The HiiKER watch app puts your map, your hikes and your live recording on your wrist. It works together with the HiiKER app on your phone: your phone records the hike, and the watch shows it as you go and lets you pause and finish it.
In this article: Install · The map · Map styles · Offline maps · Find a hike · Recording · Finishing · Turn-by-turn · Phone and watch · Troubleshooting · Tips
What you need and how to install
- Apple Watch with watchOS 10 or later, paired with an iPhone that has the HiiKER app.
- Wear OS watch with Wear OS 3 or later, paired with an Android phone that has the HiiKER app.
You don’t sign in on the watch. It uses the account you are signed in to in the phone app, so open the HiiKER app on your phone after you install the watch app.
On Apple Watch
- Update the HiiKER app on your iPhone to the latest version.
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down to HiiKER in the list of available apps and tap Install (or turn on Show App on Apple Watch).
On Wear OS
- Open the Google Play Store on your watch.
- Search for HiiKER and tap Install.
- On your watch, the app is called HiiKER GO.
If the watch asks you to sync, or says Connect to phone, open the HiiKER app on your phone with the watch nearby.
The map
The watch app opens on the map, centred on your position, which is shown as a blue dot or arrow. Tap the map to show or hide the buttons, and drag to move the map around.
- Scale bar and coordinates (top): the coordinates are for the centre of the map, marked with a small crosshair. They match your position only while the map is following you, and they use the coordinate format set in the phone app.
- Menu (≡, right): opens Explorer.
- Map styles (layers icon): change the map or download offline maps.
- Location button: brings the map back to your position and follows you as you move.
On Apple Watch
- Turn the Digital Crown to zoom, or double-tap the map to zoom in. There are no zoom buttons.
- Tap the location button while the map is following you to switch to compass mode: the map turns with you, so the direction you are facing is always at the top. Tap it again to go back to north up. The map follows you as soon as it opens, so your first tap switches to compass mode. Dragging the map also returns it to north up.
On Wear OS
- Tap + or − on the left, or turn the crown or bezel, to zoom.
- The map always stays north up. Your location arrow turns to show the direction you are facing.
- A red warning icon at the top left means the watch has lost its connection to your phone.
Map styles and PRO+ maps
Tap the map styles button to open Maps. Swipe through the styles and tap one to use it. The watch keeps its own map style: changing the map in the phone app doesn’t change it on the watch.
- Apple Watch: Standard and Satellite, plus Hiking+, National+ and Historic+ with PRO+.
- Wear OS: Standard, Satellite and Parks, plus Hiking+, National+, Historical+ and Lidar with PRO+.
PRO+ styles have a PRO+ badge. Your PRO+ subscription comes from your phone, so if a PRO+ style is locked, open the HiiKER app on your phone with the watch nearby.
Offline maps on your watch
Download maps to your watch before you go out of signal. The watch downloads them itself over its own connection: Wi-Fi, mobile data or your phone’s connection.
To download a map on the watch
- Tap the map styles button, then Offline Maps.
- Tap Download map.
- Move and zoom the map to frame the area you want. The frame turns from red to green when you are zoomed in far enough.
- Tap the tick to start the download.
If you are viewing a hike on the map, or recording one, Download map downloads the area around that hike straight away, in the map style you are using.
You can follow the download’s progress on the Offline Maps screen. When it’s finished you’ll see Downloaded with a green tick, and the map is listed under Downloaded maps. Tap a downloaded map to jump to that area on the map. To delete one, swipe it to the left and tap the bin.
From your phone
When you download an offline map in the HiiKER app, your phone asks whether to download it on your watch as well (Do you also want to download this map on your watch? on iPhone, Would you like to download this on your watch as well? on Android). Tap Continue.
Free accounts can download the free map styles. PRO+ styles need PRO+.
Find a hike
Tap the menu button to open Explorer. It has Find a Hike (on Wear OS, Find a hike) and Start a recording. The watch app’s version is shown at the bottom.
