Use your phone's sensors to assist with wilderness treks
Trail Sense turns your Android device into a sensor-driven wilderness toolkit with offline capabilities. It offers compass-based navigation, backtracking, offline maps (formerly Photo Maps), beacons, packing planning, sunset alerts, and barometer-based weather estimates—all without needing Internet. Total downloads and recent activity are available as 100,000+ and 1.9K respectively.
Pros & Cons
Offline-first design keeps data on-device with no Internet transfer.
Sensor-driven features (compass, barometer, camera) enable robust navigation.
Rich toolkit includes backtrack, beacons, and packing planning for outdoor trips.
Clear safety posture: no data leaves the device and privacy-conscious operation.
Some features require specific hardware (e.g., compass or barometer) and may not be available on all devices.
Offline maps mean no dynamic online updates or data streaming.
Permissions like location (including background), camera, and notifications may raise privacy considerations for some users.
About Trail Sense
Trail Sense is a tools app developed by Trail Sense.
Download Statistics
Trail Sense has been downloaded 240 thousand times. In the last 30 days, the app was downloaded 1.9 thousand times.
User Ratings
Trail Sense is rated 4.65 out of 5 stars. The rating is based on 1.2 thousand ratings.
App Information
Trail Sense is FREE to download. The APK download size is 8.96 MB. The latest version available is 8.0.2. The last update was on June 4, 2026.
Technical Requirements
The app has a content rating of Everyone. The app has been available on Google Play July 2020.
Description
Explore beyond the reaches of the Internet with Trail Sense.
- Designed for hiking, backpacking, camping, and geocaching - Place beacons and navigate to them - Use as a compass (only available on devices with a compass sensor) - Follow paths - Retrace your steps with backtrack - Use a photo as a map - Plan what to pack - Be alerted before the sun sets - Predict the weather (only available on devices with a barometer sensor) - Use your phone as a flashlight - And much more!
Trail Sense is a tool, and just like any other tool that you bring into the wilderness, it's essential to have backup equipment and skills. This app is intended for information purposes only and the accuracy of the predictions and sensors are determined by a number of factors, including calibration, sensor quality, external sources, etc. Use at your own risk, always have backup tools (ex. compass), and stay safe.
This app also does not, and will never, use the Internet - all information in Trail Sense comes directly from your phone's sensors, and no data will leave Trail Sense.
COMMON ISSUES - No compass: If your phone does not have a compass sensor, there is nothing I can do to make it work because that is hardware. You will still be able to use other features of Trail Sense. - No weather: The Weather tool is only available if your phone has a barometer sensor.
Found an issue or want a new feature? Contact me at trailsense@protonmail.com or create a new issue on GitHub: github.com/kylecorry31/Trail-Sense
I'm the only developer of Trail Sense, so I will do my best to help out with issues - but I have a limited device selection to test on.
PERMISSIONS - Notifications: Allows Trail Sense to display notifications (backtrack, weather, sunset alerts, astronomy events, water boil timer, etc) - Location: Allows Trail Sense to retrieve your location for navigation, weather (sea level calibration), and astronomy. - Background location: Allows Trail Sense to retrieve your location for sunset alerts while in the background. On some devices, this will also improve the reliability of backtrack and weather monitor. - Physical activity: Allows Trail Sense to use your phone's pedometer for distance calculation. - Camera: Allows Trail Sense to use your camera on the sighting compass, clinometer, and for taking photos used by the Cloud Scanner, QR Code Scanner, and Photo Maps. - Alarms & reminders: Allows Trail Sense to post a notification at an exact time. This is used by the Clock tool (when updating system time) and Sunset Alerts.
LINKS Privacy policy: https://kylecorry.com/Trail-Sense/#privacy FAQ: https://github.com/kylecorry31/Trail-Sense#faq Trail Sense is available under the MIT License: https://opensource.org/license/mit/
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Trail Sense is a fantastic multidisciplinary app with features like the compass and speedometer, which also work great as basic navigation tools for sailing (COG and SOG). *Adding a simple Man Overboard (MOB)* feature to mark and return to specific location when sailing, along with an adding few sailing terminologies for route planning overwaters, would make it even more useful for casual boaters. Overall, it’s a perfect tool for navigation and outdoor enthusiasts.
★★★★★Name· Sep 6, 2025
Free, ad-free, open source, and, most of all, extremely useful. Substitutes the need for 10 apps, while having near 0 size.
★★☆☆☆LayRams Designs· Mar 24, 2026
I installed this app in my phone, the app prompts the user to accept data terms, after that it tells user that their device does not have a compass sensor. Why did your app not test first whether your app will be compatible with the user's device, before collecting user data? At least the user would have had the option to not continue with setup and avoid wastage of user's time?
Google Play Rankings for Trail Sense
This app is not ranked
Technologies used by Trail Sense
17 permissions·23 libraries
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Trust & Safety: Trail Sense emphasizes offline, sensor-based operation with no data sent off-device, and it asks for permissions (location, background location, camera, notifications, wake lock) to support navigation and alerts. Review permissions and calibrate sensors to ensure optimal performance; use the app as directed and follow wilderness safety best practices.
Each subscription will automatically renew 3 days before the expiration date for
the same time period. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time before the renewal.
