User Manual

Three ways to create an account

Create an account with email and password, Continue with Google, or Continue with Apple. Email accounts use a password stored only as a salted hash. Google and Apple sign-in do not require an Epicrest password, though you can add one later from Profile.

Choose your plan

Free supports account creation, core worldwide discovery, full available live route and trail detail, AR labels and capture, unlimited Journal and Plans history, private cloud sync where supported, no ads, social-post generation, and reading or managing compatible offline packs already installed on the device. Pro can create or update Outdoor offline regions up to 50 miles, with up to 15 packs installed per device, and also adds Topo and Satellite maps with 3D terrain, detailed cached weather fields, prominence, isolation, advanced nearby peak filters where available, up to 15 manually added photos per Journal entry, Outdoor Insights and Planning Health, and PDF/GPX exports. Pro is optional and funds Epicrest without advertising. The App Store or Google Play shows the final plan, trial eligibility, local price, and renewal terms before purchase.

Grant location access

Use While Using the App location permission to show nearby peaks, parks, routes, trailheads, lakes, campgrounds, canyons, weather, alerts, and Get Outside Today recommendations. Location also displays altitude, centers the map, calculates distance/bearing, and aligns AR labels. If you deny location, search and manual map exploration still work with reduced automation.

Camera, motion, and ARCore

Camera access is optional. Epicrest uses it while AR View is open and when you explicitly choose to take a Journal, plan, or place/trail-improvement photo where that action is available. Custom avatars use the system photo picker rather than the camera. Epicrest does not use the camera in the background. Motion, compass, location, and elevation readings help place AR peak labels; the rest of Epicrest remains available if you do not use AR, and existing images can still be selected where supported.

On Android, Epicrest shows a Google Play Services for AR disclosure before it requests camera permission or starts an AR camera session. Choose Continue to proceed to the camera permission, or Not now to leave AR without starting the camera. ARCore runs on supported devices; when it cannot run, Epicrest can use its CameraX and sensor-based fallback with reduced visual-tracking capability.

Sign in on a new device

Install Epicrest and sign in using the same method you originally used. Restore purchases if an existing marketplace subscription is not recognized. Saved items, Plans, and Journal metadata reconcile through your signed-in account. iCloud is available for supported Apple-device sync, while optional encrypted Google Drive Journal-media transfer supports cross-platform continuity.

If your email is already on Epicrest

If a Google or Apple sign-in uses the same email as an existing password account, Epicrest can offer to merge identities after verifying the existing Epicrest password. Existing subscriptions, logs, and preferences are preserved.

Navigate the app

Home is the hub for Get Outside Today, AR View, Map View, outdoor search, saved content, Journal, Plans, Offline, and Profile. Use the platform back control; on iPhone you can also swipe from the left edge where supported.

Get Outside Today

Home centers on a swipeable Get Outside Today carousel. Each large card can recommend a peak, local park, trailhead, lake, campground, canyon, route, or saved/planned item. The card explains why it is useful, such as good weather for a walk, nearby playground/restroom signals, mapped routes, scenic water access, or an alert caution. Recommendations wait for a trustworthy current location fix so travel does not leave the feed ranked around a stale previous location.

When current location is available, the Home map frames your marker in the middle of the visible map area above the details card. Launching Home, recentering, or changing the card height keeps the marker clear instead of hiding it behind the sheet.

Scroll and resize Home

Swipe upward to expand Home and scroll its content normally. To minimize it, first return the feed to the top; only a further downward pull after the top is reached hands the gesture to the sheet. Pulling while the feed is away from the top scrolls the content instead of collapsing it. On Android, tapping the fully minimized card expands it to the next level, which avoids competing with the system swipe-up gesture.

Intent chips

Use Quick walk, Hike, Parks, Kids, Stroller, Dog, Water, Scenic, Camp, Picnic, Sports, and Peaks to re-rank the cards around what you want to do. If an intent does not have confident local data, Epicrest falls back to broader outdoor options rather than showing fake certainty.

Atmosphere and altitude

Home shows current atmosphere, temperature, wind, sunset, and altitude when location and sensor data are available. Units follow Settings and apply across the app.

Mountain mode

Epicrest keeps a dedicated mountain area for AR entry and peaks around you, so peak discovery remains first-class while Home also helps users find parks, trails, lakes, and other outdoor options.

Outdoor search

Search is best when you know a name. Use it to find peaks, parks, trails, lakes, canyons, campgrounds, trailheads, and other outdoor places.

Saved content

Saved is for places you want to keep handy. Save is separate from Plans, which means you are planning a future outing with target dates, notes, route thoughts, and weather windows where available.

