KanduMap is a Maldives chart app built from satellite-derived information and other named data sources. The official description combines a chart, GPS information and routes around hazards represented in that chart. Its most important qualification belongs at the start: the developer says there are no surveyed depths, reefs may be missing or misplaced, and clear water on the display does not mean safe water.
This First look uses the App Store listing. We have not navigated with it, compared depths or tested routes. It should not be presented as an official chart, a navigation-safety guarantee or a replacement for official information and local knowledge.
Based on official store information. We have not tested this app hands-on.
What it does
The chart includes atolls, islands, reef flats and depth bands to roughly eighteen meters, with ocean-depth information beyond. The developer explains that satellite colors and laser-derived depth observations inform the shallow-water model, while national mapping, ocean-depth and fisheries sources supply other information. That describes provenance, not an independent validation of accuracy.
An island or point can be selected for a route. The description says routes try to maintain about one hundred meters from charted reefs, islands and fish-aggregating devices where possible, with a smaller margin of about twenty-five meters in narrow passes. Those are algorithmic intentions around represented hazards, not verified clearances in the actual water.
Where visible in satellite material, a final approach can follow a channel toward an island harbour. The source makes this conditional on what the imagery shows. Do not turn the existence of a drawn approach into proof that it is suitable for a particular vessel or current conditions.
Search covers more than a thousand islands, alternative spellings and listed fish-aggregating devices. GPS speed and course appear with accuracy information, with course-up or north-up display, distance and bearing measurement and a screen lock. A warning is described when the GPS fix is lost so an old value is not presented as current.
The country chart is included for offline use, with no data plan or downloads needed at sea according to the developer. Large text and screen-reader support are also listed. We have not tested the coverage, accessibility or behavior of every device state.
Before you install
The limitation is not a minor disclaimer: satellite interpretation is not a surveyed depth record. A route can avoid only hazards the chart contains. Missing, shifted or unrepresented information can therefore matter even when a line looks well separated from the visible features.
Use the app's own warning as the boundary for evaluating it. Compare known areas with authoritative charting and appropriate local information before drawing conclusions from the display. This article does not establish that any suggested route is safe or suitable, and it does not provide vessel-specific navigation instructions.
Offline availability and GPS quality are separate questions. A chart can be present while position information is uncertain or unavailable. Inspect the reported accuracy and loss-of-fix behavior in a harmless setting rather than assuming a moving icon is always a reliable location reference.
The source's named data providers do not make KanduMap an official government product. Different inputs have different purposes and limitations, and we have not audited how the app combines or updates them. No public imagery years are needed to explain that uncertainty.
A screen lock or accessible display can support handling without making it appropriate to depend on one device for a safety-critical decision. The relevant evaluation is the complete information and operational setting, not only whether the interface is convenient.
Price and access
The linked US App Store offer is free. The developer describes no subscription, trial, in-app purchases, advertising or account, with location remaining on the phone. Those are developer claims rather than our privacy audit. Free access and offline coverage do not establish surveyed accuracy or navigation suitability.
Our take
The useful proposition is access to a broad, offline view of Maldivian waters with explicit information about how it was produced. That can support examining represented geography, but the same description sets firm limits on depth certainty and hazard coverage. Those limits should remain more prominent than the convenience of an automatically drawn route.
Start evaluation away from any consequential navigation decision, using areas you can compare with authoritative sources. Inspect what the display actually claims and where it leaves uncertainty. Keep route margins as descriptions of the algorithm, not promises about clearance.
We have not assessed accuracy, route safety or reliability. Our take is a source-based introduction to an estimated chart tool whose official-chart and local-knowledge warning is essential to understanding the product.
A search result identifies an entry in the app, not a guarantee that the approach to it is safe. A familiar island name can make a destination feel certain while the surrounding chart still contains the limitations stated by the developer.
For a route, distinguish distance and estimated time from verified passage conditions. The source describes planning outputs, not vessel-specific checks of draft, tide or current conditions.
A fish-aggregating-device symbol comes from a listed source. We have not verified the present position or condition of any device, so its chart representation should not become an independent real-world assurance.
Sources
App icon from the official store listing.
