Acrea

Documentation

Every feature in Acrea, from your first measurement to advanced survey tools.

Welcome

Acrea turns your phone into a full land-measurement and surveying toolkit. Measure area and distance by tapping the map or walking a boundary, organise your parcels into categories and groups, run professional tools like COGO traverse and parcel subdivision, and export survey-grade PDFs and CAD/GIS files — even with no signal in the field.

This guide is ordered from the basics to the advanced. Many features can be reached more than one way — each section lists every entry point under a “How to get there” callout. Tools marked Pro require an Acrea Pro subscription; everything else is free.

A note on accuracy: Acrea uses your phone’s GPS and is intended for estimation, planning and field reference — not a substitute for a licensed survey. See Settings → About → Scope & disclaimer in the app for the full statement.

Getting Started

The first time you open Acrea, a short onboarding walks you through what the app does — measuring boundaries, walk-to-measure, organising with categories, viewing all your sites, the pro tools, and offline surveying — and then asks for location access so the app can show where you are and place GPS points.

Location access

Acrea needs location permission to centre the map on you and to drop GPS-accurate vertices. Your location stays on your device and is never shared. If you skip the prompt or later turn it off, the map shows a banner and you can re-enable it at any time. Acrea distinguishes between your device’s GPS being switched off and the app’s permission being denied, and guides you to the right toggle for your situation (the path differs on iOS and Android).

How to get there

  • Granted (or declined) during first-run onboarding.
  • Re-enable from the map banner that appears when location is unavailable.
  • Settings → Map & measuring → Location access shows the current status and opens a guided fix.

Finding your way around

A bar along the bottom switches between the app’s three tabs: Map (where you measure), Library (everything you’ve saved) and More (settings, your plan, your data and your account).

The map screen at a glance

This is your home base. The key controls are:

  • Measure button — the prominent button that opens the “What do you want to measure?” sheet (distance, area, or walk). This is the start of every measurement.
  • Control buttons — search, saved-sites overlay, map style, compass and offline maps. On phones these sit in a bar along the top; in landscape they form a vertical rail.
  • Account & workspace button — at the top right. It shows your profile photo or initials when you’re signed in, opens the workspace switcher, and stays on screen while you measure so you can see where the work will be saved. A light runs around it while a sync is in progress.
  • Recenter & GPS accuracy — the recenter button snaps the camera back to your location, and a live accuracy chip (for example “±3.1 m”) shows how good your current GPS fix is. On phones these dock at the bottom-right.
  • Speed & heading — while you move, the app reads your speed and heading so you can orient yourself on site.

The Map & Finding Places

Before you measure, you’ll often want to get to the right spot and pick the right base map.

Search for an address or coordinatesFree

Tap the Search button to find a place. The geocoder locates addresses, landmarks and place names, and you can also paste raw coordinates to jump straight to a point. Recent searches are kept so you can return to them quickly. Picking a result flies the map to that location.

How to get there

  • Search button in the map controls.
  • Search is also available on the “choose an area to download” screen when setting up offline maps.

Map stylesFree

Tap the Map style button to switch base maps. The available styles depend on the map engine in use:

  • Google (default, free): Satellite (imagery with labels), Aerial (pure imagery, no labels), Terrain (topographic relief), and Standard (clean street map).
  • Mapbox (Acrea Pro): a richer catalogue — Explorer, Outdoors (terrain, trails & contour lines), Satellite, Midnight (low-glare dark map), Daylight, and Streets.

Everyone starts on Google for its sharp satellite imagery. Acrea Pro members can set Mapbox as their default map (which unlocks the Mapbox style catalogue and is also what offline tiles are viewed through).

How to get there

  • Map style button in the map controls.
  • The picker automatically shows Google or Mapbox styles depending on your active engine.
Switching the base map from the style picker.

Tap a place for detailsFree

Tap any empty spot on the map to drop a pin and open the place panel. It reverse-geocodes the address, shows the coordinates in your chosen format (with altitude where available), and gives you quick actions: get Directions, Save it to your Places, Share the location, or make a public Link to it (see Sharing a Link).

How to get there

  • Tap any empty point on the map.
  • Tip: with the saved-sites overlay on, tapping a saved shape selects it instead of dropping a pin (see Saving & Organising).
Tapping the map opens the place panel — address, coordinates, and the Copy / Share / Directions / Save actions.

