WristRoute Help

WristRoute is a standalone Apple Watch GPS app for hiking, biking, and other outdoor activities. Neither the iPhone nor internet is needed for field operation.

Permissions

Map

iPhone

Trip

Route/Track

Profile

Waypoint

Settings

Search

GPS Status

Usage Notes

About

Permissions

When first run, WristRoute prompts to enable access to your location (i.e. use the GPS). Prompts appear on both the Apple Watch and the iPhone. The permission must be granted on the iPhone.

Permissions

iPhone
  Permissions

If this initial permission is not granted, you can grant the permission later with iPhone Settings... WristRoute... Location... While Using the App. Another way to set the permission is iPhone Settings... Privacy... Location Services... WristRoute... While Using the App.

Map

WristRoute displays your GPS position as a crosshair cursor in the center of a topographic map.

Map screen

Zoom the map in and out by turning the digital crown. The screen width in miles is briefly displayed at the top of the screen when zooming.

Scroll the map by dragging the screen with your finger. The scrolled map will return to the GPS position the next time the screen turns off for over one second and then turns back on, such as when you lower and then raise your wrist ("wrist up"), or when the screen blanks to save power.

GPS reception quality is displayed by up to four small squares at the upper left of the screen. If GPS reception is good (3 dots or more, horizontal accuracy 32 meters or better), WristRoute adds a yellow dot to the map at your position. A new dot is added every 100 feet of motion.

If you scroll the map the GPS reception quality dots are replaced with N^, reminding you that North is up on the map (even if Settings... North up is off) and letting you know that the current GPS position is not being displayed. If you press N^ then the current GPS position will be redisplayed, as if you had lowered and raised your wrist.

Map images are downloaded from the internet as they are needed. Maps are stored in a persistent cache for later offline use.

The map displayed is US Topo, the latest topographic map from USGS. Outside of the continental United States a map based on OpenStreetMap is used instead. See Settings for more map options.

Dots

If GPS is active an arrow is displayed in the center of the screen underlaying the crosshair cursor showing the compass direction the watch is facing.

(Note that prior to Apple Watch Series 5 the hardware does not have a compass, so the software uses successive GPS positions to determine this heading. Consequently, the arrow is most accurate when your recent motion is steady.)

Turn off Settings... North up to rotate the map in the direction of motion, in which case the arrow will always point straight up while the map itself rotates.

iPhone

The iPhone side of WristRoute is used to transfer GPX (Global Positioning eXchange) files between iPhone storage and the watch. Note: start WristRoute on the watch before copying a GPX file.

iPhone Menu

GPX files contain waypoints, routes, and tracks. You can find GPX files for many popular routes on the internet. Download the GPX file to your iCloud drive or other iPhone storage, then transfer it to the watch. You can also create GPX files with programs such as Eastridge Technology's Route3D.

GPX files copied from the watch include all new tracks and waypoints that were created on the watch since the last GPX file was loaded.

Menu

Pressing the menu symbol at the upper left of the watch screen displays the main menu.

Menu

Scroll down with the Apple Watch digital crown to see all of the menu.

Menu 2

Each of these menu entries are described below.

Trip

Trip shows elevation, including gain and loss, distance traveled, elapsed time, speed over the last 100 feet, and average speed since the trip began.

Trip

Elevation is as reported by the GPS.

Trip, scrolled

Scroll down to reveal the Reset button. This button requires a firm press to avoid accidental data erasure.

Reset Menu

Trip reset

Reset trip only zeroes the trip counters without clearing track history.

Reset trip+track zeroes the trip counters and erases track history. Track history is used to save a track, see Route/Track below.

Route/Track

The Route/Track menu is used to load a route or track from the GPX file. Routes and tracks are treated the same, and both are referred to as track below.

Trakcs

New... With trip data saves track history in a new track. Track history is accumulated in permanent storage until it is cleared with the Trip... Reset trip+track menu. To track continuously in the background use Settings... GPS On rather than GPS Battery Saver.

New... None resets the current track to none. All tracks in the GPX file resume displaying as yellow lines.

Track

Selecting a track from the scrolling list (or on the map) brings up a track title page. If the track has a description it appears below the track name.

Map draws the track as a white line on the map, with the name of the track in yellow marking the start.

Map Overlay

Cache returns to the map screen and animates the route, which caches all the map images at the current zoom level for later offline use. The display may pause as images are downloaded.

Rename brings up a screen which allows the track to be renamed. Note that microphone dictation only works if the iPhone is in communication with the watch.

Delete deletes the track.

Profile

Profile displays an elevation profile of the current track. The white line cursor shows your position along the track

Prolfile

The profile can be expanded and contracted by turning the digital crown. You can drag the cursor to check elevations and to scroll the screen. Relative distances from the starting position are displayed in yellow when dragging the cursor.

If the profile is flat then the track may not contain elevation data. Route3D can add elevation to a track if needed.

