Travel Tracker
Turn your trip into an interactive story
For friends and family to follow, and one you can relive forever once you return home.
The travel log app tracks your route automatically, tracing your adventures on the map. Whether you're traveling solo or together with Travel Buddies.
Share your trip with friends and family, or keep it entirely to yourself. You decide who sees your trip and have full control over privacy settings.
It’s easy to add pictures and videos along the way. Add a short entry every day, or journal when you feel like it, and watch the story come alive.
Watch your travel stats grow: the countries and states you visit get added automatically.
On the road
See the Travel Tracker in action
And there's more...
The travel tracking app for you
Tracking is completely free. Polarsteps makes money from Travel Books and Polarsteps Plus.
Works offline. Keeps tracking even when you’re off-grid.
Battery-efficient. Typically less than 4% battery per day while tracking.
Proudly ad-free. Polarsteps doesn't sell your data and never will.
Reviews
A digital travel journal loved by explorers
Why travelers track with Polarsteps
Kelly, September 15 2026
Love it!
’Amazing app that helps track and share our trips — exactly what we were looking for! It’s super simple and intuitive, they thought of everything! Love it and have recommended it to many friends!’
Keith, September 24 2026
Great app
’A great app for sharing your travels with family and friends back home. Exact locations are shared, together with photos, videos, and your description of events. You are in complete control of how much or little you wish to share.’
Sarah, September 13 2026
Loved the stats
‘Used the app while travelling through 4 countries over 42 days. Loved the statistical and tracking info. I will definitely use it on my next trip.’
Lynley, September 15 2026
Fantastic
’A fantastic way of taking detailed notes about the day’s experiences, uploading photos, and keeping family and friends informed of where I am and what I’ve been doing.’
FAQ
Everything you need to know about using Polarsteps as your Travel Tracker.
Does travel tracking work offline?
Yes, Polarsteps will track your route even when you’re offline. As long as your phone isn't in airplane mode, location services (and location permissions for Polarsteps) are turned on, and the Travel Tracker is enabled for your trip, the app keeps following your journey in the background. Once you reconnect to the internet, everything syncs automatically and your travel map updates.
How accurate is the tracking?
Tracking is generally very accurate. On the Polarsteps Android app, you can choose between different tracking modes depending on how detailed you want your route to be. On the iPhone version of the app, tracking is handled automatically in the background. Most of the time, unless you're in an area with low signal, you’ll see a clear, detailed line that reflects the route you took.
For the best accuracy in tracking, make sure location access is set to 'Always' and 'Precise location' is toggled on for Polarsteps in your location services. You can also enable our ‘Snap to roads’ feature in your Trip Settings, which automatically adjusts your route to follow the roads you most likely took.
Can I control who sees my trip?
Absolutely. You decide who can view each trip: set it to public, restrict it to followers only, or make it completely private. You’re always in control.
Can others contribute photos and updates to my trip?
Yes, you can invite up to five Travel Buddies to join your trip (and up to 10 if you have a Polarsteps Plus subscription). Travel Buddies can add their own photos, videos, and memories to your shared travel journal. The Travel Tracker is linked to the Trip Owner's account by default, but anyone in the trip group can take over during the trip.
Can I add past trips to Polarsteps?
Yes, you can create a trip for any past adventure, and it’s a great way to organize memories from previous trips. Just make a new trip, name it, set the dates and privacy level for that trip, then add your steps, photos, and stories. If you have an iPhone, the app will suggest relevant photos to add to your trip.
Can others see my location in real time?
Only if your Travel Tracker is on and the privacy settings you've selected for your trip give them access. They’ll see your latest location as a pulsing red dot.
If you prefer not to share exactly where you are, you can ask the app to hide your live location in the Location Privacy section of your Trip Settings. Alternatively, limit who can view your trip by changing its privacy settings, or turn off the Travel Tracker. Disabling the Travel Tracker means the app will no longer follow your journey in the background and the map will no longer automatically update.
How do I start and end my trip?
Your trip begins automatically on the start date you set when you create it. Your trip will finish automatically at the end of the day on the date you select. You can amend the end date of your trip any time in the Trip Settings.
To automatically hide the start location of your trip, disable the 'Show start location' toggle in your Trip Settings. Or, you can switch off the Travel Tracker until you're ready to leave.
If your end location is the same as your start location, and you have disabled 'Show start location' in your Trip Settings, the app will automatically hide your end location. Alternatively, you can switch off the Travel Tracker as soon as you get home.
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