Achilleus 3D

User Guide

Maps, coordinates, markers, drawing, terrain analysis and tactical planning, on iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac.

Last updated: 18 October 2026

• Quick startYour first five minutes
• The screenCross, rail, bars and panels
• MapsOnline, offline, custom, 3D, night
• CoordinatesFormats, datums, Go to, converter
• MarkersSymbols, rings, sectors, photos
• Layers & listsFind, show, hide, organise
• DrawingLines, paths and circles
• MeasuringDistance and bearing
• Terrain analysisLine of sight, viewshed, slope
• Tactical tasksOperation plans, control measures
• Adjust fireCorrections from observed rounds
• Navigation & tracksDrive, Walk to, GPS tracks
• Team networkShare maps, positions, chat
• Share, import, exportQR, links, KML, KMZ, GPX
• SettingsUnits, display, offline maps
• Tips & questionsAnswers to common issues

Quick start

1. The cross is your pointer. Move the map under the cross in the middle of the screen. The bar at the bottom shows the coordinates and the elevation of the point under the cross. New markers, drawing points and most tools use the cross.
2. Choose a map. Tap the map button at the top right, for example Google Satellite, and pick an online map or an offline map file.
3. Add a marker. Tap Markers on the rail, give it a name, a tag and a symbol, and tap Add marker. It is placed at the cross.
4. Tap the marker. Its card offers Measure, Drive, Walk, Line of sight, Viewshed, Slope, Share, Edit and more.
5. Get ready for the field. Open ☰ › Settings › Offline maps and download the area you need, so maps and elevation work without a connection.

The screen

The cross and the coordinates bar

• The bar at the bottom shows the position of the cross in your chosen format (Lat/Lon, UTM, MGRS or British Grid) and its elevation.
• Tap the format button on the bar to switch formats. Tap the elevation to switch between metres and feet.
• The datum tag (for example WGS84) is highlighted when you use any other datum, so you always know which datum the coordinates are in.
• You can change the colour of the cross in Settings › Map display › Cross colour.

The rail (left)

On a phone held upright, the rail is a bar at the bottom of the screen.

The top bars

• ☰ (top left) opens the menu with three groups:
  • Tools: Viewshed, Line of Sight, Slope Angle, GPS status, Navigate, To cross, Polar coordinates, Coordinates Converter.
  • Map: Sun & Moon, Briefing mode.
  • App: Settings.
• ☾ switches between day and night mode.
• The map button shows the map in use and opens the map picker.
• Net opens the team network menu.

Map controls (right)

• Compass: tap it to turn the map north-up again. Press and drag it sideways to rotate the map. It turns red while the map is not north-up.
• 3D switches between the flat map and the 3D terrain.
• + and − zoom in and out. A scale bar appears at the top left while you zoom.

Panels

• On a phone held upright, panels open from the bottom. Swipe the handle up for full size and down for half size, or fold it to its title. The cross stays in the middle of the visible map.
• On a tablet or computer, panels open next to each other. Drag one by its header to move it, double-tap the header to put it back, and drag the bottom edge to make it taller or shorter.
• The ˄ button folds a panel to its header, and ✕ closes it. The back button (or Esc) closes the panel in front.

Long press on the map

Press and hold anywhere on the map for Walk here, Share this point and Copy coordinates.

Maps

Online maps

Tap the map button at the top right. The map picker lists the online maps, grouped by type:

• Satellite: Google Satellite, Bing Satellite, Esri Satellite.
• Topographic and terrain: OpenTopoMap, Esri Topo, Google Relief.
• Streets: OpenStreetMap, Bing Roads, Esri Streets.

Every map you view is kept in a cache on your device, so the areas you have seen keep working when the connection drops. A notice tells you when you go offline and when you are back online.

Offline maps (download an area)

1. Open ☰ › Settings › Offline maps › Download area.
2. Move and zoom the map so the area you need is inside the frame.
3. Choose what to include: Map imagery, Elevation or both.
4. Set the Maximum zoom level. Higher levels show more detail but download much more.
5. Tap Start download. You can stop it at any time.

