Offline topographic maps, turn-by-turn navigation, and workout recording, right on your Apple Watch. Plan on your iPhone, sync to your wrist in seconds, then leave the phone behind. It all works with no signal.
Free to start · No account · No ads
Build a route on your iPhone, save the map offline with one tap, then head out with nothing but your watch. It works without a signal.
Tap the map to plan, or bring a route in from Strava or a GPX file. See distance and elevation update instantly.
One tap downloads the map around your route. Your route is already on your watch, synced automatically.
Head out with just your watch. Turn-by-turn guidance, even with no signal.
I build WristTopo. It started because I was tired of taking my gloves off to check the map on my phone while ski touring. I just wanted a good map on my watch.
I’ve been building software for over 15 years. I develop WristTopo myself, here in Poland, and I read every bug report and feature request.
(opens in a new tab) I shared WristTopo on Reddit’s r/applewatchultra. The thread passed 1,000 upvotes and 300 comments. A few of the replies:
Been using your app for a while (yearly subscriber) and it's amazing. When I did Mardi Himal trek in Nepal, having offline maps on the wrist was game changing.
Just want to say I first downloaded your app about a year ago and the progress you’ve made in the last year is highly commendable. You are doing fantastic work!
I bought a pro subscription a couple of days ago and the app is nearly perfect! I’m a long time WorkOutDoors user, but WristTopo is the perfect Garmin Explore replacement […]
One app, two devices: plan on iPhone, navigate on Apple Watch. Built for hiking, running, cycling, and mountain biking.
01 · Navigation
Voice guidance and visual turn alerts on your wrist. You see the next turn, the distance, and your ETA, with the phone left at home. Mark a hut or a water source as a waypoint, and the watch taps and calls out its name as you get close. The route is already on the watch, so all of it keeps working where there are no bars at all.
Voice + turn alerts
02 · Climbs
While you follow a route, your watch gives you a tap as each climb or descent begins. Turn on voice guidance to hear how much elevation you’ll gain or lose, how far you’ll go and roughly how long it will take. At the top, you see how long it took you.
Climb + descent cues
03 · Maps
Download topographic, winter, or satellite maps to your watch. Once saved, they work with no signal, anywhere.
Works with no signal
04 · Planning
Tap the map and the route snaps to real trails, with distance and elevation updating as you go. Close it into a loop, turn it into an out-and-back, or reverse it in a tap. Works for hiking, running, cycling, or mountain biking. Planning is the part that needs a connection. Once the route is saved, you can open it and follow it without one.
Live distance + elevation
05 · Workouts
Start a workout from your wrist and choose what each screen shows for every activity: pace, elevation, vertical speed, heart rate zones and more. It saves everything to Apple Health, counts toward your Activity rings, and uploads to Strava on its own once you connect it. Since it is one app, no second tracker drains your battery.
Apple Health + Strava
06 · On the go
Drop a destination and your watch works out a point-to-point route right there on your wrist. No need to reach for your phone, as long as you have a connection.
Phone-free, on the spot
07 · Places
Mark the trailhead parking, a water source, or tonight’s camp. Save places on your iPhone while you plan, or on your watch when you get there, even with no signal. Places sync both ways, and one tap routes you to any of them.
Synced both ways
08 · Safety
Lost the trail? One tap retraces your steps with turn-by-turn guidance all the way home. Your watch builds that way back from the track you already walked, so it is there even when the signal is long gone.
One-tap return09 · Your routes
Pull in your Strava routes and past activities directly, or import GPX files from Komoot, Outdooractive, or anywhere else, several at a time. Waypoints come along, and you can snap a route to the trails as it arrives. It is all on the watch before you leave the house.
Export any route as a GPX file, and your recordings as GPX with heart rate or as FIT files. Back them up, or share them with a friend.
Routes are colored by gradient, orange for uphill and blue for downhill, with an elevation profile you can read on your iPhone and right on your wrist. One look tells you what’s coming. Switch between topo and satellite out on the trail, with no signal.
Choose a routing mode for your activity and the matching sport when you record a workout. Plan on iPhone, then navigate and record on your watch.
Planning
The shortest, most direct paths. The one to pick for everyday walks and road running.
Sticks to marked trails and takes the scenic line. Also what trail runners want.
Routes along roads and cycle paths, suited to road cycling.
Puts you on singletrack and unpaved trails instead of tarmac.
