Help and guide
How to use the Azores1 app
Azores1 is a free app for all nine islands of the Azores. It opens on a 3D model of the island with the real clouds over it, and a sheet below it with today's conditions, trails, places, routes, tours and shared rides. This guide explains every part of it, step by step: where to find it, what to tap, and what works without signal.
Updated November 14, 2026
Your first five minutes
- 1Install Azores1 from the App Store or Google Play. It is free, with nothing to buy, and the home-screen icon is called "Azores".
- 2Open it and watch the short flight onto São Miguel, or tap Skip. Then choose Allow or Decline for anonymous usage statistics, and skip the short questions if you like.
- 3Tap the island pill at the top left, then Change island, and pick the island you are on. São Miguel is built in; each other island downloads the first time you open it.
- 4Move the map: one finger rotates, two fingers move it, pinch to zoom. Tap any pin or weather badge to open what it shows.
- 5Swipe the sheet at the bottom up for the tiles - Trails, Activities, Routes, Rides, Car hire - and the NOW strip with weather, sea, airport and webcams.
- 6Tap the person icon at the top right to sign in and turn on alerts, and open You → Downloads before you head into the hills without signal.
The app at a glance
- Name
- Azores1 (App Store: "Azores1: Azores 3D Guide")
- Phones
- iPhone and Android
- Price
- Free, with nothing to buy in the app
- Account
- Optional and free; needed for trail pages, saving and shared rides
- Without signal
- Downloaded islands, trails, places and every screen you have opened
- Languages
- English, German, Russian, French, Polish, Dutch and Portuguese
- Islands
- São Miguel, Terceira, Pico, Faial, São Jorge, Santa Maria, Graciosa, Flores and Corvo
Everything the app does, explained
- Getting startedAzores1 opens on a 3D model of the island with a sheet at the bottom. The sheet holds photo tiles (Trails, Activities, Routes, Rides, Car hire), a NOW strip with today's weather, sea, airport and webcams, and the island's places. There is no tab bar: everything opens from the sheet, from a pin on the map, or from the Messages and You icons at the top right.
- Nine islands and the 3D mapTap the island pill at the top left, then Change island, to move between São Miguel, Terceira, Pico, Faial, São Jorge, Santa Maria, Graciosa, Flores and Corvo. Each island is a 3D relief model with the real roads and towns and the latest Meteosat cloud over it. São Miguel is built in; the others download once and then work offline.
- Weather, warnings and the seaTap the weather chip in the NOW strip. The Weather page has its own forecast for each of 92 towns and villages across the nine islands - pick one from the row of place chips - with the next hours, the next seven days and IPMA's warnings for the island's group. The Ocean chip shows waves, sea temperature and the tide at the island's main town.
- Trail statusesTap the Trails tile. The routes of the official Azores trails register are listed for the island you are looking at, each with today's status - open, under maintenance or closed - mirrored daily, and its length, time and difficulty. A trail's page shows where it starts and gives directions.
- Beaches, hot springs and crater lakesOpen the island's places from the home sheet. Beaches lists 56 places to swim with what each one is - sand, pebbles, natural pool or bathing platform - and whether there is a lifeguard. Hot springs (São Miguel) give the water temperature, hours and price. Crater lakes (São Miguel and Terceira) give the altitude, parking and the best time to go.
- Day routesTap the Routes tile. Fifteen ready-made programmes across the nine islands are drawn on the 3D map day by day, with numbered stops, timings, notes for families and the dates the weather favours. All of them are free.
- Tours and activitiesTap the Activities tile. Tours on the island you are looking at - jeep tours, canyoning, wine tastings, whale and dolphin trips - are listed with rating, length and price, and each has a pin on the map. Booking is on Viator, in your browser; the app earns a commission and your price is the same.
- Shared ridesTap the Rides tile. Find a ride by route and day, offer the free seats in your car, ask for a seat or share a taxi - between the airport, the ferry port, the towns and the trailheads. You request a seat, the organiser accepts, and you agree the details in the ride's chat, which can translate. Nothing is paid through the app.
- Airport wind and flightsTap the Airport chip in the NOW strip. For the island's airport it shows the gusts, mean wind and crosswind now, an hour-by-hour rating for the next three days (Calm, Watch, Disruption likely), IPMA's wind warning, and the next twelve hours of flights where the airport publishes them.
- WebcamsTap the Webcams chip in the NOW strip. Live cameras on Faial, Pico, Santa Maria and Terceira are listed and pinned on the map. A camera loads only when you tap Play the stream, because the player may set cookies.
- Drone zonesTap the Drone zones chip in the NOW strip. Restricted airspace on every island is drawn in 3D on the map: no-fly zones, height limits and zones that need a permit, with who gives permits and how to contact them.
- Car hireTap the Car hire tile, on islands where our partner DiscoverCars has desks. The app searches as soon as it opens and lists each car with the total price, daily rate, seats, bags and reviews. Tap View deal to book in your browser.
- Alerts, the daily digest and MessagesAllow notifications, then open You → Alerts and daily digest. Choose Weather warnings (IPMA orange and red), Airport wind, Trail closures and News and offers, set a daily digest and quiet hours. Every alert is also kept in Messages, the speech bubble at the top right.
- Saved places and offline useTap the bookmark on a trail, beach, route or tour to save it; saved items are under You → Saved, on every phone you sign in on. For offline use, open the islands you will visit once, then You → Downloads → Check and download: trails, places and the island maps stay on the phone, and every screen you have opened is kept.
- Account, language and privacyTap You (the person icon at the top right). Sign in with Apple, Google or a six-digit code sent by email. Settings there change the language, alerts, map detail and privacy. Delete account is behind the ⋯ on the account screen.
Common questions
- What is the Azores1 app?
- A free travel app for the nine islands of the Azores from the makers of azores1.com. It shows each island in 3D with the real clouds, the weather for 92 places, the official status of the trails, beaches and natural pools, hot springs and crater lakes, free day routes, tours, the airport wind, webcams and drone zones, and lets travellers share rides. It works without signal for everything you have opened.
- How do I switch islands?
- Tap the island name at the top left of the screen, then Change island. An island that is not on the phone yet shows its download size; it downloads once and then works offline.
- What do I need an account for?
- The trail pages, saving places, and everything to do with shared rides. The map, weather, conditions, routes, tours and places work without one. An account is free and is made with Apple, Google or a six-digit code sent by email.
- Does anything cost money?
- No. Everything in the app is free, the fifteen day routes included. Tours are booked on the provider's site in your browser, and shared rides are paid between the people in the car, never through the app.
- Something is not working. What should I try first?
- Pull down to refresh the page, check that you have signal for live data, and make sure the app is up to date: when a new version is ready the app says so and offers Restart.
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