How do I create a round-trip route?
A map pin can have both its Start and Destination checkboxes set to create a loop back to that pin.
Route Planning
Route Planning
Can I use the same waypoint more than once in a trip?
A single pin can only be set as a waypoint once, but you can add an additional pin at the same location to create a route with the same location multiple times. One easy option is to drop a new pin near the original with a long press on the map. You can press and hold near the middle of these purple dropped pins to drag them and precisely place it near the original pin location (the pin drops where the sharp bottom is located when released).
After adding it to your route, you could use the same pin name as the original pin, e.g. “Hotel X”, by changing it on the pin’s details screen (tap the map pin, then tap the popup that shows name/ETA).
Since these two pins are next to each other but you don’t want to visit them in order, disable “Optimize Waypoint Order” under the Route button and instead drag the waypoint up/down in the list to reorder it.
How can I quickly add waypoints without recalculating the route?
There are a few options to more quickly add locations to a route:
- Draw icon: Instead of adding each pin/address to the map and immediately setting it as a waypoint, just add each pin to the map only. When you’re done adding the pins to the map (blue pins by default), then tap the Draw icon at the lower-right of the map, circle all the blue pins on the map with your finger, and tap “Add to route” from the 3-dots icon at the top-right. All the pins will be set as waypoints at once.
- Uncheck Start/Destination: inRoute only calculates a route if you have at least a Start and a Destination pin set with the map’s pins. Unchecking one of those, for example the red Destination pin, while adding/removing waypoints will avoid recalculating the route with each change.
- Import from a spreadsheet: You can enter a list of addresses into a spreadsheet and import them all at once. During import, a route will automatically be created. See Can I import from files or other apps? for more details
How do I search along routes for points of interest?
In version 8.2 or higher (released 06/20/2023), to search along a route, first make sure there’s a blue route line showing on the map (i.e., at least a Start pin and a Dest. pin need to be set with the map’s pins). Then, tap the Search button, and several predefined route search options will be shown. For older versions, see below.
Note: Searching a route can lead to many blue pins on the map. To remove them all, tap the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Clear/New” and use the “Remove Non-Route Pins” option. Or, remove specific pins with the map’s Draw icon, drawing around them and using the “Remove from Map” option under the 3-dots icon at the top-right (or “Remove Non-Route Pins”, available with version 8.2, released 06/30/2023).
How can I show/create alternate routes?
There are three options for showing alternate routes:
1) Standard Avoidance/Custom Routes: To show routes avoiding certain criteria or to show custom routes by weather, elevation or curviness, open the “Route” screen, then select “Route Profile”. Avoidance options are shown at the top, along with an option to use those avoidances for all legs of the route (enabled by default). Custom Routes are shown below. Custom Routes initially appear as grey lines on the map and are not active. You must select the route’s label or the grey route line on the map to activate it, changing it to a blue line. The images shown for each Custom Route type are also used for the route’s label on the map (where total route time and distance is shown).
2) Customize Routes with the ALT Button: You can show all available alternate routes for each leg of your route by tapping the ALT button on the green Start pin or any waypoint (alternates may not be available on some legs). Some alternates may use your preferred route, but they’re commonly used alternates so they generally don’t add more than about ~25% to the leg time. After selecting an alternate (if available), tap the “Next” button and repeat for the next leg, building up your route.
3) Customize Routes by Dropping Pins: If the ALT button does not have a route along your preferred road, then you can drop a pin at a midpoint along it by long pressing on the map. You can drag dropped pins (purple) as needed to place them along your preferred road (the pin lands where the pin’s pointy bottom is positioned when released). Finally, add the pin to your route by setting its WayPt checkbox. It may also help to designate any of these dropped waypoints as “Vias” so they are not announced during navigation (under the Route button, tap the waypoint to access the Via setting, or use the “Select” or “Edit” button to choose multiple waypoints at once and set them all to Vias with the “Actions” button).
How can I plan a daytime only route, or travel a certain number of miles/hours per day?
In version 8.2 or higher (released 06/20/2023), you can plan to drive a certain number of miles or hours per day (e.g., 8 hours) by selecting the Search button and choosing from one of the predefined route search options, such as “Search Every X Hours”. You will be prompted to select the number of hours to travel, and the category to search for (Hotels, Campgrounds, etc.). In the search results list, you can then add the places you want to the map. See below for older versions.