No routing at all: a direct line between the points you drop, for off-trail days.
Workouts
Hiking, Walking, Running, Trail Running, Wheelchair
Cycling, Gravel Cycling, Mountain Biking, E-Bike, E-Mountain Biking, Handcycling
Downhill Skiing, Snowboarding, Backcountry Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Snowshoeing
Kayaking, Canoeing, Stand-Up Paddle, Rowing, Open Water Swimming, Surfing, Windsurfing, Kitesurfing, Sailing
Climbing, Horseback Riding, Hunting, Fishing, Skateboarding
Each sport keeps its own type on the way to Apple Health and Strava, so a ski tour never lands there as a run.
The best views are usually past the point where most people turn around. Push a little deeper, take the trail you’ve never tried, and let the map fill in behind you as you go.
Your track records from the first step, so the way back is already on the map.
Independently covered by the Apple and outdoor press, and put to the test by heise against Komoot and Strava.
Put to the test against Komoot and Strava in heise's independent Apple Watch route-app comparison.
If you are looking for an app to show hiking maps on your Apple Watch, you should take a look at WristTopo.
Original: “Wenn ihr eine App für die Anzeige von Wanderkarten auf der Apple Watch sucht, solltet ihr einen Blick auf WristTopo werfen.”
The first article ever written about WristTopo, from July 2025, when the app was still at version 3.0. The response from its readers is a big part of why it kept going. They came back for version 7.0 in August 2026.
WristTopo meets all my requirements for a modern Apple Watch app.
Original: “WristTopo erfüllt alle meine Anforderungen an eine moderne Apple-Watch-App.”
It turns the Apple Watch into a standalone navigation tool for outdoor tours.
Original: “WristTopo verwandelt die Apple Watch in ein eigenständiges Navigations-Tool für Outdoor-Touren.”
WristTopo positions itself here as the more modern navigation alternative: it relies on smoothly zoomable and rotatable vector maps, real turn-by-turn directions …
Original: “WristTopo positioniert sich hier als die modernere Navigationsalternative: Es setzt auf flüssig zoom- und drehbare Vektorkarten, echte Turn-by-Turn-Abbiegehinweise …”
The interface offers spare, clean menus with nothing in the way, echoing Apple’s own philosophy a little …
Original: “L’interfaccia utente offre menù essenziali, puliti e privi di elementi di disturbo, un po’ a rispecchiare la filosofia di Apple …”
Verbatim App Store reviews from hikers, runners and riders around the world.
I have been looking for years for outdoor navigation on a watch that best suits my use case. […] Having used this app for several months now, I think WristTopo is as close to perfect for me as any device or app I have found. And it keeps getting better! It rivals Garmin routing and navigation. […] WristTopo base maps are sourced from OpenStreetMap and updated more frequently than Garmin.
I've had an Apple Watch since the series 3, but I've also have had a Suunto for my hiking trips as the navigation apps on Apple Watch have always been terrible. This app changes everything. The first thing is, it's beautiful. It's got Liquid Glass updates and is smooth to use. Aesthetics are everything when you're paying a lot of money for a beautiful watch. I'm about to subscribe to pro, with lifetime after this, but waiting for my ultra 4 to arrive to do a big test. Well done Dev!
Really impressed by how fluid and straightforward the route creation and map browsing is with this app. I've found that the other topo map apps for the Apple Watch can be quite cumbersome (and expensive). Route navigation works very well on the watch once you've started your workout. Perfect for those that want to use the Apple Workout app but still want to follow a detailed route at the same time with turn by turn directions.
[…] It turned out to be exactly the missing piece after switching from Garmin to Apple Watch Ultra. The design is outstanding — minimalist, clean, and very well thought out. […] Maps load incredibly fast on the Apple Watch, and the smart offline handling is brilliant […]
What an amazing app - easy to use and works flawlessly. Maps are drawing very fast when navigating and you can also have all your metrics displayed in the app without having to use the watch's workout app separately. FAR easier to use than WorkOutdoors.
I'm ngl I expected this app to not work but this app has been better for offline maps for any use than Gaia maps or a lot of other apps. 10/10 app and I am now paying for the highest tier just to support this dev because this is a beautifully designed app. I love the simple ui and reliable functionality […]
This is an awesome app. So easy to use and works here in New Zealand at the ends of the earth. I love the auto routing snap to track. No more creating hundreds of waypoints for tramping tracks. Start and end and you are done! Can't recommend it more highly.
