Top Questions
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, 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.
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.Formatting
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 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 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 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:
Tucson, AZ
-110.9264,32.2216,0.0
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.
To remove all pins, tap the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Clear/New”. You can choose to remove the route and/or all the non-route pins.
Or, to remove several pins, tap the map’s Draw icon, draw with your finger around the pins to remove, then under the 3-dots icon at the top-right, tap “Remove from Map”.
To drive a certain number of miles or hours per day (e.g. 8 hours), you can plan your stops by searching the route in intervals. To search the entire route every 8 hours, tap the “Search” button, then tap “Type”, and select “Route, at Interval”. Choose 8 hours and select OK. Enter “hotels” or “campgrounds” or other categories into the search field, and a search will begin every 8 hours along your route (some intervals may not contain a search result, but we’ll fill those in below). In the search results list, you can then add the places you want to the map.
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 gaps in the search results, you can use one of the other route search options. For example, the “Route from selected pin” search type performs just one search X hours from a pin in your route, so you can easily vary the interval to find a nearby interval that does have search results. First, tap the route pin on the map before the search gap (e.g. if there was a gap after the 3rd waypoint, select the 3rd waypoint on the map), then use the search “Type” button to select “Route from selected pin”. Change the search by +/- 0.5 hours (7.5, 8.5, etc.) or more as needed to find search results, repeating the search to find additional places near the gap along the route. 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.
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, tap the Route button, then “Route Profile”. Avoidance options are shown at the top, along with an option to use those avoidances for all routes (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 create your own custom route from available alternates for each leg by tapping the ALT button on the green Start pin (or any route pin). After selecting an alternate (if available), tap the “Next” button and repeat for the next leg, building up your route. Alternates can be compared by their leg label, which in addition to showing time and distance for that leg, also show images corresponding to any of the standard Custom Routes that the leg is included in. For example, the images can tell you which of the alternate legs has the Least Elevation Ascent or the Most Curvy roads, if you have these “Custom Route” types enabled.
3) Customize Routes by Dropping Pins: Custom routes and user-specified alternates (the ALT button) may not include the route you want. If you prefer a different alternate than those available, you can drop a pin to force the route along your preferred road. To drop a pin on your preferred road, press and hold on the map. You can press and hold on dropped pins (purple) to drag them and place them precisley along your preferred road (the pin drops exactly where the sharp end of the pin is located when you release it). Finally, add the pin to your route by setting its Waypoint checkbox.Using data charts
You can also compare alternate legs with inRoute’s charts by Curviness, Elevation, or Weather. Each chart’s Info button shows the chart’s Max/Min/Average (as well as Ascent/Descent for the Elevation chart). Note that when you first show a leg’s alternates (e.g. with the ALT button), the range of the chart’s x-axis will also show that leg only, allowing detailed comparisons of legs (using the “Range Shown” section of the Info statistics).
inRoute uses Apple’s map data for search and directions, and the steps below can be used to report a problem to Apple starting within inRoute.
For a problem with map pin data, such as an incorrect label or address:
- Within inRoute, show the map pin’s details (select its name/ETA popup)
- Select the Share icon on the top toolbar, then “Show in Apple Maps” to transfer the pin to Apple Maps
- In Apple Maps, Select “Report an Issue” on the pin’s details screen (near the bottom, you may need to slide up the bottom pane).
For a problem with route directions, such as not showing a faster route between two locations:
- On the map, select the first location of the leg with the incorrect directions, then show the pin’s details (select its name/ETA popup)
- Select the “progress” row, and the leg starting at that location will be highlighted in red on the map.
- Up top, select “Share Leg”, then select “Show in Apple Maps”. Apple Maps should open showing the same leg; if not, verify Apple Maps is using the same criteria for avoid tolls/highways. If the route is still different, please go to the last step below.
- Verify there are no traffic incidents (red minus icons) along the route that may be responsible for the irregular directions. If not, select the Info icon in Apple Maps, then “Report an Issue”.
- If the route is different in Apple Maps, please share the leg to us instead using the “Mail Leg” option on the share screen (instead of “Show in Apple Maps” above). Provide a detailed description of the problem, and send to support@inroute.com.
