Frequently asked questions

Android’s battery optimizations can interrupt Geo Tracker’s background recording by pausing GPS updates to save power. To get reliable, uninterrupted tracking:

Quick fixes

• Reboot your device.
• Disable any power-saving or ultra-battery modes.
• In Geo Tracker → Settings → Record settings, enable Ignore battery optimizations.

Deep dive

For complete step-by-step instructions tailored to your phone model (Xiaomi, Realme, Huawei, etc.), see our detailed setup guides. They’ll show you how to whitelist Geo Tracker and tweak system settings so background recording never stops.

While recording your GPS tracks, a network connection is not necessary. The app relies solely on a stable GPS signal for this core functionality.

However, displaying the map within the app may require network access. We highly recommend switching to Mapbox maps for the best offline experience.

Use automation apps like MacroDroid or Tasker to make Geo Tracker start or stop recording automatically—for example, when you arrive at a specific location. Follow our step-by-step guide to set it up.

Developers can also leverage Geo Tracker intents to embed its features directly into their own apps and workflows.

To transfer your recordings to your new phone, please follow these simple steps:

First, on your current phone:

• Open Geo Tracker and tap the Sync  icon located at the bottom of your trip list.
• Choose any folder on your phone where you’d like to save the exported tracks. You can also select your preferred export format. We recommend KMZ as it typically uses the least storage space.
• Once the synchronization is complete, transfer all the files from this selected folder to your new phone using your preferred method. This could be by connecting your phone to a computer, sending the files via email, or any other way you find convenient. The key is to place all these transferred files into a specific folder on your new phone – for example, you could create a folder named “GeoTracker” within your “Documents” directory, resulting in the path /Documents/GeoTracker/.

Next, on your new phone:

• Open Geo Tracker and tap the Sync  icon from the trip list.
• Select the folder you created in the previous step (e.g., /Documents/GeoTracker/) and choose the same export format you selected on your old phone.

After the import process is finished, all your recordings will be available on your new device.

Yes, offline map usage is possible. However, please ensure you have an internet connection at least once before your trip to view the specific map area you need at various zoom levels.

For the best offline experience, we strongly suggest using Mapbox. It’s excellent at caching map data, which means you can access areas you’ve previously viewed even without a continuous internet connection.

Please be aware that this is different from Google Maps, which tends to clear its cached data more often. Regrettably, this is a feature of Google Maps that we cannot change.

While recording a track, you may occasionally notice a “Waiting GPS” message displayed in the bottom status bar. This indicates a temporary loss of satellite signal, which can disrupt the accuracy of your track recording.

To help you resolve these instances, please refer to our comprehensive guide for detailed troubleshooting steps.

A solid dot means Geo Tracker doesn’t yet have a reliable heading for your position. The arrow only appears once the app can determine your direction. You’ll see a dot instead of an arrow when:

1. You’re stationary or moving very slowly

   • Speeds below roughly 3 km/h don’t yield a stable GPS-based bearing, so the icon stays a dot until you pick up speed.
   • However, if you’ve enabled the compass in Settings → Display settings, Geo Tracker can still use the device’s magnetic heading even at low speed.

2. GPS fix is weak or unavailable

   • With a poor or freshly acquired GPS signal, the app waits for a stable fix before showing an arrow.
   • If no GPS fix exists, Geo Tracker falls back to a network-based location (which provides no heading), and displays a dot.

How to get the arrow back

• Ensure a solid GPS fix—see our GPS troubleshooting guide for tips.
• Move above ~3 km/h so GPS-derived bearing becomes reliable.
• Enable compass in Main menu → Settings → Display settings → Compass to allow heading at any speed.

Unfortunately, subscriptions can only be paid for via Google Play or the Apple App Store — there are no alternative payment methods at this time.

If you encounter an error during payment, please verify that:

• the relevant app store (Google Play or Apple App Store) is properly set up on your device, and
• purchases through that store are supported in your country.

Also note that beyond technical limitations, legal restrictions mean we can only accept payments from certain countries. Your country may not be supported.

If payment issues persist, we recommend contacting the support team of the respective app store directly.