Settings › Offline maps › Map cache shows how much space each map and the elevation data take. You can delete each one separately.

Map files (MBTiles)

You can use your own offline maps in MBTiles format. In the map picker, choose Map files…. The panel lists the files on your device, and How to add maps shows where to copy them on your platform. Back to online map returns to the online maps.

Custom map sources

Add your own map server in the map picker with Add custom source…:

• Paste a tile link (XYZ, TMS, WMTS or WMS). The app recognises the kind and shows a live preview.
• Use a source as the base map, or as an overlay on top of another map.
• Each source can keep its own cache, and you can download an area of it for offline use.
• Use ⋮ next to a source to edit, duplicate, share, clear its cache or delete it.

3D terrain

Tap 3D to see the map on the terrain, with mountains out to the horizon. Settings › Terrain scale makes the relief flatter or steeper; it applies to the map in 3D.

Night mode

• Tap ☾ to switch between day and night.
• In Settings › Display:
  • Theme: Day, Night or Auto (night from sunset to sunrise).
  • Night colours: Red turns the whole screen red to keep your night vision. Dim darkens only the map, so markers, drawings and buttons stay bright.
  • Map brightness at night: how dark the map gets.

Briefing mode

☰ › Briefing mode slowly turns the 3D map around the cross, for showing an area to others. The screen stays on meanwhile. Tap the bar at the top to stop.

Coordinates

Formats and datums

In Settings › Coordinates, choose the format shown on the coordinates bar (Lat/Lon, UTM, MGRS or British Grid), the datum (WGS-84 or one of the other 47 datums, such as ED50), and bearings in mils (0–6400) or degrees.

Go to

1. Tap Go to on the rail.
2. Choose Lat / Lon, UTM, MGRS or British Grid, and check the datum.
3. Type the coordinates, or use Paste or From cross. A wrong field is pointed out before you go.
4. Tap Go. The map moves there and confirms the new position.

Coordinates Converter

Open ☰ › Coordinates Converter.

• Type or paste coordinates in any format. They are recognised as you type, even inside a longer message.
• Or take the point from the cross, your position, a marker, or a tap on the map.
• You get the point in every format: decimal, DMS, degrees and minutes, UTM, MGRS at the precision you choose, British Grid, and the elevation.
• You also see it in a second datum, such as ED50, with how far apart the two are.
• Copy any value, or use Copy all, Go to, Marker, Walk and Share.

Convert a list… converts many coordinates at once, pasted or from a CSV or TXT file. You can copy the table, export it as CSV, show the points on the map, or add them all as markers in a layer.

Polar coordinates and To cross

• ☰ › Polar coordinates: from your GPS position or the cross, enter a distance and a bearing (true or magnetic) and go to that point.
• ☰ › To cross: the live distance and bearing (and back bearing) from your GPS position to the cross.
• ☰ › GPS status: your position with Copy, elevation, horizontal and vertical accuracy, and Centre map on me.

Markers

Add a marker

1. Move the map so the cross is where the marker should go, then tap Markers.
2. Give it a name. The ID (prefix and number) is filled in automatically; you are warned if an ID already exists.
3. Choose a tag: Untagged, Neutral, Friend or Enemy.
4. Choose the type: Point, Area (with its size) or Linear (with its bearing and length).
5. Tap the symbol to choose one: Custom, Blue forces, Red forces, Icons or Plain, with a search box.
6. Choose the layer and tap Add marker.

Custom military symbols

In the symbol picker, tap + (or New symbol in Custom) to build a symbol to MIL-STD-2525D / APP-6. Choose the identity, the context (Reality, Exercise, Simulation), the symbol set, entity, type and subtype. More options adds status, HQ / task force, amplifiers and modifiers. Then tap Use this symbol or Save to gallery.