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
Route Planning
You can view times and distances for each place or for all places at once:
For each place:
- Tap any route pin on the map, then tap the popup (that shows name/ETA) to show the pin’s details. The “progress” row shows the time and distance from the Start pin (or from your current location while navigating), as well as the time and distance to the next route place.
- Or, tap the ALT button on any route pin and the time and distance to the next route pin will show on the route’s label. The ALT button is available for driving routes only, and shows available alternates for the leg (one route pin to the next).
All places:
- Tap the Turns button. To show only the times and distances and hide the individual turn-by-turn instructions, tap the “Hide Steps” button. This information is also included when a route is shared by email or printed (see below).
Under the Route button, you can drag a location up or down in the list to change its order. Or, to reorder waypoints directly on the map, first disable optimization on the Route screen. Then, on the map uncheck the waypoint you want to reorder, and when you recheck the pin you will be prompted to choose its order.
To save your current route, use the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Save”.
To start a new route, use the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Clear/New”, then “Remove Route”.
Saved routes and pins can be reloaded from Favorites.
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, 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.
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.Formatting
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 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 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 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:
Tucson, AZ
-110.9264,32.2216,0.0
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.
To remove all pins, tap the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Clear/New”. You can choose to remove the route and/or all the non-route pins.
Or, to remove several pins, tap the map’s Draw icon, draw with your finger around the pins to remove, then under the 3-dots icon at the top-right, tap “Remove from Map”.
Sharing routes and pins between devices or exporting to files is a premium feature. Routes and pins can be shared using iCloud sync or exported as a .GPX file:
- iCloud sync: Routes and pins saved to inRoute’s Favorites are automatically synced to the Favorites of all devices using the same iCloud account. Default settings are all that’s required, but if your Favorites are not syncing there are a few common culprits listed in the next question.
- Send as a .GPX file: Tap the map’s Share icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Mail Route” to attach a .GPX file that can be imported on another device running inRoute (or select “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 two location route with a Start pin and a Destination is enough). For sharing by email, from a receiving iOS device’s 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).
- The sync between devices includes saved routes and pins stored in your Favorites. 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), then “Save”.
- A green checkmark and “Favorites Sync Enabled” should appear at the top of your Favorites 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.
- There is a blue progress bar that appears at the top of the Favorites screen when iCloud is syncing changes that helps identify when iCloud has started uploading or downloading your changes. iCloud should start uploading changes you make within about 30-45 seconds.
- Restarting both devices can help with unexpected iCloud problems.
- Both devices need to be using the same Apple ID for iCloud in the Settings app > [your name], then your iCloud Apple ID is at the top.
- In your Settings app > [your name] > iCloud, “inRoute” needs to be enabled in the app list. Also, “iCloud Drive” needs to be enabled (above the 3rd party app list).
On iOS, tap the map’s Share icon, then “Print Route” to print the route and current map display. The Print option is not available on the Mac yet; however, the email option below can be used to print indirectly.
If you’re 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.
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.
To drive a certain number of miles or hours per day (e.g. 8 hours), you can plan your stops by searching the route in intervals. To search the entire route every 8 hours, tap the “Search” button, then tap “Type”, and select “Route, at Interval”. Choose 8 hours and select OK. Enter “hotels” or “campgrounds” or other categories into the search field, and a search will begin every 8 hours along your route (some intervals may not contain a search result, but we’ll fill those in below). In the search results list, you can then add the places you want to the map.
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 gaps in the search results, you can use one of the other route search options. For example, the “Route from selected pin” search type performs just one search X hours from a pin in your route, so you can easily vary the interval to find a nearby interval that does have search results. First, tap the route pin on the map before the search gap (e.g. if there was a gap after the 3rd waypoint, select the 3rd waypoint on the map), then use the search “Type” button to select “Route from selected pin”. Change the search by +/- 0.5 hours (7.5, 8.5, etc.) or more as needed to find search results, repeating the search to find additional places near the gap along the route. 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.
