Automatically find turns and mark them on your route
When importing a GPX file, PreRun can analyze the track geometry and automatically place waypoints at significant turns. Turn severity is color-coded:
Green — Gentle turns (under 35°)
Yellow/Orange — Moderate turns (35–80°)
Red — Sharp turns and hairpins (80°+)
After detection, you can edit, move, or delete any waypoint. Your changes are saved automatically.
Detection parameters (minimum angle, separation distance, analysis window) are all adjustable in Settings. You can also customize the angle breakpoints for each severity level and choose whether waypoints are placed at the apex (sharpest point) or the entrance (start) of each turn.
Tip: If your GPX already has waypoints, choose "No" when asked about auto-detection to keep your existing markers.
Add: Long-press anywhere on the map to drop a new waypoint. Enter a label (defaults to "Note @ X.XX mi") and tap Save.
Rename: Tap a waypoint circle on the map → tap "Edit" in the popup to change the label.
Delete: Tap a waypoint circle → tap "Delete" to remove it.
Waypoint Manager: Three-dot menu on a collection item → "Waypoints" opens a full searchable list. From there you can rename, delete, or tap "Go To" to fly the camera to any waypoint.
All changes are saved to the GPX file on disk immediately.
Two-way sync of routes, collections, and settings across your devices
When Cloud Sync is on, every route, collection, and setting is synced through Firebase to every signed-in Pro device on your account. Changes appear in real time. Item-level merge uses last-write-wins so the most recent edit always wins.
Deletes are soft — deleted items go to a Trash list at the bottom of the Collections tab. From there you can restore or permanently remove them.
How to use:
Sign in on each device with the same account
Go to Settings → General and toggle Cloud Sync on
The Trash list lives at the bottom of the Collections tab
Follow your route in real-time with turn-by-turn guidance
In the Collections tab, tap the green play button on a route to start a run
Accept the one-time safety disclaimer
The map locks to your GPS position and rotates to follow your heading
A panel shows the next 3 upcoming waypoints with labels, distances, and severity colors
Audio callouts announce each waypoint as you approach
Three configurable display circles at the bottom of the screen show data of your choice (speed, ETA, time-to-next, distance, elapsed, lap count, and more) — see Run Display Circles
A waypoint pointer arrow shows the direction to the next waypoint — see Waypoint Pointer
To end the run, tap the red stop button in the top bar and confirm
Your driven track (with speed, timestamps, and checkpoint data) is automatically saved to the collection as a "Run" item when you stop.
Tip: The camera adjusts zoom based on your speed — zoomed in when slow for precision, zoomed out at high speed to see further ahead. At low speeds (under ~4 mph), the camera uses your device compass for heading instead of GPS.
During a run, PreRun uses text-to-speech to announce each waypoint as you approach it. The callout includes the waypoint label and distance (e.g. "L 3 in 500 feet").
Choose between two callout trigger modes in Settings → Navigation:
By Distance: Callouts trigger when you come within a set distance (default: 500 feet / 152 meters)
By Time: Callouts trigger when you are a set number of seconds away from the waypoint, based on your current speed. This gives you consistent reaction time regardless of how fast you're driving.
Audio ducks any other audio playing through your device (music, podcasts, phone calls) so the callout is always audible, then restores it after.
You can pick the TTS voice, language, and speech rate. Translation into 28 languages runs fully on-device — see 28-Language Audio Callouts. For approach-distance numbers spoken as you close in on a waypoint, see Countdown Distance Callouts.
Each waypoint is only announced once per run session. Audio callouts can be toggled on/off in Settings.
Speak distance numbers as you close in on a waypoint
Countdown callouts speak the remaining distance to the next waypoint at each step in a configurable list (e.g. "500, 400, 300, 200, 100, 50"). This is on top of the standard waypoint callout.