The marker card

Tap a marker on the map to open its card. It shows:

• the marker’s position (with Copy), elevation and layer;
• its photos;
• its range rings and sectors, each with an on/off switch;
• the tools: Measure, Drive, Walk, LOS, Viewshed, Slope;
• the marker’s own actions: Share, Edit, Delete;
• the target button ⌖ in the header, which starts Adjust fire on this marker.

Move a marker

Press and hold the marker until the ring around your finger fills, then drag it. The distance and bearing from its old place are shown while you move it.

Range rings and sectors

In the New / Edit marker panel, open Range rings & sectors:

• + Ring: a circle at a radius, with an optional dead zone.
• + Sector: a sector by direction and opening, or from – to.
• Set: several rings at once.

Each ring or sector has its own colour, line style, thickness, fill, label and measurements, and round handles on the map to change it. Rings and sectors are saved with the marker and travel with it over the network.

Photos on markers

In a marker’s card, tap Add to take a photo or choose one from your library. Tap a photo to see it full screen. There you can swipe between photos, zoom, edit the caption, see where it was taken and which way the phone faced, set the cover photo, share it or delete it. Photos stay on your device.

Size and labels

In Settings › Map display, set the Marker size and what the labels show: ID, description or source.

Layers & lists

Tap List on the rail. Its tabs list your Markers, Shapes and Tracks.

• Layers: choose a layer or All layers. The eye shows or hides a layer on the map. Use New layer and Manage layers to rename or delete layers.
• Search and tags: type to filter, and use the tag chips (Enemy, Friend, Neutral, Untagged).
• Go to an item: tap a row. The map moves there and the item blinks for a moment.
• Select mode: tick several rows, then move them to another layer or delete them.

Drawing

1. Tap Draw and choose Line / Path or Circle.
2. Line: move the map to each point and tap Add point. The panel shows the total length and the distance from the last point to the cross. Undo removes the last point and Close shape makes an area.
3. Circle: move the map to the centre and tap Place at cross. Then drag the edge handle to set the radius.
4. Set the style: width, line (solid, dashed, dotted), colour and, for circles, the fill.
5. Give it a name (optional) and tap Save.

Changing a line

• Drag any point to move it.
• Tap + between two points to add a point there. Press it and drag to place the new point straight away.
• To go on from the first point instead of the last, tap the first point. The end you draw from is marked with a dot.

Tap a saved shape on the map to see its length (or radius and area), with Edit, Slope (lines) and Delete.

Measuring

Tap Measure. Two handles appear on the map, A (green) and B (red), joined by a line. Drag them, or use To cross to move a point to the cross.

• The panel shows the distance, the bearing A → B and the back bearing, and the coordinates of A and B.
• Choose True or Magnetic north. Bearings are in mils or degrees, as set in Settings.
• Swap A / B reverses the direction, and Reset starts again.
• From a marker’s card, Measure starts with A on that marker.

Terrain analysis

Line of Sight

Open ☰ › Line of Sight, or LOS in a marker’s card.

• Two points: choose observer A and target B (the cross, a marker, your position, or a tap on the map), and drag them on the map. You see at once whether B is visible or where the view is blocked. You also get the distance, bearing, height difference and look angle.
• The app tells you which observer or target height would make the target visible, and Apply uses it.
• Radio link: enter a frequency to check the clearance of the first Fresnel zone.
• Many targets: one observer and a list of targets. Tap the map to add targets, or use your markers.
• Profile card: shows the terrain along the line. Drag on it to read the distance, elevation and clearance at any point; the same point moves on the map.
• Keep on map leaves a line on the map, and Marker at block adds a marker where the view is blocked.

Viewshed

Open ☰ › Viewshed, or Viewshed in a marker’s card. The viewshed shows everything visible from a point:

• Choose the observer (the cross, a marker or your position), the observer’s height and the target height.
• Choose 360° or a sector, with its range, direction and width, then tap Calculate.
• Visible ground is shown in green and hidden ground in red. Earth curvature and refraction are included. After the first result, every change recalculates by itself.
• Tap inside the area to see the line-of-sight profile to that point.
• After you close the panel, the viewshed stays on the map. Tap its eye icon for a card with Edit and Delete.