Find a Hike has:
- Search for a hike: search by name. With nothing typed, it shows hikes near you.
- My Hikes: your planned hikes.
- My Recordings: the hikes you have recorded.
- My Hike Lists: your hike lists.
Each hike shows its distance, estimated time and elevation gain. Tap a hike to see its difficulty, then tap View the Map (on Wear OS, View the map) to see the route on the map, or Start a recording to record it with the route on your map.
Each time you open the watch app, it saves your planned hikes, recordings and hike lists so you can browse them without signal. Maps aren’t included, so download those separately.
Send a hike from your phone
Open the hike in the HiiKER app, tap More and choose Send to Watch (iPhone) or Send to watch (Android). The route opens on your watch’s map. On iPhone, the option appears once the HiiKER watch app is installed; on Android, when your Wear OS watch is connected.
Recording a hike
Your phone records the hike with its GPS. The watch shows the recording live and lets you control it, so keep your phone with you and connected to your watch.
Start from your phone
Start a recording in the HiiKER app as usual. The watch switches to the recording. On Apple Watch, if the watch app doesn’t open by itself, open it and it will show the recording.
Start from your watch
- Open Explorer and tap Start a recording, or open a hike and tap Start a recording.
- On the Start a recording? screen, tap START.
- After a 3, 2, 1 countdown, your phone starts recording.
Your phone must be nearby and connected. On iPhone, starting a recording from the watch needs iOS 17 or later.
During a recording
A recording has four pages: the map, turn-by-turn directions, your stats and the controls. Use the < and > buttons at the edges of the screen to move between them; the dots at the bottom show which page you are on. The map shows your track and, if you are following a hike, its route. Explorer isn’t available until you finish.
Stats on Apple Watch: TIME, LOCATION, DISTANCE, CURRENT SPEED, ELEVATION GAIN, CURRENT ELEV., HIGHEST ELEV. and AVG SPEED, plus REMAINING DIST and REMAINING TIME when you are following a route.
Stats on Wear OS: Time, Location, Total distance, Avg speed, Total elevation, Current elevation, Highest elevation and Current time, plus Remaining distance and Remaining time when you are following a route.
Units and the coordinate format follow your settings in the phone app.
Pause, resume or delete
On the controls page, tap Pause (on Wear OS, PAUSE). Pausing on the phone pauses the watch too, and the other way round. While paused you can resume, finish, or delete the recording: tap Delete on Apple Watch or Discard on Wear OS, then confirm. A recording discarded on a Wear OS watch stays in the Recordings bin in the phone app for 7 days.
Finishing a recording
On Apple Watch
- On the controls page, tap Pause, then Finish.
- On Save Recording?, tap Save.
- You’ll see Nicely done!, then a Hike review with your elevation profile, time, total distance and total elevation. Tap the tick to close it.
On Wear OS
- On the controls page, tap PAUSE, then FINISH.
- Tap Quick save to save it straight away, or Add details in app to finish saving on your phone, where you can add a name, photos and a description.
- When it’s saved you’ll see Nicely done!, then a Hike review with your elevation profile, time, total distance and total elevation.
A recording saved straight from the watch is named after where you started. You can rename it and add photos later in the phone app. If you save the recording on your phone, the watch shows Nicely done! and the Hike review too. If you discard it on your phone, the watch goes back to the map.
Turn-by-turn on your watch
With PRO+, the second page of a recording shows turn-by-turn directions when you are following a planned hike: an arrow, the distance to the next turn, the instruction and the turn after it. Your watch also taps your wrist as you approach a turn (at about 200 m and 25 m) and when you arrive, whichever page you are on.
The watch follows the Turn by turn navigation switch in the phone app’s map options. More in Turn-by-turn navigation.