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, tap the Route button, then “Route Profile”. Avoidance options are shown at the top, along with an option to use those avoidances for all routes (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 create your own custom route from available alternates for each leg by tapping the ALT button on the green Start pin (or any route pin). After selecting an alternate (if available), tap the “Next” button and repeat for the next leg, building up your route. Alternates can be compared by their leg label, which in addition to showing time and distance for that leg, also show images corresponding to any of the standard Custom Routes that the leg is included in. For example, the images can tell you which of the alternate legs has the Least Elevation Ascent or the Most Curvy roads, if you have these “Custom Route” types enabled.
3) Customize Routes by Dropping Pins: Custom routes and user-specified alternates (the ALT button) may not include the route you want. If you prefer a different alternate than those available, you can drop a pin to force the route along your preferred road. To drop a pin on your preferred road, press and hold on the map. You can press and hold on dropped pins (purple) to drag them and place them precisley along your preferred road (the pin drops exactly where the sharp end of the pin is located when you release it). Finally, add the pin to your route by setting its Waypoint checkbox.Using data charts
You can also compare alternate legs with inRoute’s charts by Curviness, Elevation, or Weather. Each chart’s Info button shows the chart’s Max/Min/Average (as well as Ascent/Descent for the Elevation chart). Note that when you first show a leg’s alternates (e.g. with the ALT button), the range of the chart’s x-axis will also show that leg only, allowing detailed comparisons of legs (using the “Range Shown” section of the Info statistics).
inRoute uses Apple’s map data for search and directions, and the steps below can be used to report a problem to Apple starting within inRoute.
For a problem with map pin data, such as an incorrect label or address:
- Within inRoute, show the map pin’s details (select its name/ETA popup)
- Select the Share icon on the top toolbar, then “Show in Apple Maps” to transfer the pin to Apple Maps
- In Apple Maps, Select “Report an Issue” on the pin’s details screen (near the bottom, you may need to slide up the bottom pane).
For a problem with route directions, such as not showing a faster route between two locations:
- On the map, select the first location of the leg with the incorrect directions, then show the pin’s details (select its name/ETA popup)
- Select the “progress” row, and the leg starting at that location will be highlighted in red on the map.
- Up top, select “Share Leg”, then select “Show in Apple Maps”. Apple Maps should open showing the same leg; if not, verify Apple Maps is using the same criteria for avoid tolls/highways. If the route is still different, please go to the last step below.
- Verify there are no traffic incidents (red minus icons) along the route that may be responsible for the irregular directions. If not, select the Info icon in Apple Maps, then “Report an Issue”.
- If the route is different in Apple Maps, please share the leg to us instead using the “Mail Leg” option on the share screen (instead of “Show in Apple Maps” above). Provide a detailed description of the problem, and send to support@inroute.com.
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, then “Type”, and you’ll see three “Route” options (Route Shown, “Route, at interval”, “Route, from selected pin”).
For example,
- Find gas stops every 200 miles: choose “Route, at interval”, select 200, tap OK, and type “gas”.
- Find hotels 8 hours from home (or from any route pin): similar to above, but first select a pin on the map, then choose “Route, from selected pin” and enter “hotels” into the search field. Tip: After adding a hotel to your route, set an overnight layover with the Route button, then tap the waypoint and set a “Leave at…” layover.
- Find all charging stations along a route: Choose “Route Shown” and type “EV Chargers” or “Supercharging” into the search field. After adding results to the map, you can estimate distances or times along the route by selecting the “Charts” button. Tapping above the distance or time you’re interested in (inside the chart area) will briefly flash a circle on the map at that point (the value inside the circle is the vertical value on the chart).
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, then draw around them and use the “Remove from map” option (top-right 3-dots icon).
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
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.
A map pin can have both its Start and Destination checkboxes set to create a loop back to that pin.
You can set departure times for your route and for its waypoints under the Route button. By default, the route’s departure time uses the time zone at the route’s Start pin. You can instead use a different time zone by tapping the “Time Zone” button shown when setting the route’s departure time.
