How I Record My Walks

As a keen photographer, I was already using my mobile phone and other things to record GPS tracks so I could geotag any photos that I’d taken on my non-GPS-enabled dSLR camera.

It was quite early days for doing that when I started and those apps are mostly gone now, some killed by Android updates, some just let die off by developers, overtaken by what we have now…progress.

These days I use the Strava mobile app to record my wanderings. I did use the Runkeeper app when the Strava app gave spurious results on my previous Nokia mobile but I like Strava a wee bit better. It's a matter of personal taste so try a couple and see what you like.

Where my recorded routes don't match what I'd like to show here (usually because I don't live in the old bank), I use the route planners in Outdooractive or Komoot.

Wary of how ephemeral online services can be, I'm also looking at a few more contenders and it's one of those I'm using now on the Routes pages.

So, here's a bit more information on route planning and recording apps...

You’ll need to sign up for a free account to use this app but it’ll do almost everything you need to track your walking, running, cycling, etc.

The web view will let you see more information, upload or manually add activities, and it’ll let you export your activities to GPX files.

It won't let you edit a route though you can crop it and, if you want to create a route, then you have to upgrade to a paid account.

There are social aspects to the app like goals and challenges, etc. You can follow other users as I do and it’ll even recognise when you’re walking together.

You’ll need to sign up for a free account to use this app but it’ll do almost everything you need to track your walking, running, cycling, etc.

The web view will let you see more information, manually add or even edit activities (including the route), convert a track to a route that you can publish/share, and it’ll let you export your activities to GPX or KML (Google Earth) files.

As with most of these apps, there are social aspects to it like connecting with like-minded people, goals and challenges, etc. There are also a few features behind a paywall but nothing I needed.

You’ll need to sign up for a free account to use this app but it’ll do almost everything you need to track your walking, running, cycling, etc.

The web view will also let you manually create, edit and share tracks and routes and the mobile app can give you turn-by-turn navigation instructions. You can also export GPX, KML and FIT (Garmin) files.

Again, there's a community aspect - you can follow others, join challenges, etc.

Upgrading to a paid account will give you better maps, no-ads, landscape identification, offline access and let you create 3D plans.

Be careful of the mobile app as it'll keep the screen on while tracking by default  and I can see why that'd be useful if cycling but it'll drain the battery a bit faster than you might like. Thankfully, there's an option in the settings to use the system defaults.

This is very similar to Outdooractive in that you'll need to sign up for a free account, it'll let you record, plan, edit and share tracks, get turn-by-turn directions and download tracks as GPX files, be social, etc.

Where I found it useful is that, when manually planning a route, it'll let you go off-track while Outdooractive will only snap to roads and recognized paths.

It can also link to several types of tracker and share routes to those.

You get one map region for free.

I spotted this while looking through Gillian's Walks, which has a lot of walking routes, quite a few locally. I don't think I like the way the she presents her routes though!

You’ll need to sign up for a free account to use this app but it’ll do almost everything you need to track your walking and hiking.

The web view will let you see more information, import a GPX file or manually create a route that you can edit and share, and it’ll let you export your routes to GPX files. The route-drawing tool doesn't snap to paths so, while every click counts, it does mean that you can draw routes over open countryside.

The mobile app will let you track your walks but I noticed in the comments that there may be a limitation for free accounts in that it might only track every 10 metres, which isn't much use. Something I will need to check out.

It uses an online forum as its social front and there are also a few features behind a paywall but nothing I needed.

This bills itself as a completely free web and mobile blogging platform for walkers, hikers, cyclists, etc. to plan and record their travels. It is a bit ad-laden but it is free.

You'll need to sign up using Google, Facebook or an email address and the web app will let you create and edit a route or upload a GPX or KML file and work with that. The mobile apps will let you record a track, even without a mobile signal. 

The route-planning tool will snap to roads but you can edit it (I think) but it stymied me. You can upload a GPX or KML file but I couldn't see a way to edit that. You can add photos, videos, notes and even a voice track.

I think that, with no way to easily edit a route, even if it is free, this one is a dead end.

You’ll need a Google account to use this app, which is basically a front end to your customised Google Maps.

There is no mobile app for this and it can't record a GPS track but you can view your maps using the Google Maps app. You can export it as KML, KMZ or CSV files and you can share it or embed it.

The web view will let you customize a Google Map and you can import a GPX file, add a step-by-step walking, cycling or driving route, directions and markers.

Oddly, when you're drawing a walking route, it won't let you go off-path but, if you import a GPX track, you can then modify it willy-nilly.

There's plenty of help for it online: https://support.google.com/mymaps/ and there are lots of video tutorials on YouTube, for example:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=google+my+maps+tutorial.

This has what appears to be a decent free plan and it looks usable for plotting a route so I'll let you know how it goes. You will need to create an account though.

The web and mobile app will let you create and edit a route and you can import or export a GPX or KML file. 

The mobile app will let you record a GPS track or plot a route.

The premium plan adds in OS and historic maps, a distance measuring tool, map printing and the ability to break a hike into stages for longer distance trails.

This has quite a limited free tier but looks usable for plotting a route on your PC and you can snap to tracks or go off-track.

The web app will let you create and edit a route and you can import or export a GPX file. 

The mobile app will let you record a GPS track or plot a route but only with a premium account. 😞

You'll need to sign up for a free account to use this browser-based app. It's a Progressive Web App (PWA) and runs on your browser even on mobile.

It has no GPS track recording capabilities or maybe it does - I'm sure I saw a record option at one stage but I can't find it again.

You can plan a route with it though and you can download or upload a GPX file. It'll snap to roads but doesn't recognise paths depending on the map type you have active. It's usable but I found it a struggle. 

It is very heavy on adverts though - might be too much to endure. 😞

Given the limitations of the free tier, I suspect this is only useful for finding or following routes other users have created.

So, the web app will let you create and edit a route but you can't import or export a GPX file without a premium account. 😒

The mobile app will let you record a GPS track or plot a route but again, you can't import or export the GPX file without a premium account. 😞