How to use:
Go to Settings → Navigation
Enable Countdown Callouts
Edit the distance list to add or remove trigger distances
Translated audio callouts in 28 languages, fully offline
PreRun uses on-device Google ML Kit translation to translate every callout into your chosen language. After the language model downloads the first time, translation runs entirely offline.
You can also pick the TTS voice and speech rate independently of the language.
How to use:
Go to Settings → Navigation
Open Voice / Language
Pick the language, voice, and speech rate
The first time you pick a new language the model downloads in the background. After that it works without internet.
PreRun monitors your distance from the loaded route during navigation. When you drift further than the configured threshold, an audio warning plays and a red line draws from your position back to the nearest point on the route.
You can optionally have the warning repeat about every 10 seconds for as long as you remain off-course.
How to use:
Go to Settings → Navigation
Set the Off-Course threshold distance (set to 0 to disable)
Waypoints that define speed-limited segments along your route
Speed Zones use specially-named waypoints to mark sections where a speed limit applies. The defaults are SZ to start a zone and SZ END to end it, but the keywords are configurable.
To set the limit, put the number in the waypoint label: a waypoint named SZ 35 starts a 35 mph zone. PreRun can optionally play an over-speed audio alert when you exceed the zone's limit.
How to use:
Go to Settings → Navigation
Set the start and end keywords under Speed Zones
On your route, name waypoints with the keyword + number (e.g. SZ 25, then SZ END where the zone finishes)
Rally Pacenote Mode swaps the standard 5-level turn severity system for the 1–6 scale used in classic rally pacenotes, where 1 is the tightest turn and 6 is nearly straight. The pacenote number is spoken in audio callouts.
How to use:
Go to Settings → Turn Detection
Enable Rally Pacenote Mode
When enabled, all turn detection and callouts use the 1–6 scale instead of the standard severity labels.
Drop labeled waypoints instantly during a run or recording
Quick Keys is an on-screen grid of 14 buttons plus Undo that lets you drop a waypoint at your current GPS location with a single tap. The grid overlays the map — the map stays live underneath, so navigation and recording continue while it's open.
During a run or recording, tap the grid icon in the top bar to open Quick Keys
Tap any button to drop a waypoint with that label, icon, and color at your current GPS location
A status bar at the bottom confirms: "Added [label] at [coordinates]"
The last button is always Undo — removes the most recent Quick Keys waypoint
Tap the grid icon again to close Quick Keys and return to the map
Each of the 14 on-screen slots is configurable from the full 53-icon library across 7 categories (Terrain, Elevation, Man-made, Navigation, Race, Safety, General). You can change the label, icon, and Bluetooth keyboard binding for each slot. See Waypoint Icon Library.
To customize: go to Settings → Configure Quick Keys, or tap the gear icon inside Quick Keys.
Tip: Quick Keys waypoints, their icons, and colors are saved to the GPX file and persist across sessions.
53 categorized off-road icons for Quick Keys and any waypoint
PreRun ships with a library of 53 off-road waypoint icons across 7 categories:
Terrain
Elevation
Man-made
Navigation
Race
Safety
General
The same library is used to fill the 14 on-screen Quick Keys slots and to label any waypoint on your route. You can also import your own 128×128 PNG icons.
How to use:
Configure a Quick Key: Settings → Configure Quick Keys → tap any slot → pick from the library
Change a waypoint icon: tap the waypoint on the map → tap its icon to swap
Import custom: in the icon picker, choose Import and pick a 128×128 PNG
Use a Bluetooth keyboard to drop waypoints hands-free
Connect a Bluetooth keyboard to your device for hands-free waypoint entry during a run. Each Quick Key button is mapped to a keyboard shortcut.
Keyboard shortcuts work from the main map view during a run — you do not need to have Quick Keys open on screen.
To customize shortcuts: go to Settings → Configure Quick Keys, tap any key, then tap "Set Shortcut" and press the desired key on your Bluetooth keyboard.
Tip: A voice confirmation ("[Label] added") plays through your speakers when a waypoint is placed via keyboard, so you never have to look at the screen.
