Skip to main content

Guru Maps 6.4: your trip as a 3D video, a clearer map and transit routes

· 7 min read
Evgen Bodunov
Founder of Guru Maps

Guru Maps 6.4 is out for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. The Android version is coming soon, and it will appear here first, on our Android download page. A new version of our map engine draws a clearer map, a recorded track turns into a 3D video, transit stops list their routes, and opening hours follow the place's own clock.

Every example below is a real place, shown by the app as you get it today. Here is our climb to the Trzy Korony in the Pieniny, 4.6 km and 493 m up, as Guru Maps shares it:

How Guru Maps counts your climb

· 8 min read
Evgen Bodunov
Founder of Guru Maps

Climb is the number many of us check first after a hike. It sounds simple: add up every meter you went up. It turns out that "add up every meter" is exactly where things go wrong.

In May we went rafting down the Dunajec. A river only flows downhill: about 90 meters in four and a half hours. Guru Maps said we had climbed 1,065 meters.

Here is how Guru Maps counts elevation gain, why that happened, and what we changed in the next update.

Online search can now handle typos

· 3 min read
Evgen Bodunov
Founder of Guru Maps

You have an address, a phone keyboard, and one extra letter. A search for Zlotaa 59 should still give you a chance to find Złote Tarasy at Złota 59 in Warsaw.

Our online search now handles small typing mistakes. When ordinary search does not find a strong match, it checks similar spellings in the map data and looks for places that fit the rest of your query.

Hiking times that actually add up

· 3 min read
Evgen Bodunov
Founder of Guru Maps

A two-kilometer walk through a park and a two-kilometer climb up a mountain should not share the same clock. Until now, most routing engines gave them one anyway — and the result was always the same: the map says twenty minutes, the trail takes an hour.

Guru Maps now does better. Pedestrian directions account for the shape of the ground under your feet, so the estimated time reflects the climb ahead instead of an optimistic flat-walking pace. It's a big win for hiking, where the gap was largest — and every walking route benefits, right down to a hilly street across town.

Meet Guru Maps for Apple Watch

· 3 min read
Evgen Bodunov
Founder of Guru Maps

Guru Maps is now on Apple Watch! 🎉 Keep your iPhone in your pocket and follow your route or record your activity right from your wrist.

The idea is simple: your iPhone plans, your Watch follows and records. You pick a route or start an activity, and the Watch keeps the essentials in front of you — where to turn, how far to go, and how you're doing.

Live activity metrics on Guru Maps for Apple Watch Turn-by-turn directions on Guru Maps for Apple Watch

Gift codes for Universal License

· 2 min read
Yulia Musaeva
Product Manager at Guru Maps

You asked for more flexible ways to buy Guru Maps Pro, and now there is one. Starting today, you can buy gift codes for the Universal License right from your web profile — and hand them out to anyone you like.

No more sharing account credentials to equip a teammate. No more awkward workarounds to gift Pro to a friend. One purchase, up to 50 codes, distributed your way.

Redeem gift code in Guru Maps

Online vector maps and ocean depths

· 2 min read
Yulia Musaeva
Product Manager at Guru Maps

With Guru Maps 6.1, you no longer need to download an entire region just to explore it in detail. Vector map data and elevation are now streamed directly to your device as you browse — open the map and start exploring right away.

What changed​

Online raster maps have been part of Guru Maps for a while. In version 6.1, vector maps and elevation data work the same way — streamed over your internet connection and cached locally so repeated use stays fast.

In practice, this means crisp, detailed vector maps with no waiting for a region download to finish. Just open and go.

Opening hours

· 2 min read
Yulia Musaeva
Product Manager at Guru Maps

Opening hours are essential information when exploring places like shops, cafes, or restaurants. With the latest update, Guru Maps now shows opening hours for objects directly on the map — if they are available on OpenStreetMap.org.

You can instantly see whether a place is open or closed at the moment. Just tap on the object to expand and view the full opening schedule, all in one place.

Opening hours in Guru Maps