Guide

How to follow a GPX route on your Apple Watch

Race organisers, trail communities and route planners all hand out GPX files — but the Apple Watch has no built-in way to follow one. The native Workout app records where you went; it never shows you where to go. Here is how to close that gap in about two minutes.

Step 1 — Get the GPX onto your iPhone

A GPX file is just a list of coordinates. Any source works: a race's official route download, a friend's exported activity, a planning tool, or a file someone AirDrops you. With Vanoor installed, open the file from Files, Mail, AirDrop or any share sheet and choose Open in Vanoor — or import it from inside the app's Routes tab. Prefer drawing your own? Vanoor's built-in planner lets you create a route tap by tap and bakes in elevation.

Step 2 — Send it to the Watch

There is no step 2. Routes sync to your Apple Watch automatically over the paired connection — each one shows an "On Watch" state on the iPhone so you can confirm before leaving the house. Offline map tiles along the route are prefetched at sync time (more on that below).

Step 3 — Run it

Start the route on the Watch and you get what a dedicated running watch would give you:

• the route line with your live position, direction arrows and kilometre markers,
• route progress — distance remaining and percent complete as live metrics,
• off-route warnings when you drift from the line,
• a Back to Start breadcrumb that retraces your steps if you need to bail out.

Does it work without the iPhone or without signal?

Yes. The route and its prefetched map tiles live on the Watch, so navigation keeps working in forests, mountains, tunnels and anywhere reception drops — with your phone at home if you like. GPS, heart rate and every metric are recorded on the wrist and saved to Apple Health when you finish. See the companion guide on offline maps for running.

What about elevation?

If the GPX carries elevation data, Vanoor shows the route's climb profile before you commit and live elevation during the run (using the Watch's barometric altimeter for accuracy). Files without elevation still work — you just won't get the climb preview.