Saved places & directionsFree

Saving a place from the place panel files it under the Places tab of the Library, separate from your measurements. Tap a saved place to return to it on the map, and open Directions for a route line with the travel time and distance. Directions are free.

Opening a saved place from the Library’s Places tab, then getting directions — a route line with the travel time and distance.

Measuring Land

Every measurement starts the same way: tap the Measure button to open the “What do you want to measure?” sheet, then choose Distance, Area, or Walk. Results are shown live in the measurement panel — area in acres, hectares, m², perches or square feet, and perimeter/distance in your chosen unit.

Tap-to-measureFree

The fastest method, and great for measuring remotely from satellite imagery. After choosing Distance or Area, tap the map to drop vertices around the boundary. The panel updates instantly with the running area and perimeter. Use this to estimate a parcel you can see but aren’t standing on.

Tapping around a parcel to drop vertices, with area and perimeter updating live.

Drop a GPS point (with averaging)Free

When you’re standing on a corner, tap Drop GPS point in the measurement panel’s tool strip to place a vertex at your current location. For critical corners Acrea averages multiple GPS samples over a few seconds to compute a tighter fix — the “use averaged point” action stays disabled until enough samples have been collected, so a single stray reading can’t be committed.

Averaging a GPS point — samples collect over a few seconds, with their spread shown, and “use averaged point” unlocks once there are enough.

Walk-to-measurePro

For fields, parcels and irregular sites too large to tap, choose Walk (or tap the walk tool in the panel). Acrea records the boundary as you physically walk it, dropping a GPS vertex roughly every few metres and drawing the polygon and area live. Accuracy and distance gates keep the trace clean so GPS drift doesn’t scribble.

  • A first-time walkthrough explains how it works, why accuracy matters, and best practices.
  • A ready state shows live GPS accuracy so you can wait for a good fix before starting.
  • Recording is foreground-only — keep Acrea open in hand; locking or pocketing the phone pauses the run. The screen stays awake so the OS doesn’t throttle GPS.
  • Controls: Pause/Resume, a Follow-me camera that keeps you centred at a close zoom, and Finish. While recording, the panel collapses to just the essentials so a stray tap can’t change the run.

How to get there

  • Measure button → Walk.
  • Walk tool in the live measurement panel’s tool strip (while building a measurement).
ProWalking a field boundary (sped up): the ready state with live accuracy, the follow-me camera while recording, then Finish — the area drawn as you walked.

Live readouts & closureFree

As you build a measurement the panel shows the live area/distance, the point count, a per-segment breakdown (tap to expand), and a closure indicator that flags how well an area’s boundary closes back on itself (misclosure). Edits auto-save to a recoverable draft, so an unsaved, in-progress measurement survives an app kill or crash and is restored on next launch.

Editing & Precision Tools

While a measurement is on the map you can refine it point by point, or build it from precise field data instead of taps.

Moving & inserting pointsFree

  • Move a vertex: long-press a point to raise a large drag handle pinned to the exact spot, then drag — the point follows your finger 1:1 and stays glued as you pan, zoom or rotate.
  • Insert a point: tap a “+” midpoint handle on an edge to add a vertex between two existing ones.
  • Undo / Clear: step back your last change — a placed point, an insert, a drag — or clear the whole measurement, from the panel’s action row.
Long-press a vertex, then drag the handle to reposition it 1:1.
Tap a “+” midpoint handle to insert a vertex on an edge.
Undo steps back your last change, one at a time.
Clear removes the whole in-progress measurement.

Precise coordinate entryPro

Tap a vertex to open its editor and type exact coordinates — ideal for placing deed corners to sub-metre precision. You can also add a brand-new point by coordinates from the panel’s Add point by coordinates tool.

Tapping a vertex to type its exact coordinates.

COGO traverse legsPro

When you don’t have GPS or clear imagery, build a boundary from a deed or plan. Open Traverse entry and enter precise bearings and distances leg by leg (for example N 45° E for 100 ft). Acrea plots the boundary line by line from your coordinate geometry.

How to get there

  • Traverse tool in the live measurement panel’s tool strip.
  • Coordinate entry: tap any vertex, or use “Add point by coordinates” in the tool strip.
Entering bearing + distance legs and watching the boundary plot leg by leg.

