Mini Altimeter vs AboveSea

A barometric altimeter and GPS speedometer for hiking, skiing, trail running, cycling and flying. One screen, with nothing on it that is not a reading. BOTH ALTITUDES, SIDE BY SIDE Most altimeter apps make you choose between the pressure sensor and the satellite fix. This one shows both, always. They fail in different ways — the barometer drifts as the weather moves, GPS elevation wanders indoors and under trees — so seeing them together is what tells you whether to trust either. The difference between them is shown as a delta, and it is the most honest signal the app has: it is measured, not estimated. WORKS WITH NO SIGNAL There is no networking code in this app at all. Altitude is computed on the device from raw barometric pressure using the standard atmosphere, so the altimeter keeps working in a valley, inside a building, on a plane and in airplane mode. LIVE ON YOUR LOCK SCREEN AND IN THE DYNAMIC ISLAND Start a trip and the altimeter keeps running in the background. Your current altitude sits in the Dynamic Island, and the lock screen shows both altitudes, climb rate, ascent, descent and speed without unlocking the phone. End the trip and it all stops — background tracking is always something you chose. WIDGETS Home-screen widgets show your last altitude, pressure, ascent and speed, and say how long ago the reading was taken. They never pretend to be live. APPLE WATCH On a watch with a barometer it is a complete altimeter on your wrist, using the same calibration as your phone. On one without, it mirrors your iPhone's readings and says so. TRIP RECORDING AND STATISTICS Every trip is saved. Open it later for statistics shaped to what you were doing — pace and ascent for a hike, speed for a ride, exit and deployment altitude and freefall time for a jump, thermals, climb rates and glide ratio for a flight — with an altitude profile. The activity is recognised from the track itself, and on iPhones with Apple Intelligence the on-device model gives a second opinion. Trips store altitude, speed and pressure only, never where you were. FOUR LOOKS Glass — true black, lit numerals. Phosphor — a green terminal. Paper — ink on white. LCD — a grey-green segment display with a bar trace. Every one keeps every number in the same place. CALIBRATION THAT MAKES SENSE A pressure sensor measures changes to within about a metre, but it cannot know how far it is to sea level on its own. Pin it three ways: match the GPS, type an elevation you trust from a trailhead sign or a chart, or enter the sea-level pressure (QNH) from a nearby airfield. A stale reference costs roughly 8 metres per hectopascal, so the app tells you when it has gone stale rather than quietly drifting. WHAT IT SHOWS • Barometric and GPS altitude together, either one selectable as primary • Ground speed, with maximum and average • Vertical speed, fitted over several seconds so it does not jitter • A fifteen-minute elevation trace • Cumulative ascent and descent • Distance travelled, and station pressure • Metres or feet, km/h, mph, knots or m/s, hPa, inHg or mmHg BUILT TO BE READ AT A GLANCE Large monospaced numerals that do not shift as digits change. One accent colour, spent only on what is live or wrong. Nothing decorative. It never shows a number it does not have. No speed fix says so plainly rather than displaying zero. NO ACCOUNT, NO TRACKING, NO ADS Nothing is collected and nothing is transmitted. The source code is public.

AboveSea shows the approximate elevation of any point on Earth. Move the map, and the number under the crosshair tells you how high the ground is there. Over the sea it shows the depth. WHAT YOU CAN DO • See the ground elevation under the crosshair, anywhere in the world • Tilt the map to 3D to see mountains and valleys in relief • See the depth of the sea • Compare two points: height difference and straight-line distance • Find cities, addresses or coordinates • Check the altitude of your phone from GPS • Save your own places on your phone • Meters or feet, light or dark appearance HONEST NUMBERS The value is an estimate from a terrain model. When the map is zoomed far out, AboveSea shows a rounded value or asks you to zoom in instead of pretending to be precise. Sharp summits can be smoothed in the model. The altitude of your phone from GPS is shown separately, because it is a different measurement. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account, no ads, no tracking. Saved places stay on your phone. The map works without access to your location. AboveSea is a reference tool, not a surveying instrument, an aircraft altimeter or an emergency navigation aid. Map data © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap contributors. Sea depths: GEBCO Compilation Group (2026) GEBCO 2026 Grid.