Slope Angle

Open ☰ › Slope Angle. It has three modes:

• Area: a slope map around the cross or of the visible map. Show it as slope classes (with limits you can change), as vehicle trafficability (Go / Slow-go / No-go), or as helicopter landing zones with a list of candidates.
• Point: tap the map for the slope at that point and the downhill direction.
• Path: the slope along A → B, a drawn line or your route. You get the steepest part, the climb and descent, and whether a vehicle can take it.

Tactical tasks & control measures

Tap Tasks on the rail. Tactical tasks are kept in Operation Plans, separate from your markers and drawings.

Plans and layers

At the top of the panel, choose the PLAN and the LAYER. The buttons next to them show or hide the plan or layer (eye), share the plan on the network, add a new one, rename it or delete it.

Add a tactical task

1. Open the Add task tab and choose Enemy, Terrain or Friendly, or search by name (for example block, seize).
2. Tap a task symbol, then set its width, colour, line style and an optional label (for example OBJ ALPHA).
3. Move the map and tap Place at the cross.

Tap a task on the map for its card, with Edit, Copy, Hide and Delete. In Edit, round handles move, resize and turn it, and the fields set its length, width and direction exactly.

Control measures (APP-6D)

1. In Add task, choose Control. The groups are lines, maneuver, areas, points, fires and obstacles. Examples include boundaries, phase lines, axes of advance and objectives.
2. Tap Draw (or Place for a point). Add points at the cross; they snap to other lines, so a phase line ends exactly on a boundary.
3. Drag the points to adjust them, and tap + between two points to add one. An axis has a handle for its width.
4. Set the name, effective time, side and colour (and the echelon and units of a boundary), then tap Save.

On map and timeline

• The On map tab lists the plan’s tasks and measures. Each has buttons to show or hide it, go to it and edit it.
• Turn on the timeline to step through H-hour. Measures not yet in effect are faded.
• Plans can be exported and imported as KMZ files, which restore them fully editable. See Share, import, export.

Adjust fire

Adjust fire gives the correction for each observed round: how far to move the next round along your line to the target (Add or Drop), across it (Left or Right), and in height (Up or Down).

1. Choose the target. Tap a marker, then the ⌖ button in its card’s header (next to ✕). The Adjust fire panel opens with the target’s distance, bearing and height from you.
2. Choose the observer, where you look from:
   • My GPS: your position.
   • Cross: the point under the cross at that moment. Set here moves it to the cross again.
   • Marker: tap a marker on the map, such as your observation post.
3. Mark the round. When a round lands, move the map so the cross is where you saw it. The AT THE CROSS line shows the correction live. Tap Mark round 1 at the cross.
4. Read the correction. For example Drop 200 m · Right 50 m · Up +5 m, with a sentence explaining it. Mark the next round the same way.

• Units: tap a value to change its unit. Distances cycle metres → feet → yards, bearings switch mils ↔ degrees, and heights switch metres ↔ feet. The labels on the map follow.
• Rounding: under ROUNDS, Round to sets the step for corrections: 1, 10 or 50.
• Rounds: every round is listed with its time and correction, each with Copy and Send to team, which posts it in the team chat. Undo round removes the last one and End finishes the mission.
• On the map: the line from the observer to the target, the target ring, numbered round pins, and the last round’s distances along and across the line.

Navigation & GPS tracks

Drive

Tap Drive in a marker’s card, or open ☰ › Navigate and tap a place on the map. You get the route with its distance, time and arrival time. Tap Start to drive and Follow to keep the map on you. While you drive, the panel folds into a slim bar so you see more of the map.

Walk to

Walk to guides you in a straight line to a marker, a point or the cross, using only GPS and the compass, so it works offline. Start it with Walk in a marker’s card, or Walk here on a long press.

