The Outdooractive app for Android watches

With the Wear OS app for Android smartwatches, you can check your hiking or cycling stats right on your watch—no need to pull out your phone. View your location on the map, record your routes, and review your saved data. To use the Watch App, make sure the app is installed on both your phone and your smartwatch, and that you’re logged into your account on your smartphone.

NEW: Major Update for the Outdooractive Wear OS App

In early October 2025, we’ll be rolling out a major update to our Wear OS app. With a new, simplified design, we’ve built the app to focus on what really matters when you’re outdoors: reliable navigation that’s easy to use.

Here’s what’s new:

No more standalone mode: From now on, your watch will need to stay connected to your phone while recording and navigating routes. Tracking with just the watch will no longer be supported.
Your phone as mission control: Search for and select your route on your phone, start navigation there – then stash it in your pack while your watch handles the directions.
Improved battery life: The update helps your watch last longer during tracking and navigation.
Stronger performance: The Wear OS app is now faster and more reliable. No more crashes or sluggish performance – your app is as ready for the trail as you are.

How Outdooractive works on Android watches

Android smartwatches run on Wear OS, developed by Google and Samsung. To use Outdooractive on your smartwatch, first pair the watch with your smartphone. Then install Outdooractive on both devices from the Google Play Store and sign in with your Outdooractive account. Once the devices are connected, you’re ready to start tracking and navigating your routes right away.

Pair your smartwatch with your smartphone

To use your watch together with your smartphone, you’ll need to connect the two devices first.

Check connections: Make sure Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are enabled on both your phone and your watch. Keep them close together.
Pair the devices: In most cases, the watch will automatically show up on your phone. Just follow the prompts to pair them. If it doesn’t appear, open your phone’s Bluetooth settings and select the watch from the list of available devices.
Install the app: To use Outdooractive, install the Outdooractive app from the Google Play Store on both your watch and smartphone.

Once installed, the app should show up on your smartwatch—and you’re ready to go!

Displaying the map and current location on the watch

The map you select on your smartphone will also appear on your watch. You can view it in full screen, move it around, and zoom in or out. Your GPS location is shown as well. From your phone, you can also switch between different map layers and styles—those changes will automatically sync to your watch. However, the zoom level can be adjusted separately on each device.

Starting, stopping, and displaying tracks

You can start, pause, and stop track recordings from either your smartphone or your watch. The recording itself runs through your phone, while your watch displays the track.

On your watch, you’ll see the same stats shown on your phone. To customize which stats are displayed, make the change on your phone: tap the three-dot button in the sheet at the bottom of the screen, then select “Customize your track data” to adjust the settings.

Available tracking stats on your watch:

Duration
Distance
Ascent
Descent
Altitude
Position

When you finish recording, your track automatically syncs and will appear in your profile under “Tracks.”

Navigating with your watch

To start navigation, first select your route or planned trip on your smartphone and tap “Navigation.” If your watch is paired with your phone, the navigation is controlled by your smartphone, but turn-by-turn directions, route details, and your current position will still appear on your watch.

Keep in mind: your phone needs to stay nearby during navigation—for example, in your backpack.

Good to know

Outdooractive supports Wear OS 4.0 and above.

The available features depend on your smartwatch model. Your watch doesn’t need built-in GPS to record tracks or navigate—your smartphone handles that part. The watch simply displays the data captured and sent by your phone.

If your watch doesn’t have a compass, a directional arrow won’t be shown during navigation.

Whilst we recommend Wear OS 4.0 or higher for optimal performance, it can be installed on Wear OS3 devices.

1. Installing the app:

You can still install the app on both the watch and on the phone – you can find it in Google Play Store on the phone and on your watch.

2. Using the map:

The watch gets the map from your phone.

You can zoom the map by swiping up and down.
You can go full screen via a single tap on the map. This allows you to pan the map.
Exiting full screen via another tap will automatically pan back to your GPS location.

Closing the screen is just like closing any other screen on your Wear OS apps – swipe right (when not in full screen).

The Outdooractive app for Android watches
Photo: Outdooractive Editors
The Outdooractive app for Android watches
Photo: Outdooractive Editors

3. Recording a track:

While recording, you can see your track on the map by swiping left.
Swipe left again to see statistics about your recording.
The watch shows the same statistics as the phone. When you change the stats you want to see on your phone, the watch will reflect those changes.

The Outdooractive app for Android watches
Photo: Outdooractive Editors
The Outdooractive app for Android watches
Photo: Outdooractive Editors

You can pause, resume, and end tracks directly from the watch.
When you stop your recording, the track will be stored on the phone. There you can decide to rename it, or add more information.

The Outdooractive app for Android watches
Photo: Outdooractive Editors
The Outdooractive app for Android watches
Photo: Outdooractive Editors

4. Navigation

To navigate a route, please start navigation on your phone. Once you are navigating, you can pause, resume and end navigation on your watch.
The watch will show navigation instruction and a navigational arrow pointing you in the direction you need to go.
You will get notifications of approaching turns and when you are off the route.

The Outdooractive app for Android watches
Photo: Outdooractive Editors
The Outdooractive app for Android watches
Photo: Outdooractive Editors

Troubleshooting:

If anything goes wrong with the watch app or the watch itself, you can always rely on your phone. The phone stores the maps for offline use, your tracks, and routes. It also does the recording and navigation, even when you started it using the watch.
For the watch app to work, it needs to be connected to the phone, and Outdooractive installed on your phone. Make sure your watch is near your phone, and have bluetooth enabled on your phone. Check with the watch’s companion app on the phone if they are connected.
If this doesn’t help, you can try restarting your watch. This will not interrupt any recording or navigation.
If you want to use the map when offline, you must save the map on your phone. As long as the watch is near the phone, the watch can display the map.
If the controls on the watch are not pausing, resuming, or stopping the track/navigation - do the action on your phone instead as there is likely a break in connection with the phone. The watch will update once the connection is restored.