TraceWay User Guide
Getting Started
Download TraceWay from the App Store and open it. Allow location access and enable Precise Location. Recording accepts While Using the App or Always access. TraceWay requests Always access for background tracking; you can review these permissions in Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → TraceWay.
Recording a Route
Navigate to the Map tab. Once TraceWay has determined your current location, tap the record button to start a session. Your path appears on the map as you move. You can pause and resume the session. When you are done, tap the stop button and confirm to save the recording.
Viewing Statistics
While recording, tap the statistics bar at the bottom of the screen to expand the detailed view. Switch between your current location, recording session, and track segments to review live readings, session totals, or an individual segment.
Managing Your Recordings
Navigate to the Recordings tab to browse saved routes. Tap a recording to open its map, statistics, and track segments. Use the import button to add GPX files from Files, or open a GPX file in TraceWay from another app.
Exporting and Accessing GPX Files
From a recording’s detail view, open the menu in the top-right corner and choose Export. You can save the GPX file to Files, share it with another app, or AirDrop it to another device. Choose View Source in the same menu to inspect the GPX file.
You can also access saved recordings in the GPX folder inside TraceWay’s folder in Files, or through device file sharing in Finder on a Mac. After changing files externally, reopen the Recordings view or pull to refresh the list.
Recording and Display Options
Choosing Recording Preferences
Before starting, open Settings and find Recording. Choose a Recording Quality profile: Precise for the most detail, Balanced for a balance of detail and battery use, or Battery Saver for a coarser track with lower battery use. Custom lets you choose the requested accuracy and minimum update distance.
Choose an Activity Type of Aviation, Driving, Fitness, or General. You can also change the Activity Type from the recording controls before starting. Recording preferences stay locked during an active or paused recording. Saved recording details show the configuration used for that route.
Reading the Speed Heat Map
Speed heat maps highlight slower sections in cool colors and faster sections in warm colors, both while recording and when viewing a saved route. Colors are relative to each recording’s speed range. The legend shows that range in your selected speed unit.
On the live map, tap Speed to expand or collapse the legend. Saved recordings show their legend below the map. Short tracks or routes with little speed variation may appear in a single color; the legend displays an explanation when a speed scale cannot be shown.
To show or hide heat maps, change Speed Heat Map under Display in Settings.
Speed Smoothing
Under Data Smoothing in Settings, choose None, Moving Average, or Exponential independently for Horizontal Speed and Vertical Speed. Moving Average has an adjustable window size, and Exponential has an adjustable smoothing factor. Horizontal smoothing also affects the speed heat map. Smoothing changes the display while preserving recorded points, GPX exports, and session statistics.
Accuracy Explanations
In the current-location statistics, tap horizontal or vertical accuracy values for an explanation of what they mean.
Troubleshooting
Recording controls unavailable: Check that location access and Precise Location are enabled, then wait for TraceWay to determine your current location.
Location not updating during recording: Check TraceWay’s location permissions and Precise Location in Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → TraceWay. Review Always access for background tracking.
Recording stopped after a permission change: If location access or Precise Location is lost during an active or paused recording, TraceWay stops the session and saves the collected data. Check Recordings for the saved route, restore the required permissions, and start a new session. TraceWay explains the interruption when you return to the app.
App interrupted by a crash, battery loss, or system termination: On the next launch, TraceWay offers to resume, save, or discard the recovered session.
Route shown in one color: Check that Speed Heat Map is enabled. If the legend reports insufficient data, the track may be too short or have too little speed variation to display a heat map.