Cut-outs (holes)Pro

Need to exclude a pond, building or easement from an area? With at least three points placed, tap the Cut-out tool and draw an inner ring inside your boundary. Acrea subtracts that area from the total automatically. Tap “finish cut” to close the hole.

Drawing an inner cut-out ring — the total area drops as the hole is subtracted.

Curved edges (arcs)Pro

Not every boundary is straight. Bow any edge into a true circular arc to trace cul-de-sacs, road right-of-ways, riverbanks and rounded frontages. Tap the Curve tool (the curved-line icon) in the measurement panel’s tool strip to turn on curve mode — it appears once the measurement has at least one edge, and tapping it again (“Done curving”) turns it back off. In curve mode, every edge grows a handle at its midpoint, and there are two ways to shape it:

  • Drag to bow it: drag an edge’s handle and the edge bows into an arc that follows your finger. How far you pull sets how deep the curve is; which side you pull sets the curve direction.
  • Type an exact radius: tap the handle to open the radius sheet — enter a radius in your distance unit and pick a curve direction (Left or Right). The sheet previews the resulting arc length and central angle live as you type. Tap Apply curve to commit, or Straighten to drop the curve and make the edge straight again.

The smallest radius an edge accepts is half its length (a semicircle) — the sheet flags anything tighter. Curves are carried through everywhere the geometry goes: the arc’s radius, arc length and central angle appear in the metes-and-bounds legal description and the PDF report, and the curved area is what feeds parcel operations like union and split.

How to get there

  • Curve tool in the live measurement panel’s tool strip (available once the measurement has an edge). Tap to toggle curve mode on/off.
  • In curve mode: drag an edge’s midpoint handle to bow it, or tap the handle to enter an exact radius and direction.
ProTurning on curve mode, then bowing an edge into a circular arc by dragging its handle — or tapping it to enter an exact radius, with the arc length and central angle updating live.

Angle indicatorsPro

Interior angles are drawn as protractor-style arcs at every corner, with the value in degrees inside the wedge. The arc scales with the edge length so it reads consistently at any zoom. Near-straight and near-coincident corners are skipped to avoid clutter. Angles show on both live and saved measurements.

Protractor-style angle arcs at each corner, labelled with the interior angle in degrees.

Map label togglesFree

A row of floating toggles next to the recenter control shows or hides, independently, the per-edge distance labels, the angle arcs, the vertex points and the area fill, so you can trim clutter on a busy parcel. They appear only when a measurement is on the map, and your choices are remembered. The angle toggle is an Acrea Pro feature; the others are free.

The four label toggles beside the recenter control: (1) distance labels, (2) angle arcs, (3) vertex points, (4) area fill.
The four label toggles beside the recenter control: (1) distance labels, (2) angle arcs, (3) vertex points, (4) area fill.

Saving & Organising

Once a measurement is done, save it, name it, and file it so your portfolio stays tidy. Free users can save up to a handful of measurements; Acrea Pro removes the cap.

Saving a measurementFree

Tap Save in the measurement panel. The save sheet pre-fills a name from reverse-geocoding and lets you assign a category and notes in the same step. After saving, the measurement appears in the Library and on the map (when the overlay is on).

The LibraryFree

The Library has two tabs: Measurements (your areas and distances, with groups at the top) and Places (pins you saved from the map). Search by name, and filter to areas or distances. From the Library’s header you can also export everything or import a file. When you’re signed in, the Library also shows where sync is up to, and you can pull down to sync right away.

How to get there

  • The Library tab in the bottom bar.
  • Saved sites → View all on the map, with the saved-sites overlay on.
The Library — filtering to areas or distances, and switching between Measurements and Places.

Saved-sites overlayFree

Toggle the saved-sites overlay (the layers button) to draw all your saved parcels on the map at once, each in its category colour — your whole portfolio at a glance. With the overlay on, tapping a saved shape selects it: the carousel scrolls to its card and the map highlights it (overlapping parcels resolve to the smallest under your finger; thin distance lines get a forgiving tap target). Opening a shape for editing temporarily hides the overlay so the surrounding parcels don’t clutter your work.

Tapping a parcel on the saved-sites overlay selects it; swiping the carousel flies the map to the next one.

