Offline maps

Once your phone loses signal, most map apps go blank. ZoRove keeps working — the whole map, every road, every contour line — as long as you've downloaded the area beforehand.

Why this matters

Most public land in the western US has no cell signal. The places worth going have no signal. If your map only works connected, it doesn't work where you actually need it. Offline state packs solve that.

Download a state pack

  1. Open the side panel (the green tab on the right edge of the map).
  2. Find the Offline maps section.
  3. Tap Download manager. You'll see a list of all 50 US states with sizes.
  4. Tap the state you want. The download starts in the background — you can keep using the map.
  5. When it's done, that state shows a green check.
Do this before you leave the house. State packs range from 50 MB (small states) to 600 MB+ (Texas, California). Use Wi-Fi at home, not your last bar of LTE in the parking lot of a gas station.

What works offline

Once a state pack is downloaded, this all keeps working with no signal:

  • The base map — every road, trail, town, contour line.
  • Public lands overlay (BLM, Forest Service, NPS, wilderness).
  • OHV areas and forest roads.
  • Topo / elevation lines.
  • Cell coverage layer (so you can see where to walk for signal).
  • Trails layer.
  • All your saved places (private and public ones already on your map).
  • GPS tracking and breadcrumb logging.
  • GPX import / export.
  • Navigate-to-pin (offline routing to a pin, straight-line guidance).

What does not work offline

Anything that needs a live API call won't work without signal. That includes:

  • Searching for new places that aren't on your saved list.
  • Loading photos for places you haven't already viewed.
  • Weather, sun, and moon data.
  • Active fire perimeters (these refresh from a live feed).
  • Tribes notice boards, applications, comments.
  • Reviewing places (you can leave a review offline; it'll sync when you reconnect).

Switching between online and offline

By default, ZoRove uses your downloaded state packs whenever they cover where you're looking, and falls back to the online map everywhere else. You shouldn't normally need to think about it.

If you want to force the app to always use online maps (e.g. you're on Wi-Fi and want the freshest possible tiles), open the Offline maps section in the side panel and toggle Use offline maps off.

Updating a state pack

State packs are rebuilt about once a month from fresh data. To pick up updates, open Download manager and tap the state — it'll re-download. The old version is replaced atomically; your existing downloads keep working until the new one finishes.

Background auto-updates are coming. Right now you have to trigger updates manually. Auto-updating state packs over Wi-Fi while the app is closed is on the roadmap.

Storage and removing packs

State packs live in browser storage on web and in app storage on Android. To free space, open Download manager and tap the trash icon on any downloaded state.

If you're tight on storage, only keep the states you're actively using. You can always re-download.

Custom area downloads

Sometimes you only need a national forest, not a whole state. Custom area downloads are coming — you'll be able to draw a rectangle on the map and download just that area. Until then, state packs are the way.

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