Support and FAQ

No. TrailBivvy never says that a place is legal or allowed. It assesses terrain and rules separately and shows any restriction it finds in the downloaded data. When it finds none, the most it says is “No restriction found in the downloaded data — local rules may apply”. Signs, local rules and the landowner always have the final word.

“Unknown” means the app has no rules data for that place. The data contains a country-level overnight rule only for these countries: Croatia, England, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Sweden and Wales. Some protected areas add rules of their own, such as Swiss federal hunting ban areas, French national park core zones and some US national parks. Everywhere else the state stays “unknown” unless such an area applies — for example in these countries: Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Slovenia and United States. Imported routes have no rules data at all. “Unknown” never means “no restriction” — check locally.

No. TrailBivvy does not replace a map, a compass, proper equipment, waymarks, official warnings or local rules. Catalogue trails come from OpenStreetMap and are not officially surveyed: follow the waymarks and signposts on the ground.

Catalogue trails are built into the app as offline packs made from OpenStreetMap data. Before you leave, you can download map tiles for a route corridor where the app offers offline storage for that map — in the current build in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France, Austria, Germany, Spain and the USA. Whether each provider’s terms allow this is still being reviewed. Elsewhere, including Italy, the UK, the Balkans and Scandinavia, there is no offline base map, so carry a paper map. The last weather forecast stays available, shown with the time it was fetched.

The trail list shows every trail and short bivouac trip bundled in the current build, with its data quality. A trail appears there only once its data pack is in the app.

The iPhone and Android apps are in a closed beta test and not on the App Store or Google Play yet. There is no release date. The TrailBivvy web app is public: you can use it in your browser at app.trailbivvy.com.

Once TrailBivvy is released, downloading it will be free. Using the app will require a yearly subscription, TrailBivvy Pro: about CHF 18 / €23 / £20 per year, with the exact local price shown in the App Store and in the app before you buy. Eligible new subscribers get a 3-day free trial first. The subscription renews automatically every year unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the renewal date, in your Apple Account settings. The safety tools — your coordinates, emergency numbers, the nearest help and sharing your position — stay free, without a subscription. Apple handles the payment, and the app has no ads. In the TrailBivvy web app, TrailBivvy Pro costs €22.99 per year including VAT and is sold through Link (Stripe): see TrailBivvy Pro on the web.

Yes, in the TrailBivvy web app at app.trailbivvy.com, which runs in your browser. There, TrailBivvy Pro costs €22.99 per year including VAT, and new subscribers get a 3-day free trial. It is sold through Link, Stripe’s payment service, as merchant of record: Link sends the receipts and your bank statement shows “LINK.COM*”; TrailBivvy never receives your card details. You can cancel at any time in the web app under More › TrailBivvy Pro › Manage subscription, or on link.com; TrailBivvy Pro then stays active until the end of the period already paid. Within 14 days of any charge, you can ask us by email for a full refund of that charge. On the web, TrailBivvy Pro is currently not sold in the United States or mainland China. A subscription bought on the web does not unlock the iPhone app, and an App Store subscription does not unlock the web app. Details are in the web app’s terms of sale and privacy policy.

No TrailBivvy account is needed: an App Store subscription is bought with your Apple Account, and one bought in the web app belongs to the email address you give. Trips, waypoints, photos and notes stay on your iPhone (in the web app, in your browser) and never reach a TrailBivvy server. The privacy policy lists the few requests that leave your device.

From MET Norway, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, through TrailBivvy’s own weather relay: the relay passes on only a position rounded to about 1 km and the altitude, so MET Norway does not see your IP address. The forecast is adjusted to the altitude of the place, cached on your device and always shown with the time it was fetched. The thunderstorm-risk indicator is derived from the forecast; it is not an official warning, so also check the national weather service.

They are compiled from official sources and, for a few countries, from secondary sources, and are being checked by a person before release. Near a border the app can pick the wrong country and show its numbers. 112 works across Europe, but mobile coverage in the mountains is not guaranteed.

English and 33 other languages, including Arabic and Hebrew with a right-to-left layout. The translations are machine-assisted and still need review by native speakers, so reports of mistakes are welcome.

Not in the current build. iCloud sync, community reports, an Apple Watch app, widgets and Live Activities are ideas for later versions. None of them is implemented, and there is no date.

No. TrailBivvy is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by any trail association, mapping agency, park or authority. Trail names are used only to identify the routes. Details are in the legal notice.