Glamis Guide Support
Glamis Guide is a native app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch: an offline map of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area with every camp, hill and landmark, straight-line directions, your camp, waypoints and recorded tracks. Glamis Guide is free, with no in-app purchases. This page covers common questions and how to reach the developer.
Contact
Email support@glamisguide.app. Replies usually come within a couple of days.
If you are reporting a bug, please include your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch model and OS version, and a screenshot if you have one. That makes it much faster to track down. A place's card also has Submit Feedback, which starts an email with those details filled in.
The map
- The offline map is NAIP imagery with a custom elevation model applied, bundled with the app, covering the whole recreation area at zoom levels 10 to 16. Nothing needs to be downloaded after installation, and the map works with zero bars of service. The covered area is outlined on the map as Offline Area; outside it, the standard Apple map fills in.
- Settings, then Map, then Imagery Source switches between Offline NAIP and Apple Satellite. Apple Satellite needs a connection; if it cannot load, the app offers to switch back to the offline map.
- Places, photos and descriptions are stored on your device too.
- Closed areas (the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness and the BLM OHV closures) are drawn in purple. They are a guide, not a survey: always follow posted signs. The layer can be turned off under Settings, then Map, then Closed Areas.
- If the map appears blank or gray, force-quit the app and reopen it. If that does not help, delete the app and reinstall it from the App Store.
Location
- Glamis Guide asks for location once, after the first-launch screen, and uses it to show your position, orient the map as you move, give live distance and bearing while navigating, mark camp and waypoints where you stand, and record tracks.
- While you are navigating or recording a track, the app keeps using location in the background so the Live Activity stays current and the track stays complete. That stops when you end navigation or stop recording.
- You can grant or change access in Settings, under Privacy & Security, then Location Services, then Glamis Guide. "While Using the App" is enough.
- The map still works without location. You just will not see your own position or live distance to a spot.
- Directions are straight lines between points, not routes. The app warns when your line crosses a closed area; it never reroutes. See Before You Ride in the app.
- Location is processed on your device and never sent anywhere. See the privacy policy for details.
Camp, waypoints and tracks
- Mark Camp (the + button, a widget, a control, Siri or the watch) saves your camp where you stand. There is one camp at a time; marking a new one keeps the old camp as a dated waypoint. Clear Camp removes it.
- Waypoints: long-press the map, or tap + then Create Waypoint. Each has a name, a note and a color. Show On Map keeps it pinned.
- Record Track (the + button) records your ride with the phone locked and keeps going if the app is closed. Auto-Pause pauses after 3 minutes stopped and resumes when you move. Battery Saver While Recording, under Settings, then General, records a point about every 10 m instead of every 5 m.
- Following a track: Directions on a track offers Start To End or End To Start. About 500 ft off the track an Off Route alert sounds and clears when you are back on.
- Camp, waypoints and tracks live only on your device. There is no GPX import or export, no iCloud sync, and waypoints and tracks cannot be shared. Only bundled places and your camp can be shared.
- If Settings shows a Storage row, a waypoint or track file could not be read. Tap it to see what the app recovered.
Apple Watch
- The watch app installs with the iPhone app. If it is missing, open the Watch app on your iPhone, find Glamis Guide under Available Apps and tap Install. It requires watchOS 11 or later.
- Mark Camp and Clear Camp work from the watch, and camp stays in sync with your iPhone both ways. The bearing screen shows an arrow and distance to camp, a place or a waypoint, with optional On Course Taps.
- Start Ride runs a workout session so GPS stays on with your wrist down. Back To Start retraces your path to where the ride began. End Ride shows a summary and sends the ride to your iPhone as a track.
- Save Rides To Health keeps each ride as a workout in the Health app. It is off by default; turn it on in the watch app's settings. Health permission is asked for the first time you turn it on.
- Complications: Sunset countdown, Wind, Temperature and Camp. Weather on the watch comes from your iPhone; if it reads as stale, open the iPhone app once.
- The watch Siri phrases are listed under Siri below.