• A compass with a big arrow points to the target.
• You see the distance, turn left/right, grid and magnetic bearing, arrival time, climb and speed.
• The phone vibrates on arrival, and optionally at 500 m and 100 m.

GPS tracks

1. Open ☰ › GPS status and tap Record a track.
2. A bar at the top shows the time, distance and climb, with Pause / Resume and Stop. Recording continues with the screen off.
3. Tap Stop & save.

Saved tracks are in List › Tracks. A track’s card shows:

• eight figures: distance, total and moving time, average and top speed, climb, descent and highest point;
• the elevation profile;
• colouring by speed or elevation;
• Share GPX, Save GPX, Back to start, Slope and Delete.

Sun & Moon

☰ › Sun & Moon gives, for the cross and any date:

• sunrise and sunset, and civil, nautical and astronomical dawn and dusk;
• day length and the sun’s azimuth;
• moonrise and moonset, the moon sign, and the next and last eclipses.

Team network

Work on a shared map with your team, on a local network or over the internet. One device runs the server, and the others join it. No account is needed, and nothing goes through ETNAPPS.

Connect

1. Tap Net › Connection and enter Your name. The others see you by it.
2. Host: tap Start LAN server, then share Your addresses (Local or Internet) with your team.
3. Join: enter the server’s IP address and tap Connect.

If the connection drops, the app reconnects by itself and shows a small banner while it tries.

What I share

Net › What I share has a switch for each marker layer (with its drawings), each operation plan, and your live position (with how often it is sent). Only what is shown on your own map is sent: a hidden layer, plan or item stays off the network. Pause all stops everything at once.

Users and chat

• Net › Users lists everyone on the network with their colour, what they share and how fresh their position is. Each has Message, Go to and Show all. On my map hides one person’s items on your map only.
• Net › Chat has an Everyone conversation and a private one with each user.
• Other users’ drawings and plans appear on your map read-only. Their positions are shown as coloured dots with their name and heading.

Share, import, export

Share a location

Share in a marker’s card (or Share this point on a long press) makes a QR code and a link. You can share just the point, the whole marker (name, symbol and tag) or your position. Use Copy link, Save QR or Share….

Another phone with Achilleus 3D scans the QR code with its camera, or taps the link. The map opens at that place and offers to add it as a marker.

Import and export (KML, KMZ, GPX)

• Import: Settings › Import. Choose a KML, KMZ or GPX file. A preview shows what was found, which folders to import and into which layers. Large files are read in the background, and Undo is available afterwards.
• Export: Settings › Export. Choose map layers or an Operation Plan, the format and the file name, then Save to file or Share.
• The files open well in Google Earth, ATAK, QGIS and GPS units. Exporting to KMZ and importing back into Achilleus restores everything, including editable plans.

Settings

Open ☰ › Settings.

Tips & questions

The map is blank or blurry without a connection.

Only areas you have viewed or downloaded are on your device. Before you go out, download the area with Settings › Offline maps › Download area.

Elevation shows nothing, or a tool says there is no elevation data.

View the area once while you are online, or download it with Elevation included.

My position is grey with a question mark.

Location is off, or the GPS fix is poor (worse than 100 m). Go outside, give it a moment, and check that the app may use your location in your device settings. The circle around your position shows how accurate the fix is.

My coordinates don’t match another map.

Check the datum tag on the coordinates bar. Both maps must use the same datum (for example WGS-84 or ED50). The Coordinates Converter shows a point in two datums at once, with how far apart they are.

Text and buttons are too small or too big.

Change Settings › Interface size. The map is not affected.

Satellite imagery looks old.

The app tells you when newer imagery is published. Maps saved on your device keep the older imagery until you delete that map in Settings › Offline maps › Map cache.

Something went wrong.

Use Settings › Report a problem. It prepares a short report with the app’s log; you choose where to send it. You can check what it contains first.

Support

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