Recovery Map

Follow the Line to Your Rocket

AltosUI's Recovery Map gives you a dedicated walking map focused on one thing: getting you from where you are to where your rocket landed. It shows your position, the rocket's position, and a straight line between you — updating live as you walk. No clutter, no extra annotations, just you and your rocket on a map.

What You See

Your Position — The standard blue dot shows where you are, with a heading cone indicating the direction you're facing. The map follows your movement automatically, rotating to match your heading so "forward" on screen matches "forward" in real life.

Rocket Marker — A red-orange diamond marks the rocket's last reported GPS position, updating with incoming telemetry.

Route Line — A colored line connects you to the rocket. As you walk, the line shortens.

Direction Badge — The lower-right corner shows distance and direction relative to where you're facing: "ahead", "right 47 degrees", "backwards", or "nearby" when you're within GPS accuracy. No compass jargon — just which way to walk.

GPS Accuracy Circle — A dashed circle around the rocket marker shows the real GPS accuracy area based on current satellite geometry. The circle is honest — larger with fewer satellites, smaller with a good fix — so you know how large an area to search when you arrive.

Offline Maps

The map uses Apple Maps tiles when online and switches automatically to pre-downloaded offline tiles when there's no cell signal. Walking-recovery tiles are downloaded at a zoom level that shows fence lines, tree lines, and terrain features — enough detail to plan a foot route through obstacles.

How to Use It

1. Navigate to the Recover tab
2. Tap Map in the mode selector at the bottom
3. Walk toward the rocket — the map follows you

The map auto-zooms to fit both you and the rocket on screen, tightening as you close in.

When It Works Best

The Recovery Map is your primary navigation tool for the bulk of the walk. When the rocket is 200 meters to a kilometer away, the map view gives you the best situational awareness — you can see terrain, roads, fences, tree lines, and plan a sensible route rather than walking in a straight line through obstacles.

It pairs naturally with the AR HUD. Use the map to navigate the middle distance, then switch to AR mode for the final approach when you're close and scanning the ground. The mode selector makes switching instant.

What You Need

• GPS location services enabled
• An active telemetry connection to a flight computer with GPS (TeleMega, TeleMetrum, or TeleGPS)
• For offline use: pre-download maps for your launch site in the app settings

This is an experimental feature. We're refining the recovery map experience and would love to hear what works well and what could be better during your recovery walks.