Waypoint departure times can be set by tapping a waypoint in the list, then the “Leave at” tab, and these also use the time zone at that waypoint’s location. For example, setting a “Leave at” time of 07:00 means you plan to depart from the waypoint at 07:00 local time. To make planning across time zones easier, the time in the route’s departure time is also shown when setting the time for a single waypoint.
Calculated arrival/departure times for the route are shown under the Turns button, or on the map by showing a pin’s details. By default, arrival/departure times are shown in local time zones for each route location. At the top of the list, a “Time Zone” button allows changing these times to use the route’s departure time zone instead.
Dropped pins cannot be moved once they’ve been added to a route, as indicated by the change in pin color (no longer purple). However, you can add another dropped pin with a long-press on the map. Alternately, removing the pin from your route may change the pin back to purple, so long as another dropped pin has not been added to the map (only one draggable pin can be on the map at a time).
If the forecast does not appear accurate, first verify the route’s Departure Time is correct (shown near the top-left of the chart). Weather data along the route are based on when you’re expected to be at that area (Departure Time + Drive time + Layovers you’ve set). If the forecast does not appear accurate, please contact us so we can look into it further: map’s More icon > Contact Support (on Mac, the Help menu).
There’s an “Undo” option available under the map’s More icon (on Mac, the “Edit” menu) for most changes to the map. Places added to the map are also automatically saved periodically. In the event the app is abruptly terminated (a crash, dead battery, etc), your routes are also saved as Recents after every change. Tap the map’s More icon, then “Recents” to access previous changes (on Mac, the “Recents” button).
As an additional backup, we also recommend saving your routes and pins to inRoute’s Favorites: tap the map’s More button (on Mac, the File menu) > “Save”. Favorites can be automatically synced to iCloud as well as your other devices with inRoute Pro.
For countries using the metric system, inRoute defaults to temperature in °C and lengths in meters/kilometers; otherwise temperatures in °F and lengths in feet/miles are used (the UK defaults to length in feet/miles and temperature in °C). However, units can be manually overridden by tapping the map’s More icon, then “App Settings” (on Mac, the inRoute menu > Preferences…).
Top Questions
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, 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.
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.Formatting
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 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 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 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:
Tucson, AZ
-110.9264,32.2216,0.0
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.
To remove all pins, tap the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Clear/New”. You can choose to remove the route and/or all the non-route pins.
Or, to remove several pins, tap the map’s Draw icon, draw with your finger around the pins to remove, then under the 3-dots icon at the top-right, tap “Remove from Map”.
To drive a certain number of miles or hours per day (e.g. 8 hours), you can plan your stops by searching the route in intervals. To search the entire route every 8 hours, tap the “Search” button, then tap “Type”, and select “Route, at Interval”. Choose 8 hours and select OK. Enter “hotels” or “campgrounds” or other categories into the search field, and a search will begin every 8 hours along your route (some intervals may not contain a search result, but we’ll fill those in below). In the search results list, you can then add the places you want to the map.
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 gaps in the search results, you can use one of the other route search options. For example, the “Route from selected pin” search type performs just one search X hours from a pin in your route, so you can easily vary the interval to find a nearby interval that does have search results. First, tap the route pin on the map before the search gap (e.g. if there was a gap after the 3rd waypoint, select the 3rd waypoint on the map), then use the search “Type” button to select “Route from selected pin”. Change the search by +/- 0.5 hours (7.5, 8.5, etc.) or more as needed to find search results, repeating the search to find additional places near the gap along the route. 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.
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, tap the Route button, then “Route Profile”. Avoidance options are shown at the top, along with an option to use those avoidances for all routes (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 create your own custom route from available alternates for each leg by tapping the ALT button on the green Start pin (or any route pin). After selecting an alternate (if available), tap the “Next” button and repeat for the next leg, building up your route. Alternates can be compared by their leg label, which in addition to showing time and distance for that leg, also show images corresponding to any of the standard Custom Routes that the leg is included in. For example, the images can tell you which of the alternate legs has the Least Elevation Ascent or the Most Curvy roads, if you have these “Custom Route” types enabled.
