Summary

The Federal Office of Topography (swisstopo) has expanded its free map app with a new feature: landmarks in the base map. Since its launch in July 2020, the app has been downloaded over four million times and is opened up to 300,000 times daily on sunny weekends. The new landmarks – such as the Rhine Falls, Bern Minster, or Piz Bernina – highlight distinctive and easily recognizable objects and support users in spatial orientation in unfamiliar surroundings.

People

  • (No individuals mentioned)

Topics

  • Digital cartography
  • Outdoor navigation
  • Federal Office of Topography

Clarus Lead

The expansion of the swisstopo-App addresses a practical navigation problem: quick orientation in unfamiliar areas. With over four million downloads and up to 300,000 daily uses on weekends, the app has established itself as a standard planning and navigation tool for outdoor activities. The landmarks feature responds to user feedback and follows a continuous development process that systematically implements requirements from support and surveys.

Detailed Summary

The new landmarks feature works with simplified, characteristic representation of striking objects such as mountain peaks, buildings, and natural monuments. By tapping on a landmark, users receive additional information about the respective object. This enables faster spatial orientation and location determination, particularly in unfamiliar areas.

In parallel, search functions have been expanded: search queries now work across languages (e.g. "Genf" and "Genève"), reliably recognize spelling errors and dialect spellings, and also find individually saved routes and markers. Navigation and planning functions have been supplemented with filters for ascents and descents; starting location and time can now be selected independently of the current location.

Key Statements

  • Swisstopo-App exceeds four million downloads; peak load: 300,000 daily opens on weekends
  • New landmarks feature highlights distinctive objects and improves orientation in unfamiliar areas
  • Extended search function supports multilingual input, dialect spellings, and error tolerance

Critical Questions

  1. Data quality: On what basis were the landmarks selected and defined? Are there criteria for selection (visibility, familiarity, geographic coverage)?

  2. User feedback: What specific requirements from support and surveys led to prioritizing the landmarks feature over other possible features?

  3. User behavior: How is it measured whether the landmarks feature actually improves orientation performance in unfamiliar areas, or is the evaluation based solely on technical implementation?

  4. Coverage: Are all regions of Switzerland equipped with landmarks, or are there geographic differences in availability?

  5. Search algorithm: How reliable is the error tolerance for complex dialect spellings and multilingualism in practice?

  6. Continuous development: What process determines the frequency and prioritization of updates based on user feedback?

Source Directory

Primary source: Federal Office of Topography – Press release swisstopo-App, 16.07.2026 https://www.news.admin.ch/de/newnsb/uoh1tgm4HDLazPfBCpJpX

Verification status: ✓ 16.07.2026

This text was created with the support of an AI model. Editorial responsibility: clarus.news | Fact-checking: 16.07.2026