Full-screen alerts when you approach key checkpoints
Configure up to two checkpoint types with custom labels and proximity radii. When you drive within range of a matching waypoint during a run, a large full-screen alert overlay appears.
Go to Settings → Checkpoint Proximity Alerts
Set labels for each type (defaults: "VCP" and "RCP") and their alert radii (default: 500 feet each)
Name waypoints on your route starting with the matching label (e.g. "VCP 1", "RCP Start")
During a run, when you drive within the alert radius of a matching waypoint, a full-screen overlay appears with the checkpoint name
Tap anywhere on the overlay to dismiss it
Each checkpoint has a 60-second cooldown to prevent repeated triggers. Triggered checkpoints are recorded in your run log with timestamps.
Automatic lap count when you're running a closed loop
When Loop Mode is on, PreRun detects each time you complete the route and increments a lap counter. The current lap count is available as a data type for any of the three Run Display Circles, and it's also recorded in Run Statistics.
How to use:
Go to Settings → Navigation and enable Loop Mode
Still in Navigation, pick Lap Count as one of your Run Display Circle data types
Resize on-screen elements to match your preferences
Use sliders in Settings to adjust the size of on-screen elements during a run:
Waypoint Pointer: the compass arrow that points toward the next waypoint
Run Display Circle sizes: each of the three bottom display circles has its own size slider, configured per circle in Settings → Navigation — see Run Display Circles
Waypoint Circle Radius: the colored circles marking waypoints on the map
Waypoint Label Size: the text size of waypoint labels on the map
All sizes are saved and persist across sessions. Waypoint circle and label size changes take effect immediately on the map when you save settings.
Camera automatically adjusts zoom based on your driving speed
When Fixed Zoom is off (the default), the camera zooms in at low speeds for precision and zooms out at high speeds to see further ahead.
Four speed zones with customizable zoom ranges:
Slow — most zoomed in, great for technical sections
Medium — moderate zoom for trail speeds
Fast — wider view for faster dirt roads
Highway — most zoomed out for highway driving between stages
Customize the zoom level for each zone — and the speed breakpoints between them — in Settings → Navigation → Zoom (Run Mode) using the 4-handle slider. See Speed-Based Zoom Guide for details.
Preview any saved route's flyover without changing your active route
You can launch the 3D flyover for any route directly from the Collections list. This is preview-only — it doesn't change which route is loaded as your active route, so you can scout multiple routes back-to-back without losing your current setup.
How to use:
Go to the Collections tab
Tap the three-dot menu on any route → Flyover Preview
Use the playback controls to scrub, play, pause
Tap the Stop button to clear the controls and exit preview
Create a new route by placing waypoints on the map
Build Route lets you create a route from scratch by tapping waypoints on the map. The app automatically connects them using road routing or straight lines.
On the Map tab, tap the "Build Route" button in the bottom controls row
Tap on the map to place waypoints — the first is marked green (start), the last is red (end), and middle points are orange
The route is automatically drawn between your waypoints in gold
Toggle between "Roads" (follows mapped roads) or "Direct" (straight line) in the status bar
Use "Undo" to remove the last waypoint, or "Clear" to start over
When you're done, tap "Use Route" to adopt the built route
If you already have a route loaded, you'll be asked whether to replace the existing route or add the new route to it. Turns are auto-detected on the new route.
PreRun's own GraphHopper engine, tuned for off-road
When you use Build Route, Connect Mode, or Trail Finder in "Roads" mode, the request goes to PreRun's own GraphHopper instance at routing.prerun.io. The engine builds a custom routing model on every request based on your Route Preferences — vehicle type, offroad slider, trail class, surface, and seasonal availability.
If the engine is unreachable, the app falls back to Mapbox Directions so routing still works.
This is automatic — there's no separate setting. To tune what the engine prefers and avoids, edit Route Preferences.