3) Customize Routes by Dropping Pins: Custom routes and user-specified alternates (the ALT button) may not include the route you want. If you prefer a different alternate than those available, you can drop a pin to force the route along your preferred road. To drop a pin on your preferred road, press and hold on the map. You can press and hold on dropped pins (purple) to drag them and place them precisley along your preferred road (the pin drops exactly where the sharp end of the pin is located when you release it). Finally, add the pin to your route by setting its Waypoint checkbox.Using data charts
You can also compare alternate legs with inRoute’s charts by Curviness, Elevation, or Weather. Each chart’s Info button shows the chart’s Max/Min/Average (as well as Ascent/Descent for the Elevation chart). Note that when you first show a leg’s alternates (e.g. with the ALT button), the range of the chart’s x-axis will also show that leg only, allowing detailed comparisons of legs (using the “Range Shown” section of the Info statistics).
inRoute uses Apple’s map data for search and directions, and the steps below can be used to report a problem to Apple starting within inRoute.
For a problem with map pin data, such as an incorrect label or address:
- Within inRoute, show the map pin’s details (select its name/ETA popup)
- Select the Share icon on the top toolbar, then “Show in Apple Maps” to transfer the pin to Apple Maps
- In Apple Maps, Select “Report an Issue” on the pin’s details screen (near the bottom, you may need to slide up the bottom pane).
For a problem with route directions, such as not showing a faster route between two locations:
- On the map, select the first location of the leg with the incorrect directions, then show the pin’s details (select its name/ETA popup)
- Select the “progress” row, and the leg starting at that location will be highlighted in red on the map.
- Up top, select “Share Leg”, then select “Show in Apple Maps”. Apple Maps should open showing the same leg; if not, verify Apple Maps is using the same criteria for avoid tolls/highways. If the route is still different, please go to the last step below.
- Verify there are no traffic incidents (red minus icons) along the route that may be responsible for the irregular directions. If not, select the Info icon in Apple Maps, then “Report an Issue”.
- If the route is different in Apple Maps, please share the leg to us instead using the “Mail Leg” option on the share screen (instead of “Show in Apple Maps” above). Provide a detailed description of the problem, and send to support@inroute.com.
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
Route Planning
You can view times and distances for each place or for all places at once:
For each place:
- Tap any route pin on the map, then tap the popup (that shows name/ETA) to show the pin’s details. The “progress” row shows the time and distance from the Start pin (or from your current location while navigating), as well as the time and distance to the next route place.
- Or, tap the ALT button on any route pin and the time and distance to the next route pin will show on the route’s label. The ALT button is available for driving routes only, and shows available alternates for the leg (one route pin to the next).
All places:
- Tap the Turns button. To show only the times and distances and hide the individual turn-by-turn instructions, tap the “Hide Steps” button. This information is also included when a route is shared by email or printed (see below).
Under the Route button, you can drag a location up or down in the list to change its order. Or, to reorder waypoints directly on the map, first disable optimization on the Route screen. Then, on the map uncheck the waypoint you want to reorder, and when you recheck the pin you will be prompted to choose its order.
To save your current route, use the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Save”.
To start a new route, use the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Clear/New”, then “Remove Route”.
Saved routes and pins can be reloaded from Favorites.
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, 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.
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.Formatting
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 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 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 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:
Tucson, AZ
-110.9264,32.2216,0.0
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.
To remove all pins, tap the map’s More icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Clear/New”. You can choose to remove the route and/or all the non-route pins.
Or, to remove several pins, tap the map’s Draw icon, draw with your finger around the pins to remove, then under the 3-dots icon at the top-right, tap “Remove from Map”.
Sharing routes and pins between devices or exporting to files is a premium feature. Routes and pins can be shared using iCloud sync or exported as a .GPX file:
- iCloud sync: Routes and pins saved to inRoute’s Favorites are automatically synced to the Favorites of all devices using the same iCloud account. Default settings are all that’s required, but if your Favorites are not syncing there are a few common culprits listed in the next question.
- Send as a .GPX file: Tap the map’s Share icon (on Mac, the File menu), then “Mail Route” to attach a .GPX file that can be imported on another device running inRoute (or select “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 two location route with a Start pin and a Destination is enough). For sharing by email, from a receiving iOS device’s 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).
