How to build a hiking app for iOS
What a hiking app needs
- A trail directory with distance, elevation, and difficulty
- A map with the route and your location (MapKit, CoreLocation)
- GPS tracking that records a hike
- Saved hikes and stats: distance, pace, elevation gain
- Optional offline maps for areas with no signal
- HealthKit to log the workout, and a backend if trails are shared (Supabase)
The MVP slice is: browse trails, see them on a map, and track a hike with stats. Offline maps and community-submitted trails are bigger additions; offline map tiles in particular are a meaningful engineering and licensing task.
Core screens and data
A hiking app needs a trail browser, a map, an active tracking screen, a saved-hikes list, and settings. Here is how those screens map to the data each one stores.
| Screen | What it does | What it stores |
|---|---|---|
| Trail directory | Browses nearby trails with distance, elevation, and difficulty | Trail records: name, length, elevation gain, difficulty, coordinates |
| Trail map | Draws the route and your location on a MapKit map | The route polyline and the cached map region |
| Active tracking | Records a live hike with GPS in the foreground and background | GPS track points, timestamps, and elevation samples |
| Hike summary | Saves the finished hike with its stats | Distance, moving time, pace, elevation gain, and the recorded path |
| Saved hikes | Lists past hikes and lets you review each route | Saved hike history and per-hike stats |
| Offline maps | Downloads map tiles for areas with no signal | Downloaded tiles and their region bounds |
| Settings | Handles units, HealthKit, and the paywall | Units preference, HealthKit permission, subscription status |
How to build it with AppFlight
Describe it, for example: "A hiking app where I browse trails near me on a map, see distance and elevation, start GPS tracking, and save the hike with my stats." AppFlight plans the screens, generates native SwiftUI, and runs it in a live simulator. It builds the MapKit map and CoreLocation tracking, and you connect Supabase if trails or hikes are shared. Apple requires a clear reason for location access, which AppFlight sets up. You iterate by asking for changes in plain language.
Starter prompt
This is the exact plain-English prompt you can paste into AppFlight to start a hiking app. It names the map, the GPS tracking, HealthKit, a widget, Supabase sync, and a RevenueCat paywall, so the first build covers the core hike loop.
Build a hiking app for iPhone. Show a list of trails near me with distance, elevation gain, and difficulty, and open each one on a MapKit map with the route drawn. Let me start GPS tracking that records my path, distance, pace, and elevation gain, and keeps recording when the phone is in my pocket with the screen off. When I finish, save the hike with its stats and a map of the route I can review later. Write the hike to HealthKit as a workout, and add a Home Screen widget that shows my last hike and total distance this month. Store trails and saved hikes with Supabase so they sync across devices. Add a RevenueCat paywall where a subscription unlocks offline map downloads and detailed elevation stats.
Monetization for a hiking app
Premium maps, offline downloads, and detailed stats are digital content, so a subscription that unlocks them uses in-app purchase, which RevenueCat manages. Superwall lets you test paywall designs without shipping an update. A price around three to five dollars a month is typical for outdoor apps. If you sell guided real-world hikes or events, that is a real-world service and can run through Stripe instead.
Shipping it to the App Store
When it works in the simulator, AppFlight signs the build, uploads to TestFlight so you can test GPS tracking outdoors on your device, then submits to the App Store with metadata and screenshots. If Apple rejects the build, AppFlight reads the reason, fixes it, and resubmits. Apple reviews every app, so a submission is not the same as an approval, but the pipeline runs without you opening Xcode.
FAQ
Can a hiking app track GPS in the background?
Yes, with CoreLocation and the right background mode and permission. Apple requires a clear reason for location use, which AppFlight sets up in native Swift.
Do premium maps use in-app purchase?
Yes. Maps and offline downloads are digital content, so a subscription unlocking them requires in-app purchase, managed by RevenueCat.
Are offline maps hard to build?
They are a meaningful addition because of map-tile storage and licensing. Start with online maps and tracking, then add offline downloads later.