How to open a GPX file on iPhone

On iPhone, open Safari, go to viewmygpx.com, and pick the .gpx file from the file picker — the route renders in mobile Safari with no install, no upload, and no account. To use the file in a dedicated app instead, open Files, long-press the .gpx, tap Share, and pick a GPX-aware app from the share sheet (Komoot, Strava, AllTrails, Gaia GPS, Maps.me).

Try it — drop a GPX file

The viewer below runs entirely in mobile Safari. Tap the drop zone, pick a .gpx from Files, and the route renders in a couple of seconds. If you don't have a file to hand, the sample GPX files page has a dozen ready-to-use examples — tap any sample to load it into the viewer.

Drop your GPX file here

or browse to choose

Don't have a GPX handy?TryShort hike5 km · AcadiaMarathon42 km · roadCycling50 km · CA

Parsed locally · never uploaded

What iOS does and doesn't do natively

iOS has no built-in GPX viewer. The operating system recognizes the .gpx extension as a file but has no application registered to render the route. Concretely:

Files app preview. Tapping a .gpx in Files runs Quick Look. Quick Look has no GPX previewer, so it shows the underlying XML as plain text — that is the file's real content, but not the route on a map.
Mail and Messages attachments. Tapping a .gpx attachment opens the iOS share sheet. There is no first-party "view route" option; every render path goes through a third-party app or a browser-based viewer.
Apple Maps. Apple Maps does not import GPX in any current iOS version. There is no Import button, no share-sheet target, no URL scheme that accepts a GPX route. The Apple Maps guide covers the realistic workarounds.
Safari / Chrome / Firefox on iPhone. Tapping a .gpx URL directly typically displays the XML in a text view. The browser-based viewer at viewmygpx solves this by accepting the file via a file picker rather than a direct URL load.
AirDrop. AirDrop transfers .gpx files between Apple devices like any other file. The receiving device sees the file in Files, where it behaves the same — Quick Look shows text, share sheet hands it off to apps.

Practically, the iPhone experience for a GPX file is one of two paths: a browser-based viewer for visualization (the quickest answer for most users) or a dedicated GPX-aware app for following the route in the field.

The simplest path: viewmygpx in Safari

The fastest way to view a GPX file on iPhone is the browser. The full flow takes under a minute and requires no install:

Open Safari. Any modern iOS browser works (Chrome, Firefox, Edge), but Safari handles the file picker most cleanly because it is the system browser.
Go to viewmygpx.com. The viewer is the entire homepage. No sign-up, no banner, no popup.
Tap the drop zone. iOS opens the document picker. Browse to the .gpx file in On My iPhone, iCloud Drive, or a third-party file provider (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive — any provider you have set up appears in the picker).
The route renders. Mobile Safari parses the file, draws the polyline on the map, generates the elevation profile, and computes the stats panel. Pinch-to-zoom and pan work as expected on iOS.
Optional — convert and download. The viewer offers one-tap conversion to KML, KMZ, CSV, or GeoJSON. The converted file saves to Files like any iOS download.

Nothing uploads to a server. Parsing happens entirely in mobile Safari via the browser's built-in DOMParser. If your phone is in airplane mode after the page loads, the viewer still works (the map tiles will be the cached ones, but the route renders either way).

The best iPhone apps for GPX files

For following a route in the field rather than just viewing it, an installed app is the right choice. The major options on iOS, ordered by how often we recommend them:

Komoot — best free for following a route

Komoot accepts GPX via the iOS share sheet and converts the file to a Tour. Its routing graph snaps the line to known paths, which is helpful for hiking and cycling but can re-route around off-trail sections. Free tier covers upload, Premium adds offline maps. Voice turn-by-turn navigation is included on the free tier. The Komoot import guide covers the share-sheet flow and the snapping behavior in detail.

Strava — fitness recordings only, web upload required

The Strava iOS app cannot import GPX. To upload a GPX to Strava from iPhone, open Safari, sign in at strava.com/upload/select, and use the iOS file picker. The activity syncs to the mobile app within seconds. The Strava guide covers Activity vs Route choice and the virtual-ride pitfall.

AllTrails — paid only on iOS for GPX

AllTrails+ (paid subscription) supports GPX import via Custom Maps on the website; the imported map then syncs to the iPhone app for offline use. The free AllTrails tier does not accept GPX. For trail discovery and recording on top of imported routes, AllTrails is excellent; for the GPX import itself it is the most expensive of the major options. The AllTrails guide covers the paywall and the upload flow.

Gaia GPS — power-user offline mapping

Gaia GPS opens GPX from the iOS share sheet directly. The free tier covers basic viewing; the Premium tier adds offline maps, multiple basemaps (USGS topo, satellite, NatGeo Trails Illustrated), and route planning. For backcountry use, Gaia's offline capability is the stronger feature than its GPX import. Gaia is the closest iPhone equivalent to a desktop mapping tool.

WorkOutDoors — Apple-style native renderer

WorkOutDoors is a one-time-purchase iPhone and Apple Watch app that renders GPX on Apple Maps tiles with native iOS look. It handles GPX from the share sheet and pairs cleanly with Apple Watch for following routes on the wrist. For users committed to the Apple ecosystem who want a non-subscription option, this is the best fit.

Maps.me — fully free, fully offline

Maps.me opens GPX (technically as KML after a free conversion in its UI, but the practical effect is the same) and renders the route over OpenStreetMap data downloaded for offline use. No subscription. Routing is sparse; visualization and following are solid. Useful as a free fallback when the polished apps cost too much.

Garmin Connect Mobile — for Garmin device owners

Garmin Connect on iPhone cannot import GPX directly — only the Garmin Connect website can. The web upload then syncs to the iPhone app and onto a paired Edge, Forerunner, or fenix. The Garmin Connect guide covers the Activity vs Course distinction and the device-sync flow.

