Map tools

Help guide · Updated June 25, 2026

What this is. Map tools is a vertical toolbar that slides in along the left edge of the map. It's how you add your own points, lines, and polygons; record GPS tracks while you hike or drive; capture geolocated photos; and look up directions. Every drawing tool reads from your Dictionary — the types you defined there are the choices here.

Read first

←The Dictionary

Turn it on

Open the More menu (three-dot icon, top-right of the toolbar) and flip the Map tools switch on. The toolbar appears along the left edge of the map and stays there until you turn it off.

Vertical toolbar on the left edge of the map showing ten icons stacked from top to bottom. — Map tools enabled. Ten icons, grouped by job — drawing, GPS, photos.

The toolbar at a glance

Top to bottom, the icons divide into four groups.

Group	Tools
Select	Select / edit — the default mode. Tap features to open their detail; drag to reposition.
Draw	Draw point, Draw line, Draw polygon, Directions.
GPS	GPS point (capture at current location), GPS line (record a trail or route as you walk, ride, or drive it), Directions from my location.
Photo	Take photo (camera), Add photo from library.

The drawing tools

Tapping a draw tool opens a small menu of the matching Dictionary types — points show point types, lines show line types, polygons show polygon types. Pick a type to enter draw mode for that type.

Draw point menu open with options: Campsite, Point of interest, Water, Restroom, Parked, Fishing hole, Trailhead, Parked, and 'Draw without a type'. — The **Draw point** menu, populated from your Dictionary's Point tab. The bottom option *Draw without a type* drops a generic pin.

Once you pick a type, the toolbar icon for that tool changes color to match the type — a visual reminder that you're in draw mode and what you're dropping.

Draw point icon now shown in green (matching the Campsite color), indicating active draw mode for Campsite type. — The Draw point icon turned green — Campsite mode is active. Tap anywhere on the map to drop one.

Tap on the map to drop. A confirmation bar appears at the bottom with Discard and Save.

A green dot has been dropped on the map and a Save/Discard bar appears at the bottom of the screen. — The new point appears in your type's color. Save commits it; Discard removes it. If your type has custom attributes defined, a form appears before save.

Drawing trails, routes, and areas

The line and polygon tools work the same way as Draw point — pick a type, then tap on the map.

Draw line — for tracing a trail or route by hand. Tap to add vertices along the path, double-tap to finish. The line draws in the type's color. Use this when you've already moved through the area (or planned it on the map) and want to lay the path down explicitly.
Draw polygon — for an area. Tap to add vertices, tap the first vertex (or double-tap) to close the shape. Polygon fills with the type's color at reduced opacity.

Directions

The Directions tool in this group is for plotting a route between two map points you'll choose (a start and a destination), as opposed to Directions from my location further down, which uses your current GPS fix as the start.

The GPS tools

This group uses your phone's GPS instead of map taps.

GPS point

Captures a point feature at your exact current location, no tapping required. Tap the tool, pick a type from the menu, done. Useful for marking exactly where you are right now — a hard-to-describe trail junction, a downed tree, the trailhead sign.

GPS line — record a trail or route as you go

This is the tool for capturing a trail or route by actually walking, riding, or driving it. Tap the icon, pick a line type (Trail, Road, MTB Ride, Stream, whatever you've defined), and the app starts logging GPS fixes into a line behind you. Keep moving — the line grows in real time. Tap the icon again (now showing in your type's color) to stop and save.

This is how you build up your own trail and route library: hike a path nobody's mapped, drive a forest road that isn't in the published data, paddle a river — they all save the same way and become layers you can navigate to later.

GPS line menu open showing 'Record line from my location' with options Trail, Road, Road Ride, MTB Ride, and Stream. — **GPS line** uses your Line dictionary. Pick the kind of trail or route you're moving along — the recorded track is tagged with that type.

Directions from my location

Like Directions, but pre-fills your current GPS fix as the start. Tap, then tap a destination on the map.

The photo tools

Photos are geolocated and become their own layer on the map.

Take photo — opens the camera. The photo is tagged with your current location.
Add photo from library — pulls a photo you already have. If it has GPS EXIF, that's used; otherwise the photo lands at the center of the current map view.

Both go through the system file picker so the app doesn't need full Photo Library access — only what you explicitly select.

Tips

The toolbar respects the Dictionary order. If a particular type is one you reach for constantly, drag it to the top of its tab in the Dictionary — it'll be the first option in the draw menu here.

Draw without a type, then categorize later. Out in the field, "Draw without a type" gets a pin down in two taps. Edit it later from Select mode to assign a type when you have time.

GPS line keeps recording in the background. Lock the screen, put the phone in your pocket, keep moving — the track continues. Tap the icon again to stop and save.

Watch one-tap capture uses these same types. The dictionary types you see in these menus are the same types your Apple Watch uses for its one-tap capture button — no separate setup.

Up next

Capture a photo→

A closer look at the photo flow — how thumbnails get clustered on the map, how the carousel works, and what happens to full-resolution originals on disk.