Trail Sense

Trail Sense

Use your phone's sensors to assist with wilderness treks

Kyle Corry Navigation

Screenshots

Screenshot of Trail Sense Screenshot of Trail Sense Screenshot of Trail Sense Screenshot of Trail Sense Screenshot of Trail Sense Screenshot of Trail Sense Screenshot of Trail Sense Screenshot of Trail Sense

Description

Explore beyond the reaches of the Internet with Trail Sense.

  • Designed for hiking, backpacking, camping, and geocaching
  • Place beacons and navigate to them
  • Use as a compass (only available on devices with a compass sensor)
  • Follow paths
  • Retrace your steps with backtrack
  • Use a photo as a map
  • Plan what to pack
  • Be alerted before the sun sets
  • Predict the weather (only available on devices with a barometer sensor)
  • Use your phone as a flashlight
  • And much more!

Trail Sense is a tool, and just like any other tool that you bring into the wilderness, it's essential to have backup equipment and skills. This app is intended for information purposes only and the accuracy of the predictions and sensors are determined by a number of factors, including calibration, sensor quality, external sources, etc. Use at your own risk, always have backup tools (ex. compass), and stay safe.

This app also does not, and will never, use the Internet - all information in Trail Sense comes directly from your phone's sensors, and no data will leave Trail Sense.

COMMON ISSUES

  • No compass: If your phone does not have a compass sensor, there is nothing I can do to make it work because that is hardware. You will still be able to use other features of Trail Sense.
  • No weather: The Weather tool is only available if your phone has a barometer sensor.

Found an issue or want a new feature? Contact me at trailsense@protonmail.com or create a new issue on GitHub: github.com/kylecorry31/Trail-Sense

I'm the only developer of Trail Sense, so I will do my best to help out with issues - but I have a limited device selection to test on.

PERMISSIONS

  • Notifications: Allows Trail Sense to display notifications (backtrack, weather, sunset alerts, astronomy events, water boil timer, etc)
  • Location: Allows Trail Sense to retrieve your location for navigation, weather (sea level calibration), and astronomy.
  • Background location: Allows Trail Sense to retrieve your location for sunset alerts while in the background. On some devices, this will also improve the reliability of backtrack and weather monitor.
  • Physical activity: Allows Trail Sense to use your phone's pedometer for distance calculation.
  • Camera: Allows Trail Sense to use your camera on the sighting compass, clinometer, and for taking photos used by the Cloud Scanner, QR Code Scanner, and Photo maps.
  • Alarms & reminders: Allows Trail Sense to post a notification at an exact time. This is used by the Clock tool (when updating system time) and Sunset and Sunrise Alerts.

Links

  • Privacy policy: https://kylecorry.com/Trail-Sense/#privacy
  • FAQ: https://github.com/kylecorry31/Trail-Sense#faq
  • Trail Sense is available under the MIT License: https://opensource.org/license/mit/

What’s new (8.0.2)

Offline Maps
- Rename Photo Maps tool to Offline Maps
- Add vector maps (Mapsforge) file support
- Add Vector maps map layer
- Detect and prevent invalid map calibrations

Augmented Reality
- Choose astronomy guidance targets
- Change time of day

Temperature Estimation
- Wind chill and heat index calculation

Tools
- Improve tool search

Clock
- Show clock source

Misc
- UI style improvements
- Android 17 support
- Enable dynamic color by default
- Bug fixes

Versions

Version Date Size Requires Android Download
8.0.2 current
37fbfa164cc3f2ef…
2026-06-06 13 MB API 23
8.0.1
299f47755569bc90…
2026-06-01 13 MB API 23
8.0.0
472d91912d5aa41f…
2026-05-30 13 MB API 23

Permissions

What the app asks the system for. Android only grants sensitive access after you confirm it.

  • NotificationsShow notifications.
  • Precise locationDetermine the location via GPS.
  • Approximate locationDetermine the location via the network.
  • Location in backgroundDetermine the location while the app is not open.
  • Run at startupStart automatically after the device is switched on.
  • Foreground serviceKeep running in the background, visible in the status bar.
  • FLASHLIGHT
  • VibrationControl the vibration alert.
Show 9 more permissions
  • Prevent sleepingKeep the device from going to sleep.
  • ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION
  • CameraTake photos and videos.
  • Exact alarmsTrigger actions at a precise time.
  • FOREGROUND_SERVICE_LOCATION
  • FOREGROUND_SERVICE_HEALTH
  • FOREGROUND_SERVICE_SPECIAL_USE
  • FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PLAYBACK
  • trail_sense.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION

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