- The sync between devices includes saved routes and pins stored in your Favorites. 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), then “Save”.
- A green checkmark and “Favorites Sync Enabled” should appear at the top of your Favorites 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.
- There is a blue progress bar that appears at the top of the Favorites screen when iCloud is syncing changes that helps identify when iCloud has started uploading or downloading your changes. iCloud should start uploading changes you make within about 30-45 seconds.
- Restarting both devices can help with unexpected iCloud problems.
- Both devices need to be using the same Apple ID for iCloud in the Settings app > [your name], then your iCloud Apple ID is at the top.
- In your Settings app > [your name] > iCloud, “inRoute” needs to be enabled in the app list. Also, “iCloud Drive” needs to be enabled (above the 3rd party app list).
On iOS, tap the map’s Share icon, then “Print Route” to print the route and current map display. The Print option is not available on the Mac yet; however, the email option below can be used to print indirectly.
If you’re 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.
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.
To drive a certain number of miles or hours per day (e.g. 8 hours), you can plan your stops by searching the route in intervals. To search the entire route every 8 hours, tap the “Search” button, then tap “Type”, and select “Route, at Interval”. Choose 8 hours and select OK. Enter “hotels” or “campgrounds” or other categories into the search field, and a search will begin every 8 hours along your route (some intervals may not contain a search result, but we’ll fill those in below). In the search results list, you can then add the places you want to the map.
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 gaps in the search results, you can use one of the other route search options. For example, the “Route from selected pin” search type performs just one search X hours from a pin in your route, so you can easily vary the interval to find a nearby interval that does have search results. First, tap the route pin on the map before the search gap (e.g. if there was a gap after the 3rd waypoint, select the 3rd waypoint on the map), then use the search “Type” button to select “Route from selected pin”. Change the search by +/- 0.5 hours (7.5, 8.5, etc.) or more as needed to find search results, repeating the search to find additional places near the gap along the route. 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.
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, tap the Route button, then “Route Profile”. Avoidance options are shown at the top, along with an option to use those avoidances for all routes (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 create your own custom route from available alternates for each leg by tapping the ALT button on the green Start pin (or any route pin). After selecting an alternate (if available), tap the “Next” button and repeat for the next leg, building up your route. Alternates can be compared by their leg label, which in addition to showing time and distance for that leg, also show images corresponding to any of the standard Custom Routes that the leg is included in. For example, the images can tell you which of the alternate legs has the Least Elevation Ascent or the Most Curvy roads, if you have these “Custom Route” types enabled.
3) Customize Routes by Dropping Pins: Custom routes and user-specified alternates (the ALT button) may not include the route you want. If you prefer a different alternate than those available, you can drop a pin to force the route along your preferred road. To drop a pin on your preferred road, press and hold on the map. You can press and hold on dropped pins (purple) to drag them and place them precisley along your preferred road (the pin drops exactly where the sharp end of the pin is located when you release it). Finally, add the pin to your route by setting its Waypoint checkbox.Using data charts
You can also compare alternate legs with inRoute’s charts by Curviness, Elevation, or Weather. Each chart’s Info button shows the chart’s Max/Min/Average (as well as Ascent/Descent for the Elevation chart). Note that when you first show a leg’s alternates (e.g. with the ALT button), the range of the chart’s x-axis will also show that leg only, allowing detailed comparisons of legs (using the “Range Shown” section of the Info statistics).
inRoute uses Apple’s map data for search and directions, and the steps below can be used to report a problem to Apple starting within inRoute.
For a problem with map pin data, such as an incorrect label or address:
- Within inRoute, show the map pin’s details (select its name/ETA popup)
- Select the Share icon on the top toolbar, then “Show in Apple Maps” to transfer the pin to Apple Maps
- In Apple Maps, Select “Report an Issue” on the pin’s details screen (near the bottom, you may need to slide up the bottom pane).
