Apple's New Hiking Features Tested (in Beta)

[@sierraseb3311]

Needs map layers, especially topo features. Satellite texting will be awesome. Definitely needs location icon which is an "Arrow" so you know you are proceeding in the correct direction. This feature saved me once on a trail where at a faint little trail led back to my car while the huge well worn trail I would have taken if I hadn't been following a map on my iPhone was on its way to Mexico!

[@michaelanthony6274]

Glad to see apple taking this on. Lots of work but moving in the right direction. Thanks for the video! Shared!

[@Hikingguy]

Thank you!

[@ZachGrabill]

Footpath remains the champion of hiking navigation apps on iOS. I always download backup maps in Gaia, as well, but with the elevation information, good looking offline maps, it’s great. I LOOKS better than Garmin, though, it’s obviously not as robust. I’ve been on 8 hour hikes and finished with more than 70% battery in low power mode.

[@ryan.little92]

"It's ONLY 110" haha

[@Kodufan]

Immediately came down to the comments upon hearing that

[@BEmeraldJade]

I was stunned to hear; he was indeed baking 😂

[@steelheadranger]

We've had 101-109 here in the San Joaquin Valley in CA for over a month for weeks at a time and are going into another week+ now. And we in roughly the same latitude as San Francisco but in the Central Valley.

[@DavidTrejo]

I used to hike at maybe a max of 95-105°F in Texas Hill Country for quite a bit, but 110 is nuts 😆🤣 Going over 100F really gets ya after a few miles 😅

[@DeeKay1911]

Great video - this is a big step in the right direction, but they need a lot of similar big steps as this is not really a home run yet. As you mention, this should be a data screen in the workout app (biggest missing piece IMO)

[@Chipop267]

I was hiking with a local group this week, there was talk of Apple launching satellite assist for hiking. Great to see the specifics in this video just days later. Thank you.

[@kevinkant6817]

I would love some great bread

[@frederiknalby7715]

Thanks for video update. Unlike the topo maps, these new beta map planning features for hiking works as shown in the video for Scandinavia. Still a long way up to Garmin as I usually just do a hike as an exercise and occasionally do a route back to start since I never stop exploring new trails. I still haven’t figured out how to do that with AWU.

[@apjapjapj3535]

AWU mapping is horrible, permanent dark screen, without ability to upload .gpx maps and no ability to create maps on your own large web page via Garmin Connect and your PC/Mac/laptop/monitor…on and on. You have probably

[@OKtunes]

I hope they integrate maps into workouts soon! It would be great to store a route for hiking or biking and launch the workout and be able to not only get turn by turn directions, but also check your heart rate data on the route as well as add pictures to it like Strava.

[@rogerlewis1295]

Looking forward to the full release. Thanks!

[@loveampedseth]

Appreciate your in-depth look!

[@justrione]

Thank you for all that you do

[@KenFat2]

Great video as always I seem to always find myself going between the Apple ultra watch and Garmin. I wish Apple had better maps like Garmin but this seems to be a step in the right direction. Thanks for the video.

[@switchy5644]

Amazing that Apple is doing this and I hope to see it get an upgrade to more serious hiking.

[@chili1593]

Love Apple not giving up my Garmin. Will try both.

[@MrMoose-mf1oy]

Sold my garmin for the apple watch ultra. Better everyday health trackers and downloading offline maps if I'm backpacking is good enough for me. Plus the satellite features are nice on it in case I need to send an SOS. Having a smartphone on your wrist is an added bonus too. It very well integrates with my phone.

[@pedrosikes]

Chris, I’m pretty happy with the new features that are coming to the Apple Watch and iPhone for hiking. The topographical maps on the iPhone and iPad will really be handy planning a hike.The turn by turn function in routes needs to be more polished judging from your review but it’s good to see you’re able to save your off line maps and routs to the watch. I’m very disappointed in the fact they haven’t incorporated the maps in the workout app. They also (so I’ve heard ) have not included custom routs into street trip navigation. I would hope Apple would realize that to be competitive in this market they will need to include them into the Watch software in future updates. These features for me are indispensable for the maps app. Thanks for a great review!