Offline indicators

Offline indicators show when the app is using prepared local data instead of live network responses. Open the Home menu for Profile, Favorites, Offline Packs, License, Outdoor Insights, and Settings; Settings contains account security, legal, manual, support, and sync tools.

Open search from Home or Map

Use search to find peaks, parks, protected lands, trails, trailheads, water places, campgrounds, landforms, viewpoints, landmarks, recreation facilities, and useful outdoor amenities worldwide. Search accepts partial names, aliases, punctuation and word-order variations, and small misspellings. Loose descriptions such as “famous statue in New York,” “national park in Ireland,” or “famous places near me” can also find relevant destinations.

Choose the correct result

Compare name, profile icon, kind, region, distance, and useful chips when multiple results share a similar name. Text relevance and canonical importance come first; among similarly relevant choices, a trusted current location helps put nearby results toward the top.

Open details, then act

Peaks open the Summit Companion. Non-peak places open profile-aware cards for local parks, trailheads, campgrounds, water places, landforms, and micro-amenities. From those cards you can review weather, alerts, routes, boundaries, facility facts, source trust, Save, Plan, Journal, Mark visited, directions, sharing, or Help improve this place where supported. Missing values are hidden.

Read a place card

Place cards only show sections supported by useful evidence. A nearby place you can use today offers a practical alternative. Can I Go Now? combines current weather, access, and alert context without claiming guaranteed opening or safety. Alerts prioritize current cautions; Visit Details can show address, hours, contact, official links, fees, permits, reservations, or access notes; Facilities, Family-Friendly, and Sports And Courts group useful amenities; Boundary Outline previews the mapped area. A real image stays preferred, with a stable satellite preview when no usable photo exists.

Walks, trails, and roads

Walks And Trails on place cards and Getting There on summit cards show the best linked trails, tracks, and approach roads for that exact destination. Rows can include route kind, surface, access, length, known gain, difficulty, fee, permit, and seasonal context. Epicrest combines place links, cached nearby routes, offline packs, fresh Epicrest data, and a public repair source only when needed, then removes duplicates and weak matches. Verify legal access, closures, permits, maintenance, and local conditions.

How search behaves offline

Offline search can use bundled peaks and the compact worldwide place corpus included with the app, plus regional bundles, cached route/detail data, and downloaded offline packs. A basic worldwide result may have less detail until you reconnect or install its regional pack; richer context upgrades the local result instead of replacing it with a blank state.

Panning and zooming

Move the map to explore peaks and outdoor places around your current area or any region you pan to. Dense areas use grouped markers at wider zoom levels; tap a numbered group to zoom toward its members, then keep zooming to expand individual peaks, trails, parks, and other outdoor places. The app loads visible context as you move while keeping panning responsive.

Recentre on yourself

Use recentre when location permission is enabled and you want the map to return to your current position. When heading data is available, the location marker points in the direction your phone is facing. On Home, the camera uses the portion of the map above the details card as its visible frame, so your marker remains centered in that unobstructed area. The same control includes a unit-aware altitude readout so position, bearing, and elevation stay together.

What is loaded

The map prefers the fastest local source first: the current in-memory map session, cached peaks and places, bundled worldwide place cells and baseline peaks, downloaded country or regional packs, offline-pack data, and only then fresh internet results for missing or stale context. Peaks and trails are prioritized for first paint. Cached and bundled places paint when the map opens without waiting for a pan or zoom, and returning to Map reuses the current session instead of clearing already painted places while fresh data loads.

Map colors, boundaries, and badges

Badges indicate useful states such as visited peaks, planned items, difficulty, route type, and offline availability. Local parks, public lands, protected areas, selected routes, and trail outlines can draw subtle boundaries or outlines where geometry exists. Boundaries are limited and simplified so they help orientation without overwhelming the map.

Filters, layers, and location

Map filters help focus on peaks, parks, trails, water, campgrounds, routes, or other outdoor context where available. The map/list switch sits at the top-right, with layer controls, compass, and recenter below it and hidden in list mode. Your current location uses a filled heading arrow when heading data is available, and the recenter control includes a compact unit-aware altitude readout matching AR View and your Units setting.

Switching map layers

Layer controls let you switch map presentation for planning. Topographic attribution appears when the topo layer is active.

Focus a route or place on the map

Use View on map from Search, Journal, Plans, a route, or a place card to open the selected destination even when it is far from your current location. Epicrest prioritizes that item over the previous viewport, fits its boundary or route geometry when available, and keeps the fit through style changes and background place loading. If geometry is missing, it uses a close point view. Online Pro focus can use satellite imagery and 3D terrain; offline and Free focus use the best locally available map. Closing focus returns to normal Outdoor exploration.

