How to import a GPX file into MapOut
MapOut is the kind of app people reach for specifically because it keeps working with no signal at all â detailed hiking maps downloaded to the phone in advance, with contour lines and trail paths baked into the map data itself rather than streamed in as you scroll. A GPX track brought into that world is not something to browse in a feed of past activities. It is a line laid over map data you already trust, there to be checked against the terrain and trails already on the phone.
The short answer
Share the .gpx file to MapOut from the iOS share sheet â from Files, from an email attachment, or straight out of the export action of the app that recorded it â and MapOut adds it as a track over whichever map is currently loaded. MapOut also has its own import option that reads a .gpx file directly from Files or iCloud Drive, which lands in the same place without needing the share sheet at all.
Why MapOut works differently from Strava or Komoot
Most GPS apps show a route on a live web map that streams in new tiles as you scroll or zoom, which is why they need a connection to stay useful away from home. MapOut is built the other way round: the map data for an area is downloaded before you leave coverage, and from then on it sits on the phone like any other file, contours and trail paths included. A GPX track imported into that world is not something to scroll past in an activity list â it is a line laid over terrain you already have offline, useful for comparing where you actually walked against a marked trail or the shape of the land itself.
Getting the file in
From the iPhone share sheet
A .gpx file sitting in Files, attached to an email, or produced straight out of the export action of the app that recorded it can be shared to MapOut through the iOS share sheet, and it appears as a track without switching apps first.
From inside MapOut
MapOut also has its own import option that reads a .gpx file directly from Files or iCloud Drive. Either route puts the track in the same place â a line drawn over whatever map is currently open, kept in MapOut's own list of imported tracks so it can be shown or hidden later.
What actually carries over, and what does not
A track â an ordered sequence of timestamped coordinates â comes in as a single continuous line. Waypoints in the same file, if there are any, come in as separate pins rather than part of the line. What does not come along is anything outside the coordinate data: a photo, video clip or voice note recorded along the way is its own file, and GPX has no field to embed one, so the imported line shows the shape of the route only, nothing about what was seen or captured along it.
Things that trip people up
- A track imports fine but the map underneath looks sparse or low on detail â that region's offline map data has not been downloaded yet, which is a separate step from importing the track itself.
- Only pins show up, no line â the file held waypoints rather than a continuous track, which is common in files exported from tools built around marking single locations rather than recording a whole route.
- The file will not open, or MapOut never appears as an option â check the extension is still .gpx. An email attachment sometimes gets renamed to .txt along the way, and iOS will not offer MapOut as a destination for that.
- The line looks slightly off from a marked trail on the map â the GPS recording itself carries a few metres of ordinary drift; that is a property of the original track, not something the import introduced.
Where TrailCam fits in
TrailCam records a route with GPS on iPhone and exports a single route or your whole history as GPX 1.1 or CSV â GPX 1.1 being the format MapOut, Strava, Garmin Connect and Komoot all read the same way. Export is part of the optional TrailCam Pro upgrade; the app itself is free to download.
Questions
- Do I need a connection to see an imported GPX track in MapOut?
- No, once the track is imported and the map data for that area has been downloaded ahead of time. Downloading the map in advance is what lets MapOut work fully offline.
- Does importing a GPX file bring photos or video clips along with it?
- No. GPX has no field for embedding media, so a photo, clip or voice note stays a separate file. Only the coordinates come in.
- Why does the map under my imported track look blank or low-detail?
- The track and the map are separate things. A GPX file imports correctly regardless of what is shown underneath it, but the detailed map tiles for that region only appear once they have been downloaded for offline use.
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.