[@rkatrails]

It's getting better and better. Very cool.

[@Eric-W0EDG]

The satellite messaging is cool. I guess I was expecting more from maps, but I say that every year.

[@twloughlin]

Thanks Chris.

[@rcuadro]

This is great! For anyone that is getting ready to slam dunk on Apple or the Apple Watch and their battery life we have to remove that most people don't go out and hike to the extent where you need a Garmin watch or hiking specific device. Apple still needs to do some work on this trail feature but they will get there. At the end of the day the easiest it becomes to have more people out hiking and away from the TV th better if you ask me

[@heiser_bill]

When I had a regular AW it didn't last long enough for a day hike unless I charged it in the car on the way to the trailhead (a couple/few hours away). The Ultra 2 handles it though.

[@__hazel.]

Even though it’s US only, you can enable the creation of custom routes by switching your device region to United States. Trail availability may make it useless outside the U.S. but at least where I live in Canada most trails are on the maps so I can create custom routes fairly easily

[@DubTDub]

Thank you! I’d like to see what future advances they make when released… Really hoping the satellite technology improves as well. Hard to judge on the beta - but it seems like they’re trying to go in the right direction.

[@kendallhatton7601]

Still working my way thru all the new tech. I ditched all-trails a long time ago. And have used gaia since. It just works for me. Plus the on-x app is phenomenal. I also just don't wear a fitness watch. I Cant stand the HR monitor that pushes into your wrist. Sometimes I wish the phone companies would just make their phones work better and let app companies do their thing

[@williamhansen1580]

Good afternoon, Chris, I hope this finds you well. Thank you for the video on the Apple beta versions for the Apple Watch ultra 2. I downloaded the beers to my iPhone and the watch as well. I’m wondering if you encountered any fast degradation in the battery life on the watch after doing the beta? It seemed to make a significant difference on my watch. I’m actually trying to figure out how to uninstall the beta version on the phone in the watch, maybe you have some insight on that? Greatly appreciate all that you’re doing. Have a good day.

[@chasefranklin1126]

Good video. I’m looking forward to these features but they won’t replace the tools and apps I use. I’ll still carry my inReach because not everyone we go outdoors with has an iPhone. I will still use my phone for navigation as the watch (Ultra) still dies too quickly.

[@brunoanzanellostifelman8443]

Thank you for the videos

[@Sandra-dt4ec]

Great video really informative! Stay safe!

[@NeilLavitt]

Here in Australia we get zero hiking related features. We haven’t even got the enhanced topographic maps for National Parks. I’m pretty sure it’s US only. Whereas Garmin is worldwide.

[@Hikingguy]

Yea it's weak of Apple to not offer the topo maps worldwide, especially since the data is out there already.

[@NeilLavitt]

@@Hikingguy It's disappointing that they are adding new features in the US before rolling them out further. We had the same experience here with Apple Maps, and the result is that Apple Maps has very poor usage figures in Australia. This, of course, may be why the topo maps are not a priority.

[@worstedwoolens]

@@NeilLavitt Honestly as a developer this is super normal behavior. When rolling out a new product you don't immediately make your service worldwide right away, ESPECIALLY when datasets as gargantuan and unpredictable as the ones in GIS are involved. All that will accomplish is overwhelming your support staff. The correct way is to roll out region-by-region in order of priority and catch the bugs as they present themselves. Garmin did gradual rollouts to get where they are as well, they were just in the 90s and 2000s.

