Offline maps · Garmin
Maps that stay on the watch.
MapIT draws detailed street and trail maps on a Garmin watch and keeps them on the device, so a route works with no phone and no signal. Tiles are stored for up to 30 days rather than kept indefinitely — the map provider's terms set that limit. I wrote this because I wanted proper maps on my own runs without carrying a phone to get them. The app is free; the downloadable maps are the part that costs money.
Price
€12.00 per year
One payment, once a year. Nothing renews on its own and there is nothing to cancel — when the year runs out it simply stops. The first thirty days are free.
Location data
There isn't any. The watch fetches map tiles straight from the map provider, so those requests never reach my servers. No GPS tracks, no routes, no history of which areas were looked at — none of it is collected in the first place, so there is nothing to hand over, leak or change my mind about later.
Stored instead: a code identifying the watch, a record of what was paid for, and an email address only if the box at checkout is ticked. The privacy policy has the detail.
What offline does not mean
Maps live on the watch, but not permanently.
The 30-day limit
A downloaded tile stays on the watch for up to 30 days. After that it has to be fetched again the next time the watch has a connection.
This is a condition of the map provider's terms rather than something I chose, and it is not something I can waive — extended offline caching is what the licence for the map data forbids.
In practice
A map loaded before setting off works for that trip with no phone and no signal, which is the case MapIT is built for.
What does not work is loading an area once and expecting it a year later without the watch ever reconnecting. A watch that has been offline past the limit shows no map for that area until it can refetch, so an area worth relying on is worth opening shortly before leaving.
The first month is free
No account, and no card details up front.
First
Install or update MapITFrom the Connect IQ store, and free.
Day 1
Open it and load a mapThe 30-day trial starts at that moment — not when the app is installed, and not when it opens maps already downloaded.
Day 30
The trial endsThe watch shows a code to scan for anyone who wants to carry on. Left alone, MapIT simply stops — there is no subscription running in the background and nothing to cancel.
For anyone already running MapIT
Downloadable maps are the new part. The app itself stays free and everything it did before it still does — I have not moved any existing feature behind a payment.
Updating from the Connect IQ store and opening MapIT starts the trial at the first map load.
Which watches
118 models. This list is generated from the file the app is compiled against, so it cannot drift out of step with what will actually install.
See all 118 supported watches
Nothing matches that. The store listing below is the one Garmin actually checks before allowing an install.
- Approach S50
- Approach S62
- Approach S70 (42 mm)
- Approach S70 (47 mm)
- D2 Air
- D2 Air X10
- D2 Charlie
- D2 Delta
- D2 Delta PX
- D2 Delta S
- D2 Mach 1
- D2 Mach 2
- Descent G1
- Descent G2
- Descent Mk1
- Descent Mk2
- Descent Mk2S
- Descent Mk3 (43 mm)
- Descent Mk3i (51 mm)
- Enduro
- Enduro 3
- epix (Gen 2)
- epix Pro (Gen 2) 42 mm
- epix Pro (Gen 2) 47 mm
- epix Pro (Gen 2) 51 mm
- fēnix 5
- fēnix 5 Plus
- fēnix 5S
- fēnix 5S Plus
- fēnix 5X
- fēnix 5X Plus
- fēnix 6
- fēnix 6 Pro
- fēnix 6S
- fēnix 6S Pro
- fēnix 6X Pro
- fēnix 7
- fēnix 7 Pro
- fēnix 7 Pro (no Wi-Fi)
- fēnix 7S
- fēnix 7S Pro
- fēnix 7X
- fēnix 7X Pro
- fēnix 7X Pro (no Wi-Fi)
- fēnix 8 (43 mm)
- fēnix 8 (47 mm)
- fēnix 8 Pro (47 mm)
- fēnix 8 Solar (47 mm)
- fēnix 8 Solar (51 mm)
- fēnix Chronos
- fēnix E
- Forerunner 165
- Forerunner 165 Music
- Forerunner 245
- Forerunner 245 Music
- Forerunner 255
- Forerunner 255 Music
- Forerunner 255S
- Forerunner 255S Music
- Forerunner 265
- Forerunner 265S
- Forerunner 55
- Forerunner 570 (42 mm)
- Forerunner 570 (47 mm)
- Forerunner 645
- Forerunner 645 Music
- Forerunner 745
- Forerunner 935
- Forerunner 945
- Forerunner 945 LTE
- Forerunner 955
- Forerunner 965
- Forerunner 970
- Instinct 2
- Instinct 2S
- Instinct 2X
- Instinct 3 AMOLED (45 mm)
- Instinct 3 AMOLED (50 mm)
- Instinct 3 Solar (45 mm)
- Instinct Crossover
- Instinct Crossover AMOLED
- Instinct E (40 mm)
- Instinct E (45 mm)
- Legacy Hero — Captain Marvel
- Legacy Hero — First Avenger
- Legacy Saga — Darth Vader
- MARQ (Gen 2)
- MARQ Adventurer
- MARQ Athlete
- MARQ Aviator
- MARQ Aviator (Gen 2)
- MARQ Captain
- MARQ Commander
- MARQ Driver
- MARQ Expedition
- MARQ Golfer
- Venu
- Venu (Daimler)
- Venu 2
- Venu 2 Plus
- Venu 2S
- Venu 3
- Venu 3S
- Venu 4 (41 mm)
- Venu 4 (45 mm)
- Venu Sq
- Venu Sq 2
- Venu Sq 2 Music
- Venu Sq Music
- Venu X1
- vívoactive 3
- vívoactive 3 (Daimler)
- vívoactive 3 Music
- vívoactive 3 Music LTE
- vívoactive 4
- vívoactive 4S
- vívoactive 5
- vívoactive 6
For a model that is not on this list, the store page is the definitive check — Garmin will not offer the install to a device it does not support.
About me
I'm Benjamin, and MapIT is my side project.
It is one person rather than a company, with no support team behind it. I build it in my own time, mostly because I use it myself.
That is also where the price comes from: a few euros a year covers the map data and keeps the thing running, rather than funding growth. It sets a fair expectation about support too — every email comes to me, so a broken payment gets sorted out the same day and a feature request waits until I have a free evening. More on what that means in practice.
The short version
| Trial | 30 days, from the first map load |
|---|---|
| Offline | Tiles refetch after 30 days on the watch |
| Renewal | Manual — nothing charges automatically |
| Account | None. A licence belongs to a watch |
| Transfers | Twice in any rolling 12 months |