Create a reversed copy of a route for driving in the opposite direction
In the Collections tab, tap the three-dot menu on a route item
Tap "Reverse Route"
Enter a name for the reversed route (defaults to "[route name] (Reversed)")
Tap "Save"
The reversed route is saved as a new item in the same collection. Auto-detected turn waypoints are recalculated for the new direction. User-placed waypoints (from Quick Keys, long-press, etc.) are preserved at their original locations.
Share a route: Three-dot menu on a route item → "Share / Export" → choose "Share Link" to generate a shareable deep link, or "Export GPX File" to share the file directly
Share a collection: Tap the share icon at the top of the Collections tab → select which collections to share → all routes are uploaded and a shareable link is generated
Receive a shared route: Open a PreRun share link on your device — the route or collection is automatically downloaded and imported
Polygon-based offline map download for an area you draw
Region Download lets you draw a polygon on the map for the exact area you want offline. Route overlays render on top of the polygon as you draw, so you can see what you're going to capture before committing. Then the area is downloaded as a cached map region.
How to use:
From the Collections tab, tap New Collection → Region Download, or after loading a route accept the offline map prompt
Tap on the map to drop polygon vertices around the area you want
Create routes by driving them — no GPX file needed
Record Mode lets you build a route from scratch by driving the course while recording your GPS track and dropping waypoints along the way. Perfect for route makers and race organizers scouting new courses.
Tap the Record tab (bottom navigation)
Tap "Start Recording"
Accept the safety disclaimer (first time only)
The map switches to GPS follow mode — your position is tracked in real-time
Drop waypoints as you drive using Quick Keys (tap the grid icon) or by long-pressing the map
When finished, tap the red stop button and confirm
Choose which collection to save the route to (or create a new one)
Optionally auto-detect turns from the recorded track — any waypoints you dropped during recording are kept
The recorded route is saved as a standard route item in your collection. You can immediately run it, share it, edit waypoints, or use any other route feature.
Tip: Use a Bluetooth keyboard with Quick Keys to drop labeled waypoints (Caution, Rocks, VCP, etc.) without taking your eyes off the trail.
Every time you end a run, PreRun automatically saves a detailed track log to your active collection as a "Run" item (hidden by default). The log includes:
GPS position at each update
Speed at each point (Garmin TrackPointExtension format)
Altitude / elevation
Timestamps
Triggered checkpoint names and hit times
Run logs can be exported as GPX files and viewed with the Stats option in the three-dot menu.
Chase Cam locks the camera to your position and rotates the map to your heading. It's pure camera follow — no navigation, no audio callouts, no run display circles. While moving, the map rotates to your GPS heading; when stopped, it rotates to your device compass heading.
Map gestures are locked while Chase Cam is active.
How to use:
Enter: double-tap Find Me
Exit: single-tap Find Me
Chase Cam also auto-exits if you switch tabs, start a Run, or start Recording
See your crew's live position on the map during rides
Tap the group icon in the Map tab top bar
Tap "Create Group" to start a new group, or "Join Group" and enter a code
Share the group code or QR code with your riding partners
Each member appears as a colored dot on the map with their name and speed
Cycle between Follow Group (camera fits all members), Follow Me (camera tracks your position), and Free Pan
Tap "Leave Group" or "End Group" when done
Works over cell, wifi, or Meshtastic LoRa mesh radios for fully offline group tracking. Pair a Meshtastic device in Settings to enable mesh relay. Devices with both mesh and internet automatically bridge positions between online and offline riders.
Important: Create or join a group before you lose cell service. Group creation and joining require an internet connection. Once you're in the group, Meshtastic mesh tracking works fully offline.
Tip: You can build routes, navigate, and record while in a group — all features work simultaneously with live tracking.
PreRun integrates with Meshtastic LoRa radios for group location sharing that works without cell service or wifi. Each rider pairs a small, inexpensive radio (~$40) to their phone via Bluetooth. Positions are relayed over the LoRa mesh network with a typical range of 3–6 miles between nodes.
