Guides / Overland Setup

Set Up Overland on iOS for GPS Tracking

Overland is a free, open-source GPS logger for iPhone. It records your location in the background and sends it to a server of your choosing — in this case, your personal Geomanic account. Because the app is open source, you can verify exactly what happens with your location data. Setup takes about five minutes.

1. Install Overland

Download Overland GPS Tracker from the App Store. When you first open the app, allow location access and choose “Always” so tracking continues in the background.

2. Get your Geomanic receiver URL

Log in to Geomanic and open your Profile page. Copy the personal Overland receiver URL shown there. This URL contains your private API key, so treat it like a password. If you don't have an account yet, registration is free.

3. Enter the URL in Overland

In Overland, open the settings and paste your Geomanic URL into the Receiver Endpoint URL field. From now on, the app sends your location updates to your Geomanic account — in batches, so it also works when you are temporarily offline.

4. Tune accuracy and battery usage

Overland lets you balance detail against battery life:

• Significant location changes — very low battery usage, records only larger movements. Good for country-level and daily tracking.
• Continuous tracking — detailed track logs with speed and altitude, at the cost of more battery. Good for trips, hikes, and rides.
• Trip mode — start and stop detailed recording manually for individual journeys.

5. Verify in Geomanic

Move around a little, then open your Geomanic dashboard. Your waypoints appear on the map with coordinates, speed, altitude, and timestamp. That's it — tracking now runs automatically in the background.

Frequently asked questions