Version 1.6 | Trips are stored on your device; optional iCloud Drive backup is available.
Table of Contents #
- Allow location access
- Choose a recording mode (optional)
- Start
- Pause and resume (optional)
- Stop and keep your trip
- Use the map controls
- Open trip details
- Review a saved trip
- Clean a trip
- Import a GPX file
- Merge separate sessions into one trip
- Export or Delete a Trip
- Optional iCloud backup and restore
Required First-Trip Path #
New to GPSDash? Follow these steps to record your first trip.
- Allow location access when prompted.
- Tap Start, take a short trip, then tap Stop.
- Keep the trip in GPSDash, export a GPX copy, or share it with another app.
GPSDash saves trips locally. You do not need an account or an internet connection to record a trip. Optional iCloud Drive backup requires iCloud Drive to be available. Apple Maps imagery may need internet access.
1. Get Ready to Record #
GPSDash opens to its map dashboard with Walking/Hiking as the default recording mode; no setup wizard or account is required.
1.1 Allow location access #
- Tap Start on the dashboard.
- If GPSDash displays an explanation, review it and tap Continue.
- Grant the location access requested by iOS so GPSDash can record your route.
GPSDash uses location to record route points. iOS may also ask for location when you choose Present Position from the map controls. If you previously denied access, open GPSDash’s Settings → Preferences → Privacy and Location and use the link to iOS Settings.
1.2 Choose a recording mode (optional) #
Before or during a trip, tap the Mode row in the expanded dashboard to choose a profile; the selected mode is highlighted blue and marked with a checkmark. You can also open Settings → Trip Settings → Recording Mode. The available modes are Walking/Hiking (the default), Cycling, Boat, Driving, Hybrid, Maximum Precision, and Minimal Battery Usage. Minimal Battery Usage targets a point about every 8 seconds, retains confirmed turns, and is labeled low battery use. Actual GPS cadence and battery use depend on iOS, the device, and signal conditions. Mode changes apply to subsequent GPS fixes in the current trip and also select the mode for the next trip. A paused trip stays paused.
2. Record Your First Trip #
2.1 Start #
- Make sure you are ready to move, then tap Start in the bottom dock.
- Check the status card for the recording state and GPS availability. The card also shows active time, distance, speed, and available location details.
- Carry your device with you while you travel. GPSDash records usable location points as they arrive.
The dashboard map shows your route as points are recorded. The status card shows the GPS update time in 24-hour format, horizontal accuracy, and saved point count; altitude appears when available. If you enable Weather under Settings → Preferences, the dashboard also shows temperature, wind speed, and city. Temperature follows the Celsius or Fahrenheit setting, and wind follows metric or imperial speed units. Weather refreshes every 15 minutes while the app is active. GPS accuracy varies with your surroundings and signal conditions.
2.2 Pause and resume (optional) #
Tap Pause to stop collecting points temporarily. The trip stays open, and paused time does not count toward active time. Tap Resume to continue the same trip. GPSDash starts a new route segment after a pause instead of drawing a line across the gap.
To pause automatically when you stop, first choose a mode on Settings → Trip Settings → Recording Mode, then open Settings → Trip Settings → Auto Pause, turn on Auto Pause, and select a stop delay. Walking/Hiking, Cycling, Boat, Driving, and Hybrid select their matching Auto Pause profiles. Maximum Precision and Minimal Battery Usage keep the last activity profile; the active trip’s profile follows its current mode, and changing modes resets movement detection. Auto Pause uses motion activity and GPS evidence; allow Motion & Fitness access if iOS asks. A recent, reliable GPS fix is still needed, so a GPS outage does not trigger a pause. In Settings → Preferences → Notifications, turn on notifications; then open Settings → Trip Settings → Auto Pause and turn on Auto Pause and Resume to receive alerts when an automatic pause or resume happens in the background. Manual pauses still require you to tap Resume.
The expanded dashboard also shows On and Off side by side in the Auto Pause row below Mode. Tap either choice to enable or disable Auto Pause; the selected choice is highlighted. This setting applies immediately to an ongoing trip and is remembered for future trips. The status card shows Auto Paused when GPSDash pauses the trip automatically. In Settings → Trip Settings → Auto Pause, Include pauses in trip timer shows total trip time; turn it off to show active time only.
2.3 Stop and keep your trip #
Tap Stop in the bottom dock. GPSDash ends the recording and saves the trip in the app. The Save Trip sheet shows the trip summary and lets you rename it. Tap Save Trip to close the sheet and keep the trip in your library. You can also resume the stopped trip or delete it from this sheet. Confirm Delete to remove the trip from GPSDash and queue its iCloud backup for deletion. This action does not offer a separate backup choice.
3. Review Your Route #
3.1 Use the map controls #
The right-side control stack has separate Present Position, Zoom In, and Zoom Out buttons, plus Show Full Track and map style. Tap Present Position to recenter on your latest GPS position and resume following. If the cached position is stale or unavailable, GPSDash requests a fresh fix. This does not add a point to a stopped trip.