Weather map layers

Pro weather map layers can show radar, precipitation, temperature, wind, and cloud context directly over the map where provider tiles are configured and available. Epicrest prefers MapTiler weather tiles for weather-map layers and can use IEM NEXRAD as a radar fallback. The legend explains each layer, opacity defaults to 100%, and temperature, wind, and precipitation scales follow the user's metric or imperial unit setting. Weather maps are planning context, not a safety source; verify current forecasts, alerts, land-manager notices, and local conditions before travel.

First use on Android

In Android 2.3 release-candidate builds, before the app requests camera access or starts an AR session, Epicrest explains that the feature runs on Google Play Services for AR (ARCore), provided by Google LLC and governed by the Google Privacy Policy. Continue only if you want to use live AR; Not now returns without starting the camera. ARCore is optional for installing the release candidate, and unsupported devices use the available camera-and-sensor fallback.

What AR View does

AR View uses camera, location, heading, elevation, terrain context, and peak data to label peaks on the horizon. Hold the phone roughly level and sweep slowly so the compass can settle.

Reading peak labels

Labels can show the peak name, elevation, distance, bearing, confidence, and state. Visited and Plans peaks are highlighted so your history and plans remain visible in the camera.

AR captures

Tap Photo in AR View to capture the current camera view with Epicrest peak labels, selected-peak highlight, watermark, and available metadata. App chrome such as the back button, instrument buttons, and bottom toolbar is excluded from the rendered capture. The live AR feed pauses and the AR Capture preview opens so you can inspect the image before doing anything with it.

On the public iPhone app and in Android 2.3 release-candidate builds, the Free capture workspace supports full-screen inspection, Retake/Delete, photo-library save, system sharing, Post on Social, the full Journal editor, Attach Peak, and Plans. Pro capture tools add Minimal and Classic templates, advanced overlay controls, optional confidence/route/weather metadata, and watermark customization/removal where available.

Journal, Attach Peak, and Plans from AR

On the public iPhone app and in Android 2.3 release-candidate builds, Journal opens the full editor, preselects the current peak when possible, lets you choose another visible peak, and includes title, date, notes, tags, and the image. Attach Peak is the fast selected-peak path with date and notes. Plans creates or updates a future plan from a visible peak with priority, optional target date, notes, tags, and AR Capture as its source. AR processing remains paused while capture details are open.

Capture privacy and sharing

Taking an AR capture does not upload it. Closing, Retake, or Delete discards the applicable draft. Save writes the rendered image to the device photo library using the platform's media controls. Share creates a temporary stripped image for the system share sheet and can include “Identified with Epicrest” plus the selected peak name and elevation.

Exact coordinates are not included by default, and exported capture files strip EXIF and precise location metadata. Journal entries and Attach Peak records stay private. In the public iPhone app, attached Journal images stay on device and can use your private iCloud container when enabled. In v2.3 release-candidate builds, Journal images can also use encrypted Google Drive media sync. An iPhone capture attached to a Plan can use private iCloud but not the Drive Journal-media path. Epicrest only sends a capture outside your device when you explicitly share it, save it to the photo library, submit it to support, or enable the applicable private sync provider.

AR confidence levels

Confidence uses sensor quality, distance, bearing, elevation agreement, terrain visibility, prominence, and skyline evidence when available. Confidence can change as you move or as the phone steadies.

Explain this match

The explanation view breaks down why Epicrest believes a label matches a visible peak, including bearing, elevation, visibility, prominence, and sensor evidence where available.

Showing possible peaks

Possible peaks can be shown when you want a broader readout. Hide them again if the view gets too crowded or use List for a sensor-independent comparison.

Label density and decluttering

Epicrest gives labels room by prioritizing stronger matches and reducing crowding. Use list mode when labels overlap or conditions make camera alignment unreliable.

When Epicrest asks for calibration

Epicrest watches compass accuracy, heading trust, sensor stability, location precision, and visual alignment. When those signals are too weak for confident placement, AR shows a calibration prompt or a low-accuracy status chip instead of presenting uncertain labels as exact. Nearby vehicles, railings, magnets, electronics, indoor use, canyons, cliffs, and close terrain can all affect alignment.

Guided calibration

The first AR session presents a short calibration flow once camera and sensors are ready. You can also open it whenever the accuracy chip recommends calibration: move the phone slowly in a figure eight, point at a clean ridgeline, hold steady while the readings settle, then confirm the result. Continue anyway leaves AR usable with an approximate state when field conditions do not permit a clean calibration.

Manual whole-view adjustment

Open the Tune alignment control to nudge the full overlay left or right for bearing and up or down for elevation, review the saved yaw and pitch offsets, recalibrate, or reset the correction. You can also touch and hold a visible label, then drag it toward the real summit to calibrate the whole view. Saved whole-view calibration persists on that installation until reset.