For a problem with route directions, such as not showing a faster route between two locations:
- On the map, select the first location of the leg with the incorrect directions, then show the pin’s details (select its name/ETA popup)
- Select the “progress” row, and the leg starting at that location will be highlighted in red on the map.
- Up top, select “Share Leg”, then select “Show in Apple Maps”. Apple Maps should open showing the same leg; if not, verify Apple Maps is using the same criteria for avoid tolls/highways. If the route is still different, please go to the last step below.
- Verify there are no traffic incidents (red minus icons) along the route that may be responsible for the irregular directions. If not, select the Info icon in Apple Maps, then “Report an Issue”.
- If the route is different in Apple Maps, please share the leg to us instead using the “Mail Leg” option on the share screen (instead of “Show in Apple Maps” above). Provide a detailed description of the problem, and send to support@inroute.com.
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, then “Type”, and you’ll see three “Route” options (Route Shown, “Route, at interval”, “Route, from selected pin”).
For example,
- Find gas stops every 200 miles: choose “Route, at interval”, select 200, tap OK, and type “gas”.
- Find hotels 8 hours from home (or from any route pin): similar to above, but first select a pin on the map, then choose “Route, from selected pin” and enter “hotels” into the search field. Tip: After adding a hotel to your route, set an overnight layover with the Route button, then tap the waypoint and set a “Leave at…” layover.
- Find all charging stations along a route: Choose “Route Shown” and type “EV Chargers” or “Supercharging” into the search field. After adding results to the map, you can estimate distances or times along the route by selecting the “Charts” button. Tapping above the distance or time you’re interested in (inside the chart area) will briefly flash a circle on the map at that point (the value inside the circle is the vertical value on the chart).
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, then draw around them and use the “Remove from map” option (top-right 3-dots icon).
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
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.
A map pin can have both its Start and Destination checkboxes set to create a loop back to that pin.
You can set departure times for your route and for its waypoints under the Route button. By default, the route’s departure time uses the time zone at the route’s Start pin. You can instead use a different time zone by tapping the “Time Zone” button shown when setting the route’s departure time.
Waypoint departure times can be set by tapping a waypoint in the list, then the “Leave at” tab, and these also use the time zone at that waypoint’s location. For example, setting a “Leave at” time of 07:00 means you plan to depart from the waypoint at 07:00 local time. To make planning across time zones easier, the time in the route’s departure time is also shown when setting the time for a single waypoint.
Calculated arrival/departure times for the route are shown under the Turns button, or on the map by showing a pin’s details. By default, arrival/departure times are shown in local time zones for each route location. At the top of the list, a “Time Zone” button allows changing these times to use the route’s departure time zone instead.
Dropped pins cannot be moved once they’ve been added to a route, as indicated by the change in pin color (no longer purple). However, you can add another dropped pin with a long-press on the map. Alternately, removing the pin from your route may change the pin back to purple, so long as another dropped pin has not been added to the map (only one draggable pin can be on the map at a time).
If the forecast does not appear accurate, first verify the route’s Departure Time is correct (shown near the top-left of the chart). Weather data along the route are based on when you’re expected to be at that area (Departure Time + Drive time + Layovers you’ve set). If the forecast does not appear accurate, please contact us so we can look into it further: map’s More icon > Contact Support (on Mac, the Help menu).
There’s an “Undo” option available under the map’s More icon (on Mac, the “Edit” menu) for most changes to the map. Places added to the map are also automatically saved periodically. In the event the app is abruptly terminated (a crash, dead battery, etc), your routes are also saved as Recents after every change. Tap the map’s More icon, then “Recents” to access previous changes (on Mac, the “Recents” button).
As an additional backup, we also recommend saving your routes and pins to inRoute’s Favorites: tap the map’s More button (on Mac, the File menu) > “Save”. Favorites can be automatically synced to iCloud as well as your other devices with inRoute Pro.
For countries using the metric system, inRoute defaults to temperature in °C and lengths in meters/kilometers; otherwise temperatures in °F and lengths in feet/miles are used (the UK defaults to length in feet/miles and temperature in °C). However, units can be manually overridden by tapping the map’s More icon, then “App Settings” (on Mac, the inRoute menu > Preferences…).