Kompass maps on your iPhone
Kompass hiking maps are a DACH institution — the yellow-green 1:25,000/1:50,000 sheets cover the Alps from Garmisch to Garda and live in half the hiking households of Germany and Austria. Kompass's own app puts its digital maps behind a Pro subscription; the paper sheet you already own has a subscription-free second life: photographed and georeferenced in NomadTracks, it becomes a live offline map.
The paper-sheet workflow
Photograph your Kompass sheet flat and evenly lit (or scan sections), import the image into NomadTracks, and set three or four control points on summits, marked junctions or the map grid. The app shows the alignment accuracy in meters — Kompass's dense trail markings make excellent reference points. From then on your blue dot moves across the familiar cartography, fully offline.
What about the Kompass app?
Kompass's own app is good at what it does — but the real Kompass map, offline use and certified tours sit behind the Kompass Pro subscription, with an account. The NomadTracks way is the opposite model: no account, no subscription for your maps, and the sheet you bought once keeps working. (For personal use only — don't redistribute scans.)
One recorder for all your sheets
The same workflow handles every paper map in the drawer: Kompass, alpine-club AV sheets, freytag & berndt, trailhead panels. They all become layers in one library, with your recorded tracks, POIs and photos on top — synced privately through your own iCloud.
NomadTracks is not affiliated with or endorsed by any mapping agency. Always check the agency's current licence terms for your intended use; the notes here are a good-faith summary as of June 2026.
FAQ
Can I legally use my Kompass paper maps this way?
Photographing a sheet you own for your own private navigation is generally regarded as personal use — don't share or redistribute the scans. For anything beyond personal use, check Kompass's licensing.
How accurate is a photographed Kompass sheet?
With well-spread control points on summits or junctions, alignment within a few meters is typical — NomadTracks displays the RMS error so you always know how much to trust it.
Do I need the Kompass Pro subscription?
Not for this workflow — NomadTracks georeferences the paper sheet you already own, free and unlimited. Kompass Pro is that app's own subscription for its digital maps and tours.