Adjust one label

Tap a label or collapsed dot, choose Adjust position, and drag its anchor to the actual summit. Save keeps that single-label correction for the current AR session without shifting every other peak. Reset or Cancel removes the draft, and adjusted labels show a small hand indicator.

Open the AR Guide at any time

Tap the question-mark help button at the top of AR View whenever you want to reopen the six-page AR Guide. It covers peak labels, confidence states, fine tuning, accuracy signals, label spacing, and requesting changes. The guide remains available after its first automatic presentation.

Accuracy expectations

AR is a recognition aid, not a safety-critical navigation instrument. Weather, terrain, sensors, and source data can all be wrong.

Requesting AR changes and local diagnostics

If labels are consistently off, use Report mismatch or feedback with the peak and device context. Calibration and mismatch diagnostics can be recorded only inside the app's private device storage and may include the peak, projected and corrected positions, current coordinates, altitude, sensor accuracy, correction offsets, and tracking quality. Epicrest does not upload that diagnostic automatically; send information through support only when you choose to. You can log a summit from AR when the correct peak is selected.

How many logs can I keep?

Epicrest is designed for unlimited summit logging and outdoor-place memories. Peak summit logs keep their existing flow, while newer place journal entries can store visit notes for parks, lakes, trailheads, campgrounds, canyons, and routes where supported. In the public iPhone app, Journal photos stay on device and can use your private iCloud container when enabled. Encrypted Google Drive Journal-media sync is documented for the v2.3 release candidates.

Creating an entry

Use the Journal tab's floating + button, Log an Outing from the Journal screen, Log this summit from a peak detail sheet, or Journal / Mark visited from an outdoor place card. Search or select the subject, choose the route if available, set the date, add notes and tags, and attach photos on Pro where supported. Tags work best when short and consistent.

Adding an AR Capture to Journal

On the public iPhone app or an Android 2.3 release-candidate build, take the photo and tap Journal. Epicrest preselects the current peak when possible and lets you choose another visible label before adding title, date, notes, and tags. The entry keeps the rendered labelled image private on device or in the applicable private cloud provider you enable.

Browsing and sorting

Browse your history below a compact field summary. Tap Filter to show all entries, photos, routes, notes, or tags, and to sort by Recent, Oldest, Highest, or A-Z. Search still matches peak/place name, trail name, notes, and tags.

Photos, thumbnails, and order

Entries with photos show the selected thumbnail naturally in the row, replacing the generated mountain thumbnail instead of overlapping the title or metadata. In the entry detail, the selected thumbnail is also used as the cover photo. When editing a Pro entry with multiple photos, drag a photo left or right to reorder it. Other photos move out of the way while you drag, and the order is saved where you drop it. Tap the star on a photo to make it the entry thumbnail and cover. Tap the cover or any thumbnail to open it full-screen; close it with X or a downward swipe, or Android Back in an Android 2.3 release-candidate build. That Android build decodes large camera originals to a bounded display size in the background to avoid memory-related crashes.

Weather snapshots in Journal

If a peak already has a Journal entry, open that peak's Detailed Forecast and choose Add Snapshot to Journal. Epicrest appends a concise weather note to the entry with condition, temperature, wind, gusts, and visibility when available. The snapshot reflects the forecast Epicrest had at that moment; it does not prove what conditions were on the summit later.

Outdoor Insights

The compact Journal summary shows entries, known gain, and highest outing without crowding the list. Tap it to open Outdoor Insights. Pro unlocks trends, records, favorite routes, places, top tags, Planning Health, and Year in Epicrest. Known gain uses route gain attached to entries, not summed peak elevations, and missing route-gain data is left out instead of guessed.

Editing and deleting

Edit a log when route, notes, tags, or date need cleanup. Delete only when you intend to remove that journal record.

Sync states explained

Sync badges distinguish local-only, pending, synced, and provider-related states. Metadata reconciles through the signed-in Epicrest account. Photos remain device/private-cloud data rather than Epicrest backend uploads.

What Plans is for

Outdoor Plans track peaks and outdoor places you want to visit later and keep planning close to search, map context, weather, routes, and journal history.

Adding a peak or place

Add or edit a plan from the Plans screen, from peak detail screens, from outdoor place cards, or from trail or road rows. iPhone also offers a Plans action from AR Capture. Detail and route-row actions open the full planning draft before anything is saved. If you start from a route row, that route is preselected in the draft. If an item is already planned, the button changes state so duplicates are not created by accident.