Phone and watch together
- Your watch loses its connection during a recording: your phone keeps recording, so you won’t lose anything. The watch stops updating until it reconnects, then catches up. On Wear OS you’ll also see a Phone Disconnected notification.
- The HiiKER app on your phone closes, or your phone switches off: the watch can’t tell, and keeps showing the last stats it received. Check your phone and restart or save the recording there.
- No signal: you don’t need mobile signal to record. Your phone records with GPS and talks to your watch over Bluetooth. Download offline maps before you go so the map still shows.
- Heart rate: during a recording, your watch measures your heart rate and adds it to the recording. You’ll find Heart Rate (average, max and min) on the recording in the phone app. On Apple Watch, allow Health access when the watch app asks.
- Settings: measurement units, coordinate format and hike time settings come from the phone app. The map style is chosen on the watch.
Apple Watch complications
Add HiiKER to your watch face for one-tap access to Open Map, Start Recording or Find a Hike. Start Recording opens the Start a recording? screen, so a recording never starts by accident.
Troubleshooting
The watch app won’t install
- Wear OS: check your watch runs Wear OS 3 or later, has enough free storage and is connected to Wi-Fi or your phone, then restart it and try again.
- Apple Watch: check your watch runs watchOS 10 or later and your iPhone has the latest HiiKER app. Restart both, or try turning Automatic App Install on in the Watch app on your iPhone.
The watch app won’t connect to my phone
- Make sure Bluetooth is on for both devices.
- Open the HiiKER app on your phone (it can stay in the background).
- Close and reopen both apps, or restart your watch and phone.
- Update both apps to the latest version.
My location isn’t showing
- Allow location access for HiiKER on your phone and on your watch.
- If you are indoors, step outside. GPS can take 30 to 60 seconds to find you, especially the first time.
- Restart the watch app.
The recording isn’t updating on my watch
- Check your phone is nearby, Bluetooth is on and the HiiKER app is still recording.
- Try pausing and resuming the recording.
- If it still looks stuck, save the recording on your phone and start a new one.
- Low battery on either device can affect the connection.
The coordinates don’t match where I am
- The coordinates show the centre of the map, not your position. Tap the location button to bring the map back to you.
- The coordinate format and units come from your settings in the phone app.
The map is blank
- Check the watch has an internet connection, or download an offline map of the area first.
- Zoom out to see if the map loads at a different zoom level.
- Restart the watch app.
PRO+ maps aren’t available
- Check your PRO+ subscription is active in the phone app.
- Open the HiiKER app on your phone with the watch nearby so your subscription syncs, then choose the map again on the watch.
- Check your watch has enough free storage for map downloads.
I can’t see the recording controls
- Use the < and > buttons to move between pages; you can’t swipe between them.
- Finish and Delete (Discard on Wear OS) only appear after you pause.
- Check a recording is running in the phone app.
The app crashes or freezes
- Update the watch app. Its version is shown at the bottom of Explorer.
- Uninstall and reinstall the watch app, or restart your watch.
- On Wear OS, clearing the HiiKER GO app’s cache in your watch’s settings can help.
- If it keeps happening, email [email protected] and tell us when it happens.
Tips
- Charge your watch fully before a long hike, and take a power bank on multi-day trips.
- Download offline maps over Wi-Fi before you go.
- Open the watch app once while you have signal, so your hikes and lists are saved for browsing offline.
- Allow 30 to 60 seconds for GPS to find you before you set off.
- Pause the recording during long breaks.
- Use PRO+ maps such as Hiking+ or National+ for the most trail detail.
- Delete downloaded maps you no longer need from Offline Maps to free up space.
Need more help?
Email us at [email protected] with your watch model, its software version and a description of the problem. Screenshots or screen recordings help.
Related: Turn-by-turn navigation · How do I download offline maps on HiiKER? · Which watches work with HiiKER?
Any plans to make compatible for Garmin watches?
Hi Simon, We are evaluating that now. Hopfully!