The carousel & detail screenFree

A focused saved site shows a card in a carousel with its value and per-edge labels — swipe the carousel to fly to the next parcel. Each card has a quick Edit (pencil) shortcut and a ⋯ menu; tapping the card opens the full detail screen, organised into Details (category, notes), Share (a public link), Reports (PDF report, legal description), Export data (file formats), boundary segments with bearings, and vertices.

CategoriesFree

Colour-code parcels by land type — residential, agricultural, and so on. Category badges show in the list and on the map overlay. Create and manage categories, and assign them at save time, on the detail screen, or from a measurement’s menu.

How to get there

  • Settings → Map & measuring → Categories to create and manage.
  • Assign on the save sheet, on the detail screen’s category card, or from a measurement’s ⋯ menu — and create a new one right there.
Creating a category with its own icon straight from a parcel’s category card, and seeing it assigned.

Rename, notes, duplicate & delete

  • Rename Free — from the detail screen’s ⋯ menu.
  • Notes & category Free — tap the cards on the detail screen, or use the ⋯ menu.
  • Duplicate Free — clone any area or distance from the card’s ⋯ menu or the detail screen. The copy keeps the geometry, category and notes and drops straight into move mode so you can drag it off the original.
  • Delete Free — swipe a row in the list or use the ⋯ menu; a confirmation sheet guards it. Right after, an Undo brings it straight back, and anything you miss waits in Recently deleted for 90 days.
Renaming, adding a note and choosing a category from the detail screen.
Duplicating a parcel — the copy drops straight into move mode.
Deleting a measurement — a confirmation sheet first, then an Undo in case you change your mind.

GroupsPro

Bundle related measurements into a group, shown as a collapsible card at the top of your Library with members nested under it. Groups are created automatically when you split, subdivide or merge a parcel (so a parcel’s whole subdivision history stays together), and you can also build them yourself. From a group’s menu you can rename it, change its colour, share it as one link, merge it into another group, or ungroup it (which keeps the measurements). Move a measurement into a group with Add to group in its menu, swipe a member to delete just it (or the whole group), and drag a member’s handle to reorder. Grouping is an Acrea Pro feature.

Tap a group to open it. It shows the group’s total area and every measurement in it, each opening its own detail, plus Show all on map, which frames the whole group at once so a subdivision’s lots can be seen side by side. The chevron still expands the group in place. A deleted group goes to Recently deleted as one entry, and restores whole.

Opening a group — its total area and members — then the group menu and Show all on map.

Account, Sync & Teams

Acrea works completely without an account, and always will — measurements live on your device and are yours whether you sign in or not. An account adds two things on top: your work follows you to a new phone, and a crew can share one set of jobs.

Your safety net, without an accountFree

Deleting a measurement offers an immediate Undo, and anything you miss goes to Recently deleted for 90 days with its geometry intact — restore it instead of walking the boundary again. Ninety rather than the usual thirty because survey work is seasonal: a parcel deleted at the end of one season and missed at the start of the next would otherwise be gone.

A backup file holds your entire portfolio — every measurement, place, category and group — in a single .acrea file you keep yourself, anywhere you like, and restore on any device. It isn’t linked to an account and doesn’t need one; it is a different thing from cloud sync. Restoring never removes anything: it merges, keeping the newer copy where both sides have edited the same item. Both are free, for everyone.

How to get there

  • Settings → Data for Save backup file, Restore from backup file and Recently deleted.
  • The Undo action in the toast shown right after a delete.
Restoring a measurement from Recently deleted.
Saving a backup file to Files, then restoring from it — restore merges and never removes anything.

Signing inFree

Sign in with Apple or Google — no password to invent or remember. You can sign in during the first-run onboarding, from the top of Settings, or wherever a feature needs an account. Signing in never changes what is already on your device. If there are measurements on the phone that aren’t in your account — work from before you signed in — Acrea asks before adding them, and uploads nothing until you say yes.

Signing out asks what should stay on the phone. Anything safely in your account is removed by default and comes back when you sign in again. Anything that isn’t — changes that haven’t synced, or work that was never uploaded — is kept by default, the sheet says how much, and it offers to sync first when that would help. Team work is always removed from the phone, because it belongs to the team.

The sign-in screen — Apple or Google, and always optional: “Not now” keeps Acrea fully working on this phone.
The sign-in screen — Apple or Google, and always optional: “Not now” keeps Acrea fully working on this phone.