To set a place as an overnight stop (e.g. leave at 7 am), first add the pin to your route by setting it as a WayPt. Then, tap the Route button, tap the waypoint in the list, and set a “Leave at…” layover of 7 am (no “full days” should be added to leave the next morning).
If there were any intervals with no search results, you can use the “Search X Hours from a Pin” option, to easily vary the number of hours from the pin where there were no search results. You will be prompted to select the pin to search from, and you can change the search by +/- 0.5 hours (7.5, 8.5, etc.), or more as needed, to find search results. See below for additional options.
Additional options
You can also find places to stop near a particular time (or near sunset) using inRoute’s charts. Tap the “Distance/Time” label at the bottom to switch to viewing a chart against time. Sunset markers are shown on the chart and, as with any point on the charts, they can be tapped to briefly flash that point along the route on the map so you know where the time occurs. Zoom in on the chart near the time you wish to stop and the map will adjust to show that same area (or vice versa, zooming in on the map). Then tap the search field and select the “Route shown” or “Map” options and enter a search for “hotels”, “campgrounds”, etc, to find places to stay overnight.
Can I add more than 150 locations to a route?
150 locations is the route limit with inRoute Pro. However, you can save multiple routes, each with up to 150 locations. If you can break up your trip by region, day, etc., you can save trips of any size.
- Save the first route with up to 150 locations using the “Save” button under the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu). Optionally, note the Arrival Time of the route (under the Turns list, last row); to keep timing accurate between multiple routes, you may want to use this as the Departure Time for the next route.
- Clear the route: map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Clear/New”, then “Remove Route”.
- Add the next set of up to 150 locations to a route, and optionally set your new Departure Time either from step 1 or based on the new day of travel.
When complete, repeat the save/clear procedure above for any further routes needed for your trip. Routes are saved to Favorites. When loading a route from Favorites you can choose to leave the previous route’s pins on the map, but only up to 150 at a time will show an active route.
How can I print maps and routes?
Tap the map’s Share icon (or on a Mac, the File menu), then “Print Route” to print the route and current map display.
If you are not using an AirPrint compatible Wi-Fi printer you can also:
- Email the route: tap the map’s Share icon (on Mac, the File menu) > “Mail Route”, which includes the same route itinerary as the Print option.
- Create a PDF file: The iOS print dialog includes the ability to print to PDF files: tap the map’s Share icon > “Print Route”, then pinch/zoom-in on the print preview until it zooms full screen, and tap the Share icon on the toolbar to save a PDF to your Files app, email, etc. On a Mac, a PDF option is available directly from the print dialog.
Can I import from files or other apps?
inRoute can import from XLSX, GPX, KML and other files. Routes in XLSX format will be automatically optimized if optimization is enabled under the Route button. Options for importing include:
- Tap the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Import” and select the file from one of your storage locations.
- Use the standard iOS “Open in” or Share menu from other apps. For example, after emailing a file to your device, in the Mail app, tap and hold the attached GPX file (at the bottom of the message), tap “Share”, then from the second row of app icons select “inRoute” (this may be under the “More” button at the far right).
- On Macs or iPads, drag a file from another app (e.g. the Files app) and drop it within inRoute. You can also drag and drop lists of addresses from other apps, for example from a text file.
With inRoute Pro, there are no limits to the number of places that can be imported from GPX and KML files, but XLSX spreadsheets are limited to 150 places. This is because spreadsheets contain addresses that must be converted to map coordinates, which cannot be done on the device, and map providers limit the number of conversions that can be done at one time. The free version is limited to 8 places for all file types.
File Formats
XLSX
Include a header row at the top, and during import you will be prompted to choose the columns that contain addresses (street, city, etc.), then the columns that contain the name to use for each map pin (first name, last name, business, etc). The format is flexible, so a single column list of addresses works as well. Each row of the file creates a pin on the map, and the resulting route is automatically optimized if that is enabled under the Route button.