[@carstenschmidt8968]

Thanks for the update. Would be interesting to see if you can create custom routes for trails that haven‘t been vetted by the Apple team upfront

[@Hikingguy]

Any trail or path on the app is routable, so trails in say, state parks, are able to be routed on

[@heiser_bill]

Thanks for the update, Cris. It definitely seems like a first pass with lots of room for improvements. Hopefully the release will be more complete. It doesn't look like the plethora of third party mapping providers need to worry yet. Even Garmin/InReach are probably ok for a while - having to initiate a satellite connection to receive messages makes sense but reduces its usability (e.g. if I check a couple times per day the sender would wait hours for me to respond, meanwhile worrying about whether or not I"m ok). I missed that the public beta was open - I think I'll try it on my iPad first (less critical than the phone). :-)

[@Hikingguy]

Yea I think at some point in the near future almost all phones will have satellite, hiking apps will get better, and all the Garmin stuff will become more niche but probably still overall the best for the outdoors

[@isaacvff]

it will be just for USA? thanks

[@TristanMsilva]

Do you still recommend footpath as the best hiking app? Do you have an update for us now that watch OS 11.0.1 is out?

[@Hikingguy]

Yes Footpath is still best - review of the Apple hiking functionatliy coming soon

[@JeshuaGuy-wc2uy]

So I'll just be keeping my AllTrails subscription

[@Chad-ee2ko]

Thanks for the review. Excited for the satellite messaging, but the hiking features leave me yawning

[@abhikshah2742]

How's the battery life with the latest Beta? The dev beta last month was draining my battery pretty quickly.

[@Hikingguy]

Didn't really pay attention to that much but will keep an eye on it as I use it

[@maikaimakena9424]

It’s a great video Apple 🍎 has more work to do excited to see the innovation

[@0U812B1-e]

Show how to use the new Apple Maps for hiking. A follow up on this video.

[@Hikingguy]

Coming

[@1drhnsd1]

I have iOS 18 (not beta), and I don’t see any hiking features in the Apple map app on my iPhone 14 Pro or Apple Watch 10. Do I need a newer iPhone and/or the ultra watch? Was this feature maybe delayed to 18.1 or later?

[@Hikingguy]

Go to a location page in Apple Maps for a National Park, scroll down, and you'll see hikes. I see it now for Joshua Tree, Yosemite, and others

[@0Logan05]

Trails?.. What the point.. Needs full off grid.. Preload/download from Google earth. Glnss sat uplink and that’s it for the basics.. Rt.s, waypoints, mission/itinerary is easy stuff.😉 Hope it gets worthwhile.. Thanks for testing/uploading..RAD🤙🏻

[@xaner1]

Does it tell you how long the hikes take?

[@Hikingguy]

yes there is. time estimate

[@brunoanzanellostifelman8443]

I’m sticking to workoutdoors… can you import GPX files in this new Apple Watch update?

[@Hikingguy]

nope

[@billruttan117]

For Messaging by satellite, does your iPhone 15 have any advantage over the iPhone 14?

[@Hikingguy]

No think it's exactly the same

[@BeaconMan6000]

Can you add custom routes on iOS 18 even if you're not in a hiking area?

[@waynebeck7801]

Will this work with series 7

[@EricKummert]

Thanks Cris, We will have to see after the beta is complete. I did not like that your route did not sync to the Apple Ultra. I have the Ultra as well and enjoy WorkOutDoors, Footpath and Gaia before I hit the trails. I am not ready to give them up yet…

[@Hikingguy]

Yea I don't think this Apple offering will be a threat to them, which is how the Apple world works. After playing around with this I see it more for casual tourists who might visit a National Park.

[@seanhaas9440]

I know the update says for National Parks, but does this work on local state parks or is that when custom mapping comes into play?

[@Hikingguy]

No predefined trail routes outside of the National Parks, so yes, you have to create your own if it's any other park or trail.

[@steelheadranger]

The maps have no topographical information (other than a trail profile)? No offline access? Good for short day hikers. Not too useful for longer hikes in more serious terrain. Has the battery life improved at all? 10 days+ or no-go. I use an Ultra one at home but use a Fenix 7 Pro Sapphire outdoors. I'll stay with that combination but I'll try the satcom with the iPhone.