Change the name and photo your team sees beside your work from Edit profile on the account screen — take a photo, choose one, or remove it.

Cloud syncPro

With Acrea Pro, your measurements, places, categories and groups sync to your account — reinstall the app or switch phones and everything comes back. Every workspace you belong to comes down, not only the one you have open, so your teams are ready on a new phone too.

If your Pro ends, nothing already in the cloud is locked away. Sign in on any device and your work still downloads. Only backing up new changes to your Personal workspace needs Pro: the app says so, counts the changes waiting on the device, and uploads them as soon as you subscribe again.

Acrea is offline-first, not cloud-first. Nothing in the app ever waits on a network round trip: every save, edit and delete is written to your device immediately and uploaded later, whenever there is signal. You can measure all day in a valley with no bars and never see a spinner, a retry, or an error. Deletes travel too, so a parcel removed on one phone does not reappear from another.

The Library shows the current state at a glance: how many changes are waiting, when a sync is running, and whether everything is safely up — and the account button on the map has a light running around it while a sync is in progress. No signal is shown plainly as “Waiting for connection”, with how many changes are safe on the device — it is a normal working condition, not an error, and sync picks up on its own as soon as a connection is back. Pull down on the Library to sync right away; anything that arrives appears in the list without leaving the screen. If the cloud won’t accept one item, everything else still syncs, and the sync status names the item that’s waiting.

You can turn cloud sync off for a phone at any time. Nothing is uploaded or downloaded while it is off, and nothing is deleted; turn it back on and it catches up.

How to get there

  • Settings → Data → Cloud sync for the switch, what sync is doing, and Sync now.
  • Tap the sync line in the Library, or Cloud sync & data on the account screen, to open the same place.

If the same measurement is edited on two devices while both are offline, the most recent edit wins — except for the boundary itself. If the shape was changed in both places, Acrea keeps both and marks one “conflicted copy” rather than silently discarding a boundary somebody walked.

TeamsAcrea Teams

A team is a shared workspace. Everyone in it measures into the same set of jobs, and the work syncs between you — no exporting, emailing or re-drawing. Your Personalworkspace always stays separate and private. Switch between them from the account button at the top right of the map: the workspace switcher lists Personal and each of your teams, and Personal’s Manage opens your account.

Teams run on an Acrea Teams plan, and one subscription covers every team you own. Create a team with New workspace in the switcher — before your first one, the app walks you through how teams work — then invite people with a link you can send however you like. Each link is for one person, carries the role they’ll join with, and expires after 14 days. The invite screen tells the person joining that their name, email address and profile photo will be shown to everyone in the team.

The people you invite don’t need a subscription of their own: while they work in the team, members get the tools the team’s plan includes. It doesn’t unlock anything in their own Personal workspace.

Roles & seatsAcrea Teams

Everyone you invite joins in one of four roles:

  • Owner — full control, including inviting, removing people and deleting the team. A team always keeps at least one owner; the last one cannot leave or step down until somebody else is promoted.
  • Admin — can invite and manage members.
  • Can edit — measures and edits shared work.
  • View only — sees and exports everything, changes nothing. Viewers are free and unlimited, so a client, an office or an inspector can follow a job without taking a seat. A viewer works on the free tier, in the team as everywhere else.

Acrea Teams has no limit on members, so you can invite the whole crew. If a team ever does have a seat limit, only contributing roles count towards it, and the app tells you before you send an invite that would exceed it.

If a team’s plan endsAcrea Teams

A team runs on an Acrea Teams plan — personal Acrea Pro doesn’t keep one going. If the plan ends, the team becomes read-only for everyone in it, the owner included, until it is renewed. Nothing is deleted: every measurement, place and group is still there to view on the map, export, share as a link, or copy into your Personal workspace.

While a team is read-only, nobody can add or change its work, invite people, or rename it. Owners and admins can still remove people and revoke invites, anyone can leave, and the owner can delete the team. Invite links that haven’t expired work again as soon as the team is renewed, and any changes still waiting on someone’s device upload then too.

Leaving and deletingAcrea Teams

Leaving a team removes your access to its shared measurements; work in your Personal workspace is untouched, and nothing is deleted from your device. An owner can rename or delete the team from the team screen — deleting removes it for everyone, though measurements already on someone’s device stay there.

