Will it work on the tops where there’s no signal?
Yes — it’s built for exactly that. The full checklist, interactive map, all 225+ routes, and GPS tracking all work offline. Weather forecasts cache on your phone before you leave, so you can check summit conditions even when you’re out of reception. The only things that need connectivity are social sharing and fetching fresh weather data.
Why not just use a normal weather app?
Most weather apps forecast for valley towns like Keswick or Ambleside. On a summit like Helvellyn at 950 metres, things are very different — temperature drops roughly 1°C for every 150 metres of altitude, wind picks up significantly on exposed ridges, and visibility can be clear below but zero on the tops. The Wainwright Companion adjusts Met Office data for each fell’s actual altitude and gives you a green, amber, or red safety rating so you know what you’re walking into.
How does it know which fell I should do next?
Plan Ahead looks at your remaining un-bagged fells and scores them across a 7-day forecast. It factors in summit weather, how far each fell is from you, available daylight, whether nearby fells can be combined into one walk, and whether you’ve been to that region recently. The best options surface for each day with a recommended time window — so instead of spending your evening cross-referencing weather apps and maps, you just open the app.
What if my phone dies or the app crashes mid-walk?
Your walk survives. Hike resume preserves your GPS track, distance, and time through force-quits, crashes, and phone restarts. When you reopen the app it picks up where you left off, with a bridge line reconnecting any gap. Works even if your battery dies and you recharge on the summit.
Do I need to find and import GPX routes?
No. Over 225 routes come pre-loaded covering all 214 fells — circular, out-and-back, and point-to-point. Each has an elevation profile, surface breakdown, difficulty rating, and a time estimate adjusted to your walking pace. Pick a fell and go. If you want something custom, the route planner lets you build multi-fell days from over 150 curated car parks.
What do I actually get for free?
The full 214-fell checklist, interactive map with every fell colour-coded by region, nearby suggestions, manual completion logging with notes and ratings, and iCloud sync. That’s more than most Wainwright apps offer in total. Companion+ at £8.95 (one-off) adds follow-along routes, Outlying Fells, achievements, stats, and shareable cards. Pro at £17.95/year adds summit weather, GPS navigation, Plan Ahead, the route planner, summit detection, and Apple Health. There’s also a monthly option at £2.49.
I already use OS Maps — do I need both?
They do different things. OS Maps is a mapping and navigation tool. The Companion adds what OS Maps doesn’t have: altitude-adjusted summit weather, Plan Ahead scoring your remaining fells by conditions, automatic summit detection, 90+ achievements tied to the Wainwright challenge, and a progress tracker with social features for baggers. A lot of people run both — OS Maps for the tiles, the Companion for everything specific to the round.
Can I plan a day covering several fells?
Yes. The route planner lets you drop multiple summits as waypoints, pick a car park from over 150 curated spots, and generate a hiking-aware route. Drag waypoints to reorder, and the distance, ascent, and time estimate update as you go. Then navigate the whole thing with GPS tracking and off-route alerts.
Are the Outlying Fells included?
All 116 of them. Companion+ and Pro include the Outlying Fells alongside the main 214, with their own checklist, map markers, and completion tracking. They sit on the same interactive map with a toggle to show or hide them.
Does it count toward my Apple Health rings?
Yes. Every GPS-tracked walk saves automatically as a Hiking workout — distance, elevation, active energy, and your full route. No setup needed. Your fell walks just show up in Health.
Can my walking partner see my progress?
If you both use the app, yes. Follow each other, share completion cards, tag each other as companions on walks, and compare progress on a leaderboard. Everything social is optional — you connect with a share code, not your contacts, and nothing is public unless you choose.
What happens to my data?
It stays on your device and syncs to your private iCloud account. No analytics, no ads, no tracking. Nothing is shared unless you opt into social features. You can delete everything from Settings at any time. Full details in the privacy policy.