Offline navigator for your own roads
You drive a road that is not on any map.Nitka follows it.
Record the drive, import a GPX file or simply trace the line with your finger on the map. Nitka then guides you along it with voice and a bearing arrow — no internet, no rerouting, no “let us go another way”.
Yandex takes you where it knows. Nitka takes you where you know.
Android 8.0 and newer. The map of the whole country lives inside the phone.
- overview map of the whole country
- 89 MBoverview map of the whole country
- detailed regions at z15
- 14detailed regions at z15
- accounts, subscriptions or cloud
- 0accounts, subscriptions or cloud
- line that never argues with you
- 1line that never argues with you
Stage:the app is built and running; field trials come before the RuStore release.For now, leave a letter and we will write when it ships.
Write to usWhat we fix
The broken route
A conventional navigator builds a path from the roads it knows and never asks permission. For it, a broken dirt track, a winter road and a forest cutline do not exist, so you will not be sent there. And even when a route was agreed in advance, it will reroute at the first convenient moment.
Yandex Navigator
Optimises the path even when you agreed on it yourself. A forest road is absent from the graph, so the route is absent too.
Nitka
Follows the line you drew. Leaving it happens on your command, not by an algorithm’s decision.
Maps to download
Take the cut maps straight from here
The country overview base and detailed regions up to z15 — the same files the app installs itself, only downloaded in advance: on a computer with faster internet, or as a reserve before a trip without a signal.
What to do with the downloaded file
- Tap “Download” next to the set you need. You get .mbtiles files — one for the base and one per region.
- In the app open “Settings → Maps” and tap “Load a map from file”.
- Pick the downloaded .mbtiles — the app checks it before copying and installs it in place.
Some file managers report .mbtiles as a plain file — that is fine: the app detects the format by content, not by name. The files are free; the open map data is under ODbL.
Fetching the map list…
Room reserved for screenshots
The app will be here
The frames below are already agreed. Each block is marked up for a specific screen and aspect ratio: when the screenshots arrive they drop into a ready frame and the layout stays untouched.
How it works
Four steps from “somewhere here” to “I arrived”
A line can be obtained in three ways, and it is always followed by the same engine. That is why the cycle is short: make a line, drive it, mark it, come back.
- 1
A line appears
You recorded a drive, imported someone else’s GPX or traced the line with your finger on the map. All three produce the same entity — a line you can drive.
- 2
A map is chosen
The overview map of the country is already inside: 89 MB, zoom levels up to z8. The region you need is installed in detail up to z15, so cutlines, yard driveways and forks stay readable.
- 3
You follow the line
The engine projects your position onto the line, counts the remainder, detects turns and watches for drift. Voice prompts come at 800, 400 and 150 metres for driving; cycling and walking have their own rhythm.
- 4
You mark it and share it
Waypoints are placed — water, camp, fish, fork, danger — and the road condition is set. Then the line travels to a friend as a private link or a file, whole and without a catalogue.
The cycle repeats. Every drive makes the line sharper instead of blurring it. Knowledge about the road accumulates in your phone, not in someone else’s recommendations.
Capabilities
Six things the product is made of
None of them is “for the future”: everything listed is already built into the app and covered by tests.
Following the line
A navigator that does not argue
The engine computes the projection onto the polyline, the distance to it, the remainder, the return bearing and the accumulated heading change. It knows nothing about the map at all: even if tiles fail to load, prompts and the arrow keep working.
Your own geometry
Three ways to draw a road
Recording with a GPS filter, importing GPX from anywhere — OsmAnd, Garmin, Strava, Locus — and drawing with a finger right on the map, for when there is nowhere to drive it first.
Knowledge of the road
Waypoints and condition
Five waypoint types: water, camp, fish, fork, danger. Three road conditions: passable, hard, impassable. This is exactly what no one else has — knowledge of a specific track.
Offline
A map that needs no signal
Vector tiles from local .mbtiles files, a country-wide base and detailed regions. Both cutlines and yard driveways are visible — the things that vanish at overview zoom.
Voice
Prompts without the fuss
The system voice with an offline-engine check, priorities and anti-spam. A turn matters more than “five kilometres remain”. Our own phrase bank is in the works.
Your data
Everything stays with you
No account, no cloud, no sync. A line is a folder you can copy, and a .nitka file that doubles as a backup.
Guidance
We guide along the line, not along roads
A road graph is not needed: everything is computed from the track geometry. Three consequences follow — it works without maps, without a signal, and where the database has no roads at all.
