The best hiking and navigation apps 2025 | Tested and reviewed

The paid version of this app is excellent: it provides very accurate and detailed coverage, plus it’s super easy to use. The free version is quite basic, which will be great for some, but the limited functionality may be a downside for others. 

The free version is an OS Standard base map that shows 10m or 20m contours depending on zoom level, plus basic terrain detail. You can plot a route, but there’s no ‘snap-to-path’ feature with this version, so it’s quite fiddly to plan your hike precisely. 

On the other hand, the Premium version gives you full coverage of Great Britain (plus Australia and NZ). You can use the app to access a printable version of a paper map, which we find handy for adventures where you can’t completely rely on your phone. 

We find this version very comprehensive, as it includes unlimited access to OS Explorer (detailed maps for hiking) and OS Landranger maps (covering a large area in less detail), plus aerial 3D maps and route fly-throughs on the web version. 

Plus, it’s very easy to use, with an uncluttered interface and professionally written routes. And you can get it half-price with a Trail subscription.

For a feature and information-rich app, AllTrails is easy to navigate and use. It offers quite a personalised experience if you want it, from curating favourites lists to logging your outings. Access to 300,000+ trails worldwide in the free version is also a major benefit.

This app outperforms the other apps in this test for trail search. You can filter according to all sorts of criteria, from location and activity type to whether the trail is dog friendly. This allows you to cut through the noise and find exactly what you’re looking for. 

On the downside, some of the waypoints and other information is entered by other users. This can result in irrelevant or inaccurate information. Unlike OS Maps, you need a subscription if you want to use a map without a data signal.

There are some interesting free features, including the option to: filter map types including terrain, satellite, and road; see photos along the trail and community heat maps; bookmark favourite trails and create lists.

The Pro version opens up the option to download offline maps, see maps in 3D, get alerts when you go off-trail. Like OS Maps, there’s a Lifeline feature that notifies a chosen friend or family member of your real-time trail progress.

OsmAnd is an open source map and navigation app. There’s a lot of features and configurations, which makes it highly customisable, but perhaps not the most user-friendly for the average hiker.

The best feature is that once you've downloaded a region, you can actually plot a route offline. We find this very helpful for hikes without any signal, particularly if you want an estimate of how much longer and further it is. You can also get free offline maps.

Due the excellent offline capabilities, this app is great for battery life. With OsmAnd+, you’ll get unlimited map downloads (you get 7 for free though, which we find to be plenty).

While the maps don’t quite have the same level of detail as an OS map, you can easily download your own GPX tracks onto the app. If you’re following a pre-planned track, it’s less necessary to have a detailed map. And with an extra plug-in, you can get contour lines, which we find helpful for knowing what’s ahead. 

If you're not using your own GPX track, this may not be the best app. You can't search other people's routes and it's quite difficult to plot your own route accurately, unless you're going A to B in the most direct way possible.

Overall, OsmAnd is an excellent option for long-distance hikes where you're following your own GPX and need to preserve battery life.

We like the simplicity of Locate Me because it provides easy but essential and potentially life-saving information.

Locate Me is a subsection of the main OS Maps app. It doesn’t provide maps, as it’s solely for the purpose of location. 

Using your phone’s GPS, it will provide your exact location in the form of a 10-figure grid reference, allowing you to pin-point your position on a map and share your location with others. This is very useful for social or safety purposes. 

The compass will still be affected by nearby magnets, so you need to keep it away from magnetic objects just like a regular compass.

Importantly, Locate Me gets its GPS reading from the phone’s GPS system, so no mobile signal is required. We particularly like how the app also has a ‘share’ feature so users can show others where they are via social media.

Komoot Maps offers a Base map with 20m contours when zoomed in, streams, gradient shading and a significant number of footpaths marked. It’s definitely not as comprehensive or detailed as an OS Map though, so in mountainous areas, you’d be wise to supplement with a printed OS map or guidebook.

It’s quick and accurate enough to inspire hours of map-based explorations, even of areas you know well. There’s also a library of route collections, some algorithmically generated ‘smart tours’ and others authored by users with comments and photographs.

Sport-specific maps include the Hiking map, which highlights long-distance trails like the Pennine Way and shorter trails colour coded for difficulty, from T1 (no worries) to T6 (Alpine level). 

We find this app becomes difficult to use when you want to customise your route, as there’s no option of drawing your own route. But if you’re happy for Komoot to plan your route for you, based on your starting point and destination, then it works well. 

Komoot is particularly handy for multi-day route planning, as there’s the option to create and browse routes that span several days. Though to download a route to use offline, the corresponding region must be bought. 

You have to use it with care, though. One trial route generated up Sgurr Alasdair on Skye is described as ‘intermediate’, on ‘mostly accessible paths’, with ‘sure-footedness required’ which doesn’t convey the severity of the route’s relentless scree slope and extremely exposed finishing scramble.