Widgets and controls
- Home Screen widgets: Glamis Actions (medium) with Mark Camp, Waypoint and Record; Camp (small) with distance and direction to your camp; and Quick Action (small), which you set to Mark Camp, Navigate To Camp, New Waypoint or Record Track by long-pressing it and choosing Edit Widget.
- Lock Screen widgets: Camp (circular and rectangular) and Quick Action (circular).
- Controls on iOS 18: Mark Camp, Navigate To Camp, New Waypoint and Record Track can be added to Control Center, the Lock Screen and the Action button. Find them under Glamis Guide in the controls gallery.
- Long-press the app icon for Create Waypoint, Start Recording Track and Mark Camp, which becomes Navigate Back To Camp once a camp is marked.
- Widgets refresh on the system's schedule, so the Camp distance can lag a little behind the app. Opening the app refreshes them.
Siri
No setup is needed. Each phrase works with "in Glamis Guide" at the end, and [place] is any place name, such as Oldsmobile Hill.
iPhone and iPad
| Action | Say |
|---|---|
| Show a place | “Show [place] in Glamis Guide” · “Show me [place] in Glamis Guide” · “Where is [place] in Glamis Guide” · “Find [place] in Glamis Guide” |
| Navigate | “Navigate to [place] in Glamis Guide” · “Take me to [place] in Glamis Guide” · “Directions to [place] in Glamis Guide” · “Start navigation to [place] in Glamis Guide” |
| End navigation | “Stop navigation in Glamis Guide” · “Stop navigating in Glamis Guide” · “End navigation in Glamis Guide” |
| Save your spot | “Save this place in Glamis Guide” · “Mark this spot in Glamis Guide” · “Save my location in Glamis Guide” |
| Mark camp | “Mark camp in Glamis Guide” · “Mark my camp in Glamis Guide” · “Set camp in Glamis Guide” |
| Start recording | “Start recording in Glamis Guide” · “Record my ride in Glamis Guide” · “Start recording a track in Glamis Guide” |
| Stop recording | “Stop recording in Glamis Guide” · “Stop recording my ride in Glamis Guide” · “End recording in Glamis Guide” |
Apple Watch
| Action | Say |
|---|---|
| Mark camp | “Mark camp in Glamis Guide” · “Mark my camp in Glamis Guide” |
| Navigate to camp | “Take me to camp in Glamis Guide” · “Navigate to camp in Glamis Guide” |
| Distance to a place | “How far to [place] in Glamis Guide” · “How far is [place] in Glamis Guide” |
Sharing and the App Clip
- Share on a place card or your camp sends a glamisguide.app link through Messages or any app. With Glamis Guide installed, the link opens the place or drops a pin at the shared spot.
- Without the app, the link opens the Glamis Guide App Clip on iPhone: a map with the spot, the distance and an arrow, and a button to get the full app. On a computer, the link opens a web page for that place.
- A shared camp is a snapshot of where camp was when you shared it. Moving camp later does not update the link.
- If a link opens in Safari instead of the app, make sure Glamis Guide is up to date, then open the link again from Messages.
Alerts
- Closed Area Alerts: a banner and a haptic when you ride into a closed area, and a warning when a route crosses one. Settings, then Notifications, then Closed Area Alerts.
- Weather Alerts: active National Weather Service alerts for the dunes, shown in the app as a map banner and in the forecast. They are not push notifications. Settings, then Notifications, then Weather Alerts.
- Off Route Alerts: a sound when you drift off a track you are following. Settings, then Notifications, then Off Route Alerts.
Report a wrong or missing spot
Know a camp, hill or landmark that is missing, misplaced or described wrong? Email support@glamisguide.app with the spot name, what needs fixing, and coordinates or a dropped pin if you have them, or use Submit Feedback on the place's card. Corrections ship in app updates.
Requirements
Glamis Guide requires an iPhone or iPad running iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 or later. The Apple Watch app requires watchOS 11 or later. Controls require iOS 18.