[@AZREDFERN]

Gaia jumped to $60 a year, so I’m hoping to rely on this. I will miss the weather and zoning overlays though.

[@Hikingguy]

Will keep you posted when it officially comes out next week

[@shortafewbolts]

Used to carry a map of the san gabriels in the angeles national forest

[@chrisgrim24]

What’s does the satellite messaging cost?

[@peterbedford2610]

What's the best device that comes in a wrist watch form?

[@Hikingguy]

For me now the Epix Pro - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2iXfJVjqsl_ptk

[@bernardoco]

Excited to see made available by 2029 in the rest of the world.

[@NeilLavitt]

I’m not excited at all. Just don’t think it will happen.

[@MistuhM0n0]

I was excited to see this feature brought to iOS 18. And I agree, it's definitely lacking features, so hopefully they improve it from here on out. BUT....I've been an Apple user since the early 90's. And it honestly wouldn't shock me if they no longer allowed 3rd party apps to access health features and/or map features to hopefully push people to using the apps that come with the OS. Part of me doubts they would do that, but again, it's Apple. So you never know. Kind of like with AllTrails...as of earlier this month the map view is no longer available on the Apple Watch (coinciding on the release of iOS 18?). It's just a compass with a small indicator on which way to go....and it's horrible. I tried to use it on a couple hikes and it was just bad. That's when I found your channel and your reviews on the FootPath and Workoutdoors apps. So i'm trying those now and so far I'm really liking them. Keep up the amazing work and stay safe!

[@RogerTheriault]

Tried this in Mexico (with my US apple ID etc). No hike cards below, no custom routes in Public Beta. The (more) popup for a dropped pin only shows Add to Guides and Pin (and Report something missing). I have to search for "hiking" and got no announcement popup. I guess only for the US for now.

[@MitchKirkham]

Did you have any issues running a workout mode concurrently with mapping on the watch? In the past I had had some issues running the AllTrails Apple Watch app at the same time as a workout.

[@Hikingguy]

Generally you can only have one app tracking a workout at a time, so if you try to do AllTrails and Workout, one will end. In Footpath they have a handy function that allows Footpath to run as the mapping program while you track with Workout app. - footpathapp.com/user-guide/apple-watch/

[@BEmeraldJade]

Great video! Thanks for sharing! I was considering buying into the watch for fitness reasons and all other purposes and now knowing this; it has made me consider it further even with the little hiccups here and there! I’m sure Apple will hear your thoughts as you’re quite knowledgeable on the outdoors! Keep it up dude and please stay hydrated in this heat! If you die then we will lose our hiking guy and no one wants that so take care and take rest when needed! Thanks again🦢

[@tesla-rossa]

gpx import would be nice

[@wnixon2]

Checked out the closest state park and no support. I know they gotta start somewhere but some states don’t have many national parks…

[@rickyyo215]

Great heart rate walking around 110° !

[@SilverVagabonds]

I agree it seems a bit too simple for serious hikers….

[@debkheiry5846]

No matter what this is awesome. I’ll be upgrading my phone for this!

[@Fourtale]

I hope they add bike trails fast!

[@Johno530]

This seems like a good start but they are way behind All trails or Gaia. Glad to see they are doing this but I fear this is the extent of their push into this market. Time will tell but my guess it will be years before they make any changes.

[@adamb7230]

I’ve been trying desperately to get this to work with local trails here in Utah. It shows the full trail route but no “go” button. Is the only way to get this to work is to create a custom route beforehand? I can’t just navigate from the trail card provided by Apple? Can I create the route from apples trail instead of manually mapping it myself? Thanks!

[@adamb7230]

Actually I see the difference now with hikes in national parks and hiking trails in other locations. The blue outline in national parks indicates you could navigate that trail. I wonder why they don’t make that available for all of the trails.

[@Hikingguy]

Coming out with a guide in the next week or two

[@SouthernGuy82]

Can you show me how to use the reference point on the garmin watches please. Love your content by the way. You’re my favorite by far!

