BackCountry Navigator GPS PRO

Review by eFreeware

If you spend time on trails, in hunting units or on water where phone signal disappears, BackCountry Navigator GPS PRO is the sort of app worth a look before your next trip. It is built to turn an Android phone or tablet into a handheld GPS with topographic maps stored on the device, so navigation does not depend on a data connection once you have prepared. The idea is simple: download the maps you need at home, carry them with you, and use the phone's GPS to see where you are.

That pitch has been around for a long time. The app first appeared on the Play Store in June 2010 and has since passed 100,000 installs, with a 3.0 average across 6,972 ratings. It costs $14.99 as a one-time purchase, contains ads and offers in-app purchases. It is described as the bestselling outdoor navigation app for Android, and its longevity at least suggests people keep coming back to it.

What appeals to me here is the combination of offline maps, waypoints and track recording in one place, rather than a single-purpose map viewer. You get terrain shown through color and contour lines, which is what makes a topographic map useful when you leave the road. The app is not trying to be a city navigation tool; it is for the outdoors, and it says so plainly.

Offline topo maps for trips beyond cell coverage

The core of the app is map downloading. Topographic maps covering the United States and numerous other nations can be downloaded beforehand and stored on the device, so no cell signal is needed while you are out. The GPS in your Android phone gets its position from satellites, which means the map and your location keep working together even when the data plan does not. For anyone who has watched a map app spin on a ridge with one bar of signal, that is the whole point.

The built-in sources are a mix of public and free-to-use options. The map sources include OpenStreetMap data via MapQuest, OpenCycleMap terrain coverage for the whole world, US Topo from Caltopo and the USGS, USTopo aerial imagery with markup, Canada Topo from Toporama, NOAA nautical charts for coastal waters, USGS color aerial imagery, and topographic maps for Spain, Italy, New Zealand and Japan through GSI. Many of these are generally free to use, and you can build your own maps with Mobile Atlas Creator or point the app at a custom tile server.

For hunting and land-access work, the app supports overlays rather than replacing the base map. Boundary maps for 12 western states come from the Bureau of Land Management, and there are game management unit boundaries in some states plus lake contours in several states. These can be shown on top of the topographic layer, which is a sensible way to handle information that changes or that you only need occasionally. Trail content from US TrailMaps covers ATV, whitewater and equestrian routes.

Waypoints, tracks and geocaching

Navigation in the app is organized around waypoints. You can bring them in from GPX or KML files, or type coordinates yourself using longitude and latitude, UTM, MGRS or grid reference. Once a waypoint exists, GOTO makes it the target for navigation, so the app can point you toward it as you move. That is a familiar routine for anyone who has used a dedicated handheld GPS, and it is the part that makes the app feel like a replacement for one.

Track recording is the other half of the job. The app logs your route and waypoints as you go, so you end up with a record of the trip drawn over the topographic map. Geocachers get a specific workflow: bring in a pocket query as a GPX file and use the app as the navigator. The developer also lists hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, search and rescue, long-distance trekking, kayaking, canoeing and backpacking among the activities people use it for.

There is Android Wear support, which puts navigation information on a watch so you can check it without pulling out the phone. A recent update fixed a crash that occurred while sending navigation stats to a watch on Android 17. Smaller fixes also show a steady maintenance record: a crash when opening the tracks list for a track with a very long description, a crash when searching for text containing an apostrophe, and a change so a damaged trip database is kept rather than deleted by Android. Those are not glamorous changes, but they suggest the app is being looked after rather than left to rot.

What you need before the trip starts

This is not an app you install at the trailhead. Maps are downloaded in advance, and they use your device's storage memory. The amount of space you need depends on how much terrain you want to cover, so the practical step is to plan your area before you leave and make sure the phone or tablet has room for it. A device with limited free storage will fill up faster than you might expect once you start adding regions.

