Ride with GPS is the app we use for all of our Climate Ride events, and once you know a few tricks, it makes the day so much easier. Below are our favorite pro tips, written step by step so they’re easy to follow even if you’re not the most tech-savvy person on two wheels. Pull this up before your next ride and give your settings a once-over — you’ll thank yourself later.
1. Save Your Phone’s Battery
Your phone’s battery is precious out on the road, and a few small habits make a big difference.
Turn on Airplane Mode. This is the single biggest battery saver. When your phone is searching for cell signal in rural areas, it burns through battery fast — even if you’re not using any apps. Turning on Airplane Mode stops that search.
- On an iPhone: Swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen to open Control Center, then tap the airplane icon to turn it on (it’ll turn orange/highlighted).
- On an Android phone: Swipe down from the top of your screen (you may need to swipe down twice) to open your Quick Settings, then tap the airplane icon.
Don’t worry — Ride with GPS still tracks your ride and shows your position on the map in Airplane Mode, because GPS doesn’t need cell service to work. Your ride will simply upload later once you’re back in range of wifi or signal.
Download your maps before you leave so you have something to navigate by while in Airplane Mode. See the “Offline Maps” section below for exact steps.
Keep your screen off as much as possible. The screen is the single biggest drain on your battery — more than GPS or navigation. You don’t need to keep staring at your phone; cues will still sound and pop up on your lock screen when a turn is coming.
Turn off Live Logging if you’re heading into a remote area with spotty cell signal. Live Logging lets friends and family track you in real time, but every time it tries to send an update and can’t find signal, it drains your battery. To turn it off or adjust it:
- Tap Record, then Start Ride.
- Tap Tools at the bottom of the screen.
- Tap Share.
- Tap the toggle next to Enable Live Logging to turn it off, or tap Configure Settings to change how often it updates (choosing every 5 or 10 minutes instead of every 30 seconds saves battery).
Turn off Bluetooth if you’re not using a Bluetooth speaker, headphones, or sensor. Do this from your phone’s own Quick Settings menu, the same place you found Airplane Mode.
Turn your phone’s own battery saver mode OFF. It sounds backwards, but your phone’s built-in “Low Power Mode” or “Battery Saver” can actually interfere with the Ride with GPS app running properly in the background. Leave it off and let Ride with GPS manage things.
Bring a battery pack — and actually use it. Don’t wait until your phone is down to 5% to plug in. Top off your battery pack whenever you stop for a break, snack, or lunch, so you always have a buffer left for the end of the day.
2. Get Your Volume and Cues Right
Missing a turn cue because the volume was too low (or too loud and startling) is an easy fix once you know where to look.
To adjust volume while you’re riding:
- While navigating, tap the Tools icon at the bottom of your screen.
- Tap Volume.
- On an iPhone, you can raise or lower the alert and voice volume right on this screen.
- On Android, use your phone’s regular media volume buttons (the physical buttons on the side of your phone) — the app follows your phone’s media volume.
To customize what the cues actually sound like:
- Tap More at the bottom of the app, then Settings (or tap Tools > Settings while you’re already recording).
- Tap Navigation.
- From here you can adjust:
- Navigation Chimes – choose between Original, Hybrid, or Muted sounds.
- Speech Speed (iPhone only) – Slow, Normal, or Fast.
- Alert Distance – choose “Early” if you want more warning before a turn.
- Spoken Alerts – turn this off if you’d rather just hear beeps instead of a voice reading directions.
- Audio Alerts on Phone – turn this off to silence all chimes completely.
3. Manage Your Screen (Handlebar Mode)
Handlebar Mode controls whether your screen stays on while you ride, and how it’s oriented.
- Tap More at the bottom of the app, then Settings.
- Tap Handlebar Mode.
- Keep Screen On – toggle this if you want your screen to stay lit up the whole ride. Just know this uses noticeably more battery.
- Lock in Portrait Orientation – toggle this if you don’t want your screen flipping to landscape when you turn your phone.
Even with your screen off and phone locked, don’t worry — turn cues will still pop up over your lock screen and read themselves aloud when a turn is coming.
4. Getting Started with Navigation
- Find your route — tap Explore to find one nearby, or Library > Routes if you’ve already got one saved.
- Tap the route name to open it.
- Tap the orange Navigate button.
- If you’re not standing at the exact start of the route, the app will ask if you want directions to the start, directions to the nearest point on the route, or if you’d like to start off course and make your own way. Pick whichever makes sense for where you’re standing.
Need to go somewhere new mid-ride? Press and hold your finger anywhere on the map, or type an address into the search bar at the top, and the app will give you turn-by-turn directions there.
5. Downloading Offline Maps (So You Can Navigate Without Signal)
This is one of the best battery- and stress-savers, and it only takes a minute to set up before you head out.
- Open the Ride with GPS app.
- Tap More in the bottom row of icons.
- Tap Offline Maps.
- Tap New Offline Map.
- You’ll see a map with a box on it — drag and pinch/zoom to resize the box so it covers the area you’ll be riding in.
- Tap Download.
- Give it a few minutes to finish downloading while you’re still connected to wifi or cell service (do this the night before or morning of your ride, not on the road).
A few notes:
- This feature requires a Basic or Premium membership — it’s not included in the free version.
- Once it’s downloaded, every route in your library that falls within that map area works offline automatically. You don’t need to download each route one by one.
- If you ever delete and reinstall the app, or switch phones, your saved map areas will still be there under More > Offline Maps — you’ll just need to tap to re-download them.
6. A Few More Good-to-Knows
See exactly where you are on a climb. Open your route or ride, swipe up to expand the summary, and you’ll see the elevation profile near the bottom. Tap anywhere along it and a blue dot will show you exactly where that spot is on the map — great for checking how much of a climb you have left.
Starting Navigation automatically starts recording your ride. You can’t have one without the other. When you’re done, press and hold the orange pause button, tap Finish Ride, then choose to Save or Delete.
Want to see the full list of turns in writing? Tap Cuesheet at the bottom of the navigation screen anytime during your ride.
Custom cues added by the route creator will be read aloud too, just like the regular turn-by-turn directions.
Questions about any of this? Reach out, and we’re happy to help you get set up before your next ride.