Hiking Maps - PeakVisor

I’ve used PeakFinder AR for close to 7 years (before there was decent AR) and only last summer decided to check out Peak Visor and wow. In the decade since early mountain and star identifying apps first made their appearance on the iPhone, apps like Peak Visor have taken the concepts and massively expanded upon them. For one, greater CPU power has allowed beautifully rendered graphics, and greater accuracy in the graphic overlay HUD that pops over the mountains. In Peak Finder, you had to open the “camera” function to see the tags over the actual mountains themselves which was a real pain. But even more incredible is the 3D map you can double-tap if you point your iPhone down. It’ll not only let you teleport anywhere in the world, but really let’s you explore topography that’s difficult to physically reach, with dozens upon dozen of mountain tags; even in the most remote parts of the British Columbia or south-eastern Al. You can also preemptively download vast swaths of the planet you expect to go exploring in before you arrive, so when you open up PV, it’ll instantly have a ton of data to give you. Coupling this app with Gaia/AllTrails and Google Earth has been real game changer for me, and even when I’m just driving down the interstate, if I see any mountains that catch my curiosity, I instinctively pull for this app. It’s become that integral to me. Perfect 5 stars, we’ll worth the cheap price.

I have been very impressed with the breadth and abilities of this app. It has become my go-to tool for learning about the topography of mountains in California. Many times before this app, I had wondered what mountains I could see. This app makes incredibly easy to find out. Before going on trips, I enjoy using the teleport feature to see the layout of the area. You can see relatively detailed images that give you a good idea of how your path will look from each position, so it’s useful for back-country treks where good trails aren’t available. The new 3D feature is very useful here as well. There are actually quite a few trails uploaded here too, so it is useful when you want to find the direction to a trail. Both live and picture-based landscape matching work really well. I appreciate the download zone option, since there isn’t always service in the mountains. The landscapes are surprisingly accurate, and all of the features are easy to use.

An excellent app for learning the names of visible mountains in your vicinity. The app is easy to use and offers an outline of the peaks you’re viewing that can be moved and aligned with the camera image of the peaks to accurately position the labels on each mountain. If you live near mountains, this is a must-have app. It’s intuitive to use and saves photos of the peaks you label for review later. The only drawback is that the free version can only be used in one area per day. If you’re moving through several locations in a day (e.g. driving for an hour or more through several sets of mountains) you need to subscribe to the Pro version of the app.

This is really a wonderful tool. It’s still evolving so it will only get better. The user interface is not instantly intuitive — for example, the great 3D hiking/terrain maps are displayed by double tapping the compass. Who’d have thunk to try that? But already a great travel companion. I haven’t really used it in the field yet but have high hopes based on test usage so far. I’m optimistic for steady improvement.

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“Just open the app and point the camera.” Sounds easy. I’m in the highest mountain range in the Eastern USA, the Black Mtns in Western North Carolina. I’m 4.01 miles from Mount Mitchell (measured with my Garmin GPS), the HIGHEST PEAK in the Eastern United States, and after nearly a dozen tries, this app has identified NOTHING, although it did indeed download the data it needs for this area. I can clearly see Cattail Peak, one of the southern sixers, from my property. It’s barely a mile away. When I aim the camera at Cattail Peak, the app provides no data whatsoever, even after adjusting and readjusting numerous times, as the user is prompted onscreen to do. After trying over and over, all day long, all I’ve gotten is crude line drawings of mountains. GPS data, yes, but no peak data whatsoever. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. The instructions, which I’ve read, reread and reread, over and over, provide no help whatsoever. Only brief and cursory explanations. Sorry I wasted my money.