Zoom In and Zoom Out change the scale around the map’s current center. Zoom Out also pauses automatic following. Tap Show Full Track to fit the current dashboard trip on screen; repeat it after recording more points to fit the updated route. Use the map-style button to switch between Standard, Satellite, and Hybrid. The map menu also provides Present Position, trip-point focus when points are available, and Trip Details when a trip is displayed. Long-press Present Position for start- or end-point choices. Tap the chevron above the controls to collapse or reopen the stack.
During a recording, the main dashboard map follows your present position until you drag the map. Tap Present Position to recenter and resume following; starting or resuming a trip also turns following on. While a trip is active or paused, the map shows the start and present-position markers; the end marker appears after you stop the trip. Reviewing an older trip does not load it onto the main dashboard.
3.2 Open trip details #
Open Trip History by tapping the centered dashboard title or going to Settings → Trips Management → Trip History. Select your trip to view its name, route, and summary, including duration, distance, GPS point count, and speed statistics. Full date-and-time fields use yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm in your current time zone (24-hour time). GPSDash generates a name from the trip’s start date, time, and position, using a place name when available or coordinates otherwise. In trip details, use Trip Name to rename it. The displayed name is used for the GPX filename and track name.
Use the search field to find a trip by name. The All, Saved, Merged, Imported, and Cleaned chips filter by trip type. All keeps the complete list, including an active trip; Saved shows stopped recordings. Cleaned copies appear under Cleaned even when their source was imported or merged. Tap Refine to choose a start-date range. Both selected dates are included. Imported trips without recorded dates appear only when All dates is selected. Search, type, and date filters combine.
For a stopped trip, tap the share icon immediately to the left of Done in Trip Details to open the iOS share sheet with a GPX file. To save a file, choose Advanced Export. The export sheet shows Minimal size GPX export and Full GPX export, with a size estimate for each; Minimal is selected by default. Minimal keeps the complete route, timestamps, elevation, speed, and heading while omitting GPS accuracy, weather, recording diagnostics, and GPSDash restoration details. Full includes all GPX data. Select an option and tap Export below the choices. You can also open GPS Points to review individual readings. The list includes available temperature, wind speed, and weather city for each point. Tap a point to see it on a focused map with its route segment, time, accuracy, altitude, speed, available weather details, and weather snapshot time.
3.3 Review a saved trip #
Open a stopped trip from Trip History and tap its map preview or View Saved Trip in its details. On iPad, GPSDash opens full-screen within the current navigation flow; use Back to return to Trip Details or session details. On iPhone, Trip Review opens as a large, draggable sheet. The saved route is fitted on screen, and dragging the map still pans it. Use the zoom and Show Full Track controls, or open the map-style menu to focus on the start or end point. Tap the layers button in the right-side controls to color the track by Speed (default), Elevation, or turn coloring Off (blue track). Speed and elevation colors adapt to that trip: blue marks the lowest value and red the highest, with green, yellow, and orange between. Tap near a recorded part of the route to select its nearest GPS point; the point is marked and its details open in an expandable bottom sheet. The sheet uses the same time, coordinates, accuracy, altitude, speed, and available weather fields as the GPS Points list. Tap Done to close it. The chevron above the right-side controls collapses or reopens them. The bottom dock opens Trip details, Clean trip, and Export. Open GPS Points, rename, or delete the trip from the top-right menu; GPS Points is also available in Trip Details.
You can also open the dashboard’s session-details sheet. Past Trips opens the library; View Saved Trip opens the stopped trip currently shown on the dashboard. Reviewing an older trip does not replace the main dashboard route or interrupt an active recording. Tap Return to Recording to close the sheet and go back to the active or paused session.
3.4 Clean a trip #
- Open a stopped trip in Trip Review and tap Clean trip (magic-wand icon). At least three GPS points are required.
- Choose Entire trip or Visible map area. If you manually zoomed in or out in Trip Review, Visible map area is selected automatically. It uses the area visible when cleanup opened; moving the preview map does not change that area.
- Compare Original, Reduce drift, and Remove visit live on the map. Toggle suggested sections, adjust their beginning/end, or use Add selection. Show original displays the original route for comparison. Remove visit can exclude recorded movement as well as GPS drift, so review the result before saving.
- Tap Save cleaned copy, edit the suggested
_cleanedname if desired, and choose Save. Cancel returns to the preview. After saving, GPSDash opens the trip list.
The original stays in your library. The cleaned copy has its own identity and follows your existing iCloud backup settings. Active time, total trip time, and start/end times are preserved; removing points never shortens the timer. Distance is recalculated, and excluded sections become route gaps. Cleanup does not reconstruct your actual path inside a building.
4. Import or Merge Trips #
4.1 Import a GPX file #
Open Settings → Trips Management, tap Import GPX, and select a GPX file in the iOS Files picker. Review the available tracks and select the ones to import. GPSDash imports the selected tracks as new trips and does not modify the source file. Imported trips appear in Trip History with an Imported label.
Importing and reviewing files works offline. Road-map imagery and route calculation may require internet access.
