TacMap keeps navigation and mission tools available when signal drops. When a network is available, optional end-to-end encrypted Unit Sync shares the picture and live TacMap Chat. No account, ads, or analytics.
TAK is powerful and free, and it expects a server, a learning curve, and a platform choice. TacMap is the shared map you can hand to a whole team in two minutes.
| TacMap | Typical TAK setup | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iOS and Android, one app | ATAK / iTAK / WinTAK, varying parity |
| Multi-user setup | Share a join code | Often a TAK Server to run and secure |
| Account | None | Depends on deployment |
| Presence encryption | E2E content; relay sees traffic/session metadata | Depends on server / config |
| Time to first shared map | Minutes | Setup and a real learning curve |
| Offline maps | Default | Supported, more setup |
| Auditable | Open source + published threat model | Open core |
TAK is the more powerful platform, and it is fair to say so. TacMap focuses on time to first shared map, a shared iOS/Android feature contract, and a security story a non-specialist can verify. The gallery below contains only screenshots checked against the 2.0 candidate; cross-platform parity is enforced by the test suite, not inferred from marketing artwork.
MGRS grid, military symbology, measurement, and imported maps. TacMap makes zero tile requests until you explicitly turn on an online map.
See each other move in real time, reject implausible GPS jumps, and retain a clearly aged last-known marker through brief reconnects. Screen-off sharing is a separate opt-in on both platforms.
Send encrypted text or reports to the entire room or one selected live unit. The relay routes ciphertext but still sees Chat scope, the selected recipient, and traffic metadata; “Routed” is not a read receipt.
Rotate the map by touch or let the phone compass keep the map aligned with your heading. The north indicator and mils readout stay explicit, including the selected true, magnetic, or grid-north reference.
Import PDF, GeoPDF, and MBTiles packs. TacMap reads embedded georeferencing in the sheet's own projection and datum, so the MGRS grid sits on the printed grid, and calibrates ordinary map sheets on-device from three or more grid references when it is not. Sheets stay sharp as you zoom and can be baked to offline tiles. Mission objects come in from KML, KMZ or GeoJSON and go back out the same way.
Crash reports stay local unless you export them. Online maps/lookups are opt-in; platform stores may still reconcile your unlock without receiving mission or location payloads.
Line of sight, range rings, twilight times and a red screen for after dark. Everything here works offline except the elevation profile, which needs online lookups.
Open it from the Measure bar with two or more points, or from a selected line. The chart shows lowest and highest ground, total climb and descent, and height and distance wherever you touch. Between two points, TacMap checks line of sight for observer and target heights from 0 to 500 m, allowing for earth curvature and refraction: a blocked sight line turns red, the worst point is marked and dead ground is greyed out.
Heights are Copernicus DEM data from Open-Meteo, about 30 m apart, so trees and buildings are not included. Profiles only fetch while online lookups are on, and each one sends up to 200 points along the line.
Add up to 10 rings at your chosen spacing around any symbol or map point. They sync, export and undo like other drawings, and rings on a symbol follow it when it moves.
Nautical and civil twilight (BMNT/EENT, BMCT/EECT), sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset and moon illumination for any point, today or tomorrow. Calculated on the device, so it works offline and sends nothing.
The moon button on the map turns TacMap red, menus and dialogs included, and dims it to protect your night vision. Set how dim under Settings → Display.
Hold a finger still on an empty spot for about a second to place a symbol there, measure from it, add range rings, see sun and moon times, or copy the coordinate. Dragging the map never opens it.
Layers become KML folders; symbols and drawings become styled placemarks carrying their MGRS grid. KMZ with Symbols bundles each symbol’s image, so Google Earth, ATAK and GIS tools show your actual APP-6, task, marker and custom symbols.
Also in 3.0: sort the symbol list by newest, name, distance from the crosshair, affiliation or layer; an optional Keep screen on setting for a mounted map; and a guided tour on first run that you can replay from About & Credits → Replay Tour.
Bring your organisation’s artwork to the map. Import a pack, search it offline, and place symbols on your own layers.
Open Layers and Labels, add a named layer and select it as active. Try the ready-to-import pack of 894 German emergency-services symbols.
On Android, use Import / Export → Import Symbol Pack. On iPhone or iPad, use Import Symbol Pack in the marker editor. Choose the downloaded .json file.
Choose Custom Symbols and search by pack, category or name. Select a preview, name your marker and place it on your layer.
Requires TacMap 2.0.2 or later. The guide includes the pack download.
Captured from the real app on iPhone and Android, the same eight screens we ship to both stores. Scroll sideways or swipe on a phone.
8 store screens · iPhone and Android
Pre-stage the map and use field tools offline; Unit Sync reconnects through its relay when a network path is available.
Keep navigation and a pre-staged map available when coverage disappears.
Your map, your team, no account; optional network paths stay visible and off until you choose them.
Shared situational awareness without standing up a server.
The whole security story is documented and open. The sync layer is end-to-end encrypted, while the relay handles encrypted payloads plus a clear admission token, envelope, actor/session, control, and traffic metadata. The crypto ships with a test suite. If you can read code, you can check every claim on this page.
Download TacMap for offline field tools. When connected, share a join code for encrypted Unit Sync presence, mission objects, and TacMap Chat. No TacMap account. Three days free, then a one-time unlock with no subscription.
TACMAP