How it works
Go to Settings → Meshtastic Device
Tap Scan to find nearby Meshtastic radios
Tap to pair your device (one-time setup)
Join or create a group from the Map tab — the mesh radio connects automatically
Your phone sends GPS positions to the radio via Bluetooth, which broadcasts them over LoRa
Other riders' radios receive the positions and display them on their maps
Gateway bridging
If a rider has both a mesh radio and cell/wifi, their phone automatically bridges positions between the mesh and Firebase. This means online riders can see offline mesh riders and vice versa — no manual configuration needed.
Tested devices
Lilygo T1000-E — compact keychain-sized tracker
Seeed Wio Tracker L1 Pro — rugged with onboard GPS
Any Meshtastic-compatible device should work. The radio's onboard GPS is not used — PreRun sends the phone's GPS position directly over the mesh for higher accuracy and faster updates.
Tip: PreRun runs both Firebase (online) and Meshtastic (offline) transports simultaneously. If you lose cell service mid-ride, mesh tracking continues seamlessly.
PreRun overlays forest service and BLM trails directly on the satellite imagery. Filter by vehicle type to show only trails rated for your rig:
Dirt Bike — single-track and narrow trails
ATV — ATV-width trails and wider
UTV — UTV-rated trails and roads
Full-Size — full-size vehicle roads and trails
Toggle POI markers on or off to see trailheads, campgrounds, and other points of interest. The overlay is enabled by default and can be configured in Settings → Trail Overlay.
Tip: Tap any trail segment on the map to see its name, surface type, and vehicle rating.
List every overlay trail currently visible on screen
Trail Discovery gives you a list view of all the overlay trails that are inside the map's current viewport. It's a fast way to spot named trails you didn't know about in the area you're looking at.
How to use:
On the Map tab, tap the compass / explore icon in the top app bar
Pro users see treasure icons scattered across the map. Tap a treasure to reveal a hint about its location. Treasures are cached for offline discovery so you can hunt even without cell service.
Proximity circles around your position during navigation
Range rings draw configurable distance circles around your live position during GPS navigation. Use them for proximity awareness during rally stages or to gauge distance to upcoming features. Configure ring distances in Settings → Range Rings.
Each route in your collection can have its own color. Tap the three-dot menu on any route item and select "Color" to choose a custom track color. This makes it easy to distinguish overlapping routes on the map.
Export any route as a Lowrance USR v4 file with full waypoint colors. Use the three-dot menu on a route item → "Share / Export" → "Export USR (Lowrance)". The file can be imported directly to any Lowrance GPS unit.
Control how Build Route and Connect Mode calculate routes
PreRun uses a custom off-road routing engine with preferences you can tune for your vehicle and riding style. Go to Settings → Route Preferences to configure:
Vehicle Type — Dirt Bike, ATV, UTV, or Full-Size. This filters out trails that aren't rated for your vehicle so you only get routes you can actually drive.
Offroad Preference — A slider from "Prefer Paved" to "Prefer Offroad". Slide right and the routing engine will favor dirt roads, trails, and unpaved surfaces. Slide left and it prefers highways and paved roads.
Minimum Trail Class — Filter out trails below a minimum difficulty rating. Set to "Any" for all trails.
These preferences apply whenever you use Build Route or Connect Mode with "Roads" routing. They do not affect "Direct" (straight line) mode.
Tip: If Build Route can't find a path, try relaxing your vehicle type or trail class filter. Routes in very remote areas may require "Direct" mode for off-road segments.
Understanding the two types of items in your collections
Every item in a collection is either a Route or a Run:
Route — A pre-planned track with waypoints. Created by importing a GPX file, using Build Route, or using Record Mode. This is what you follow during GPS navigation.
Run — A recorded GPS log from an actual drive. Created automatically when you stop GPS navigation (Follow Mode) or manually when you save a Record Mode session. Includes speed, elevation, timestamps, and any checkpoints you triggered.
