Map it your way.
Know where everything lives.

Put a pin in it is a map organization app. You use it to save places, label them clearly, group them into maps and layers, and build richer map collections over time.

The simplest use is saving pins. The fuller version of the app also lets you:

• Organize pins into maps and layers
• Search both your own pins and live places
• Build routes with multiple stops
• Draw lines, polygons, and circles
• Track movement and save the result
• Add photos and files to pins and shapes
• Import and export mapping data
• Sync through iCloud and share individual maps
• Show weather and elevation information on pins

When you open the app, the main screen is a full-screen map. Most of what you do starts there.

The bottom controls are the core workflow:

• Settings: change app behavior, data options, sync, and add-ons
• Maps: create and organize maps and layers
• Pin: save a pin at the center of the map
• Search: find saved pins or real-world places
• Location: switch between location-following modes

The location button cycles through:

• Center on current location
• Follow current location
• Follow current location and heading

If you are brand new, the easiest first session looks like this:

1. Move the map to an area you care about.
2. Tap Pin.
3. Save a place with a name, icon, and color.
4. Make a few more pins.
5. Open Maps and create a map or layer once you have enough items to organize.
6. Use Search when you want to jump back to something quickly.

The app also includes an onboarding flow that explains the first steps and can be replayed later from Settings.

Pins are the foundation of the app. Everything else is optional.

Add a pin

One common way to save a place is from the main map:

1. Move the map so the center marker sits on the location you want.
2. Tap the large Pin button.
3. Enter a name.
4. Add notes if you want.
5. Pick an icon.
6. Pick a color category.
7. Optionally assign the pin to a map and layer.
8. Save it.

That is not the only way to add a pin. You can also create pins from search results when you find a real-world place or want to jump to something quickly before saving it.

If Show points of interest is enabled in the View settings, you can also tap a visible point of interest directly on the map and turn that selection into a saved pin.

Each pin stores its position along with the information you assign to it, such as name, notes, icon, color category, map, layer, and creation date.

Choose icons and colors

Pins are meant to be easy to scan visually.

You can:

• Use built-in icon categories
• Use a custom two-character icon, such as initials or a short label
• Assign a color category instead of just a raw color

Color categories are useful because they can carry meaning across your whole library. For example:

You are not locked into the default names. You can rename the color categories to fit your own system.

• Red for urgent
• Green for confirmed
• Blue for ideas
• Yellow for places to review later

Add notes, photos, and files

Pins are not limited to a title and coordinates.

You can attach:

• Notes
• Photos
• Files

This is useful for things like reservation screenshots, reference images, tickets, checklists, PDFs, or any supporting material tied to a place.

View pin details

When you open a saved pin, the details view can show:

• Name
• Notes
• Coordinates
• Local time at that location
• Elevation, when linked
• Map and layer assignment
• Attachments

If weather is enabled and unlocked, the selected pin can also show current conditions, the next 24 hours of hourly forecast, and a longer daily forecast.

Edit or delete a pin

Pins are easy to change later. You can update:

• Name
• Notes
• Icon
• Color category
• Map
• Layer
• Attachments
• Position

You can also delete a pin from its edit view.

Once you have more than a handful of saved places, organization starts to matter.

The app gives you three main ways to sort pins:

• Maps for big groupings
• Layers for sub-groups inside a map
• Color categories for visual meaning across everything

Use maps for major collections

A map is your top-level bucket. Good examples:

• Travel
• Work
• Restaurants
• Home projects
• Hiking
• Wishlist

Each map has:

• A name
• A color
• A visibility toggle
• Optional sharing state when that map is shared through iCloud

Use layers for sub-groups

Layers sit inside maps and keep related items separated without needing a whole new map.

Example:

• Map: Italy Trip
• Layers: Places to Visit, Hotels, Food, Train Stops

Each layer has:

• A name
• A parent map
• A visibility toggle

Use the map organizer

The Maps screen is where you manage structure. It lets you:

• Create maps
• Create layers
• Rename maps and layers
• Delete maps and layers
• Reorder maps
• Reorder layers
• Expand and collapse sections
• Show or hide maps
• Show or hide layers
• View items without a map
• View items without a layer

This is also where shared maps are clearly marked, so you can tell whether a map is local, shared, owned by you, or shared with you by someone else.

Reorganize in bulk

When your library grows, bulk actions matter.

The organizer supports selecting multiple items so you can:

• Edit selected pins and shapes together
• Move items into a different map or layer
• Delete several items at once
• Reorder pins inside a group

This is especially useful after importing older data or cleaning up a large trip plan.

Manage color categories

Color categories are not fixed. You can manage them from settings and use them as a lightweight sorting system across maps.

You can:

• Add categories
• Rename categories
• Change category colors
• Reset categories to defaults
• Delete a category and move its pins into another category

Search is designed for two jobs:

• Find something you already saved
• Find a real-world place and turn it into a saved pin

That means search is not just for looking things up later. It is also one of the main ways to add new pins.