To cancel your subscription, please follow these steps:

• Open Geo Tracker and go to Main menu → Settings → Manage subscription, then tap the “Manage subscription” button.
• You will be redirected to either Google Play or App Store, depending on your device’s operating system.
• From there, you can cancel or pause your subscription.

You can continue to enjoy Geo Tracker’s paid features until the end of your current billing cycle.

Please note that because payments are managed exclusively through the App Store and Google Play, and we do not collect personal information such as email addresses, our control over the subscription process is limited. Therefore, if you encounter any difficulties canceling your subscription or wish to request a refund, we recommend contacting the support team of the respective store directly for the most efficient assistance.

Access to OpenStreetMap in Geo Tracker is delivered via Mapbox, a commercial service that hosts, styles and serves map tiles.

While the OSM data itself is open-source, the infrastructure needed to process and deliver those maps in a fast, reliable way incurs ongoing costs.

To cover these expenses and ensure high-quality map access (including offline support, regular updates and global tile delivery), we bundle OSM/Mapbox within our paid subscription.

Unfortunately, no.

Huawei phones no longer include Google Play Services, so Google’s satellite layers aren’t available. Since our Mapbox maps also require a subscription via Google Play, they can’t be used on these devices either.

Your only in-app map option on Huawei is Petal Maps—which, regrettably, doesn’t include a satellite layer.

No — your tracks stay on your device unless you explicitly share them. Geo Tracker does not automatically upload your GPS data to any server.

• Local storage: All recorded tracks are saved in the app’s local database and in your device’s storage when you sync/export.

• Manual sharing only: Tracks go off-device only if you tap Share (sending via email/messenger) or use Sync (saving GPX/KML/KMZ files to your folder).

Note: GPX/KML/KMZ files in your synced folder reside in your device’s file system, so any app with permission to read that folder could access them.

No — Geo Tracker doesn’t include a phone-finding feature.

• Local-only recording: All GPS data stays on your device and isn’t streamed to a server, so there’s no live “find my phone” capability.

• Last saved track: If you synced your tracks before losing your phone and then backed them up to the cloud (manually or using third‑party tools like FolderSync), you can open them in another app or on another device to see where you last recorded the track.

Tip: To locate a lost Android phone use Find My Device, or on iOS use Find My iPhone — those system tools are designed for remote device recovery.

No—Geo Tracker is designed for local, self-recorded tracks and doesn’t offer real-time tracking of other people, cars, or devices. All GPS data stays on the device unless you explicitly share it.

• No live tracking: There’s no server-based location sharing or “follow me” feature.
• Manual export only: You can export or sync your own GPX/KML/KMZ files and then send them to someone, but Geo Tracker won’t continuously report your position to another device.
• Alternatives: For real-time sharing, consider dedicated services like Find My Device (Android) or Find My iPhone, which are built for remote tracking.

Exporting tracks from Geo Tracker is easy — choose the method that fits your needs:

Share a single track

• In the Track List, locate the track you want to export.
• Tap the Share button below its name.
• Select your email or messenger app to send the GPX/KML/KMZ file.

Export all tracks at once

• In the bottom panel of the Track List, tap the Sync  icon.
• Geo Tracker will bundle every trip into a folder on your device.

Save one track to your device folder

• In the Track List, tap the ”⋮” menu next to the desired track.
• Choose “Sync this trip” — the app will save that single track into your device’s export folder.

Feel free to pick the option that best fits your workflow!

Absolutely — here’s how to enable it:

• Tap the Layers  button in the top panel.
• Toggle Navigation Mode on.

Once active, the map will rotate beneath your indicator so your current heading always points upward.

Note: “Navigation Mode” only works with Mapbox maps.

Currently, Geo Tracker doesn’t include built-in track editing (that feature is on our roadmap). In the meantime, you can:

1. Export your track(s):
   • Share or sync the track to obtain the GPX file on your device.
2. Edit online with GPX Studio:
   • Visit GPX Studio
   • Upload your GPX file
   • Use the Merge tool to combine tracks or the Split/Trim tool to remove unwanted segments
   • Download the edited GPX
3. Re-import into Geo Tracker:
   • Share the updated GPX back into the app via email or messenger, or place it in your device’s import folder.

