Avenza Maps integrates what3words to improve the offline navigation experience

Avenza Maps is a mobile mapping app and navigation tool that allows people to locate themselves on maps without an internet connection or network connectivity. Its extensive range of features is used by outdoor enthusiasts and adventure travellers who use digital maps on their smartphones and tablets. Avenza Maps is also widely used by professionals including forestry workers, wildland firefighters and search and rescue teams for location, to plot and to record placemarks, photos and information.

Now that it has integrated what3words, Avenza Maps users around the world can search for precise what3words addresses directly in the Avenza Maps app, making it even easier to explore new destinations and navigate the globe. The new what3words feature will enable users to set accurate waypoints, plot their favourite points along hiking trails or cycling routes and identify their own location and in extreme situations report their precise location to potential rescuers, all using just three words.

‘what3words makes location information simple and accessible to everyone without the need for knowledge of complicated coordinate systems, numbering and terminology’ said Ted Florence, CEO of Avenza Systems, Inc. ‘Our vision for Avenza Maps has always been to make everything about using maps easier, and integrating what3words does just that’

For many people, GPS coordinates can be difficult to remember or communicate accurately without mistakes. Avenza Maps has integrated what3words so its users can input location data into the app using a simpler, more human-friendly format of just three words. To prevent mistakes, what3words AutoSuggest prompts users with intelligent suggestions, helping people get exactly where they want to go, first time.

For outdoor enthusiasts and adventure seekers, Avenza Maps offline functionality with the new what3words feature provides an innovative way to discover remote spots in the wilderness, find unmarked roads, or share epic, off-grid camping spots that may previously have been hard to describe, share or navigate to with precision – all without the need for a data connection.

Chris Sheldrick, Co-founder and CEO of what3words said ‘Following the rapid adoption of what3words by most UK emergency services, there’s enormous potential for our addressing system to be used within Avenza Maps to help international police, fire, ambulance and rescue teams, around the world, locate those in need faster –- and save precious time, resources and lives, every day’