The app relies on the GPS receiver in your Android phone or tablet, not on a separate device. It also supports Android Wear watches for navigation at a glance, and the recent changelog mentions Android 17 in connection with watch stats, so newer Android versions are being addressed. The developer suggests trying the demo version to check that the maps for your country are to your liking before committing to the paid app. That is a reasonable suggestion, and it is the safest way to find out whether the available sources cover the places you actually go.

The paid add-ons are worth understanding before you buy, because the base app does not include everything. AccuTerra topographic maps cost $19.99 per year, and Thunderforest worldwide sources cost $11.99 per year; either can be used alongside or instead of the free sources. The BLM boundary overlays, GMU boundaries, lake contours and US TrailMaps content are additional purchases as well, available through the purchasing section of the app. The app itself contains ads and offers in-app purchases on top of the $14.99 purchase price.

A tool for hunters, hikers and paddlers

The people most likely to get value from this app are those who already think in terms of maps, coordinates and routes. If you hunt in rugged country, hike off trail, paddle coastal waters or take long backpacking trips, the offline topo layer plus waypoint navigation is exactly the toolkit you need. Search and rescue work fits the same pattern. Geocachers have a specific reason to care, since pocket queries arrive as GPX files and the app can navigate to them.

It is less obviously suited to casual weekend walks on well-marked paths, where a simpler map app may be enough. The app is also not a substitute for judgment in the backcountry. It gives you a position, a map and a route; it does not tell you whether the creek is crossable or the weather is turning. Treat it as one piece of gear among several, alongside the paper map and compass you should still carry.

The 3.0 average across nearly 7,000 ratings tells you that opinions are mixed, and I would not read that as a verdict either way. A long-lived app with a dedicated following and a paid add-on structure tends to collect both enthusiastic and frustrated reviews. The feature set is coherent: offline maps, waypoints, tracks, overlays and watch support all point at the same user.

The cost of the full setup

The $14.99 purchase price is only the entry point if you want the premium map layers. AccuTerra runs $19.99 per year and Thunderforest $11.99 per year, and the boundary, GMU, lake contour and trail map content is sold separately. None of that is hidden, but it does mean the total outlay can climb well past the sticker price if you want the full set of sources. The free public sources cover a lot of ground, so the question is whether the paid layers add something you specifically need.

The app contains ads, which is unusual for a paid app and worth knowing before you buy. It also offers in-app purchases, which is how the add-ons are delivered. I would not describe any of this as deceptive, but it does mean the app is not a single clean transaction. If you dislike ads in software you have already paid for, that is a real consideration.

The recurring costs are tied to specific map sources. That distinction matters when you are comparing the total cost of ownership against a dedicated handheld GPS. A phone you already own plus a $14.99 app is a different proposition from a dedicated handheld, even after a year or two of map subscriptions.

A strong pick for off-grid navigation

BackCountry Navigator GPS PRO is worth considering if you want offline topographic maps, waypoint navigation and track recording on an Android phone or tablet you already carry. It suits hikers, hunters, paddlers, backpackers, geocachers and search and rescue users who plan their routes and want the map to work without cell coverage. The free public map sources cover a broad range of countries, and the paid layers add specialized content for those who need it.

The caveats are straightforward. It costs $14.99, contains ads, and offers in-app purchases that include annual map subscriptions. The 3.0 average suggests it does not please everyone. The developer's own advice to try the demo first is the right way to approach it, particularly if you are unsure whether the maps for your region are detailed enough.

If you already navigate with a handheld GPS and understand coordinates, waypoints and GPX files, this app will feel familiar. If you are looking for turn-by-turn directions to a restaurant, it is not that. For the outdoors user who wants a topographic map that keeps working when the signal drops, it makes a credible case for itself.

What's new in version 8.1.7

• Fixed a crash opening the tracks list when a track has a very long description (e.g. imported from GPX/KML). • Searching tracks, shapes, trails or waypoints for text with an apostrophe no longer crashes, and shape search works again. • A damaged trip database is now kept instead of being deleted by Android. • Fixed a crash when relaying navigation stats to a watch on Android 17.