ApexGPS Hiking

ApexGPS is a free iPhone hiking app for people who want the essentials of a good GPS navigator without ads, subscriptions, or the need to sign up. Offline maps, GPX, waypoints, track recording, route planning, and per-point weather — all data stays on your device.

LANGUAGES
• English, Deutsch, Français, Español, Polski, and العربية (Arabic) — with full right-to-left layout for Arabic
• Built-in user guide translated into all six languages

MAPS
• ESRI Topo (default on new installs)
• OpenTopoMap — topographic tiles with contour lines
• OpenStreetMap Standard
• ESRI World Imagery (satellite)
• ESRI Hillshade (shaded relief)
• Thunderforest Outdoors — contour lines + hiking difficulty shading (free API key required, added in Settings)
• Switch styles with the Layers button; your choice is remembered

OFFLINE
• Tiles cache automatically as you browse, ready for airplane mode
• Download a full region: pan the map to frame the area, pick a zoom range, hit Download
• Cache size adjustable in Settings: 250 MB / 500 MB / 1 GB / 2 GB
• Saved regions are stored separately and survive cache cleanups

TRACK RECORDING
• Keeps recording with the screen locked or while you use other apps
• Live stats card right on the map: running duration, distance, elevation with its source (barometer or GPS), and total ascent — with confirmations so you never end a hike by accident
• True mean-sea-level elevation (with a bundled global geoid correction)
• GPS Diagnostics (Settings → Advanced): see exactly which quality gates each GPS fix passes and why a noisy altitude reading was filtered out — with a plain-language explainer for every gate

GPX IMPORT & EXPORT
• Open .gpx files from the Files app or share them in from WhatsApp, Mail, or any file-sharing app
• Multi-file select for bulk import

TRACK PLANNING
• Sketch a route by tapping the map — drop numbered vertices
• Long-press a vertex to drag, long-press a midpoint to insert a new one
• Fetch the route's elevation profile from a worldwide DEM with one tap

WAYPOINTS
• Add by long-pressing the map, entering coordinates, or via GPX import
• 32 OSM-aligned symbols, 16 colour choices
• Long-press and drag on the map to relocate
• Auto-fetch elevation from a worldwide DEM
• Duplicates from re-imported GPX are automatically deduplicated

WEATHER
• Per-waypoint hourly forecast for the next 7 days (Open-Meteo, no API key)
• Current conditions, pressure + humidity charts, sunrise / sunset / UV index
• Fully localized: temperature units, condition labels, time-of-day follow your phone's language

NAVIGATION & SHARING
• Tap any waypoint to start navigation: dotted line, live distance + bearing, auto-stop on arrival
• Full-screen compass mode for hands-free navigation
• Send your live location as a one-tap link — opens in ApexGPS for recipients who have it, web map preview for everyone else

DISTANCE MEASUREMENT
• Tap to drop vertices; drag any vertex to refine; drag a midpoint handle to insert a new vertex
• Total distance shown live in the stats bar

MAP CONTROLS
• Two-finger twist to rotate the map freely
• Follow-me mode with screen-always-on during GPS tracking, plus a live stats bar: speed, elevation, distance

SAMPLE HIKE
• Load a real recording of the Watzmann Traverse (22.6 km, +2250 m) from Settings → Data and explore the app before your own first hike

BACKUP & RESTORE
• Export tracks, waypoints, saved map regions, and settings to a ZIP file
• Restore on another phone with Merge (deduplicates) or Replace modes

PRIVACY
• All data stays on your device; location is never uploaded anywhere
• Map tiles are fetched from public providers (OpenStreetMap, ESRI, Thunderforest) over anonymous HTTPS requests
• No analytics, no tracking, no ad SDKs

REQUIREMENTS
• iPhone with iOS 17 or later
• Location permission (optional — only needed for follow-me / recording)
• No account, no sign-up

Made in the UAE. Feedback welcome at sandwalker.one@proton.me.