Which iPhone App rather than buying a TomTom/Garmin GPS?

[mboy]

I'm absolutely loathe to spend out on a GPS... A ground breaking device 15yrs ago, sure... Times have moved on, and mobile phones are capable of replacing most other devices these days with the right app...

Anyway... Got an iPhone XR and been using it on an SP Connect mount for a while now without issues, and can charge from the 12V socket on my bike so no issues with battery life either. I've used Apple Maps for any Nav without bother til now, but local IAM Group require you to download the route for their Sunday rideouts as you're responsible for finding your own way to the destination (I know the route off by heart tomorrow, but for next weekend it's using roads I don't know).

So what app that I can upload GPX files to and follow them satisfactorily on my iPhone...? What's best?

[Rockburner]

Don't know really - I normally use Google 'MyMaps' to plan a route, with random waypoints to guarantee certain roads and then use Google's Map app to show the route on the map on the phone. This doesn't use a GPX file, instead it just forces the waypoints and the app finds it's own way from A to B to C (etc): that's why the random waypoints are needed to ensure it uses the roads you want.

You could probably open the GPX file in a desktop/web app and copy the route in a similar fashion, but then you are vulnerable to letting the Google Map App re-route you if it wants to.

I imagine there are plenty of maps with GPX input but I've always found that you need to pay for that aspect.

[Slenver]

You can upload a gpx file in several apps (just google 'upload gpx iOS'), but the main functionality you'd be missing from most of them is offline viewing, which is where a dedicated satnav device comes in with a few gig of stored maps. I know that in Google maps you can save a region or a route for offline viewing and think you can in Apple Maps and other too, though the trick will be finding an app that can do both the offline and GPX upload.

There are still full satnav apps I think that are more similar to a traditional hardware device that come with full maps by country - I used to have one but can't remember its name... used to be useful but I've got built-in satnav on bike and car and mobile data is better than it used to be so I stopped using it. Plus it took up half the phone's storage of course! They're not free normally, but only a few quid. Again though, you'll need to find one with specific GPX upload.

I'd probably start with Google Maps - pretty sure that'll do GPX import and then you can download a region easily enough.

[The Spin Doctor]

How about HERE maps?

That one works offline if need.

[Demannu]

I like calimoto and viamichelin for bike.
I have several dedicated satnavs for 4/6 wheeled use.

[Rockburner]

You can upload a gpx file in several apps (just google 'upload gpx iOS'), but the main functionality you'd be missing from most of them is offline viewing, which is where a dedicated satnav device comes in with a few gig of stored maps. I know that in Google maps you can save a region or a route for offline viewing and think you can in Apple Maps and other too, though the trick will be finding an app that can do both the offline and GPX upload.

There are still full satnav apps I think that are more similar to a traditional hardware device that come with full maps by country - I used to have one but can't remember its name... used to be useful but I've got built-in satnav on bike and car and mobile data is better than it used to be so I stopped using it. Plus it took up half the phone's storage of course! They're not free normally, but only a few quid. Again though, you'll need to find one with specific GPX upload.

I'd probably start with Google Maps - pretty sure that'll do GPX import and then you can download a region easily enough.

I think you can import a GPX file into 'MyMaps' (https://www.google.com/maps/d/), but that will ONLY create a line on the visual display - it will NOT import all the waypoints. So - if you tried to open that 'map' in the Google Maps Phone App (GMPA), all you'd see is the line on the display, Google won't generate the driving instructions from it. (which obviously is what we all want).