4.2 Merge separate sessions into one trip #
In Trip History, choose Select and select stopped trips, then choose View on Map to review their routes together. The first selected trip with a usable route becomes the Reference Trip. Turn on Nearby Trips to filter the list and adjust Nearby Radius if needed; it defaults to 50 km and follows your unit settings. A distant trip requires View Anyway when selecting it, and again before loading it on the review map. Nearby matching checks the routes, not just their starting points.
Match each route to its numbered, colored list entry. Tap an entry or map marker to highlight it, then use Focus Trip or Fit All Routes to frame the map. Uncheck trips you do not want to merge; their loaded routes remain visible, dimmed. Choose Merge Selected with at least two checked trips that have GPS points and complete, chronological timestamps. You can also open Merge Trips directly from Trip History. On the first merge page, toggle individual tracks; at least two must remain selected to enable Next.
On the next page, review and reorder the tracks, and rename the new trip if needed. Its initial name is the name of the oldest selected source trip. Under Between recordings, Time between recordings measures the time from one track’s last GPS point to the next track’s first; Distance between endpoints measures the direct distance between those same points, not travel during the interval. Separate warnings appear above 6 hours or 2 km and require Combine these separate recordings confirmation. Endpoints only 0.02 km apart can still trigger the time warning after an overnight break.
For each interval, choose Leave Gap, Straight Connector, or Route by Road. Road routing uses Apple Maps and requires internet. Connectors are estimates and do not recover missing GPS recordings. Choose Merge Trips to create the new trip. The original trips remain unchanged, and the new trip is marked Merged in the library.
4.3 Export or Delete a Trip #
Export a copy #
Open a stopped trip from Trip History. In Trip Details, tap the share icon immediately left of Done to go straight to the iOS share sheet. Choose an available destination such as AirDrop, Messages, Copy, or Save to Files. To create a file with the Files picker, choose Advanced Export in Trip Details or Export in Trip Review. Select Minimal size GPX export or Full GPX export; each option shows its size estimate. Minimal is selected by default and keeps the complete route, timestamps, elevation, speed, and heading. Full also includes GPS accuracy, weather, diagnostics, and GPSDash restoration information. Tap Export below the options to choose where to save the GPX. Exported and shared files are copies; this does not remove the trip from GPSDash.
Delete a trip #
Delete a stopped trip from its details or the trip library. Confirm Delete when prompted. This removes the trip and its locally stored GPS points from GPSDash. Previously exported files are unaffected.
4.4 Optional iCloud backup and restore #
To back up stopped trips to iCloud Drive, open Settings → Trips Management → iCloud Backup Settings and turn on Automatically Back Up Trips. The first time, GPSDash shows how many stopped trips are in your library and offers Back Up Existing Trips, Only Future Trips, or Cancel. A backfill processes trips one at a time, so a large library can take a while.
Backups are individual GPX files in Files → iCloud Drive → GPSDash → Backups. If a backup cannot be written while iCloud Drive or the network is unavailable, GPSDash keeps it queued and retries when the app next becomes active. In Trip History, the cloud icon shows backup-file status. Tap its upload icon to back up or retry one trip manually; this works even when automatic backup is off. Turning automatic backup off leaves existing cloud files in place. By default, deleting a local trip from Trip History or its details leaves its backup in place. The Delete action in the Save Trip sheet after Stop always queues both the local trip and its iCloud backup for deletion. The icon stays pending until iCloud confirms upload, even if the file already appears in the folder.
To manage space, open Settings → Trips Management → iCloud Backup Settings and choose a retention rule. You can keep all backups, keep them for a set time, keep the latest number of trips, limit the GPSDash backup folder’s size, or combine time and size. Choose whether GPSDash asks before cleanup, deletes eligible backups automatically, or stops new backups at a size limit. Under When a local trip is deleted, choose Keep cloud backup, Delete cloud backup, or Ask. With Ask, choose whether to keep or delete the backup when deleting a trip; for a multi-select deletion, the choice applies to every selected trip. In iCloud Backups, tap the star beside a backup to protect it from automatic cleanup. To delete a backup directly, swipe its row from the trailing edge, tap Delete cloud backup, and confirm. This removes the GPX from iCloud Drive and synced devices but leaves any local trip in GPSDash. The action is available after iCloud confirms the upload. Deleted iCloud backups disappear from synced devices, so review the rule before enabling automatic deletion.
To restore a trip, open Settings → Trips Management → iCloud Backups. Search by trip name or choose All, Saved, Merged, Imported, or Cleaned; tap Refine to set a start-date range. Tap the restore icon beside a backup. GPSDash downloads the file if needed and adds the trip to your local library. If that trip ID is already on the iPhone, GPSDash skips it and leaves the existing trip unchanged.
5 Report an App Freeze or Crash #
Open Settings → About & Support → Send Logs to Developers, enter an email address as contact information, and tap Submit. GPSDash sends the available diagnostic logs and iOS crash or hang reports, when available, together with that address to its support service. The success message confirms that the service returned a successful response; it does not confirm which inbox the service uses or whether an email arrived.
You are ready to use GPSDash. Record a trip, import a GPX file, merge separate sessions, or share a GPX copy. Trips are saved locally; optional iCloud Drive backups can keep GPX copies available for restore. Review, export, share, or delete trips from Trip History.
For complete instructions, see the User Manual.