How to import a GPX file into Locus Map
Locus Map is a capable offline mapping app built for exactly this kind of file — a GPX track drops onto its map with a full line to follow, elevation and distance included. The part that catches people out has nothing to do with the file itself: Locus Map is Android only, with no iPhone version, so a route recorded on an iPhone has to cross from one platform to another before it ever reaches it.
The short answer
On an Android device with Locus Map installed, opening the .gpx file directly — from a file manager, a cloud storage app, or an email attachment — and choosing Locus Map from the list of apps offered to handle it is the most direct route in. The track imports into Locus Map's own track list and draws itself on the map, with distance and elevation read straight from the file. Locus Map also has an import option inside the app itself, usually reached through a menu for data or tracks, for picking a file already saved on the device.
If the file has not reached the Android device yet, email, a shared cloud folder or a messaging app are all ordinary ways to move one small file across from wherever it was recorded.
Why this one needs an extra step most imports do not
Locus Map is developed for Android; there has never been an iPhone version of it. That matters here specifically because a route being imported into Locus Map was very often recorded on an iPhone in the first place — someone who tracks a hike on an iPhone and plans or reviews on an Android tablet, or one person in a group handing a route to a hiking partner who uses Locus Map. Either way, the file has to leave the device that recorded it before Locus Map can see it at all; there is no on-device shortcut the way there is when the app that recorded a hike and the one importing it live on the same phone.
Where the GPX file comes from in the first place
A GPX file is coordinates, elevation and timestamps written out in a format almost every mapping and hiking tool reads the same way, regardless of which platform recorded it or which one opens it. TrailCam records a hike with GPS on an iPhone and exports it as GPX 1.1 — a single route or a whole history at once — and that file reads the same on an Android device running Locus Map as it would on the iPhone that produced it, because nothing in the format itself is tied to either operating system.
What comes across, and what does not
- Distance, elevation and the shape of the route all come across, because coordinates, altitude and a timestamp on each point are exactly what a GPX track carries.
- Photos, video clips and voice notes captured along the way stay behind. GPX has no field for embedded media, so only the line on the map makes the crossing, not what was captured alongside it.
- An activity type, if Locus Map shows one for an imported track, is something set at import rather than something read out of the file — GPX has no field for it that most apps agree on.
Where TrailCam fits in
TrailCam records a route with GPS on an iPhone and exports it as GPX 1.1 or CSV, either for a single hike or your whole history at once, and the same file works whether it ends up back on the phone that recorded it, on a computer, or on someone else's Android device running Locus Map. Export is part of the optional TrailCam Pro upgrade; the app itself is free to download.
Questions
- Is there an iPhone version of Locus Map?
- No. Locus Map is Android only, so a route recorded on an iPhone has to be moved to an Android device before it can be opened there — the GPX file itself reads the same on either platform.
- Will my photos and voice notes come across with the GPX file?
- No. A GPX file carries only coordinates, elevation and timestamps. Photos, video clips and voice notes captured alongside a route stay outside the file and have to be shared separately.
- Does Locus Map need a particular GPX version?
- It reads standard GPX files without needing one specific version. GPX 1.1, the version TrailCam exports, is the one most current mapping and hiking apps expect.
Recording your own routes
TrailCam is an iPhone app that records your route with GPS, keeps video clips, photos and voice notes pinned to the spot where you took them, and exports the result as GPX 1.1 or CSV. It is free to download.