Three presets: thresholds tuned
A preset lives on the line rather than in phone settings: it is derived from the average recording speed and can be overridden by hand at any moment.
| Parameter | Auto | Bike | Walk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off-line threshold | 60 m | 30 m | 20 m |
| Seconds forgiven | 8 s | 5 s | 4 s |
| Return to line | 25 m | 15 m | 10 m |
| Turn angle | 35° | 25° | 20° |
| Minimum between turns | 40 m | 25 m | 15 m |
| Prompts | 800 / 400 / 150 m | 300 / 150 / 50 m | 100 / 50 / 20 m |
| Arrival radius | 50 m | 30 m | 20 m |
| GPS interval | 1 s | 1 s | 2 s |
What is on the screen
- The line is brighter than the mapThe track line is thick and coloured, the base map is muted. One glance is enough to see where you are led, not where the asphalt is.
- Drifting off the lineCross-track distance plus a timer: if you leave past the threshold and do not return within the seconds allowed, a prompt reminds you gently and shows the bearing back.
- Arrival and turning aroundEach preset has its own arrival radius. A separate case is detected when the line has been completed and going back makes more sense.
- The screen stays awakeGuidance keeps the backlight on. A permission revoked while moving does not break the app — it states plainly what it is missing.
An important invariant: the guidance module does not depend on the map. The line, the arrow and the voice stay in place even when tiles have not loaded.
The moat
Code is copied. Knowledge of a road is not
Any navigator will get line-following and offline maps within a month. What has accumulated on one specific track over three seasons cannot be copied.
Five waypoint types
A long press on the map opens a radial menu. On the move a waypoint is placed with one button at the current position, and its type can be changed later.
- Waterspring, well, river — where to refill
- Campclearing, shelter, a place for a tent
- Fisha pool, a riffle, a proven spot
- Forkwhere it is easy to take the wrong branch
- Dangerwashout, ford, blockage, machinery
Road condition
After recording stops the app asks quietly: “How is the road?” Skipping is fine. Answering means keeping the knowledge for next time.
- Passableyou can drive as usual
- Hardneeds four-wheel drive, time and dry weather
- Impassablenot worth trying
The line card gains a row: “Last checked 12.01.2026 · passable”.
Waypoints and road condition are not notes on the side but part of the line. That is exactly why they cannot be gathered into a public feed and handed to anyone who asks.
Comparison
Nitka, Yandex Navigator, OsmAnd, Komoot, Garmin
We are not trying to be the best navigator overall. We close one task that the others close halfway or not at all.
| Capability | Nitka | Yandex Navigator | OsmAnd | Komoot | Garmin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Follows your line and never reroutes the route | YesThe whole point | No | YesVia GPX | YesVia a tour | YesVia a course |
| A line can be drawn with a finger on the map | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Guidance works even when the map has not loaded | Yes | No | PartlyNeeds a base map | No | YesOn the device itself |
| Country overview map and detailed regions free of charge | Yes | PartlyOnline only | PartlyFree download limit | No | No |
| Waypoints right on the line: water, camp, fish, danger | Yes | No | PartlyOSM notes | PartlyHighlights | Yes |
| Road condition: passable / hard / impassable | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Account and registration | NoNot needed | PartlyWorks without login | No | YesRequired | YesGarmin Connect |
| Public catalogue of other people’s routes | NoPrivate link | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Advertising while moving | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Runs on | ——Android | ——Android, iOS | ——Android, iOS | ——Android, iOS | ——Device, Android, iOS |
| Price | ——Free | ——Free | ——Freemium | ——Subscription | ——Subscription |
Data on third-party products was collected in September 2026 and may be outdated: verify before buying. We deliberately do not compare ourselves with cartographic editors — that is a different class of task.
The short verdict: if you need to drive across an unfamiliar city, take Yandex. If you need your own road that nobody else has, Nitka is the only one that answers the question in full.
Who needs it
For everyone whose route repeats while the road stays off the map
One common trait: you do not drive “somewhere”, you drive a specific track and want to reach the same place next time.
Mushroom pickers and anglers
The same way into the forest every season, to your own spots rather than someone else’s.
seasonHunting
Strictly within the permitted area and in the dark, where a wrong turn costs dearly.
mud seasonOff-road and expeditions
A track, a ford, a winter road. The road exists, the database does not have it.
no signalCountry houses and yards
The driveway locals know and no algorithm does.
every dayMotorcycles and bicycles
Dirt, gravel, field roads — where an asphalt route is not an option.
seasonSkiing and hiking
A winter road, a trail, a snowmobile track. Guidance works without a map at all.
winterGuides and rentals
To take a group strictly along a proven line instead of from memory.
workDrivers and couriers with their own addresses
Your own practised loop that the navigator keeps trying to reroute.
shift
Honest page
What works, what is coming, what will never be
We publish this site before the store release. So here it states plainly what is already built, what is being worked on and what will not appear at all — instead of promises nothing can back up.