Adding a plan from AR Capture

From the public iPhone app or an Android 2.3 release-candidate build, tap Plans in the AR Capture preview. Pick the peak from visible labels, choose Next Up, Planned, or Someday, optionally set a target date, and add notes or tags. Epicrest records the source as AR Capture and keeps the rendered image with the plan on device. On iPhone, a plan image can also use private iCloud when enabled; the v2.3 release-candidate encrypted Google Drive path transfers Journal media, not iPhone plan images.

Priorities, sorting, and filters

Use priority, readiness chips, filters, and sorting to separate near-term objectives from long-term goals. Plans can filter by All, Next Up, Scheduled, Someday, and Needs Details, and can sort by Priority, Date, A-Z, or Highest. These choices live under one Filter button so the plan list stays focused. Readiness-aware ordering keeps dated, ready, and overdue plans visible.

Plan details you can store

Store target dates, notes, route thoughts, priority, tags, and generated readiness signals such as Ready, Needs date, Needs route, Check weather, Someday, or Overdue. Use detail screens to compare access, difficulty, and conditions as the trip gets closer. From a peak's Detailed Forecast, Save Window to Plan appends the best weather or visibility window to the plan notes and adds a weather tag.

Mark as visited

After a climb, promote the peak into Journal so the plan becomes part of your permanent summit record.

Worldwide data is already there

Epicrest includes baseline peak data plus a compressed, cell-indexed worldwide outdoor-place corpus. It reads the needed cells progressively from the app bundle, so Search, Home, Map, and place cards have basic worldwide context without unpacking one enormous archive or duplicating it in storage. Regional and offline packs remain the right tool for map tiles, deeper route, road, boundary, alert, facility, and weather coverage.

What is in a pack

Packs can include peaks, outdoor places, enriched facts where available, route and road context, boundaries, weather snapshots, metadata, cached support data, and an Outdoor map from a provider authorized for offline downloads. New Epicrest Pro map packs on iPhone and in Android 2.3 release-candidate builds use authorized Mapbox Outdoor downloads; if that provider is not configured, the map download stops instead of switching to an unauthorized bulk source. Previously installed legacy raster packs can remain readable on Free, but the standard OpenStreetMap tile service may be used only as an attributed interactive fallback and is not bulk-downloaded into new offline packs.

Offline readiness

Use readiness status before travel. Confirm the region, download state, and freshness before leaving service. Keep the checklist expanded while preparing a trip, or tap Hide at the bottom of the checklist to collapse it into a compact summary card.

Choose the exact area

With active Pro, tap the map preview or Choose area on map. Move the map beneath the fixed center reticle, select an allowed radius, and tap Use This Area. The selected center remains fixed even if a later GPS update arrives. Cancel leaves the previous selection unchanged, and no download starts until you confirm from the Offline Packs screen.

Downloading a pack

Epicrest Pro can create or update a region up to 50 miles. Pack size grows quickly with radius because area grows with the square of the radius. Up to 15 compatible packs can remain installed per device. Free can read, manage, and delete compatible packs already installed, but it cannot create, resume, retry, repair, refresh, or replace a pack.

Background downloads

Large downloads are more reliable on Wi-Fi and power. On iPhone, avoid force-quitting Epicrest because iOS treats that as a signal not to relaunch the app for background work. In Android 2.3 release-candidate builds, keep the visible offline-download notification available while a large pack runs; its Cancel action stops the exact active download.

Pause, resume, and cancel

Active Pro downloads can be paused or cancelled depending on state. Reconnecting and resuming a transfer requires current Pro access.

If map style or tiles fail

Epicrest retries recoverable provider and tile-store setup failures without activating a partial replacement. If a download ultimately fails or is cancelled, the incomplete pack is not activated and any previously working pack remains available. With current Pro, retry when the provider and network are available; an installed pack with incomplete tiles offers a Pro-gated map-repair control that retries only the map layer.

Offline weather is a snapshot

Weather stored in an installed pack is frozen at download time. Pro-created packs can keep detailed hourly, multi-day, visibility, and planning-window context where available. Free can read the compatible weather snapshot already stored in an installed pack. Older app versions and legacy pack requests continue to use the smaller basic weather snapshot they understand. Pro users should refresh or re-download near departure so the forecast reflects the current trip window.

Refreshing and deleting

Refreshing or replacing a pack requires current Pro. Anyone can delete a compatible installed pack when storage is needed; deleting a pack removes local offline data, not your journal.

The Profile screen at a glance

Profile contains account details, subscription state, Outdoor Insights, settings, exports, support, privacy, terms, roadmap, and the manual.

Profile name and avatar

Use Edit profile to update the display name shown next to your account. Profile names sync with your Epicrest backend account so the same name follows you across sign-ins.

Tap the profile picture to choose one of 25 predefined mountain-inspired avatars or upload a custom photo. Custom avatar photos stay on device by default and are not uploaded to Epicrest backend servers. The custom photo flow shows a privacy note and a crop/zoom helper so you can see exactly what appears in the circular frame.