Deleting your Acrea account removes your account, your profile photo and everything stored in the cloud, including any team where you are the only owner. Teams with another owner carry on without you. Your data is erased from the phone too unless you choose to keep it there, and you can save a backup file first.

Signed in, Delete all Personal data in Settings → Data deletes your Personal workspace on the phone and in your account, and never touches team work. Deleted measurements stay in Recently deleted for 90 days.

How to get there

  • The account button at the top right of the map — switch workspace or create a team.
  • Settings → Account to edit your profile, set your brand, open cloud sync, sign out or delete your account.

Parcel OperationsPro

Acrea Pro turns saved parcels into editable geometry you can move, split, subdivide, merge and trim — with a live preview before you commit. When an operation produces multiple pieces, they’re filed together in a group named after the original, and the original is archived (hidden from your lists but not destroyed). Areas always sum back to the parent.

Save the measurement first. Every operation here acts on a savedparcel, so they live on the saved card’s ⋯ menu and on the detail screen — an unsaved, in-progress measurement has no ⋯ menu and can’t be split or subdivided. Finish and Save your measurement, then reopen it from the carousel or the Library to run these tools. (Split, Subdivide and Trim apply to areas only.)

MovePro

Reposition a whole measurement two ways: drag a large handle on the map (your finger drives the shape live, no jump on release), or enter a precise bearing + distance offset (azimuth like 45 or quadrant like N45E, in metres or feet). A compact move bar hosts Values, Cancel and Done.

How to get there

  • Card ⋯ menu or detail screen → Move.
  • Automatically entered right after you Duplicate a measurement.

SplitPro

Divide an area into two parcels with a clean cut. Tap two crossing points across the boundary — a live preview shows both resulting parcels with their side-by-side edge lengths and each side’s area. For precision, tap a crossing to place it a set distance from a corner, at an edge midpoint, by exact coordinates, or solve it to hit a target area (“carve a 1-acre lot”); long-press a crossing to drag it live. Split commits the two parcels into a group named after the original; any cut-outs are reassigned to whichever side contains them.

How to get there

  • Card ⋯ menu or detail screen → Split (areas only).
Placing two crossing points to preview the split — each side’s area labelled — then committing into a group.

Auto-split (subdivide into a grid)Pro

Subdivide a parcel with an interactive grid — by count (rows × columns) or by size (target lot width and/or height in your distance unit) — and rotate the grid to any angle. Lots update live, each labelled with its area. Subdivide commits them as a numbered set of “Lot” measurements in a group.

How to get there

  • Card ⋯ menu or detail screen → Subdivide (areas only).
Adjusting rows × columns and rotating the grid, then committing to a numbered set of lots grouped under the original.

MergePro

Select two or more areas and Merge them. Adjacent or overlapping parcels fuse into one (combined area, holes preserved); parcels that don’t touch are kept separate and filed together in a group — the app tells you which happened. You can re-merge split slices because group members are selectable too.

How to get there

  • In the Library: long-press a measurement to start selection, tick rows, then Merge.
  • On the map: long-press a parcel, then tap others to add, then Merge.
Long-pressing to select in the Library, ticking the two halves of a split parcel, and merging them back into one.

TrimPro

Subtract one parcel from another. Choose Trim, then tap the parcel to subtract. The result previews live — a reshaped parcel, a parcel with a hole, or several pieces if the cut goes clean through — before you commit.

How to get there

  • Card ⋯ menu or detail screen → Trim.
Trimming a lot by an overlapping canal easement — tap the parcel to subtract, preview the result, then commit.

Field CompassPro

A field compass that floats as a draggable, pinch-resizable dial over the map, so you can read a tilt-compensated magnetic bearing while still seeing — and measuring on — the map underneath. Tap full screen for the complete readout: a magnetic- interference warning, live coordinates, altitude, GPS course, and the “not survey-grade” disclaimer.

A first-use walkthrough explains magnetic north, figure-8 recalibration, and the pinch/drag/full-screen controls. The magnetometer runs only while the compass is shown (no always-on sensor drain), and the app degrades to a clear “compass unavailable” state on devices without a magnetometer.

