MyHikes 17+

Used this app with no cell service in Rocky Mountain National Park while in the backcountry and tracked accurately for over 6 hours. I downloaded an offline map region before the hike and then got a bit lost along the way as the trails had minimal signage and multiple routes to take. The app displayed all possible routes and I chose the right one each time I got confused - without the app I would’ve been lost.

Howdy Neeners1515, very happy to hear that the app is working well for you and as intended. Happy hiking!

I have now used this app a few times. It seems very good and does all the basic things I would want from a hiking app! I think it tends to overstate mileage and altitude gain (and although one can edit a track, I don’t wish to feel the need to edit). So with that one caveat, this app will be my second hiking app (to be used simultaneously with a more high profile and long establish hiking app).

Howdy JPneus, thanks so much for the feedback and review! I'm really happy to hear that the app is working well enough for you, especially when compared to other well-established apps. You're correct with regard to the elevation gain and distance calculations - they can be slightly off since both are approximations based on the raw data. As of v1.10.8 (and earlier), the app smooths out the noise in the raw elevation data, but from my own testing it's generally much more accurate when the hike follows a steady elevation grade (i.e. up and down a mountain or hill). Note that the elevation data that the app reads can be very noisy and inaccurate from step to step and varies from device to device. Due to this, the current elevation gain algorithm is worse when hiking a mostly-flat path with minimal elevation change as most devices read a constant wave of inaccurate altitude values when walking on flat ground. The total distance is calculated by each data point drawn on the map at the time of recording, but as of v1.10.8 the app does not attempt any horizontal smoothing which could fix some of the distance issues you're seeing. The distance algorithm currently does not ignore large data squiggles (i.e. GPS drifting while idle or sitting in one spot) or jutting inaccurate GPS readings if hiking in a canyon, gorge, cityscape with tall buildings, or steep mountain hollows. Basically, if the app drew the line on the map, it calculated and included the distance between those points. I do have plans to revisit and fix these issues to the best of my ability (and within a reasonable percentage of approximate accuracy) in a future release. Hopefully this info helps you or others understand the inaccuracies you might be seeing. Again, thanks so much for the review and feedback, this helps me a lot! Edit: I just released v1.10.11 on July 24 2024 which addresses both elevation gain and total distance issues. Based on various datasets of elevation profiles, both calculations appear to be much more accurate than in previous versions of the app. Granted, they're still approximations so you may still find some discrepancies. Hope you find the update useful and happy hiking!

My user experience was the following. I normally hike without any app on paths I know through word of mouth or reading online. I was in a different city, on vacation and heard/read about a couple of trails. I then tried googling them and found myhikes.org the companion website for this app (which looks like a great resource). I noticed there was a “Send to App” button on the website, upon selecting this I was prompted with a Become a Supporter. I decided to download the app regardless as I thought the sending of trails from the website to the app was the feature that was locked behind being a Supporter. As in the App Store description it clearly states explore x number of trails etc. I figured I would just search the trail in the app and be on my way. Once opened I realized this is not the case and you must import them from another source like the website. Which is where my user journey ended.

Kind of disappointing because the features I cared about are locked behind being a supporter. Maybe allowing for “sending to app” of one trail is something to consider so someone in a similar situation as myself (which I believe to be common) can find out if becoming a supporter is worth it.

This is an updated review to state more clearly why I gave it the review I did. As the developer stated in there response I cannot attest to any of the other features in the application and I apologize for stating it as “useless” previously. It just didn’t meet my expectations for it based on my understandings.

Howdy Nicholas, Edited to your last updated reply: Sorry you were disappointed - I understand that it would be annoying to want to follow along a trail guide route in-app, but have to pay for the "Send to App" feature to follow along offline. With regard to the app description, it's always said "Explore 2,100+ guided hikes and 4,700+ miles off-app on MyHikes.org" -- the app provides a link that opens MyHikes.org in your default browser and provides almost everything you could want for free. 100% of the trail guides on MyHikes.org have free trail maps and even include a "find my location" button (i.e. the arrow button on each map) that updates your location on the trail map every time your location changes, so you can follow along in real-time without paying on the site. The caveat to the website maps is that you need to either A) Have cell service with internet access (for most places, that's not an issue these days) or B) Have just left cell-service internet range, but have not refreshed the trail guide on the site. The "Send to App" feature is best-paired with hiking in areas with no cell service. Due to not running any ads on either MyHikes.org or in-app, I have to request Support from users who find useful features that they need as I cannot build a platform and give everything away for free. Sorry the app did not meet your expectations despite providing robust details in the app's description, but again, I'd highly encourage you to retry it in the future to fully understand all of the awesome free features at your fingertips. Thanks for updating your reply though, it helps me quite a bit! Old reply: sorry to hear you were disappointed. I'm surprised to hear the app is "useless" without being a Supporter as you can create 15 of your own tracks, which track your mileage, elevation gain, and allows you to upload your tracks directly to your MyHikes account without being a Supporter. In addition to 15 free user-created tracks, non-Supporters can download 1 free offline map region or import 1 custom GPX file (exported from other tracking apps or devices). Most competitor apps only provide these features through paid versions. Non-supporters cannot send MyHikes' trail guides/routes to the app as that paid-feature helps support the insane amount of time that goes into making trail guides available to the public along with building and maintaining the site and apps. All of that is explained in full detail on MyHikes.org. If you used the app's features beyond the "Download to App" feature you may have found a lot more value like tracking your hikes or finding a new hike to explore via the MyHikes.org tab. Sorry you expected a different experience, but all of this information is provided in the app's description on the app store. I'd happily invite you to install it again and poke around a bit further than you previously did, you may actually find that it's better than you originally thought!