I wanted to update my rating because the latest updates made it so much better, and it was already excellent. You see the map live, follow the routes you've made as you go and know when you've wandered off them. In the mountains it's brilliant: I've gone up and down Iztaccíhuatl several times and it was always my main app for finding the way (it uses almost no battery). […] It's become my go-to app for hiking, mountaineering, cycling and running. Worth every cent.
Used this app for a three day hike in the Alps and right away purchased it. Super simple to use, fast and just a nice looking app.
The best app of its kind for Apple Watch 🙌🏻 I tried it in the city and bought PRO right away. Forget komoot or WorkOutDoors, don't even think about it :) I use it in the Beskids and the Tatras and it's reliable, intuitive, well thought out, good-looking, accurate, fast… the list goes on. Now the only time my iPhone comes out on the trail is to take a photo :)
Completely blown away how good this app is, connecting to AW ultra was faultless, map downloads are easy, I have uploaded some GPX files and it even reroutes them to follow footpaths when the files aren't quite correct. […] The route planner is extremely easy to use and sticks to paths very well.
I wear an Apple Watch Ultra 3, and it's plenty for half marathons and trail runs on the hill behind my place. But now that I've taken up trail running seriously I needed GPX maps, and I was about to switch to a Suunto Race 2 when I tried the free version of WristTopo. Verdict: very happy. It holds a GPS fix well and warns you when you go off route, so I finished a course I'd never run before without a hitch.
This is the only app that allows to route dynamically on the watch with a topo map without creating the route on your phone. It also has turn by turn navigation (v5+) and allows to import / export gpx file. Small but mighty!
A free tier that stays free, no account required. Go PRO for $9.99 a year, or pay $29.99 once for a lifetime license, no subscription.
Everything you need for shorter adventures.
Everything WristTopo can do, unlocked.
These are launch prices. The lifetime license is a single payment with no subscription attached. No account required, and you can cancel the annual plan anytime.
Yes. Once your routes and maps are on your watch, you can leave the phone behind. WristTopo navigates on Apple Watch with no phone and no signal.
Only the preparation. Planning a route, downloading maps and creating a Quick Route on the watch all need a connection. After that the rule is simple: whatever is already on your watch stays there and works with no signal, turn-by-turn navigation and backtrack included.
No. Offline maps and navigation work on any supported Apple Watch, with no cellular plan required.
In my testing, with WristTopo recording a workout and navigating a route, a full charge works out to:
Battery use varies with settings and how you use the watch. WristTopo can also record your workout, so you don’t need a second tracking app.
Extended Workout is Apple’s name for a workout with Low Power Mode turned on. WristTopo works in Low Power Mode, and in my testing it matches the 25 hours Apple quotes for Extended Workout on Apple Watch Ultra 4: 25+ hours of recording and navigation. Max Extended Workout is a separate mode of Apple’s Workout app that also turns off alerts and splits. WristTopo has no equivalent of it.
Very little, because maps are compressed. A typical route takes just a few MB, and a large rectangular area downloaded in full is around 50–100 MB.
WristTopo records 30 sports and exports workouts to Apple Health and Strava using the appropriate activity type for each service. The route planner has five modes: walking/running, hiking, cycling, mountain biking, and Straight Line, which connects points directly for off-trail routes.
Yes. Connect Strava to import your Strava routes and past activities directly, or import GPX files from Komoot, Outdooractive, or anywhere else into the iPhone app, several at a time. Waypoints in the file come along. Either way the route syncs to your watch instantly, with turn-by-turn directions you can follow by voice. Strava import is part of PRO.
Yes. There is no account to create and no advertising SDK in the app. Your routes and locations stay on your device and in your own iCloud, where I never see them.
WristTopo is free to start. PRO offers a free trial and is available as an annual subscription or a one-time Lifetime purchase. Prices vary by region; check your local App Store or the pricing section above.
WristTopo is built to be the map and navigator on the Apple Watch itself: a fast, detailed topographic map, offline turn-by-turn, an integrated route planner, and data you own. Komoot is where you discover and plan routes from a big community library; WorkOutDoors is the most configurable workout recorder on the watch. There is a fair, sourced comparison of each, and plenty of people happily use more than one.
See the comparisons
Download WristTopo and find your way with just your watch.
Free to start · No account · No ads