That workflow lets you merge and trim tracks today — native editing is on our roadmap.

Not at the moment—Geo Tracker doesn’t support embedding media directly into markers. We’re evaluating the addition of photo and video attachments for a future update.

Workarounds for now:

1. Geotag your media: Use your camera app’s GPS tagging so photos/videos carry location data.
2. External GPX editors: Upload your track and geotagged media to tools like GPX Studio to view them together.

Not yet—Geo Tracker currently renders all tracks in a single color. Per-track coloring is on our roadmap for a future release.

In the meantime, you can switch to a gradient color mode, which colors track segments based on speed or elevation—helping you visually differentiate parts of a route. For more details, see the Color Modes FAQ.

Geo Tracker offers three track‐coloring modes:

1. Solid (default)
2. Gradient by speed
3. Gradient by altitude

In gradient modes, green marks the highest values (fastest speed or greatest elevation) and dark red the lowest (slowest or lowest point).

To switch modes, tap the Layers  icon in the top right corner of the main screen and choose Solid fill, Speed gradient, or Altitude gradient under Track color mode.

Geo Tracker offers two in-app methods for marking up your trips — and full control over how they’re bound and used in navigation:

1. Add marker at your current location

   • Tap the marker-pin icon in the top panel.
   • A marker drops at your current GPS position.
   • If a GPS fix isn’t acquired within a few seconds, an error message appears.

2. Add marker anywhere via long-press

   • Long-press on the map at your desired point.
   • Drag the pin to fine-tune its placement, then confirm.

3. Binding markers to trips

   • In the marker’s Edit view, you can choose which trip it belongs to (not just the one currently loaded).
   • Only markers linked to the selected trips will display on the map.

4. Route guidance with maneuvers

   • Markers bound to a trip can be assigned a maneuver type (e.g. “Turn left” or “Turn right”).
   • During navigation, Geo Tracker will prompt you at each maneuver marker.

Marker data—including bindings and maneuvers—is exported along with your trips in GPX, KML, or KMZ formats and is restored when you import those files back into Geo Tracker.

Read more about the route guidance mode here.

All measurement units can be adjusted in Display settings:

1. Open Geo Tracker and go to Main menu → Settings → Display settings.

2. Under Measurement Units, configure:

   • Distance: Kilometers / Miles / Nautical Miles
   • Altitude: Meters / Feet
   • Slope: Degrees / Percent
   • Coordinates: Degree-Minute-Second / Decimal Degrees / UTM

3. Tap your preferred unit—changes take effect immediately across maps, stats, and charts.

That’s it!

Note: For very short distances, Geo Tracker displays values in meters or feet first, then switches to km/mi once the distance grows. There’s no global “always use short/long units” toggle yet, but it’s on our roadmap for a future update.

Geo Tracker doesn’t have a dedicated “Import” option, but you can add tracks two ways:

1. Share/Open with Geo Tracker

   • In your file manager, messenger, email or cloud-storage app, locate the .gpx, .kml or .kmz file.
   • Tap Share (or Open with) and select Geo Tracker.
   • The app will launch and import the file as a new trip.

2. Sync folder (Android)

   • Copy your .gpx, .kml or .kmz files into the Sync folder on your device (e.g. /Documents/GeoTracker).
   • Open Geo Tracker’s Track List and tap the Sync  icon in the bottom panel.
   • The app scans the folder, imports any new files, and adds them to your trips.
   • (Optional) Enable Sync automatically in Main menu → Settings → Storage settings so that any new files placed in /Documents/GeoTracker are imported automatically whenever you open the app.

That’s it — either share/open or drop files into the Sync folder (and let Auto-Sync handle the rest) to load your tracks into Geo Tracker.

1. Follow the standard import steps
   • Make sure you’ve followed the instructions under “How can I open track files (GPX/KML/KMZ) in Geo Tracker?”.
2. Test in other apps
   • Try loading the same file in Google Earth, Garmin BaseCamp, GPX Studio, etc.
3. Contact support
   • If none of the above works, please email the GPX/KML file to [email protected] so we can investigate further.

