Downloading charts for offline navigation
When you first install Aqua Map, your device comes preloaded with a worldwide basemap. It's fine for getting your bearings, but it's not detailed enough to actually navigate by. For that, you'll need to download the full nautical charts for the area you're heading to, and you do that using the Manage Charts button in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
How to download charts
Tap the Manage Charts button, or simply zoom in far enough that detailed charts become necessary, and a dedicated grid layer appears over the map, showing you the chart tiles available for that area.
To download a tile, tap it (it turns blue), then press Start. Once the download finishes, the tile turns green and is stored on your device for offline use, so you can zoom in and get the full level of detail even without a connection.
Each tile's color tells you its current status.
- Blue means the tile is selected and ready to download.
- Green means it's already downloaded and available offline.
- Gray means it can't be downloaded, usually because it falls outside your current coverage.
- A lock icon means the tile isn't included in your current purchase.
- "To update" appears inside a tile when a newer version of that chart is available.
Tapping a green tile again deletes it, marked with a red cross before it's removed.
Keeping your charts up to date
Chart data changes over time, so it's worth keeping an eye on updates. If any downloaded tiles need refreshing, a red dot with a number appears on the Manage Charts button, telling you exactly how many tiles are flagged "To update".
If you instead see a blue dot 
, it means Aqua Map already took care of it, automatically updating that number of tiles in the background. You can fine-tune how this works on the Automatic Download page.
A note for iOS users
On iOS, downloaded chart tiles are stored by default in a protected area of your device, so they won't get deleted automatically if you're running low on storage. If you'd rather change that behavior, you can adjust it from the Settings page.
Want to see it in action?
For a full walkthrough of downloading and managing charts, check out our video tutorial.
