend, Live Activity and widgets, unlimited CarPlay and Apple Watch, voice alerts and customization. PRIVACY No accounts, no analytics, no ads, no tracking. Sensor data is processed on your device. Trips and pressure history are stored only on your iPhone and can be deleted at any time. Location is used for GPS altitude, speed and heading, to record trips when you ask, and — only if you turn it on — to keep barometer monitoring running while you park. REQUIREMENTS An iPhone with GPS, barometer and motion sensors. CarPlay features need a compatible car; the Apple Watch app needs a paired Apple Watch.

Screenshots

Altitude Drive3 screens
RV3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: RV at Free against Altitude Drive's $2.99. RV also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 4 weeks) and device support (3 vs 1). Altitude Drive's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#159 vs unranked). On ads and iOS requirement 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

RV is free to download; Altitude Drive costs $2.99 up front. RV sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Altitude Drive asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Altitude Drive ships an update every 4 weeks, RV every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Altitude Drive versus RV: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAltitude DriveRV
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (5 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#159 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPeter SantangeliMarco Frigerio

In-app purchases

None

Altitude Drive

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

RV

One-time1
  • RV-Pilot Pro$2.99

Questions

Is Altitude Drive free?
Altitude Drive costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is RV free?
RV is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Altitude Drive or RV have ads?
Neither Altitude Drive nor RV shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Altitude Drive or RV?
Altitude Drive ships an update every 4 weeks, and RV every 8 days. Most recently, Altitude Drive was updated on November 8, 2026 and RV on November 5, 2026.

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