How to track your GPS route?

So you can use the Control app to track your GPS route. But basically you can also use any GPS watch (like Garmin, Polar or Suunto) or other devices like GPS loggers to store the GPS track. If you prefer some other mobile phone sports or GPS app you can naturally use those, although using the Control app makes the process of importing the track a bit easier.

Garmin, Suunto and Polar watch users can import activities directly to Control app with a payed Total Control subscription. For those who don’t have subscription or don’t use Control iPhone app or Apple Watch app, they need to export the course as GPX file. Pretty much all sports watch manufacturers support at least either GPX or FIT file export, so regardless what watch or device you have you can use Control to analyse your GPS route. Exporting a FIT file is recommended as that usually contains much more information than GPX file.

Ways to import GPS track

In short Control supports the following ways to import your tracks:

• Track your GPS route using Control app on iPhone
• Track your GPS route with Apple Watch and import to iPhone
• Import GPS track from GPX or FIT file
• Import GPS track from Apple Health
• Import GPS track from Garmin Connect
• Drag and Drop FIT or GPX file to Control on iPad

Track your GPS route using Control app on your phone

If you don’t have an Apple Watch or any other GPS enabled fitness tracker this is probably the easiest way to track your route if you don’t mind carrying a phone with you while orienteering.

Before starting your run open Control app in your phone and in the main view tap New run, and Start recording. Once the GPS position fix is good enough you can start. Control will start to log your route. While running you can mark the control points and at the finish tap Stop to stop logging.

Track your GPS route with Apple Watch and import to iPhone

Route logged with Control Apple Watch app synchronizes automatically to your iPhone so, you don’t need to do anything else than open Control app on you iPhone and your route is automatically visible there.

If you have accidentally deleted the route from Control you can send it also manually afterwards from Apple Watch. By opening the course you want to synchronize from the Last runs view on Apple Watch and selecting the Send to phone.

Import GPS track from GPX or FIT file

First you need to move the file to your device before you can import the file to Control. You can do this in many ways, such as:

• Use your device to export the GPX or FIT file from your activity tracker manufacturer’s application and save it to your device
• Download the file on your computer and synchronize file to your device using some file sharing service like Dropbox, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, etc.
• There are likely many other ways to move the files like emailing the file to yourself

Mac users can run Control app on Mac and import the GPX or FIT file. Control will synchronize the data to your iOS device also. If you prefer using iOS device to import process the file, you can AirDrop file from Mac to iPhone/iPad

Import GPS track from Apple Health

Open Control app in your iPhone and in the main view tap New run, select Import Workout, choose the course you want to import and select Import.

Import GPS track from Garmin Connect, Polar or Suunto

Open Control app in your iPhone and in the main view tap New run, select the service you want to use Garmin Connect, Suunto or Polar, then choose the course you want to import and select Import.

If your course is not visible, scroll to the bottom of the screen and select Get older activities. Already imported routes are marked on the list as already imported.

First time you try to import courses from Garmin connect, Suunto or Polar, you will be instructed how to authorize Control to fetch activities.

Drag and Drop FIT or GPX file to Control on iPad

You can use iPadOS’s capability to run Control in SplitView or in Stage Manager mode to drag and drop GPX or FIT files to Control. You can do this by opening Apple’s Files app and opening Control to another window parallel to Files app. Navigate in Files app to file you want to import and drag it to Control-window.