Settings: your complete guide to the Aqua Map menu

The Settings menu is command central for Aqua Map, tap the button in the bottom-right corner of the screen to open it, and you'll find every feature of the app organized into clear sections. Most items give you a quick on/off switch for that data layer or function, and many also include a "Settings" arrow leading to a dedicated page with the full set of options.

This page walks through every section, top to bottom, so you know exactly where to find what.

Help

Right at the top, you'll find two help options: one takes you to our website's Support section, and the other opens quick in-app tutorials explaining what each element in Aqua Map actually does.

Aqua Map charts store

Tap here to browse our full chart catalog, organized by continent and country, view your existing purchases, or restore charts you've bought previously.

My Boat

This is where you set up your personal and boat details, type, average speed, draft, and more. Most of what you enter here feeds directly into other Aqua Map features, helping personalize the data and calculations you see elsewhere in the app. For the full breakdown, see the My Boat page.

Route Planner

Activate and configure Route Planner here, including the parameters that shape how automatic route calculation behaves.

Anchor Alarm

Turn on and configure Anchor Alarm, including your anchor position and all alarm parameters, from this section.

Overlays

Control which extra data layers show up on top of your chart.

Land data, how the land portion of the map is displayed: "Normal" for the full road network and POIs, "Faded" for a semi-transparent version, or "Hidden" to remove it entirely. This has no effect on nautical data, and it isn't available in areas where charts are in Raster format.
Paper charts overlay, adds supplementary raster charts on top of the map, with a slider in the lower-right corner to adjust opacity. Only available in certain areas.
Tides & Currents display, shows tide and tidal current stations as icons on the map.
Fishing Charts, displays and configures any Fishing Charts you've purchased, providing supplementary detail in specific areas.

Advanced Tools

This section covers everything included in an Advanced Tools subscription. On the right of the "Advanced Tools" row, you'll see your current status: "Active" means one of the subscriptions is currently running, "Purchase" means you don't have one yet. Tap "Purchase" to head to the Store, or tap "Active" to review your current subscription.

Pro Features

Marine Forecast, overlaying weather data on the map, currently supporting surface currents, wind, waves, salinity, and sea surface temperature. See the Marine Forecasts page for the full rundown.
Weather stations display, showing weather buoy icons on the map, giving you real-time conditions at their exact locations.
Online satellite images, overlaying satellite imagery on the map, with an opacity slider in the lower-right corner.
Route Explorer, enabling the on-map Route Explorer window while you're navigating. Turning this switch off doesn't disable Route Explorer entirely, the information stays available from any track or route's detail page. See the Route Explorer page for full configuration options.
AIS, overlaying AIS targets on the map, which requires receiving an AIS data stream through a Wi-Fi connection. See the AIS Integration page for display and collision avoidance settings.
Wi-Fi connections (NMEA), letting you create and manage connections between Aqua Map and your boat's devices transmitting NMEA or Signal-K data over Wi-Fi. See the Wi-Fi Connections page for setup.

Local Data

Available only for customers in the US or Canada:

USACE surveys, overlays US Army Corps of Engineers hydrographic survey data on the map. See the USACE Surveys page for configuration;
Coast Guard data, overlays US Coast Guard data (Local Notice to Mariners and List of Lights) and Canadian Coast Guard NAVWARNs. See the Navigational Info page for the full picture.

Communities

This section houses your GEC Account and every community data source available in Aqua Map.

GEC Account, your official Aqua Map account, letting you archive your user data (routes, markers, tracks) and share purchases free across up to 5 devices, iOS and Android alike. Access it directly by tapping the arrow, or by logging in on our website. See the GEC Account page for details.
Live Sharing, connects you with the Aqua Map community. See the Live Sharing page for setup.
ActiveCaptain, overlays data from the ActiveCaptain community. See the ActiveCaptain page for downloading and display options.
Waterway Guide, overlays data from the Waterway Guide community. See the Waterway Guide page for downloading and display options.
Bob423 tracks, automatically imports and keeps every Bob423 ICW track synced. Just enable it once, future updates sync automatically with no further action needed.
Crowdsourced Bathymetry, lets you participate in the IHO's Crowdsourced Bathymetry Initiative. See the Crowdsourced Bathymetry page for setup.

Map customization

Set up the map's overall appearance and shading:

Menu appearance, Light, Dark, or "Auto" (matching your device's own setting) for menus, buttons, and windows. iOS only.
Map appearance, Day or Night drawing style, or "Auto" to match your device. Night mode is best in low-light conditions, since contrast can be too low under direct sunlight.
Depth coloring, "Standard" mimics traditional paper charts (blue for shallow, shading to white past 20m), while "Natural" mimics real sea colors (white for shallow, shading to dark blue past 3,500m). Doesn't apply to Raster charts.
Safety depth, sets the depth threshold for shaded areas, anything deeper than this shows as white (Standard) or dark blue (Natural), while shallower depths stay shaded. This one does apply to Raster charts.
Perspective View, choose when the bird's-eye Perspective View activates: "Never" to disable it entirely, "Manual" to toggle it with a two-finger swipe, or "Auto" to enable it automatically in Heading-up mode and disable it in North-up mode (you can still toggle it manually even with Auto selected).
Map visibility, controls icon and text size across the map, see the dedicated settings page for the full set of options.

Measure units

Choose your preferred units across the app:

distance unit, Nautical Mile (NM), kilometer (km), or statute mile (mi). NM/m is a special option for anyone who prefers meters generally but wants NM for longer distances.
depth/elevation unit, foot or meter. This setting doesn't affect display in areas using Raster charts.
temperature unit, Fahrenheit or Celsius.
fuel unit, gallon or liter.
coordinates format, DMS.s (Degrees, Minutes, Seconds and fraction of a second) or DM.m (Degrees, Minutes and fraction of a minute).
degrees (T or M), True or Magnetic as your reference for direction. True means every angle is relative to the actual North Pole, while Magnetic corrects for the Earth's magnetic field using the current WMM2020 model.

General

Manage automatic updates and how much storage Aqua Map is using:

automatic updates, controls how and when your downloaded maps and data update. See the dedicated Settings page for the full options.
downloaded maps, shows how much storage your downloaded maps are using, and lets you clear all of them at once with the "Reset" button, or remove individual tiles from the Charts page instead.

Important note: allow iOS to delete maps in case of low available space, turn this on, and iOS may automatically remove downloaded map tiles if your device is running low on storage.

UI settings

Fine-tune how the app itself behaves:

sound effects, turns on sounds for button presses and interactions. Doesn't affect the Anchor Alarm sound, and iOS only.
UI animation effects, enables animations when opening and closing windows. iOS only.
buttons auto-hide, automatically hides map buttons after 10 seconds of no touch input, just tap the screen to bring them back.
disable auto-lock, keeps your device from locking automatically. Worth knowing: this can noticeably increase battery usage, since the screen stays on.

Footer

At the bottom of the menu, you'll find a few standing options: Restore purchases, to recover any past in-app purchases, Contact support, which opens a direct email to support@aquamap.app for help, bug reports, or feature suggestions, and links to our Disclaimer and Acknowledgement, Terms and Conditions, and Privacy Policy.