Waypoint

The Waypoint menu lists waypoints in the GPX file. Waypoints in this list are also displayed on the map.

New... saves the current map cursor position as a new waypoint.

Waypoints

The list is sorted by distance from your current position. To sort by name, firmly press on screen and select Sort by Name.

Selecting a waypoint from the scrolling list (or on the map) brings up a waypoint title page. If the waypoint has a description it appears below the button area, along with latitude, longitude, and, if recorded, elevation.

Waypoint

Map shows the waypoint on the map screen.

Rename renames the waypoint.

Delete deletes the waypoint.

Heading shows a screen with heading and distance to the waypoint from the current GPS position, as well as the current elevation.

Heading

Starting with Apple Watch Series 5 the watch has a hardware compass. The heading arrow is the compass direction.

Prior to Apple Watch Series 5 there is no hardware compass and the heading arrow is relative to the direction of motion. Heading is determined by successive GPS locations. This works best when recent motion has been in a straight line. If heading cannot be determined then the heading arrow is dimmed.

Settings

Settings

GPS Power

GPS power has three settings: Off, Battery Saver, and On.

When GPS is Off, no position updates occur. This is useful when scrolling the map to avoid automatic redisplay of current position whenever wrist up occurs, or to save battery when in an area with no GPS coverage, such as a cave, deep canyon, or densely forested north slope.

With Battery Saver the GPS is powered on from wrist up until shortly after a stable GPS reading is received. While this saves battery power, the GPS needs several seconds to stabilize after being turned on, so the initial GPS readings may be jumpy.

When GPS is On WristRoute continues to track position and course in the background. GPS power remains on until turned off. This setting is recommended when recording tracks.

The On setting uses the most battery power. In airplane mode a 44mm Series 4 Apple Watch can run for about 10 hours.

North up if on, map is always displayed with North up. If off, the map rotates to the current compass heading (Apple Watch Series 5 or later) or GPS course direction of motion (Apple Watch Series 4 or earlier. Be aware that unlike a compass, the direction of motion does not update if you stand still and spin about).

Overlay enables display of waypoints and tracks on the map.

Metric displays metric units (m, km) instead of English units (ft, mi).

Settings, Continued

Settings

Map selects the current map display.

No map turns off the map, which saves battery and makes the display more readable in bright sunlight.

US Topo is the default map for the Continental USA.

Esri Street is a world street map used outside of the Continental USA.

USGS 24K displays USGS Historical Topographic 1:24,000 scale maps. Although older, these hand drawn maps are often more readable when contours become complex. The first time these maps are accessed there may be a longer delay than with the other maps.

Cache

WristRoute downloads map tiles from the internet as they are needed and stores them in an internal cache, where they remain until explicitly cleared.

Press firmly to display the Cache Menu. The firm press is to avoid accidental erasure.

Cache Menu

Cache Menu

Clear Cache clears all map data from cache.

Cache Screen displays map screen and begins caching all map detail levels covered by the visible map extent.

Cache Loading

Percent loaded is displayed at upper left, above a thumbnail of the map image being loaded.

The cache operation can be canceled by pressing the menu button.

Searches for place names such as "Princeton,NJ". Select one of the results and the map will recenter on that location.

If the search fails try adding a '?' on the end, e.g. "Prince?" matches any name beginning with "Prince".

You may also enter a decimal WGS84 latitude longitude coordinate such as "37.3290 -122.00198", which will recenter the map on that location.

Search requires an internet connection.

GPS Status

The GPS Status screen lists the raw status of the GPS. A course of -1 indicates an unknown heading, otherwise it is degrees from North. Timestamp is seconds since starting the GPS Status screen; a negative value indicates loss of GPS signal.

GPS Status

Usage Notes

To save a continuous track do the following:

- Settings... GPS... On
- Trip... Reset trip+track at start of track.
- Route/Track... New... With trip data when done recording the track.
- Settings.. GPS... Off or Battery Saver when done.

Before a trip it is useful to develop a GPX route or to find a GPX track that you will be following. Add significant waypoints. Load the GPX file to your iCloud Drive, then use the WristRoute iPhone app to transfer the file to the WristRoute Apple Watch app. Use Route/Track... Cache to cache maps for the route at the detail levels you need. Use Settings... Cache... Cache screen to cache larger areas where you might need maps.

For overnight hiking trips bring a battery pack to recharge watch. Turn off Settings... GPS when not tracking. Set both watch and iPhone to airplane mode (or turn off iPhone) except when doing iPhone file transfers.

About

WristRoute 1.13

Copyright 2022 Eastridge Technology

Email info@e-t.com for support

Topographic maps courtesy of USGS.

Esri World Street Map Sources: Esri, HERE, Garmin, USGS, Intermap, INCREMENT P, NRCan, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), Esri Korea, Esri (Thailand), NGCC, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS User Community.

Search data licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license from geonames.org.
Thank you for using WristRoute.