Geo Measure
Any area. Any distance. On a map.
How many acres is that field? How far is the walk to the station? How much fence does the new lot need? Geo Measure answers on a map: tap the corners, read the number. It has been doing that since 2011, and it now keeps several shapes in one file, computes on the same earth model surveying software uses, and gets the numbers out as KML, GPX, CSV or a PDF report.
Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple Vision
One purchase. No account, no subscription.
See it in action
Recorded in the app. Interface shown in English.
Tap the corners. Read the number.
Tap the map to drop a point, and again for the next corner. The outline closes itself and the number updates with every point. Drag a pin to move it, with a loupe that shows exactly where it sits. Tap the small dot on an edge to bend the edge around a curve. Tap a pin and delete it from its callout. Every step is undoable, on the Mac with ⌘Z, and the outline warns you when it crosses itself.
Along roads and paths
A straight line is the wrong answer for a walk. Pick Walking, Cycling or Driving and every tap follows the paths and roads to it, the way you would really go, with Apple Maps’ travel time beside the distance. Drag a point and the route finds its way again; an area drawn along roads closes along them too. Straight lines are still one tap away, and an area starts with them, because fields and lots are measured corner to corner.
Areas, distances and circles, in one file
The north field, the fence line and the sprinkler’s reach belong together, so a document holds as many shapes as you like. Each one has a name and a colour, the list shows every shape’s number, and the totals add up at the bottom. Distances give you the length of every leg and its bearing; circles take a radius and give you diameter, circumference and area.
The right number
Areas and distances are computed on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the way surveying software does it, so a plot in Norway and a lot in Kenya are both right, and a state-sized quadrangle comes out within a hundredth of a percent of the geodesic answer. Acres, hectares, ares, square feet, square yards, square metres, square miles, square kilometres and tsubo; kilometres, miles, metres, feet, yards and nautical miles. The number shows the digits that mean something: four significant figures by default, up to six if you need them, whether it is 0.261 miles or 103,786 square miles. Settings can also write each shape’s name and value on the map, and the length of every side.
Every point, exactly
Open the points table under the map and every point is a row: its coordinates in decimal degrees or in degrees, minutes and seconds, the leg to it, its bearing and the distance so far. Pick a row and the map shows the point; pick a pin and the table scrolls to it. Type a new coordinate straight into the cell, nudge a corner north, south, east or west by a metre or a foot, delete several points at once, copy the lot to a spreadsheet. Add the point where you stand, or walk the boundary and let the phone drop a point every few metres.
In and out
Export GeoJSON, KML for Google Earth, CSV for a spreadsheet, GPX for a GPS, a PNG of the map, or a PDF report with the map, the numbers and every point. Import GeoJSON, KML and GPX: a parcel from a county GIS, a boundary from Google Earth, a track from a watch. Print from the Mac and from the phone. The document itself is GeoJSON, so anything that reads GeoJSON reads it.
Made for the Mac
Documents open in windows, autosave and keep versions. The menu bar has the whole app in it: ⌘1, ⌘2 and ⌘3 start an area, a distance or a circle, ⌃⌘1, ⌃⌘2 and ⌃⌘3 pick Select, Add Points or Freehand, ⌥-drag traces an edge, ⌥⌘P shows the points table, ⌘0 fits the map to the shapes, ⌘F searches for a place, ⌘, opens the settings. Drop a file on the map to import it, double-click a shape in the list to fit it on the map, and type in the points table like a spreadsheet: ↑ and ↓ move between rows, ⌥ with an arrow nudges the point.
On iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro
The same app and the same file. On the phone the map fills the whole screen and everything else floats on it in glass: the document at the top, the map controls on the right, the tools by your thumb and one sheet at the bottom with the number. Choose Select to look around without adding points by mistake, Add Points to draw, or Freehand to trace an edge with a finger or the Pencil. Files live in Files and iCloud Drive, so the lot you outlined on the phone opens on the Mac.
No file handy? Try these
Real documents, free to use. Download one and open it with Geo Measure.
- LaGuardia Airport: the airport’s outline in forty-five points, 646.5 acres.
- Central Park, three shapes: the park as an area, Fifth Avenue as a distance, the reservoir as a circle.
- Richmond, Virginia: a six-point loop around the Fan and Carytown, 3,108 acres.
- Colorado: the four corners of a state, 66 million acres.
- The Mist Trail: a walk in Yosemite drawn along the path, 3.49 miles and two hours on foot.
- Jaipur: a short route through the old city, as a distance.
Yours stays yours
Geo Measure has no account, no server and no tracking. Your measurements are files on your device, and in your iCloud Drive if you put them there. The only network traffic goes to Apple Maps: the map tiles it draws, the place search you type, and, when you measure along roads or paths, the points of each leg for directions. One purchase, no subscription, no in-app purchases. In English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese.
Questions people ask
How do I measure the area of a field or a lot on a map? Open Geo Measure, find the place by search or by scrolling, and tap each corner of the field. The area appears after the third point and updates as you add or move corners. Switch the unit on the number itself.
How accurate is it? The maths is the same as surveying software: distances by Vincenty’s formulae on the WGS84 ellipsoid, areas by spherical excess on the earth’s authalic sphere, checked against GeographicLib to a hundred-thousandth. The limit is where you put the pins, which on a satellite map at street zoom is a metre or so.
Can I get the shape into Google Earth or a GIS? Yes. Export KML for Google Earth, GeoJSON for QGIS and everything web, GPX for a GPS or a watch, CSV for a spreadsheet. Import works the same way round for GeoJSON, KML and GPX.
Does it work without a connection? The measurements do; the map needs a connection to load new tiles. Your files never need one.
Is there a web version? Yes, Geo Measure on geosq.com measures the same way in any browser, free. The apps add documents, several shapes, export and the Mac menus.
What is Geo Measure for Mac? The same app, sold on its own Mac-only record since 2013, with the same features and the same updates, for people who only want the Mac app or already own it. The app on this page is one purchase for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro. Nobody needs both.
Can it measure along a road or a trail? Yes. Choose Walking, Cycling or Driving and the line follows the paths and roads between the points you tap, with the travel time. Choose Straight for a line as the crow flies.
What changed lately? The newest work is written up in the 3.1 post.
Is there a manual? The Geo Measure guide covers every tool, menu, setting and Mac shortcut.