Sharing a GPX into an iOS app via the share sheet

The iOS share sheet is the universal handoff between a .gpx file and a GPX-aware app. The exact location of the share button depends on where the file lives, but the share sheet itself is the same:

From Files. Long-press the .gpx file → tap Share (or tap the file once, then the share icon at the bottom).
From Mail. Tap the attachment, then the share icon (square with arrow up).
From Messages. Tap the attachment, then the share icon. Messages may show the share sheet automatically when you tap a non-image attachment.
From Safari. If you downloaded the file via Safari, it lives in Files → Downloads. Open from there.

The share sheet shows installed apps that have registered as GPX handlers. Komoot, Strava (limited — see above), AllTrails+, Gaia GPS, Maps.me, WorkOutDoors, Footpath, and Garmin Connect Mobile typically appear. Tap the destination and the file imports into that app directly — no download-and-reupload step.

Common pitfalls

"Cannot open file" or the .gpx shows as text

The default Quick Look preview is a plain-text view of the XML. That is the file's real content, but it is not the route. The fix is to use a renderer instead of Quick Look — drop the file into viewmygpx in Safari, or share it to a GPX-aware app via the share sheet.

The share sheet doesn't show my app

Apps register their share-sheet targets when installed. If Komoot or Gaia GPS does not appear, scroll the share sheet horizontally — older registrations sometimes hide behind More. If the app still does not appear, force-close it and reopen, or in extreme cases reinstall. The system caches the registration list per app.

File downloads from Safari but I can't find it

Safari saves downloads to Files → On My iPhone → Downloads by default, or to iCloud Drive → Downloads if you have iCloud Drive enabled. The download icon at the top-right of Safari (during and just after a download) shows a list of recent downloads with a magnifying-glass icon to reveal the file in Files.

The route looks fine in Safari but Komoot shows it differently

Komoot snaps imported tracks to its routing graph, which can move the line a few meters or in some cases re-route around an off-trail section. The viewmygpx viewer renders the file as recorded — the original truth. If the snapped Komoot version looks wrong, that's Komoot's graph, not your file.

Privacy on iPhone

A GPX file is plain XML — there is no script, no executable, no embedded tracker. The only sensitive data is the coordinates inside. When you drop a file onto viewmygpx in Safari, the file never leaves your phone: parsing runs in mobile Safari, the polyline draws in mobile Safari, the conversion to KML or CSV also runs in mobile Safari. The map tile provider sees the geographic area you are looking at (necessary to render tiles), not the full file.

When you share the file to a third-party app like Strava or Komoot, the app uploads the file to its servers. That is the normal cost of using a cloud-backed service; the privacy posture is whatever that platform's privacy policy says, not ours. For files containing home-start coordinates, configure each destination platform's privacy zone (Strava Privacy Zones, Komoot privacy settings) before uploading. The viewmygpx privacy policy covers what the site collects (effectively nothing about the file itself).

Can iPhone open GPX files without an app?

Yes — through the browser. Open Safari, go to viewmygpx.com, and use the file picker to select the .gpx from Files. The viewer renders the route on a map with elevation profile and full stats entirely in mobile Safari, no install or account required. iOS itself has no built-in GPX viewer; the browser-based viewer is the closest thing to a native experience.

Why does the iOS Files app show GPX as plain text?

Apple's Files app uses Quick Look to preview attachments. Quick Look has no GPX previewer registered, so it falls back to a plain-text view of the underlying XML. That is the file content, but not the route. To see the route you need either a browser viewer (drop into viewmygpx.com) or a third-party app that registers as a GPX handler (Komoot, Gaia GPS, WorkOutDoors, etc).

Does Apple Maps open GPX files on iPhone?

No. Apple Maps does not import GPX in any current iOS version, and Apple has not published a roadmap for the feature. The realistic alternatives are third-party iOS apps that handle GPX directly. The Apple Maps page on viewmygpx covers the workarounds — including a multi-stop directions approximation for short routes — in detail.

How do I open a GPX file from email on iPhone?

Tap the .gpx attachment in Mail. iOS shows the share sheet with Save to Files, Open in [App], and other targets. The cleanest path is Save to Files, then open viewmygpx.com in Safari and pick the saved file. Alternately, choose Open in directly and pick Komoot, Strava, or another GPX-aware app to import the file in one step.

What is the best free iPhone app for GPX files?

For most users, Komoot's free tier is the strongest free option: it accepts GPX via the share sheet, snaps the route to its routing graph, gives turn-by-turn voice navigation when actively following, and offers offline maps via region purchase. Maps.me is the runner-up — fully free, fully offline, GPX-friendly, but with sparser routing features. For pure visualization without an app, viewmygpx.com in Safari is enough.

Can I open a GPX file in Strava on iPhone?

Strava's iPhone app cannot import GPX — only Strava's web upload page accepts the file. The workflow is to open Safari on iPhone, sign in to strava.com, and visit the Upload page. After the upload completes, the activity syncs to the Strava mobile app automatically. The Strava spoke covers Activity vs Route choice in detail.

Will a GPX file open in WhatsApp, Messages, or Telegram on iPhone?

These chat apps treat .gpx as a generic file attachment. Tapping the file opens the share sheet, which lets you save the file to Files or send it directly to a GPX-aware app like Komoot. None of the chat apps render the route themselves; the share sheet is the bridge between the chat attachment and a viewer.

Does iCloud Drive sync GPX files to my iPhone?

Yes. Drop a .gpx into iCloud Drive on a Mac (or upload via iCloud.com) and the file appears in the Files app on iPhone within a minute on a typical connection. From there it behaves like any local file — share sheet to send to an app, or pick from the viewmygpx file picker in Safari.