See how far
you've explored.

When you tap the record button, WAU uses your phone's GPS to trace your route. A colored trail is drawn along your path on the map, like a fog that reveals where you've been. The more you move, the more of the map you uncover.

Yes. WAU keeps recording when the app is minimized or your screen is off. That said, keeping the app in the foreground gives you the best GPS accuracy and more detailed trails. Background recording is great for longer trips where you don't need to watch the screen.

For the best experience on Android, WAU needs:

Location “Allow all the time” — so recording continues in the background. Settings → Apps → WAU → Permissions → Location → Allow all the time.

Battery optimization disabled — Android may stop background apps to save power. Settings → Apps → WAU → Battery → Unrestricted (or “Don't optimize”). Exact steps vary by manufacturer.

Without these, Android may pause or stop recording while the app is in the background.

Grant “Always” location permission when the app asks. That's what allows background recording. iOS handles battery management itself, so no extra settings are needed.

Recording and exploration tracking work completely offline. Your GPS tracks and fog are saved locally. You only need a connection to load base map tiles for areas you're viewing for the first time; once loaded they're cached. Public places also need a connection, and only when you tap to load them.

Campsites, beaches, viewpoints and other spots shared by WAU users around the world. Pan the map to where you're headed and tap the cloud button to load them for that area. They're never fetched in the background.

To share one of your own, open a saved place and tap Make Public. A moderator reviews it, then it's published anonymously. Nothing links it to you or your device.

Sharing is one-way: an approved place can't be made private again, and removing it later takes a deletion request. Think of it as a gift to other explorers.

The quickest way is straight from the map: press and hold anywhere on it, then tap Save Place. The spot is added to My Places without leaving the map.

You can also open the menu, tap My Places, then ＋ New: Search for an address or place name, enter exact Coordinates, save your Current location, or Scan QR from a friend.

You can attach photos to any place, and organise them into groups and categories.

Open My Places, tap the place, then tap Share. That generates a QR code holding the place details.

Your friend opens WAU, goes to My Places → ＋ New → Scan QR, and scans it. The place lands in their collection instantly. No internet required.

A treasure hunt you build yourself, for driving off-road with friends. Open Menu → Games → Collect POIs game.

One person builds the course: tap Start adding places and drop points from the map as you drive. Mark one as the Start and one as the Finish, and sort the rest into your own categories — easy, soft mud, very muddy — each worth points you decide.

Everyone else scans the game code and drives it. The clock starts at the Start point and stops at the Finish, and points are collected automatically as they pass.

By QR code, phone to phone. Tap Show the game code and a rotating code appears — a course is too big for one QR, so it cycles through a few frames. The other phone scans it until it has every frame, then the whole course is loaded.

No internet, no accounts, no server. Nothing about your game leaves the two phones. It works in a forest with no signal, which is where you'll be using it.

Results come back the same way: when a player finishes, their phone shows a code that the person who built the game scans.

To collect points, yes — points are only collected while the map is on screen. You'll be watching it anyway to find the route to the next one.

Your track keeps recording in the background exactly as it always does. Pocket the phone and the drive is still saved; you just won't bank any points until you're looking at it again.

Most points wins. Level on points, the faster run wins. Level on both, it goes to whoever took on the harder ground — a run scoring 50 + 10 beats one scoring 30 + 30. If that still ties, whoever finished first.

Anyone who ran out of time or gave up ranks below everyone who finished, however many points they collected.

Every game has a time limit that ends it by itself, and closing the app doesn't pause the clock — so heading home early costs you the run rather than freezing it.

Open Statistics and you'll find Quests and Badges tabs next to your numbers. Badges are earned for distance walked, area uncovered, altitude climbed, places saved and more, with a few hidden ones you'll have to stumble into.

The quest line runs in chapters, each with its own objectives. Finish one and tap Claim to collect its seal. Explore on consecutive days to build a streak. Miss one and there's a little grace before it resets.

Yes — GPX, KML and GeoJSON files from hiking apps, fitness trackers, or anything that exports GPS tracks. Menu → Import Track, pick your file, and it appears on your map and counts toward your exploration progress.

Settings → Backup & Restore writes a single file with your tracks, fog, places, photos, expenses and settings. Move that file to the new phone and restore it there.

Because nothing is stored in a cloud for you, this backup is your safety net, worth making before you switch devices.

Your tracks, fog, saved places, photos and statistics are stored only on your device. WAU has no user accounts, collects no analytics, and never uploads your location history.

What does leave is what you deliberately send: a place you publish with Make Public, a comment or report you write on a public place, and the map area on screen when you tap to load public places. Each is handled on its own, with nothing kept alongside it that links it back to you.