Routes are for planning. Runs are the history of what you actually drove. Both are stored as GPX files and can be exported or shared.
Tip: After a GPS navigation session, your run is automatically saved to the same collection as the route you followed. Use the Stats option in the three-dot menu to see distance, speed, elevation, and checkpoint data for any run.
PreRun is built for remote areas with no cell coverage. Here's what works offline and what doesn't:
Works fully offline
GPS Navigation (Follow Mode) — GPS comes from your phone's hardware, not the internet. As long as you have map tiles cached, navigation works perfectly offline.
Record Mode — GPS recording is entirely local.
Offline Maps — Download map tiles before your trip while you have wifi. Go to any route and PreRun will offer to download tiles for that area.
Audio Callouts — Text-to-speech runs on-device.
Quick Keys / BT Keyboard — Fully local.
All waypoint editing — Saved to local files.
GPX and USR export — Files are created locally.
Meshtastic group tracking — Works entirely over LoRa radio mesh, no internet needed.
Treasure Hunt — Treasures are cached on first load.
Requires internet
Downloading map tiles — The initial download needs internet, but once cached they're available offline.
Build Route / Connect Mode ("Roads") — Road-snapped routing requires a server call. "Direct" (straight line) mode works offline.
Sharing routes and collections — Uploads to Firebase require internet.
Firebase group tracking — The online transport needs cell/wifi. Use Meshtastic for offline groups.
Trail Overlay — Trail tiles need to load initially, then are cached.
Tip: Before heading out, load your route and let the map fully render at different zoom levels. PreRun will offer to download offline tiles — accept it. This caches everything you need for the trip.
The difference between the two buttons on collection items
Each route item in a collection has two controls that do different things:
Show toggle (eye icon) — Draws the route line on the map so you can see it. Does NOT start navigation. You can show multiple routes at once to compare them. Toggle off to hide the line.
Run button (green play icon) — Loads the route as your active route and prepares it for GPS navigation. Only one route can be active at a time. Tap the Run button and then start Follow Mode to begin navigating.
If a route is already active (loaded for navigation), the Show toggle controls whether the track line and waypoints are visible on the map without reloading.
Tip: Use Show to overlay a previous run on top of your current route — great for comparing your line against a planned track.
During Follow Mode, a red arrow appears at the bottom-left of the screen. This is the waypoint pointer — it always points in the direction of the next upcoming waypoint relative to your current heading.
Arrow pointing up — The next waypoint is ahead of you
Arrow pointing left/right — The next waypoint is off to that side
Arrow pointing down — The next waypoint is behind you (you may have passed it)
The pointer is especially useful when driving off-route or when the map is zoomed in too far to see the next waypoint. The arrow size can be adjusted in Settings → UI Element Sizes.
Speed-based zoom automatically adjusts the map zoom level during navigation based on how fast you're driving. When you're moving slowly (crawling over rocks), the map zooms in tight. At high speed, it zooms out so you can see further ahead.
The zoom is configured with a 4-handle slider in Settings → Zoom (Run Mode) when Fixed Zoom is off. Here's how it works:
The 4 zones
Zone 1 (Slow) — Below the first handle's speed. Map is zoomed in maximally for precision maneuvering.
Zone 2 (Medium) — Between handles 1 and 2. Moderate zoom for trail speeds.
Zone 3 (Fast) — Between handles 2 and 3. Wider view for faster dirt roads.
Zone 4 (Highway) — Above handle 3's speed. Maximum zoom-out for highway driving between stages.
Drag the handles to set the speed breakpoints where the zoom changes. The zoom level transitions smoothly between zones so there's no jarring jump when you speed up or slow down.
Tip: A good starting point for off-road is: 5 mph / 15 mph / 35 mph. This gives you tight zoom on technical terrain, medium zoom on trails, and wide zoom on fast roads. Adjust based on your typical riding speeds.