In Geo Tracker’s GPX exports the <extensions> section uses a single <geotracker:meta> element with two attributes:

c (course)

• The bearing or heading at that track point, in degrees clockwise from true north (0…359.9°).

s (speed)

• The instantaneous speed at that point, in meters per second (m/s).

Note: The <geotracker:meta> element is only included if you’ve enabled Export extended data in Geo Tracker’s settings.

Example

<trkpt lat="47.12345" lon="8.54321">
  <ele>450.0</ele>
  <time>2025-05-05T14:23:00Z</time>
  <extensions>
    <geotracker:meta c="135.2" s="2.85" />
  </extensions>
</trkpt>

Here, c="135.2" means a heading of 135.2° (southeast) and s="2.85" means a speed of 2.85 m/s (≈10.3 km/h).

Geo Tracker offers two ways to get your charts out:

1. Export a chart image

   • Go to Statistics.
   • Tap Share — Geo Tracker will generate an image of the entire view (map and statistics with charts).
   • Send it via email, messenger, or save it to your device.

2. Export raw data for custom charts

   • Export your track as a GPX file (via Share or Sync).
     • Convert GPX to TSV/CSV using the Geo Tracker’s XSLT stylesheet:
       1. Download the stylesheet: GeoTracker.xslt
       2. Run the conversion:

          xsltproc --nonet --output track.tsv GeoTracker.xslt track.gpx

       3. To install xsltproc:
          • (macOS) Install xsltproc with brew install libxslt
          • (Windows) Instructions can be found here
   • Open track.tsv in Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets, etc., and build any chart you like.

That’s how you can either grab a quick chart snapshot or dive into the raw data and craft your own visualizations.

Altitude readings depend on your device’s GPS signal and sensor accuracy—and those vary by model. While Geo Tracker applies filters to smooth elevation profiles, you may still notice discrepancies, for example:

1. Start vs. end mismatch: Even at the same spot, measurements taken at different times can differ slightly.
2. Device differences: Flagship GPS hardware (e.g. Samsung S23/S24, Pixel 6 & newer) is usually more accurate than mid-range chips (many Samsung A-series phones). Turning off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth can help, since some devices fall back to network location.

Geo Tracker uses the WGS84 ellipsoid by default. In some regions, “Mean Sea Level” fits better:

1. Go to Settings → Record settings → Altitude baseline and choose WGS84 or Sea Level.
2. If neither is perfect, use Altitude correction in the same menu to dial in a manual offset.

These adjustments should give you a more reliable elevation profile.

In Geo Tracker’s stats you’ll see two related — but distinct — elevation metrics:

Vertical ascent

• The sum of all uphill gains along your route. Only positive elevation changes contribute.

Vertical distance

• The sum of all vertical movements—both climbs and descents. It’s calculated by adding up the absolute value of every elevation change.

Example

Imagine a simple elevation profile:

0 → 5 → 10 → 5

The successive changes are:

• +5 (0→5)
• +5 (5→10)
• –5 (10→5)

Calculations:

• Vertical ascent = 5 + 5 + 0 = 10
• Vertical distance = 5 + 5 + 5 = 15

Tip: Geo Tracker also displays elevation difference, which is just the difference between the highest and lowest points on your route.

The speed you see in the status bar is the raw GPS reading, updated instantly from your phone’s satellite fix. GPS measurements can jump—sometimes you might see a momentary spike to 100 km/h even while you’re only doing 20–30 km/h.

By contrast, the Max Speed shown in Statistics is the product of our filtering algorithms and heuristics. We smooth out those spikes, discard implausible outliers, and compute a realistic peak speed.

Because filtering takes a tiny bit of time, you may occasionally notice your live speed briefly exceed the recorded maximum—those raw bursts get dropped before they make it into the stats.

We’re currently holding off on new translation requests due to the extensive localization effort underway. However, if you’d like us to prioritize your language once we reopen:

1. Email us at [email protected] with “Translation interest” in the subject line.
2. We’ll add your request to our backlog and notify you when we resume accepting new translations.
3. At that time, we’ll send CSV files containing all English strings for you to translate.
4. Once your translation is integrated, it’ll ship in the next release—and you’ll be credited in the app’s About section.

Thanks for your patience and enthusiasm—emailing now helps us gauge interest and lets us reach out when contributions reopen.