GPX→GPS Beta
Invite-only beta · Mac and Windows

Plug in.
Drop.
Drive.

Maps and GPX routes onto your Garmin without the manual, the SD card or BaseCamp. This is the app, doing it.

Apply to beta test How it works
Real recording · DriveSmart 66 · 51 s · Mac shown, Windows identical · keep scrolling

Installing a Tracks4Africa map on a Garmin takes a 43‑page manual, an SD card and three programs. GPX to GPS takes a drag and a drop.

Newer Garmins run Android and are invisible to Garmin's own Mac software, and fiddly from Windows. GPX to GPS talks to them directly from either, packs the map into the one file they read, turns your tracks into routes they can navigate, and sends everything over the cable.

What's on the GPS · routes checked against your line · trip logs · 32 s

What goes in, what comes out.

.gmapi→.img

Drop the installer Tracks4Africa gives you — the Mac .gmapi or the Windows download. It lands on the Garmin as the single .img the unit reads — packed the way Garmin's own installer does it, checked first, backed up if it replaces anything. The same goes for OpenTopoMap, Freizeitkarte, OpenFietsMap, any unlocked Garmin vector map.

.gpx→route

A DriveSmart ignores tracks and only navigates routes, so each track becomes one. Your named stops become announced stops; a quiet shaping point every 30 km keeps the Garmin on your line. Preview, rename, send. Afterwards the app compares the Garmin's version with yours and offers a fix if it strayed.

trip log→.gpx

The Garmin records a track whenever it is on. Bring them home as GPX with time, height and speed for every point — one, several, or the lot.

  • Tracks4Africa
  • Gaia GPS
  • Komoot
  • Calimoto
  • Kurviger
  • MyRouteApp
  • Wikiloc
  • onX
  • BaseCamp
  • OpenTopoMap
  • Freizeitkarte
  • OpenFietsMap
pages in the official Mac guide.
1 drop with GPX to GPS. No SD card. No renamed files. No Garmin programs.
Devices

Garmin only. Tested on the DriveSmart 66. Wanted: DriveSmart 55–86, Overlander, Tread, zūmo XT, Montana 700, Drive 61.

Register as a tester

Mac and Windows apps, both in beta. Free during the beta; pricing to be confirmed.

Inside the app The On the GPS tab: everything the Garmin holds, in one list.
Routes, checked Every route the Garmin imported, compared with the line you planned: on your line, close, or off it.
The On the GPS tab listing six days of routes already on the Garmin, each marked On your line or Close with its distance
Your trips The tracks the GPS recorded by itself, with time, distance and points. Save one or save all as GPX.
The trip logs list: seven tracks the Garmin recorded on 7 November, each with its duration, point count and distance
Files and maps What's in the GPX and Map folders. Tick files to copy them home and clear them off the GPS.
Files and maps on the GPS: the GPX folder is empty, and the Map folder holds T4A Traveller's Africa at 426 MB, with a note to tick it in myMaps
Beta programme

Be first on your Garmin.

The beta is by invitation. Tell us what you drive with and we send an invite with a download link. In return: an honest account of your first trip — what worked, where the GPS strayed, what confused you.

Computer you will test on
Maps you own
Used only to run the beta. No newsletter unless you ask.

Is it free?

During the beta, yes. Pricing afterwards is to be confirmed; testers hear first.

Mac or Windows?

Both. The two apps do the same job the same way; tick the one you will test on, or both.

Garmin's own maps?

No. City Navigator and TopoActive are locked to one unit and install with Garmin Express. GPX to GPS is for everything else.

Can it break my GPS?

It checks every map before sending, never edits the Garmin's own files, and backs up anything it replaces.

Why are my routes so long?

A DriveSmart avoids unpaved roads by default. Untick Unpaved Roads and U‑Turns under Settings → Navigation → Avoidances first. The app reminds you.

BaseCamp or Garmin Express?

Not needed. Quit them before plugging in — only one program can hold the GPS at a time.