[@Hikingguy]

Waiting for the Fenix 8 to come out and will do it. It works just like navigating to a waypoint though.

[@dagfinstad1579]

Garmin is nice, but the fact that Garmin really doesn't track sleep very accurately is a huge problem. Sleep quality is one of the most important indicators for being able to calculate the body's health status. When the sleep tracking is often incorrect, this will also be reflected in the other health indicators that the watch provides. For example, body battery, training readiness etc. If Garmin fixes sleep tracking and adds an LTE chip, I agree that this is the best tool on the market. But right now I think the apple Watch ultra with Workoutdoors and Athlytic is by far the best tool, especially for running and field trips.

[@Protect-Privacy]

You know, I love my iPhone, but it can be glitchy. I wouldn’t depend on an Apple product on trail.

[@mattj6940]

To be fair, I’ve had two inreach’s fail on me. Never hurts to have a back up tho

[@SecurityKingpin]

Do you know if you can import GPX files?

[@JasonRaneses]

Not as of yet

[@Hikingguy]

Nope

[@okeman7614]

It would be nicer if it lasted a day

[@kazimirov217]

Please do this for the new samsung watch!

[@Hikingguy]

Stay tuned, I just got it yesterday...

[@drplokta]

In the UK, any hiking app must have Ordnance Survey maps to be useful. They’re not available for free, and Apple Maps doesn’t have them (nor does Alltrails), so this won’t be taking off in the UK unless Apple pays for the OS mapping.

[@pksteffen]

Meh Apple. Switching apps is a problem with any activity on the Apple Watch. I find this for cycling where I want heart rate to just be easily accessible. Creating an “active tray” to collect apps for a certain activity with an easy way to switch would make it so much easier to use if integration is difficult for them. Lots of great info but the UI gets in the way.

[@vincent7603]

Even with the custom info screens per activity? :o

[@user-xp6yy8bh1y]

Things to consider with the new Apple Satellite messaging on iOS18 in remote areas. The option to use this feature is only available when there is no WIFI or Cellular service. In many remote areas now, you will have "one bar" coverage. Ever try to send a text with one bar? Eventually just times out. But while the phone is trying, it will use extra battery power. Phone batteries are notorious for short lives. The next 'GOTCHA' ! If your lucky enough to have the satellite connection option, you can only iMessage, no SMS ! The exception being if the SMS recipient is in your emergency contacts. And, text replies are received only with subsequent satellite connections. Now, while these limitations may be okay with casual conversations, think about more urgent situations (non 911). Contrast this with Motorola, Garmin, SPOT, ACR, Zoleo devices and services. Which would you count on and trust?

[@madcolor]

No reason I can think of that your end user would need to also be on the new OS to reply to a Sat message. This would be a no-go for me. My in reach mini doesn't require my spouse to have anything Garmin to reply. When that is fixed.....

[@Roxleton]

check in was added in like iOS 15

[@Hikingguy]

Not in relation to a workout

[@Valaran1]

Zero chance I would purchase an Apple device just for this. Otherwise it's cool.

[@abricot68]

We can immediately see this watch is not made for sports compared to real sportwatches such as Garmin, Coros, Polar and so on. You touch the watch without knowing what to do.😅

[@RXP91]

Half baked by apple, long way to go to catch up to garmin

[@codyseal7788]

Really underwhelming feature for sure. Tried it on my Series 9.

[@twizzlestix9309]

Just an fyi it’s not a tray it’s a sheet.

[@KevinLauscher]

need gpx import

[@dal4321]

The Watch UI is to dark, as if it’s in dark/night mode. Wish apple would fix that. It’s to dark when used in daylight.

[@proto7688]

Apple is just not serious about gps or hiking…from software standpoint… very mediocre software

[@MIAMIC70]

Can’t zoom, no Topo, no course correction, no thanks. Fucking Apple

[@Hiking2Duo]

Wow, that's pretty useless! Garmin integrated with Komoot does the trick.