Search your own pins

When you type in the search screen, the app looks through saved pins and related subtitle information such as their map or layer context.

From a saved-pin result, you can:

• Jump the map to that pin
• Open or use the result immediately
• Start navigation to the place

Search real places

The same search screen can also show live place results from Apple Maps.

That includes things like:

• Addresses
• Businesses
• Landmarks
• Other points of interest

From a place result, you can:

• Center the map there
• Add it directly as a new pin

This makes search one of the fastest ways to build a map without manually positioning the center marker first.

Add a pin from a point of interest on the map

If Show points of interest is enabled in the View settings, you can also work directly from the map instead of opening search first.

Tap a visible point of interest on the map, and the app will open the place selection flow so you can turn that selection into a saved pin.

This is useful when you are browsing an area visually and want to save something you notice on the map itself.

Pins are the simplest map items, but they are not the only ones.

Routes

Routes are saved path objects made from stops.

You can:

• Name a route
• Add notes
• Add at least two stops
• Reorder stops
• Add intermediate stops
• Choose Car or Walking
• Assign the route to a map and layer
• Adjust route appearance

Stops can come from:

• Live place search
• Existing saved pins
• Your current location
• Directly chosen map points

Saved routes can also be sent to Apple Maps or Google Maps for navigation. The app warns that a navigation app may recalculate the route differently because of traffic, closures, or other live conditions.

Shapes

The app supports several drawn map objects:

• Polyline: an open path
• Polygon: a closed area
• Circle: a center point plus radius
• Route: managed through its own route workflow

Shapes can store:

• Name
• Notes
• Map
• Layer
• Attachments
• Line color
• Line width
• Line opacity
• Line style
• Fill color and fill opacity, where applicable

The app also calculates measurements automatically, including length, area, circumference, and radius where relevant.

Tracking

Tracking records your movement and saves the result as route-like map content.

From the tracking sheet, you can choose an interval such as:

• 2 seconds
• 5 seconds
• 10 seconds
• 30 seconds

Shorter intervals produce more detail but use more battery.

While tracking is active, the app records points live. When you stop, you can either save the track or discard it. Tracking requires location permission.

Advanced editing is where the app moves beyond simple pin dropping. If you mostly save places, you may not need it often. If you refine maps carefully, draw boundaries, or fix geometry after the fact, this is one of the most important parts of the app.

What advanced editing is for

Advanced editing covers tools that change existing map content in a more deliberate way. That includes:

• Repositioning pins after they were saved
• Drawing shapes directly on the map
• Adjusting an existing line, polygon, or circle
• Transforming map objects without deleting and recreating them
• Working with route and shape geometry as its own editable content

When advanced editing is available, a floating tool button appears on the map and expands into the drawing tools.

Drawing workflow

The drawing tools let you place geometry directly on the map:

• Polyline for paths
• Polygon for areas
• Circle for radius-based regions
• Route for route creation

The basic pattern is:

1. Open the advanced editing tools.
2. Choose the kind of object you want to create.
3. Place points on the map.
4. Confirm the geometry.
5. Name it, style it, and optionally assign it to a map and layer.

Editing existing shapes

Once a shape exists, you do not need to throw it away to make a small correction.

You can reopen a shape and change:

• Name
• Notes
• Map and layer assignment
• Attachments
• Line and fill styling
• Geometry

This matters when you want to clean up imported data, refine a hand-drawn area, or adjust a route boundary after seeing it on the actual map.

Moving and transforming

Advanced editing is especially useful when the content is almost right, but not quite.

Examples:

• A pin is slightly off and should be moved to the exact entrance instead of the center of a building
• A polygon needs to cover the real parcel boundary more accurately
• A circle radius needs to expand or shrink without starting over
• A polyline should follow the correct path after a rough first draft

The transform workflow is meant to preserve the item itself while changing its geometry. That means you keep the same object, notes, map assignment, and styling instead of replacing it with a new one.

Styling shapes clearly

Good map editing is not only about position. It is also about readability.

Use styling to communicate meaning:

• Solid lines for confirmed paths
• Dashed lines for ideas or approximate boundaries
• Light fills for zones
• Strong contrast for important overlays

If you use maps for planning, field work, travel, or collaboration, this makes a large difference once several shapes exist on screen at once.

When to use advanced editing instead of pins

Use a pin when you are saving a place.

Use advanced editing when you are saving:

• A path
• An area
• A radius
• A refined route
• A corrected geometry that needs more than a simple label

Settings is where you shape how the app behaves. The exact layout is split into sections.

View

The View section controls how the map behaves and looks.

It includes options such as:

• Show or hide points of interest
• Show or hide the center marker
• Show or hide advanced editing controls
• Switch map type between Normal, Satellite, and Muted
• Choose the preferred navigation app
• Choose the starting country
• Set the default camera height

Pin

The Pin section controls how saved pins appear.