On iPhone, optional iCloud avatar sync stores the selected avatar in your private iCloud account so it can be restored after reinstalling Epicrest or signing in on another Apple device. In Android 2.3 release-candidate builds, custom avatars remain device-local; the encrypted Google Drive path described below transfers Journal media, not the Android custom avatar.

Units and notifications

Choose metric or imperial units for elevation and distance. Manage notification preferences from the app and your device's system settings.

iCloud sync

Enable iCloud Sync to move supported journal entries and photos between your Apple devices using your private iCloud container. Avatar iCloud sync is separate and optional from the profile editor. Tap Sync iCloud now to flush pending CloudKit changes and reconcile current saved, plan, and Journal metadata through your Epicrest account. The result distinguishes a new CloudKit completion from work that is still continuing; manual sync does not replace the live library with a stale recovery snapshot.

Google Drive sync

Google Drive Sync is the optional cross-platform media path for iPhone and Android. Saved items, plans, journal entries, media references, and explicit deletions reconcile automatically through the signed-in Epicrest account. Local changes queue durably and merge deterministically; an older snapshot cannot replace newer work, and a temporarily missing photo is not treated as an entry deletion.

Journal images have embedded metadata removed, are encrypted on-device with AES-256-GCM, and are sent directly to Google Drive's hidden app-data folder with opaque names. Epicrest backend servers never receive the Drive access token, Drive file identifiers, or plaintext photo. The selected stable Google identity is bound to the signed-in Epicrest account. Turning sync off stops future transfers but does not silently delete the encrypted Drive copy.

Use Sync Google Drive now for an immediate, generation-aware metadata and media pass. Android shows queued, running, retry, completion, and failure state without cancelling an active transfer. With Drive disconnected, it labels the action Sync account data now.

Offline Packs link

Profile links into Offline Packs. Pro can prepare or refresh data before a trip; Free can read and manage compatible packs already installed.

Refresh data

Manual refresh is free for everyone and keeps baseline peak and outdoor data accurate, including newly enriched facts when available. Weekly automatic refresh runs only under safe conditions such as Wi-Fi and external power.

Social-post handoff

On the public iPhone app and in Android 2.3 release-candidate builds, Post on Social can create a platform-sized mountain card and editable caption from a peak, one Journal entry or the full Journal, one plan or all Plans, and an AR capture. Choose Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, or TikTok, review or edit the caption, copy it when useful, preview the final card, and open the selected app directly. If that app is not installed, Epicrest opens the applicable public App Store listing or, in the Android release candidate, the configured destination. The regular Share action remains separate for links and other system destinations.

Third-party apps control their final composers and may accept images and text differently. Epicrest explains the applicable handoff before opening the destination; generated cards use Epicrest-owned wording such as ALPINE POST rather than third-party platform branding. Cards are generated locally. The Android release candidate decodes and repaints a selected Journal source photo into the card, then creates a new JPEG without copying the original filename, EXIF, or GPS metadata. Only content you explicitly hand off reaches the destination.

Changelog

Settings includes Changelog for the full release notes.

Android: Version 2.3 is available on Google Play with worldwide discovery, local-first maps, ARCore guidance and calibration, selectable Pro offline areas, private Journal and Plans, social cards, encrypted Google Drive media sync, and Google Play Pro.

iPhone: Version 2.3 includes worldwide places from first launch, more forgiving search, steadier map focus, clearer AR guidance, and safer iCloud and optional Google Drive reconciliation.

Both platforms: Places, trails, maps, and media load more responsively, useful cached content remains visible during refresh, and Free and Pro access rules are aligned.

Support and feedback

Use in-app feedback or the website support form for support messages, feature requests, issue reports, and data corrections.

Sign out

Sign out when changing accounts or securing a device. Some local data may remain until removed by app flows or device cleanup.

