APRS Mobile vs Venice lagoon chart
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
APRS Mobile
This app provides Amateur Radio operators with a mobile interface to the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS). It allows users to beacon their position, view other operators on a map, and access weather data. Non-amateur operators can also monitor APRS activity globally.
- Real-time position mapping
- Beacon position in background
- Supports SmartBeaconing
- View weather station data
- Callsign SSID support
- Adjustable battery drain modes
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APRS Mobile connects your iPhone and iPad straight to APRS-IS, the internet side of the Automatic Packet Reporting System used by amateur radio operators worldwide. Watch the stations around you live, look up any station, message other hams and beacon your position. No account needed. Work over your own radio too — with a Bluetooth or network TNC, or with nothing but an audio cable and the built-in software modem. LIVE MAP • Stations appear the moment they're heard, with their APRS symbols and callsigns • Tracks, PHG circles and a Layers panel: fixed, mobile and weather stations, digipeaters, IGates and objects • Via: one control for every link — APRS-IS, TNC and software modem STATION DETAILS • Tap a station for a quick card, then its full page, updated live • Last heard, beacon prediction, digipath, comment and status • Position, Maidenhead grid, speed, course, altitude and distance from you • Current weather, plus weather and telemetry charts APRS MESSAGING • Chat with any station, with conversations and message bubbles • Messages go out over APRS-IS or straight over your radio; IGates carry them between the two • Automatic retries until acknowledged, with receipts • Notifications for messages to your callsign, even with the app closed • Block or report a station; offensive language is hidden behind a tap RADIO — TNC (OPTIONAL) • Connect a Mobilinkd TNC4, or a TNC3 on Bluetooth LE firmware, to send and receive over your own radio • Or reach a KISS TNC on your network: Direwolf on a Raspberry Pi, or a TNC on a serial-to-WiFi bridge • Choose how messages and beacons go out, and where map stations come from: radio, APRS-IS or both • Stays connected in the background, so beaconing and receiving carry on • Run a fill-in digipeater or an IGate from your phone • A TNC and a radio are separate purchases; everything else works without them RADIO — SOFTWARE MODEM (OPTIONAL) • No TNC required: with an audio cable your phone is the modem — 1200 baud APRS decoded from your radio's audio • Transmit through a radio set to VOX, with adjustable TX delay and level • A live spectrum with both tones marked, a level check in plain language and a clipping warning • Receiving needs no licence; transmitting is off until you confirm you hold one OFFLINE MAPS • Download OpenStreetMap-based maps for the areas you care about, and the map works with no network BEACONING • Four ways to beacon, from Settings or the map: off, SmartBeaconing, every so often, or fixed • SmartBeaconing beacons more often when moving fast or turning, less when slow or stopped • Fixed position suits a home station: type it in once, and no GPS is used • Carries on in the background when you allow it, with a low-power mode • Choose your APRS symbol, comment and position ambiguity AND MORE • Search for any callsign, city or zip code • An Apple Watch app: beacon, messages, nearby stations and weather graphs • Imperial, metric and nautical units, any APRS-IS server Receiving is free: anyone can watch APRS activity and weather stations. Transmitting — beacons, messages, the digipeater — needs APRS Mobile Transmit, a yearly auto-renewing subscription with the first month free. If you had APRS Mobile before version 1.4, transmitting stays free for you. It also requires an amateur radio license; over APRS-IS it needs the passcode for your callsign, and over the air it has to be switched on by hand. Terms: https://aprsmobile.app/terms Privacy: https://aprsmobile.app/privacy The software modem uses the microphone to hear your radio. The audio is decoded on your device, never recorded and never sent. Weather and telemetry history charts, and offline map downloads, come from openaprs.ai; everything else comes straight from APRS-IS or your radio. Offline map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Positions you send can be seen on other APRS websites too. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. A live APRS-IS feed uses a lot of data.
Venice lagoon chart
Navigate the Venice Lagoon with detailed charts, real-time tide data, and historical information. Essential for sailors and visitors, it provides canal speeds, water-bus schedules, and island guides.
- Detailed lagoon cartography
- Real-time tide and environmental data
- Canal speed limits and speedometer
- Water-bus stops and timetables
- Island-by-island historical information
- Marinas, harbors, and gas stations
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The first lagoon chart available as an App, produced by Mare di Carta publisher building on the experience of the printed "Carta della laguna di Venezia" at 1:25,000 scale, drawn from the official data of the Interregional Authority for Public Works of Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige and Friuli Venezia Giulia, which for over 500 years — once known as the Magistrato alle Acque and today as the Venice Lagoon Authority — has overseen the lagoon's waters. Featuring marinas, harbours, fuel stations, slipways and other information useful for navigation, the app includes a nautical navigator that calculates routes along the navigable channels taking into account your type of vessel and draught, and offers a handy speedometer for boaters showing in real time the maximum permitted speed in the channel you are sailing and the channel's name. The app gives a visual warning when the speed limit is exceeded. For those travelling by public transport, the app displays the ACTV vaporetto stops on the map. For everyone, historical information — island by island — and environmental insights are available for a better visit and understanding of today's lagoon, including the changes brought about by the safeguarding works. Real-time data on tides, temperature and other environmental information can also be consulted. "Carta della laguna" is therefore an indispensable tool for getting to know the lagoon: a guide for the visitor, but also a wealth of practical information for those who already know the lagoon well and appreciate finding so many layered details in a single app.
Screenshots
Verdict
APRS Mobile and Venice lagoon chart both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Venice lagoon chart's written reviews are positive against 44% of APRS Mobile's. APRS Mobile's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.2). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for APRS Mobile against 5.0 for Venice lagoon chart. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 44% of APRS Mobile's written reviews are positive against 100% of Venice lagoon chart's.
APRS Mobile ships an update every 2 weeks, Venice lagoon chart monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | APRS Mobile | Venice lagoon chart |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 43.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 396 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | OpenAPRS | Mare di Carta |
Customer experience
APRS Mobile
Venice lagoon chart
In-app purchases
APRS Mobile
No in-app purchases
Venice lagoon chart
No in-app purchases







