The Mapsiti guide

What Mapsiti is

A travel itinerary app for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro. It draws routes between your stops, estimates distance and time, and syncs through iCloud — no account, no password.

One app, four layouts

Travel Animation is available on iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro — not on Mac. Everything else is identical everywhere.

Getting started

First launch shows a short four-screen introduction you can skip. Then four things set you up.

1. 1Sign in to iCloudso trips sync and can be shared
2. 2Allow locationso the map can show where you are
3. 3Allow notificationsso you know when a trip is shared with you
4. 4Create a tripand start adding stops

The in-app version of this guide lives in Settings › Tutorials & Help.

Itineraries

An itinerary is one trip: a name, a date range, optional notes, and an ordered list of stops. Your list shows every trip you own and every trip shared with you.

1. 1Tap +in the itineraries list
2. 2Name itadd dates and notes if you like
3. 3Createthe trip opens on the map

From a trip you can rename it, change dates and notes, Duplicate it as the basis for a similar one, or delete it.

Free: one itinerary of your own. Trips shared with you never count.

Adding stops

A stop is a place on your route. Four ways to add one.

• SearchType a place, an address or a contact.
• Tap a placeAny point of interest Apple Maps already shows.
• Long-pressHold anywhere on the map. Pick a nearby place or keep the exact spot.
• Custom pinA long-press can also save your own title and address — a trailhead, a meeting point.

Three search modes

• Placesbusinesses, landmarks
• Addressfull or partial
• Contactsaddresses on contact cards

Contacts search is off by default — turn it on in Settings › Privacy. Search pins stay on the map until you tap Clear search pins.

Free: four stops per itinerary you own. The fifth prompts an upgrade.

Inside a stop

Open a stop — from the list or by tapping its numbered pin — and everything attached to that place is in one card.

Name & address

Tap the name to edit; the pencil re-picks the address.

Duration

Days and hours here. The rest of the trip shifts to match.

Notes

Free text, with a full-screen rich editor.

Photos

From your library or the camera. Multi-select to delete in bulk.

Checklist

Tick-off items for this stop.

Phone & website

Carried over from the listing, tappable.

Activities & reservations

The things you do at a stop: a hike, a museum, a dinner booking, a hotel check-in. Each carries a title, an address, a date, a time and photos.

1. 1Open a stoptap Add activity… or Add reservation…
2. 2Give it a titleaddress, date and time are optional
3. 3Attach photosif useful
4. 4Saveit appears in the stop's list and on the map

Drag items to reorder them, tap one to edit, or move it to a different stop from its editor — handy when a booking turns out to belong to the next town. An item needs a title or an address to appear on the map.

Routes & transport

Mapsiti draws a route between consecutive stops and reports the distance and time of each leg. The mode is set per leg — a trip can drive, then fly, then walk.

• Carroad directions
• Walkingwalking directions
• Transitreal schedules where Apple Maps has them
• Bicyclewalking route, cycling speed
• Airplanea great-circle arc

1. 1Open the itinerarystops show with the legs between them
2. 2Tap a leg's iconto change the mode for that leg
3. 3Routes recalculateon their own, or manually if Auto-calculate is off

Reordering stops

No road between two points? The leg is drawn straight and marked as an estimate. Routes are cached, so reopening a trip is instant. Units and the default mode live in Settings › Routes.

Calendar

See the trip by day inside the app, or export it to Apple Calendar so it sits alongside the rest of your life.

Add to Calendar

1. 1Open the trip's actionschoose Add to Calendar
2. 2Pick a calendaror let Mapsiti create one named after the trip
3. 3Doneeach stop becomes an all-day event; later changes sync

Calendar access is requested the first time. If refused, grant it in the system Settings app.

A stop on the map

Open a stop and the map zooms to fit that stop and everything attached to it — nothing else from the trip.

How an item finds its place

1. Saved coordinateif the item has one
2. Its addressotherwise
3. Its titlesearched near the stop

Once resolved, the location is saved — reopening is instant and works offline. An item that can't be placed anywhere near its stop is left off the map rather than shown somewhere wrong.

Map features

Pinch to zoom, drag to pan, tilt and rotate with the usual Maps gestures.

Map styles

Photos

Attach photos to stops, activities and reservations. Every image in a trip also collects into one album — in the app and in Apple Photos, named after the trip.

Geotagged pins. Photos with GPS data appear as thumbnails on the map. Hide them per trip if they clutter the view.

Permissions. The album needs full photo access: Settings › Photos › Mapsiti › All Photos.

Photos stay on this device. They are not copied to your other devices or to people you share with — see What syncs.

AI Assistant

In the Assistant tab of any trip. It already knows your stops, so there's nothing to paste in.

1. Plan a tripdescribe where, when and what you like — it proposes stops, activities and bookings you add in one tap
2. Chat about itask follow-ups; it updates existing items instead of duplicating them
3. Get recommendationswith a stop saved, it suggests places along your route

What it sees

The assistant is off until you accept a consent screen. The provider is Anthropic, as a subcontractor: it processes data only to produce the reply, gains no rights over it and does not train on it. Free: 5 messages per trip and 5 requests per month, resetting on the 1st. Premium: unlimited messages, 300 requests a month.

Sharing a trip

Any itinerary can be shared through iCloud. Sharing is free, and so is accepting a trip someone sends you.

1. 1Tap Sharein the itinerary
2. 2Choose a levelView only or Can edit
3. 3Send the inviteMessages, Mail, AirDrop, anything

Recipients tap the link, then Accept Invitation. The sharing screen lists everyone with access; remove people or change their level any time.

Travel Animation

An animated fly-through of the route, captioning each stop with its name, its place in the trip, how long you stay and the leg that reaches it. Export it as a movie.

Settings

Default Transport offers three modes; bicycle and airplane are chosen per leg.

What syncs

Sync runs through your own iCloud — no Mapsiti account, no password. Not everything travels, and it matters when you switch devices or share.

Free vs Premium

Two limits, and they apply only to trips you create. Trips shared with you never count, and you can always follow a friend's trip without subscribing.

Premium is a monthly or yearly subscription from Settings › Subscribe to Premium, managed in your Apple account. Earlier one-off lifetime purchases keep Premium permanently.

Troubleshooting