Feature comparison

Epicrest Free includes account creation, sign in, password reset, account deletion, profile name editing, preset avatars, local custom avatars, optional private iCloud avatar restore on Apple devices, no ads, outdoor search, core peak and place pages, full available live trail and approach-road lists, maps, specs, access context, and planning actions where data is available, saved peaks and saved places where supported, nearby outdoor places, Outdoor and Vista maps, core AR labels, AR captures with labels, photo-library save, sharing, supported Post on Social cards and editable captions, Journal attachment, Outdoor Plans where supported, basic watermark, basic metadata, unlimited Journal and Plans history, journal notes and tags, current weather summary, basic short-range weather, daylight, sunrise/sunset, the ability to read and manage compatible offline packs already installed on the device, private iCloud sync where supported, privacy documents, terms, EULA, User Manual, Contact Us, Request a Feature, and Report an Issue. Epicrest Pro can create or update Outdoor offline regions up to 50 miles, with up to 15 packs installed per device, and also adds prominence, isolation, advanced nearby peak filters where available, Topo and Satellite map styles with 3D terrain, weather map layers, detailed cached weather fields, extended detailed hourly and multi-day forecasts, gusts, cloud cover, visibility, precipitation type and amounts, golden hour, visibility score, planning windows, detailed-weather sharing and plan/journal actions, premium AR capture templates, advanced overlay controls, confidence/route/weather metadata overlays where available, watermark customization/removal, up to 15 manually added photos per Journal entry, Outdoor Insights, Planning Health, Year in Epicrest, PDF and GPX export, and support for keeping Epicrest ad-free. Optional encrypted Google Drive media sync is documented separately for the v2.3 release candidates.

System permissions and platform features

Epicrest Pro does not sell access to operating-system capabilities. Camera, location, notifications, device sensors, ARKit availability, and iCloud remain controlled by you, the device platform, and the feature you choose to use. ARCore and Google Drive authorization references currently describe the v2.3 release candidates.

Why Pro exists

Epicrest does not use advertising as its business model. Pro subscriptions help pay for mountain data, route and road enrichment, map work, weather integration, backend services, support, and continued development.

What is in Pro

Pro is designed for heavier outdoor planning: prominence, isolation, and advanced nearby peak filters where available, creation and updating of Outdoor offline regions up to 50 miles with detailed cached weather fields, Topo and Satellite map styles with 3D terrain, weather map layers, extended detailed hourly and multi-day forecasts, feels-like temperature, gusts, cloud cover, visibility, precipitation probability/type/amounts, golden hour, visibility score, best weather and photography windows, detailed-weather sharing and plan/journal actions, premium AR capture templates, advanced overlay controls, confidence/route/weather metadata overlays where available, watermark customization/removal, up to 15 manually added photos per Journal entry, Outdoor Insights, Planning Health, Year in Epicrest, PDF/GPX exports, and premium planning tools. Full available live trail and road detail, core weather, unlimited Journal and Plans history, existing photo viewing/removal, AR capture attachment, Post on Social, and reading or managing compatible installed packs remain available on Free. Up to 15 compatible packs can remain installed per device. Pro also supports ongoing data, map, backend, and development work so Epicrest can stay ad-free.

What stays free

Epicrest does not sell access to operating-system capabilities. Camera, location, notifications, device sensors, core AR availability, and private iCloud sync where supported remain controlled by the platform and the feature you choose to use. Free users keep unlimited Journal and Plans history, core peak and place info, full available live route detail, saved peaks and places where supported, core weather and compatible cached snapshots already installed, AR labels, calibration and guidance, Instrument captures with save/share/Post on Social/Journal/Attach Peak/Plans actions, search, manual map browsing, the ability to read and manage compatible installed packs, and no ads.

Introductory trials

When the App Store or Google Play offers an introductory trial and your account is eligible, Epicrest shows the live trial duration, post-offer localized price, and billing period before purchase. The trial provides Pro and then converts to the subscription shown in the applicable store purchase sheet unless cancelled before the trial ends. Trial length and availability are decided by the marketplace and are not guaranteed.

Subscribing

Subscriptions are confirmed through the App Store or Google Play purchase sheet. The applicable store shows the exact localized price, billing period, trial eligibility, and renewal terms before confirmation. Epicrest does not receive your payment card information.

Restoring purchases

Use Restore Purchases or the subscription refresh control when reinstalling, switching devices, or when an active store subscription is not reflected in Epicrest. Use the same marketplace account that made the purchase and the same Epicrest account that owns the entitlement.

Managing or cancelling

Manage or cancel the subscription through App Store or Google Play subscriptions. Refund and billing requests are handled under the applicable store's policies. Deleting an Epicrest account does not cancel the store subscription.

Change your password

Signed-in users can change password from Profile. Password changes revoke active sessions so other devices must sign in again.

Forgot your password

Use the login screen reset flow. The verified reset link opens Epicrest through Universal Links on iPhone or App Links on Android when installed and falls back to the secure website flow when needed.

Use a reset token manually

If automatic handoff fails, the reset fallback page can expose the token workflow so you can finish inside the app.

If Epicrest asks you to change your password

An admin reset or security event may require password change before normal use resumes.

Link Google or Apple

Linking an identity requires proof you control the Epicrest account. After linking, either sign-in method reaches the same account.

Check and disconnect sign-in methods

Profile shows which sign-in methods are attached. You can disconnect Google or Apple Sign-In from the app as long as another sign-in method remains available; if needed, set a password first.

