# Hikers Assistant > Hikers Assistant (iPhone/iPad app by SGB Services, LLC.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hikers-assistant/id1063041661 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [SGB Services, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1063041660) - Category: Navigation, Travel - Price: $0.99 - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 9.0 · 47 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2015-12-12 - Data updated: 2026-05-19 - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hikers-assistant/id1063041661/reviews.md ## What is Hikers Assistant? Hikers Assistant is the iPhone/iPad and watch app for planning and executing short day hikes to extended thru hikes. Create itineraries, routes and waypoints before you leave. Then stay on your route and hit your waypoints while on the trail. Archive your trip with expenditures, blogs and tracked miles. No subscriptions and no in-app purchases are required. KEY FEATURES Send progress waypoints to off-trail family and friends when you get cell service. They see the waypoints on their own map. Import and export GPX files with waypoints, routes and tracks. Use iCloud to share trails between devices and backup trails and blogs. Create and edit your own routes on maps that include USGS Topo, Imagery, and Hydrography, Apple Satellite, Open Cycle, and Thunderforest Landscape and Outdoors. Download USGS, Open Cycle and Thunderforest maps for offline use. Import and register images of park maps to plot your rough location while traveling in a park. On and Off Trail modes optimize off-trail trip planning and on-trail usability. On-trail screens and maps use big controls, large text and present only key functionality. Download and retain 7-day weather reports powered by Dark Sky. iPhone and Apple Watch primers provide introductions to using Hikers Assistant on the respective devices. Elevation profiles automatically generated for ranges of 5 to 35 miles, moveable along your path, or centered on your position. Route and trail statistics include length, rise/ascent in feet, and fall/descent in feet. Touching a waypoint annotation can bring up a compass, an information popup, or driving directions to the waypoint. One touch can bring up an ordered list of the closest waypoints with their distances and bearings. A second touch will bring up an electronic compass pointing to your choice. Location and GPS services are tailored to minimize battery use, with on-screen warning for those functions that require extra battery. Create quick waypoints in seconds on trail that include latitude, longitude, elevation, an icon (from a broad set of options), an optional snapshot, and a customizable name. Log key activities on trail such as starting and finishing the trail. The app will automatically calculate the distance, time, and average speed, and give you the opportunity to change the calculated distance. Daily log statistics can be sent to a blog screen where you can draft and save a text blog for each day. Blogs can be emailed whenever you get a signal. Additional support modules include a calendar, itinerary, trip costs, and sunrise/sunset/moon phase. Waypoints, routes, and tracks are individually editable within the app. Waypoints are grouped into sets of water sources, campsites, trailheads, points-of-interest, resupply locations, lodging, mail drops, businesses, and generic (other) waypoints. File and iCloud modules support loading, unloading, importing, and exporting (via email and iCloud) a variety of binary and text formats for any number of trails. Trail data and blogs are saved in binary files. Waypoints, routes and tracks can be saved or imported from GPX files. Lists of waypoints can be imported and exported in CSV format. A complete set of in-app help topics covers both the app screen functionality and a set of general topics relevant to using the app. OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION For on-trail use, your iOS device needs cellular/GPS capability. Trip planning can be completed on a WiFi-only device, with the *.trdat or *.gpx file emailed or transferred via iCloud to your on-trail device. Route creation is easier on a larger iPad. Offline map downloads rely on USGS servers. Highly detailed (zoomed in) maps will take time to download. Some offline maps support only US regions. CAUTION: USGS occasionally changes their map server URL's and configurations. This may prevent some offline downloads until the next app update. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 3.7.5 — 2022-08-13 - Minor fixes and new certificate - Notice of end of support for the Hikers Assistant app with the current feature set. Users are recommended to transition to Hikers Assistant Plus. Any future upgrade to Hikers Assistant will require newer OS versions and will most likely adopt a subset of the features of Hikers Assistant Plus ### 3.7.4 — 2021-01-12 - Announces new Hikers Assistant Plus app - Fixed bug in on trail Home page Lock function - Added between-app sharing to support transfer of existing binary trail files to the new Hikers Assistant Plus. The share button is found in the Trail Manager module - Fixed various bugs ### 3.7.2 — 2020-10-08 - Modified iCloud subsystem to account for recent Apple changes. Hikers Assistant once again will show all your iCloud files inside the app. - Other minor modifications to account for iOS 14 changes. ### 3.7.1 — 2020-06-12 - Ability to view current trail progress when user turns on GPS tracking. Previously, recorded tracks were available only after the user stopped tracking - Updates all relevant views/screens to full screen for iOS 13 - Adds new Map+ downloads that add a 'free' zoom level by enlarging the highest map zoom level downloaded - Added option to combine USGS downloaded maps, most notably Contours + Hydro + Shaded Relief - New option to select via map the location for a 7-day weather forecast download. Allows the user to obtain a weather forecast for a planned hike where no Internet will be available ### 3.6.6 — 2019-03-02 - Updates USGS URL for Contours maps that USGS changed on March 1, 2019. Older versions of Hikers Assistant will be unable to download new USGS Contours maps. Previously downloaded maps are still available for use. - Added an offline maps option that overlays USGS Hydrography on USGS Contours. Both types of maps must be downloaded independently before 'Contours + Hydro' will be available as an offline map option. This option provides better on-trail access to available water sources. - Added an on-trail map option that lets the user rotate the map to the iPhone heading after getting a user location. This supports quicker decision making when coming to possible trail branches. Just point the iPhone down the trail you want, and turn map rotation on. The map should show the trail going in the same direction the iPhone is pointing. To minimize power usage, consistent with the the app's power architecture, this feature times out after 30 seconds. At the end of 30 seconds (or when the user toggles map rotation off), the map returns to a north 'up' orientation. - Added an off-trail map option/toggle that allows the user to disable/enable map zooming. This makes it easier to create and edit trails (e.g., by tracing a trail on a Thunderforest Outdoors map) at a given zoom level without accidentally zooming in or out. Zooming is still enabled by default. ## Apps similar to Hikers Assistant | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [WristRoute](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wristroute/id1419513295) | 4.4 (7) | $9.99 | Navigation | | [Altimeter: Elevation, Compass](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/altimeter-elevation-compass/id1227302521) | 4.7 (1,157) | Free | Navigation | | [Terra Map - Trail Explorer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/terra-map-trail-explorer/id895751618) | 4.6 (538) | Free | Navigation | | [Altimeter - altitude and more](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/altimeter-altitude-and-more/id1067580904) | 4.6 (18) | Free | Navigation | | [Topographic Maps & Trails](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/topographic-maps-and-trails/id1440944902) | 4.6 (2,783) | $4.99 | Navigation | | [Trail Boss](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/trail-boss/id1306225296) | 4.7 (162) | Free | Navigation | ## More apps by SGB Services, LLC - [HyperList](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hyperlist/id1531547712) - [Hikers Assistant Plus](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hikers-assistant-plus/id1547499748) All apps by SGB Services, LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/1063041660 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-05-19.*