For example, a simple spreadsheet could include the following two columns. With just one row after the header row, only one map pin would be created. More commonly, the address is split across multiple columns, for example Street, City, State, and Postal Codes. The import interface will allow you to specify which column(s) to use for the name and address.
| Name | Address |
|---|---|
| Acme Engineering | 1234 S Main St, Seattle, WA 98144 |
GPX
GPX files can contain several types of location information, for example “route”, “waypoint”, and “track” types:
- Routes (denoted with rte tags in the file): A route is a plan for places you want to go. Guided navigation apps use “routes” and determine turn-by-turn directions between the places. For import to inRoute, route places must include latitude and longitude. GPX routes with more than 150 locations (Pro upgrade) will be imported to the map but will not be automatically added to a route. inRoute Pro is required for routes with more than 8 locations.
- Tracks (denoted with trk tags in the file): Tracks are generally used as a record of where you’ve been and may contain thousands of locations. GPX files containing only a GPX track will be automatically filtered to less than 150 locations (Pro upgrade) representing the original track, and automatically added to a route within inRoute.
- Waypoints (denoted with wpt tags in the file): Waypoints are location information, separate from a route, to mark specific places/landmarks on a map. Waypoints are often used together with tracks by navigation software to show a detailed path on a map (the track) and to flag specific locations (the waypoints). If no GPX route or track is found during import, and the file contains waypoints with latitude/longitude coordinates, inRoute will import the waypoints as though they were a GPX route. If a GPX track is found, the track will be used to generate a route, and the waypoints will be added to the map only.
inRoute can also generate GPX files (with inRoute Pro) that can be transferred to other inRoute users or to compatible navigation apps: Tap the map’s Share icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Mail Route” or “Export GPX to…” to attach/generate a GPX file (or “Share” > AirDrop to quickly transfer to a nearby, unlocked device).
KML file
Like GPX, KML files can contain several types of location information. In all cases location information must include latitude, longitude coordinates (not solely addresses). KML “LineString” and “Point” data types are supported. LineString types are treated similar to GPX tracks above (automatically filtered to 150 locations with inRoute Pro, if needed). An example KML Point may look like the following:
<Placemark> <name>Tucson, AZ</name> <Point> <coordinates>-110.9264,32.2216,0.0</coordinates> </Point> </Placemark>
TXT or CSV
Similar to the XLSX section above, you can import addresses and/or coordinates from TXT and CSV files. However, importing from TXT or CSV requires a more specific file format than importing from XLSX, so using XLSX is recommended.
With CSV files, the first column of the file can optionally be used to set the names of the imported map pins, with the remaining columns used to specify the address or coordinates. If a name column is used, the name does not affect the search performed (“Joe Smith, 123 Main St” would be the same as searching for “123 Main St” within inRoute’s search box). The example spreadsheet above in the XLSX section may be used for CSVs with the first column being used for the pin’s name, but CSVs should not include a header row.
For TXT files, each line of the file is used to specify an address or coordinate. Unlike XLSX and CSV, there is no option to name the resulting map pin when importing from TXT files.
Why are my routes not syncing between devices?
The sync between devices includes saved routes and pins stored on your Favorites screen. If you haven’t already, in order to sync the current route and pins on the map, first save them by tapping the map’s More button (on Mac, the File menu) and use the “Save” option.
If your Favorites are not syncing between devices, there are a few things that may help:
1) Do you see a green checkmark and “Favorites Sync Enabled” at the top of your Favorites screen on the devices you’re trying to sync? If not, additional information may show in that location about any problems your devices are having connecting to iCloud.
2) Restarting both devices can often help with unexpected iCloud problems:
https://support.apple.com/HT201559 (iPhone)
https://support.apple.com/HT210631 (iPad)
3) At the top of your Favorites there’s a blue progress bar that appears when iCloud is syncing changes, which can help with understanding whether iCloud has started uploading or downloading your changes. If you save a route/pins on a device, iCloud should start uploading changes that you make (progress bar appears) within about 30-45 seconds. This can help identify if one of your devices is not syncing correctly with iCloud.
If the above doesn’t help and you need to get routes transferred immediately, you can also tap the map’s Share icon, then “Mail Route” to attach a .GPX file that can be imported on another device running inRoute (or use “Share” > Airdrop to quickly transfer to a nearby unlocked device). You’ll need a route on the map for sharing, but all non-route pins on the current map are included in the file as well (a simple route from a Start pin to Destination is enough). If you email the route, from the other iOS device’s Mail app, tap and hold the attached GPX file, tap “Share”, then from the second row of app icons select “inRoute” (this may be under the “More” button at the far right).