What account sync covers

Saved places, Plans, Journal metadata, notes, tags, visit dates, route snapshots, media references, and explicit deletions reconcile through your signed-in Epicrest account. Creates and edits queue durably; concurrent device changes merge deterministically instead of replacing newer local work with an older snapshot. Missing media is never interpreted as deletion. Offline packs and most app preferences remain device-local.

What iCloud sync covers

iCloud Sync covers journal entries, plan entries, weather snapshot notes you add, saved weather-window notes, and journal photos across your Apple devices. Offline packs are device-local; use Pro to download them again on a new device.

Turning iCloud sync on

Enable iCloud Sync from Profile when signed into iCloud. The app may need time for the first sync to settle.

Understanding the iCloud badge

Badges indicate whether journal content is local, syncing, synced, or waiting on iCloud conditions.

Verify sync is happening

Create or edit a small journal entry, wait for sync, then check the second device. iCloud app data is managed from iOS Settings rather than through ordinary iCloud Drive folders.

Restoring on a new device

Install Epicrest, sign into the same account and Apple ID, enable iCloud Sync, and allow time for entries and photos to appear. Offline packs are device-local; use Pro to download them again on a new device.

Who can see your iCloud data

Your synced journal photos live in your private iCloud container. Epicrest backend systems do not store those photos.

Turning iCloud sync off

When iCloud Sync is off, new photo files stop transferring through CloudKit. Signed-in account metadata can still reconcile. Google Drive media sync is a separate option documented for the v2.3 release candidates. Already synced data remains in iCloud unless removed through Apple settings or app flows.

When something is not syncing

Check iCloud sign-in, network, storage, Low Power Mode, and whether Epicrest is allowed to use iCloud.

Encrypted Google Drive media sync — v2.3 release candidate

This feature is documented for v2.3 release-candidate builds and is not part of the public iPhone 2.2 release. Enable Google Drive Sync on each signed-in iPhone or Android release-candidate device when you want cross-platform Journal photos. Use the same Epicrest and Google accounts. Epicrest resolves a stable Google identity, removes embedded image metadata, encrypts each image on-device with AES-256-GCM, and sends it directly to Drive's hidden app-data folder. Drive tokens, Drive file identifiers, and plaintext images do not pass through Epicrest servers.

An empty or temporarily unavailable local photo set is not treated as permission to delete remote media. Explicit photo removals use durable mutation records so a device that has metadata but has not finished importing photos cannot erase another device's copy. The Android release candidate distinguishes queued, running, retry, genuinely offline, and completed sync generations; a completed requested generation takes precedence over stale scheduler history. Network or platform conditions can still defer transfers, so wait for the current pass to report completion before erasing an old phone. Turning the toggle off stops future transfers but does not delete the encrypted Drive copy.

Legacy Android ZIP backup and restore — v2.3 release candidate

In Android 2.3 release-candidate builds, older manual ZIP controls remain for compatibility. A ZIP is separate from automatic encrypted sync, contains photos, and should be stored privately. Restore merges its contents with current account data and cannot make an older backup authoritative over newer synced items.

Biometric app lock

Enable the available Face ID, Touch ID, or Android biometric app lock to protect Epicrest when the device is handed around or brought back from background. Device-authentication fallback depends on platform security settings.

Sensitive-action re-auth

Epicrest can require fresh authentication for sensitive actions such as password changes, account deletion, and other account-security operations.

What we collect

Epicrest stores account information, subscription receipt status, summit-log and place-journal metadata, weather snapshot notes when you add them, outdoor planning data including saved weather windows, saved place metadata, pending place/trail-improvement suggestions and any optional suggestion photos you submit, including whether you recommend them for public profile use, AR Capture journal and planning metadata when you save a capture into those flows, support requests, diagnostics you submit, and short-lived request logs. The app does not store journal photos or AR capture image files on the backend unless you explicitly submit one to support, place/trail improvement review, or a future public feature. Epicrest does not run ads or use cross-app advertising tracking.

Deleting your account

Delete from Settings → Delete Account, or use the public deletion page if you cannot access the app. Deletion removes the active server account, sessions, subscription receipt and ownership records, summit/place Journal metadata, saved and planned data, personal-sync records, offline-pack history, and signed-in support records with their attachments and replies. Android also removes that account's local Journal and photos, personal sync state, custom avatar, Drive binding and usable media key, reminders, queued work, and user-scoped offline packs while retaining public map caches and device-wide appearance choices.

Routine restricted backups expire within 14 days and are not used to recreate the account in the live service; legally or security-required records may be retained only as described in the Privacy Policy. Account deletion does not cancel an Apple or Google subscription and cannot remove private iCloud, encrypted Google Drive app data, or exports stored elsewhere. Use those providers' controls separately.