It includes:

• Pin size
• Pin opacity
• Label visibility
• Weather visibility
• Access to color category management

If points of interest are visible on the map, tapping one of them can open the flow to create a saved pin from that place.

Data

The Data section is where data movement and enrichment features live.

It includes actions such as:

• Export full backup
• Import full backup
• Import file
• Import Apple Maps URL
• Export map
• Export GPX or KML
• Turn Link elevation data on or off

When elevation linking is enabled and the add-on is unlocked, the app fills in elevation values for new pins and can enrich older pins that do not already have data.

Sync and share

The Sync and share section includes:

• iCloud sync on or off
• Sharing actions for maps

You can also open sharing directly from the Maps organizer when working with a specific map.

Add-ons

The Add-ons section shows available purchases and lets you restore them.

About

The About section includes things like:

• Replay tutorial
• Contact options

The app supports both complete backups and lighter data exchange.

Full backup

Use a full backup when you want the safest, most complete archive of your data.

A full backup can include:

• Pins
• Shapes
• Routes
• Maps
• Layers
• Color categories
• Pin display settings
• App-level settings included by the backup format
• Attachment data

A full backup import can replace the current library after confirmation, so treat it as a serious restore action rather than a casual import.

File import

The app can import common geospatial formats, including:

• JSON
• GPX
• KML
• KMZ

Use this when bringing in data from another mapping tool or from a previous export.

Apple Maps URL import

If someone sends you an Apple Maps link, the app can turn that link into saved app content. This is one of the quicker ways to bring a place into your own library without manually retyping anything.

Map export

You can export map data in different forms depending on what you need next.

Export options can include:

• App JSON
• GPX
• KML
• KMZ

The generated filename can reflect either all maps or the current selection.

Simple text-based transfer

There is also a lighter CSV-style path for pin import and export. Use that for simpler transfers when you do not need full-fidelity app data.

The app has two related but separate cloud features:

• Personal iCloud sync
• Shared maps

Personal iCloud sync

When sync is enabled, the app keeps your local data in sync with iCloud.

That includes:

• Uploading local changes
• Observing remote changes
• Merging where possible
• Detecting conflicts
• Letting you choose how to resolve a conflict

Conflict resolution can include choices such as:

• Merge
• Use cloud version
• Use local version

If iCloud is temporarily unavailable, local data remains your working copy until sync resumes.

Shared maps

Sharing works at the map level, not at the whole-library level.

You can:

• Share an existing map
• Create a new map and share it immediately
• Invite people through Apple's iCloud sharing flow
• Allow read-only or collaborative access
• Keep sharing private

When someone accepts a share, the map appears in the organizer after it syncs in.

Shared roles

A shared map can show whether you are:

• The owner
• A collaborator with edit access
• A read-only participant

Owners and collaborators can edit shared content. Read-only participants can open the map but cannot change it.

Local copy behavior

If sharing stops, what happens depends on your role.

For the owner:

• Ending sharing removes the CloudKit-backed shared state and keeps a local copy

For a participant:

• Leaving the shared map removes that shared map from the local store instead of turning it into a personal copy

The app uses one-time purchase add-ons. This keeps advanced features available without forcing everything into a subscription.

Free version limits

The free version currently includes:

• Up to 100 pins
• Up to 4 maps

The app warns you as you approach those limits and blocks further additions once you reach them.

Available add-ons

Unlimited Pins and Maps

Unlocks the free-version limits so you can build a larger library.

Advanced Editing

Unlocks the richer editing tools, including drawing and advanced map-object editing workflows.

Sync, Share and Collaborate

Unlocks iCloud sync, shared maps, and collaboration features.

Export Options

Unlocks export workflows such as map export and GPX, KML, or KMZ output.

Elevation Data

Unlocks automatic elevation linking for pins.

Weather

Unlocks weather information on pins, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, and a longer daily forecast.

All Current Features

Unlocks the currently available add-ons as a single bundle.

Restore purchases

Purchases are tied to your Apple Account and can be restored from the add-ons area in settings.

A good default structure

For most people, the cleanest system is:

• Use maps for broad themes
• Use layers for sub-groups inside a theme
• Use color categories for quick status or type
• Use icons for instant visual recognition

When to use each data format

• Use Full backup for a complete archive or device migration
• Use App JSON for app-specific exchange
• Use GPX, KML, or KMZ for other mapping tools
• Use CSV-style transfer for simple pin lists

When the app feels easiest

The app usually feels most natural when you work in this order:

1. Save places as pins.
2. Group them into maps.
3. Add layers once a map becomes crowded.
4. Use search to jump around quickly.
5. Use advanced editing only when a pin is not enough.

Useful things to remember

• Search is often the fastest way to add a place if you already know its name
• Pins are best for places, shapes are best for paths and areas
• Shared maps are ideal when only one part of your library needs collaboration
• Tracking uses location access and can affect battery life depending on interval
• Weather and elevation are optional enhancements, not required for the core app