GPX Atlas user guide

In three steps

1. Open a track. Tap a GPX, KML, KMZ or FIT file in an email, a message or your files and choose GPX Atlas, or press Open a file in the library. No file at hand? Try a sample track opens a hike in the Alps.
2. Read it. The track appears on the map with its distance, climb and time. Pull the sheet up for the elevation profile: slide your finger along it to find the spot on the map.
3. Take it outside. From the menu, Follow this track shows the distance and climb left and your arrival time, and vibrates when you leave the path. Record a track records your own outing, even with the screen off.

The guide

• Opening GPX, KML, KMZ and FIT files — Every way to bring a track into the app, the formats it reads, and what to do when a file won't open.
• Maps and offline maps — Street, satellite, hybrid, terrain and official maps, your own map servers, and what can be kept for use without a connection.
• Following a track and recording your own — On the ground: distance and climb left, the off-track alert, recording with the screen off, and Bluetooth sensors.
• Drawing routes, editing tracks and exporting — Draw a route that follows the trails, edit any track without losing the original, and share it in the format you need.
• How the numbers are calculated — Distance, climb, moving time, speed and splits: what they mean, and the settings that change them.
• Automating recordings with Tasker — Start, pause, resume and stop a recording, or add a waypoint, from Tasker, Automate or any app that sends Android intents.

Finding your way around

The map takes the whole screen. The button at the top left opens the menu: your tracks and their statistics, opening a file or a web address, following and recording, drawing a route, offline maps, settings, the introduction, suggesting an improvement and sharing the app. The ⋮ button at the top right holds the actions on the track you are looking at: edit, export, report, color, offline maps along the track, close. At the bottom right, within reach of your thumb, the layers button changes the background and My location brings the map to you.

A few gestures are worth knowing:

• Hold your finger on the map to add a waypoint, copy the coordinates or go to that point.
• Tap the color legend to color the track by another value: speed, elevation, slope, heart rate, cadence or temperature.
• On the profile, pinch to zoom in and double-tap to zoom out.
• Two fingers turn the map; the compass puts north back up.
• In the library, hold a track to select several: open them together, add tags, share, export or delete them.

Your library

Every track you open is kept in the library, on your phone only, with a thumbnail, its distance, climb and date. Sort by date, name, distance or climb; filter by activity, favorites, tags or collections; search by name or tag — accents don't matter. Statistics in the menu adds up your year: distance, climb and time, month by month and by activity.

In Settings › My data, back up the whole library to a single zip file, with your settings, and restore it on a new phone.

Questions and answers

Do I need an account?

No. There is no account and no cloud. Your tracks and your position stay on your phone; nothing is sent unless you share it yourself.

Does it work without a connection?

The GPS always does, so following and recording work anywhere. The map works offline for areas you downloaded on a map whose publisher allows it (IGN, USGS, basemap.at), for your own MBTiles maps, and for the places you have already looked at, kept in a cache for a while. See Maps and offline maps.

Is it free?

Yes. One small banner pays for it, and never a full-screen ad while you follow or record. A single purchase in Settings › Remove ads removes ads for good, with no subscription.

My file doesn't open. What can I do?

See When a file won't open. If nothing there helps, send the file to contact@ludiccraft.com: we read every message, and a file that doesn't open is a bug we want to fix.

Why doesn't my climb match my watch or another app?

Because every app filters GPS noise differently. How the numbers are calculated explains ours, and the settings that change it.

Which languages?

The app speaks 43 languages and follows your phone; you can choose another in Settings › Appearance › Language. Units follow your country too and can be changed: metric, imperial or nautical, speed, altitude and temperature separately.