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Navigate by Track

Overview​

The Navigation by track (GPX) option allows you to follow a predefined route or track on a map. It can be particularly useful for outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, or off-road driving, where having a planned route improves safety and efficiency. If you are traveling in an organized group, this feature helps you and each member of the group have the same route information as the others.

The Navigation by track option can also be used in the everyday life. You can use a previously recorded track or create a track and share it with your family or friends instead of explaining the route to them. You can also use the routes on the OsmAnd map for navigation. How to highlight them on the map and what their colors mean is described in the Routes section of the Vector maps article.

Navigation by track screen Android

Select the Track​

Before using the Navigation by track option you need to display track on the map. OsmAnd supports track as a line (Geometry) and track as a route (Route) or combination of them (OsmAnd by Plan route). If you have track as a collection Waypoints, you can use Markers navigation.

  • Geometry track will have very basic navigation by default and won't provide accurate turns, street names and turn lanes. To get missing information, you need to use Attach to the roads tool.
  • Route track will calculate route between route points by selected profile. Basically all route points will be considered as intermediate points. If you route consists > 50 points, it's very likely that it's misconfigured Geometry track.
  • OsmAnd track consists of both geometry and route parts and it's suitable to provide exactly same guidance as navigation by default. These tracks are produced by Plan route or Web version. It's possible to resave this track to Geometry only track as Simplified to be used in 3rd party programs.

Start GPX Navigation​

Select track to navigate Android 1 Select track to navigate Android 2

Navigation on a track can be started using the quick action button in the track context menu (opened by selecting one of the highlighted tracks on the map or by tapping a track file in the My Places section of the main menu) or from the navigation menu, which is opened by tapping:

Choose Segments​

Segments Android

For navigation, if the selected track consists of multiple segments or tracks, you can select either a specific segment or the entire gpx track file. When importing you can choose whether to save it in a single file or in multiple files.

Follow Track options​

  • Navigation → Settings → Follow track
  • Tracks Context menu → Options → Follow track

Navigation by track screen Android

  • Edit (pencil icon next to the track name). Opens the track in the Plan a route tool.
  • Select another track. Allows you to select a different GPX file for navigation.
  • Reverse track direction. If this setting is enabled, the direction of movement along the track is reversed.
  • Attach to the roads. Allows to Attach track to the roads.
  • Point of the track to navigate (Android) / Navigate to (iOS). You can select how to navigate from my location to the track: to the Start of the track or to the Nearest point on the track.
  • Choose Navigation type for the first and last segment: either build a straight line or use the routing type from the current profile.

Attach to the Roads​

Attach to the roads 2

You can find the Attach to the roads option in the Follow track menu. If you select Attach to the roads, the Plan a route tool will open and OsmAnd will match each point on the track to the nearest allowed road on the map according to the chosen profile and threshold distance. After attaching a track to roads, you get more accurate route information in the route details section, and voice instructions become more detailed.

  • Threshold distance (default is 50 meters) refers to the maximum distance between a point on a GPS track and the nearest point on a road to attach the track to the road.
  • When you change the profile, OsmAnd automatically reattaches your track to the allowed for this profile roads. If your track consists of a big amount of points, attaching to the roads may take a long time. On the picture above, you can see the highlighted with orange status line, which indicates the progress. After the procedure of attaching to the roads is finished, the button Apply is active, and the track can be used for navigation.
Automatic attach to the roads

For the Android version, Attach to the roads runs automatically once track is selected for navigation. You can change it and get more information in the Navigation Settings.

Points​

Start / Finish Point​

You can specify the start and finish point for a route other than the start/finish specified in the GPX file. Just change it the same as you do for Navigation.

In the Follow track menu, you can choose whether you want to navigate from your current location to the start point of the track or to the nearest point on the GPX track. Also, you can choose Navigation type that will be used for the start and end segment of your route.

Waypoints​

If track has waypoints, you can use Show along the road and Voice guidance to get notified about Points of Interests. You can add Waypoints to an existing track via Context menu, track need to be visible on the map.

Intermediate Points​

When preparing or navigating a GPX track, you cannot add intermediate places you plan to drive through within that track. You can only assign start and finish points in addition to the track or segment you are planning to follow.

Guidance​

Navigation by GPX track contains the same voice instructions as route navigation. However, some turns or traffic circles may not be interpreted correctly because there is no information about road intersections in GPX, except for GPX files created by OsmAnd. To eliminate these problems, you should use the Attach to the roads feature.

During navigation, you can use various options such as zooming in or out, panning the map, or switching to a different map style. If you deviate from the track, OsmAnd will automatically recalculate the route to bring you back on track. You can also adjust the speed of the track and set audible alerts for approaching points or deviations from the route.

This article was last updated in August 2024