Useful Travel Apps for Alaska?

[xlxo]

I found Maps.ME not particularly useful. It didn't find our actual location on board - while connected to WiFi it thought we were in Cuba, when not connected to wifi it never found a location at all. It did find our location in towns, and in fact I used it in Juneau to drive to Mendenhall and then back to downtown, but it couldn't find attractions by name (didn't have Glacier Gardens, for example). It didn't pinpoint our position during the flight when the phone was in airplane mode with GPS enabled. (The app says it will take longer to find its position that way, but when it was still searching after 20 minutes, I gave up.) I guess you can say it's worth what I paid for it, but I was disappointed it wasn't more useful.

Thoughts....

• Maps.Me was meant to be used outside where your phone can see satellites unobstructed.. Thus it works well when you were in town.
  
• there's too much metal inside the ship. The wifi assist has an IP address from Cuba, thus thinks you are in Cuba. Maps.Me should be used on the outside decks where it can receive satellite signals. Inside the ship, I would use the TV screens.
  
• the plane also has too much metal. If I hold the phone against the window..... 60% I can get a signal. Inside the plane, I would use the screens.
  
• Yes, Google Maps is a great alternative. Note you need to download the maps if you want to minimize data charges when travelling. I found Maps.Me is a little better with hiking trails.
  
• Maps.Me uses OpenStreetMap. Glacier Garden is not registered at this time.
  

[Glaciers]

We were on a small ship cruise two weeks ago and didn’t visit the usual ports. I found Maps.Me very useful. As noted, it didn’t have all of the attractions but it did very well in showing the islands and land masses we passed along the way and coves we overnighted in. I used it daily and had no problems.