Working right now
- Drive recording: GPS filter, pause, stop, crash recovery, gaps as separate segments
- Maps: country overview (89 MB, z0–8) and 14 detailed regions up to z15, chosen from the track geometry
- Line guidance: projection, remainder, turns, off-route drift, arrival, three presets
- Voice prompts with priorities, anti-spam and an offline-voice check
- Drawing a line on the map: by finger and by points, with sharp corners rounded into arcs
- GPX: import and export through the share sheet, with gaps kept as gaps
- Scenario-based help: nine “how to do it” paths with a “do it now” button
- Four interface languages: Russian, English, Spanish, Chinese
In progress
- Field trials of navigation before the RuStore release
- Waypoints and road condition: radial menu, quick marking on the move, a 30-day bin
- .nitka container: track, waypoints, photos and voice notes in one archive — that is the backup
- A private link to a line and handing it to a group
- A night map style separate from the general app theme
- Our own phrase bank with two voices instead of the system synthesiser
What will never be there
- Route rerouting — not an oversight, but a condition of the product
- A public catalogue of other people’s lines: knowledge of a road belongs to whoever gathered it
- Accounts, registration and cloud sync
- Advertising on the recording and guidance screens
- Payment for regional maps
- Traffic, speed cameras and lanes — we do not compete with Yandex at its own game
This site stands at version 0.1.8 (build 1008); map sets are release 2026q4-b1. The number and the content of these lists change with the repository, not with a wish to look finished.
Questions and answers
What people ask most often
Answers without marketing rounding, including the inconvenient ones.
What is Nitka?
An offline navigator for repeatable roads that ordinary maps do not have: winter roads, forest tracks, cutlines, yard driveways. You define a line — by recording, by GPX or with a finger on the map — and the app guides you along it with voice and an arrow without rerouting.
How is Nitka different from Yandex Navigator?
Yandex solves “get there by the optimal path” and always reserves the right to reroute for that. Nitka solves the opposite task: to get you there exactly the way you chose. So it has no traffic, cameras or lanes, but it has your own tracks, waypoints and road condition.
Is it a replacement for a regular navigator?
No. Around a city and on a highway Yandex is more convenient. Nitka turns on where a conventional navigator is useless or harmful: in the forest, on a winter road, on a cutline, in yards, on a scouted track.
Does it need the internet?
No. Maps are vector tiles in local files and guidance is computed from the track geometry. The internet is needed once to install a region, or not at all if you bring the map as a file.
How much do the maps cost?
Nothing. The country overview map — 89 MB — and detailed regions up to z15 are free. Monetisation is advertising outside the recording and guidance screens, once there is an audience, not payment for the road.
Where do my tracks go?
Nowhere. There is no account, no cloud and no sync. Lines, waypoints and rides live in the phone’s memory. The backup is a .nitka file you keep wherever you like.
Can I share a line with friends?
Yes, but not through a catalogue. The link is private and issued by token, and it can be revoked. Photos and voice notes travel only as a file, because they do not go over the network at all.
What is “road condition”?
Three marks that stay on the line: passable, hard, impassable. The app asks after recording stops, and the line card gains a row like “checked 12.01.2026 · passable”.
I never recorded the drive. How do I get a line?
Two ways: import someone else’s GPX from OsmAnd, Garmin, Strava or Locus, or draw the line with a finger on the map. The second way exists precisely for when there is nowhere to drive it first.
Is Nitka compatible with other software?
Yes. GPX import and export with extensions, gaps written as separate segments, distance preserved without GPS jitter. Our own format is .nitka, everything else gets GPX.
Is there an account and cross-device sync?
No, and none is planned. It is a deliberate choice: since the product is offline-first, the server should not own your data. Moving data is done with a file.
Which phones does it run on?
Android 8.0 and newer. The app is tested on real phones rather than emulators, because maps and GPS behave differently there.
When does it appear in the store?
The app is built and running; ahead are field trials of navigation and the release wrapping — icon, privacy policy, signing. The exact date depends on the trial results, so we do not name one.
Who makes Nitka?
Easy Peasy Studio. The product grew from a practical need: to drive your own roads without arguing with the navigator at every turn.
Studio
Easy Peasy Studio
Nitka is a product of Easy Peasy Studio. We run the full cycle around software: we invent the product, design the architecture, build, deploy, support and sell turnkey solutions.
We are interested in tasks where honest mechanics matter more than form. Nitka is exactly that: small outside and very dense inside.
Studio website- Consulting on product, architecture and technology choice
- Building mobile and web applications, APIs and admin panels
- Deployment: environments, integrations, CI/CD, servers
- Support and evolution of running systems
- Audit, improvement and acceleration of existing code
- Delivery of ready-made solutions, launched turnkey
Contact
Write to us
Tell us where you drive and which road you miss on the map. Such letters go straight into the work queue, including the next batch of regions to compile.
dmitry.boyko@gmail.comFound a bug or an inaccuracy on this site