How to get there

  • Compass button in the map controls (it becomes a “close compass” button while the dial is up).
The draggable, pinch-resizable compass dial over the map, and the full-screen readout with heading, coordinates and altitude.

Importing Data

Bring your existing parcels into Acrea from any standard geo or CAD file. Import is completely free — no paywall and no saved-measurement cap — so you can migrate your entire portfolio from another platform without friction.

Supported formatsFree

KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, CSV, DXF, or Shapefile (.zip). A first-run intro explains the feature, then a file picker lets you choose from Files, iCloud, Google Drive, or any app extension.

The Library’s header: (1) export everything, (2) import a file. You can also import from Settings → Data, or open a file into Acrea from another app.
The Library’s header: (1) export everything, (2) import a file. You can also import from Settings → Data, or open a file into Acrea from another app.

Preview & selectFree

A preview screen lists every detected measurement with its name (editable), type, computed area or distance, and vertex count. Tick which ones to keep, assign a batch category, then Import. Degenerate or unrecognisable features are surfaced as warnings without failing the whole file.

The import preview — every feature found in the file, with its area or length and vertex count, ready to rename, untick, or give a category.
The import preview — every feature found in the file, with its area or length and vertex count, ready to rename, untick, or give a category.

How to get there

  • Library header → import icon.
  • The empty measurements state.
  • Settings → Data → Import measurements.
  • Open a KML, GeoJSON or other supported file into Acrea from Files, Mail or another app.

Exports & Reports

Acrea is built to plug into your desktop workflow and client deliverables. Every GIS and CAD format is free, single or bulk — your measurements are yours, and getting them out is never the thing you pay for. PDF reports and the legal description are Acrea Pro.

Branded PDF reportsPro

Generate a survey-grade PDF from the field via the report builder — open PDF report in the detail screen’s Reports section. Customise the title and subtitle, choose which summary rows to include (computed and custom fields), and toggle sections — boundary segments, vertices, site map, disclaimer, and notes. Add your company logo, name and contact line for the header, or keep the default Acrea wordmark; your branding and section choices are remembered. The report includes a static site map, total area and perimeter, multi-format coordinates for every vertex, a site-centroid reference coordinate, the coordinate datum (WGS 84 / EPSG:4326), and a full metes-and-bounds legal description. It works on unsaved drafts too.

The report builder — adding a logo and company name to the header — then generating a branded, two-page PDF ready to share or print.

Legal descriptionPro

Generate a metes-and-bounds legal description for an area — deed-style prose with quadrant bearings, leg distances and a closure summary — and copy it or share it as a text file. Open Legal description in the detail screen’s Reports section.

The legal-description sheet — the metes-and-bounds text, with Copy and Share as TXT.
The legal-description sheet — the metes-and-bounds text, with Copy and Share as TXT.

GIS & CAD formats (single measurement)Free

From a saved measurement’s detail screen, tap Export a file under Export data and pick a format:

  • KML / KMZ — Google Earth, QGIS, ArcGIS (KMZ is compressed).
  • GeoJSON — web maps, QGIS, developers.
  • DXF — AutoCAD, Civil 3D, BricsCAD.
  • Shapefile — ArcGIS, QGIS, land registries.
  • CSV — spreadsheets and CAD point import (round-trip importable).
Export a file — KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, CSV, DXF or Shapefile, each with what it’s best for.
Export a file — KML, KMZ, GeoJSON, CSV, DXF or Shapefile, each with what it’s best for.

Bulk exportFree

Export any selection of measurements — or all of them at once — as a single multi-feature file in any of the six formats. A format picker shows each option with a one-line “best for” description. The output is one combined file: a GeoJSON FeatureCollection, a KML/KMZ Document with N Placemarks, sectioned CSV, DXF with N polyline entities, or a multi-record Shapefile bundle.

How to get there

  • Library header → Export all (upload icon), or Settings → Data → Export all measurements.
  • Long-press measurements in the Library to enter selection mode, then tap Export.
  • Map selection mode also offers the same Export button.
  • Single measurement: Export a file on the detail screen.
Export all from the Library — picking one of the six formats for a single combined file.

Share a map imageFree

From the measurement card on the map, tap the share button and choose Share map image for a clean snapshot of the parcel. Acrea auto-frames the shape and centres it in a 4:5 portrait so it displays large in messaging apps, and attaches a caption with the measured value plus a tappable Google Maps link to the parcel’s centre.

