APRS Map

Live position tracking and messaging for amateur radio public-service events.

APRS Map shows every volunteer on one live map and lets net control talk to any of them by text — during a race, a ride, a search, or any event where people are spread out and someone has to know where they are.

WHAT IT DOES

• See everyone, live. Positions refresh every few seconds. Trackers are color-coded by how recently they reported, so a station that has gone quiet is obvious at a glance.

• Share your own position. The app sets a sensible reporting interval based upon the speed of your movement. It keeps reporting with the screen locked and the phone in your pocket, and sends an extra position whenever you have moved far enough to matter.

• Message net control. Full two-way messaging with delivery and read receipts, photos, and group conversations. Arriving messages are read aloud, announcing who is calling before the message itself, so you can keep your eyes on the course.

• Answer from your wrist. The Apple Watch app turns your watch into a push-to-talk microphone: hold Talk, speak, release, and your reply is sent. Your phone announces incoming messages aloud even in a pocket, so the watch is free to be the thing you answer with.

• Work where there is no signal. Cache map tiles before you head out and the map keeps working when coverage does not.

FOR NET CONTROL

Aid stations, rest stops and anyone following an event can watch the same live map at marsaprs.org — no app required.

BEFORE YOU DOWNLOAD

This app is built for MARS (Marin Amateur Radio Society) events and connects to the marsaprs.org server. You will see the current public event's map right away. Sharing your own location and using messaging require a PIN and password issued by the event organizer, so if you are not taking part in a MARS event there is little here for you yet.

An amateur radio license is not required to use the app. Position sharing goes out over the internet, not over the air, under a callsign the server assigns.