Late last year, Apple crowned AllTrails the best iPhone app of 2023 – now the tech giant is planning to integrate some of the navigation app's best features into its own maps app.
In its 14-year history, AllTrails has become an integral part of the hiking community, used by 60 million people worldwide to access details of over 400,000 trails in nearly 200 countries. Earlier this year, the San Francisco-based company unveiled its Public Lands Program, which gives land managers from agencies like the National Parks Service access to trail-use insights and the ability edit trail information and send real-time alerts for more accurate information.
Companies like Apple know good ideas when they see them, and in yesterday's iOS 18 announcement, the Cupertino-based corporation revealed exactly which features of AllTrails they're most impressed with by revealing their intentions to imitate them.
Later this year, users of Apple Maps – that's the free maps app that comes preinstalled on any iPhone, iPad, MacBook and Apple Watch – will start to see features that will be very familiar to AllTrails users. In Apple Maps, you'll soon be able to access topographical maps and browse thousands of hikes across US National Parks, and create your own custom walking routes which you can download and access offline. You can also save your favorite National Park hikes to an all-new Places Library where you can add details and notes about each trail.
These functions will be free to Apple Maps users – for now, at least – but in AllTrails they're currently only available in AllTrails+, which costs $35.99 per year, or $3 per month. There's no doubt that Apple is muscling in on territory that AllTrails has been comfortably dominating for a while now, but it's also clear that Apple Maps is nowhere near close to being a replacement for the hiking app, which provides hikers with a full suite of curated features such as 3D maps, route preview, wrong turn alerts and a Live Share function so you can share your location with loved ones, all in one place.
Making matters more interesting, AllTrails is making an announcement later this week to roll out further updates, so watch this space to find out what they're doing to stay ahead of the navigation game.
Also of interest to hikers with iPhones, iOS 18 will allow users to send messages via satellite for times when cellular and Wi-Fi connections aren’t available, which is often the case in the backcountry. Remember to carry a portable phone charger if you're relying on your iPhone for emergency communications, and consider also investing in a satellite communicator like the Garmin InReach, which if you're only using it for emergencies can stay charged for a couple of weeks.