Sharing a clean 4:5 snapshot of a parcel, auto-framed with the value caption and a Google Maps link.

Offline MapsPro

Surveys often take you beyond cell range. With Acrea Pro, no signal won’t stop your work.

Download a regionPro

Before heading out, open Offline maps, tap Choose an area on the map, and frame the region (you can search to jump there first). Name the area and download its tiles — including high-resolution satellite imagery. You can keep up to five regions; each shows its size once downloaded. The download button is disabled without an internet connection (downloading needs it), and very large areas are flagged so you can tighten the box.

Framing a region on the map, downloading it (sped up), and seeing it in your offline areas.

Use it in the fieldPro

Once downloaded, you have full access with zero connection: view the map, drop GPS vertices, measure, cut out holes, and save jobs. Tap a completed region to preview it — “View on map” switches to Mapbox and frames the area, with a one-tap strip to return to online mode. Swipe to delete a region (with confirmation).

Note: downloading is engine-independent and works while Google is displayed, but viewingdownloaded tiles uses the Mapbox engine.

How to get there

  • Offline maps button in the map controls.

Settings Reference

Open Settings from the More tab. Everything you can configure:

  • Account — sign in, or once signed in: edit your profile, set your brand, open cloud sync, sign out, or delete your account.
  • Map & measuring — Units: Area (Automatic, m²/km², hectares, acres, perches, ft²), Distance (Automatic, km, miles, metres, feet), and the default Coordinate format (Decimal degrees, DMS, MGRS, UTM, Plus Code). Also your Categories, the Coordinate converter tool, and Location access — its current status and a guided fix when GPS or permission is off.
  • Appearance & language — System, Light, or Dark theme, and the language: Acrea is translated into 11 languages (English, Arabic, German, Spanish, Filipino, French, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Vietnamese).
  • Your plan — what you hold, what it costs, when it renews or ends, and the plans you can move to; manage your subscription (cancel, refunds, payment method) and restore purchases.
  • Data — Cloud sync, Save backup file and Restore from backup file, Import measurements, Export all measurements, Shared links, Recently deleted, and Delete all data (with confirmation).
  • About — version, this documentation, the Scope & disclaimer (accuracy notes and legal scope), and the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Settings → Data — cloud sync, backup files, import and export (outlined), and Recently deleted, in one place.
Settings → Data — cloud sync, backup files, import and export (outlined), and Recently deleted, in one place.

Free vs Acrea Pro

Acrea is free to use for everyday measuring and organising. Acrea Pro unlocks the professional toolkit, the Mapbox map engine and offline maps, and removes the saved-measurement cap. When you tap a locked tool, Acrea shows a preview of what it does and a path to upgrade — you can always back out, so free users are never trapped.

Free

Free
  • Tap-to-measure (area & distance)
  • Drop GPS points with averaging
  • Google base maps (satellite, aerial, terrain, standard)
  • Search, place details, saved places & directions
  • Save measurements (up to the free cap)
  • Categories & saved-sites overlay
  • Rename, notes, duplicate, delete
  • Distance labels, segments & closure
  • Import from KML/KMZ/GeoJSON/CSV/DXF/Shapefile
  • Export to all six formats, single or bulk
  • Backup & restore your whole portfolio
  • Recently deleted — 90 days to undo a delete
  • Share a branded map image
  • Share a public link to a measurement, place or group
  • 11 languages, light/dark themes

Acrea Pro

Pro
  • Unlimited saved measurements
  • Walk-to-measure (GPS perimeter recording)
  • Mapbox map engine & premium styles
  • Offline map downloads & field use
  • COGO traverse legs
  • Precise coordinate entry
  • Curved edges (arcs), cut-outs (holes) & angle indicators
  • Field compass overlay
  • Move, Split, Auto-split, Merge, Trim
  • Groups (create, recolour, ungroup)
  • PDF report builder & legal description
  • Cloud sync across your devices
  • Your brand on shared pages and PDF reports

Acrea Teams Acrea Teams is the plan for crews: shared workspaces where everyone measures into the same jobs, with free, unlimited view-only seats. One subscription covers every team you own. See Account, Sync & Teams above.

See, change, manage or restore your plan anytime from Settings → Your plan.