Help Center
Getting started
Set up Pebbls and record your first adventure
- What is Pebbls? · A live travel log: record your route, drop Pebbls, and share the journey as a map, journal and video.
- Download the App · Free on iOS and Android; you need it to record, the website to view and manage.
- Creating an Account and Signing In · Sign up by email, activate, sign in, or just browse without an account.
- Your First Launch · The welcome guide, permissions and where the app opens on first launch.
- Starting a New Journey · Name your journey, choose Public or Private, then start your first chapter.
- Starting a New Chapter · Name the chapter, check how you're travelling and tap Start Chapter, all on one screen.
- Placing a Pebbl · Add photos, a title, a note and the place, all on one page, then Save.
- Tips for the Best Experience · Habits that keep your battery going and make your journey look good online.
Mobile app
Every screen and setting in the Pebbls app
- The Record screen · Every button on Record, the screen you track from: the top bar, the map buttons, the controls at the bottom and the menu.
- The bar at the bottom · Feed, Map, Record, Communities and Me: what each tab is for.
- GPS Tracking · Turning GPS recording on and off, auto-stop, the tracking menu and warnings.
- Live and Standard Tracking · Live sends your position as you move; Standard uploads in batches and saves power.
- Transport Modes · Tell Pebbls how you are moving so the route is drawn and coloured correctly.
- The JOURNEY Menu · New and edit chapter, edit journey, flyby films, the full map and switching journeys.
- Editing a Chapter · Change a chapter's name, dates, transport, masks and photos, or end and delete it.
- Editing Journey Details · Title, description, web address, privacy, GPX, ending and deleting a journey.
- App Permissions · Location, notifications, camera and photos: what each is for and how to fix them.
- App Settings · Every setting group in the app and what it changes.
- Offline Maps · Download map areas in advance so the map shows without signal.
- Syncing and Uploads · How GPS points, Pebbls and photos upload, and what the Uploads screen shows.
- Mobile Data Usage · What tracking and uploads cost in mobile data, and the Wi-Fi-only option.
- GPS Signal Tips · Why the signal drops in cars, trains and cities, and what helps.
- Notifications · The bell and Notifications screen, push and email, and what your followers get.
- Troubleshooting · Tracking stopped, route not showing, uploads stuck, app crashing: what to check.
Sharing
Links, QR codes, cards, embeds, GPX, printed maps, flyby films and animated maps
- Share Your Journey · The SHARE panel: links, QR code, adventure card and social posts.
- QR Codes · Let people you meet open your journey by pointing their camera at a code.
- Adventure Card · A shareable image of your route, numbers and profile, sized for social media.
- Embed Your Map · Put a live map of your journey on your own blog or website.
- GPX Export · Download a chapter or journey as a GPX file for other apps and devices.
- Print or Download a Map · Make a page with a journey’s route map, photos and numbers, as a PDF to print or a JPEG to keep.
- Flyby Films · 3D films of your chapters, made automatically and free for everyone.
- Animated maps · A short video of a map drawing your route, made from places you type, a route file or a Pebbls journey.
Website
Viewing and exploring journeys on pebbls.com
- Adventure Feed · The latest Pebbls from everyone, and the Following tab for people you follow.
- Adventure Map · Explore every public journey on one world map.
- Journey Dashboard · Manage your journeys, chapters, Pebbls and settings from a browser.
- Adventure Journals · Each journey as a magazine-style story, chapter by chapter.
- Search and Photo Gallery · Search across communities, journeys, chapters and Pebbls, and browse the photo gallery.
- Languages and Translation · English, French, German, Spanish and Italian, and how translation works.
- Pebbls Blog and What's New · Featured journeys, tips, app news and the What's New page.
Fixing your route
Use the track editor to put a wrong bit of a route right
- Fix your route with the track editor · Open the track editor to put a wrong bit of a chapter's route right. What your phone recorded is never changed.
- Bend, move and split the line · Drag the line back onto the road, set how much of it moves with Reach, hide a stray dot or split a stretch in two.
- Change transport, fill a gap, remove or redraw a stretch · Fix the wrong transport, join up a gap where the phone recorded nothing, take out a stretch you don't want or draw a part again.
- Long chapters: editing a few days at a time · A chapter with a lot of GPS opens on a list of its days. Pick a day, or a few next to each other, to edit.
- Undo, history and going back to the original · Take back a change before you save, undo a whole save afterwards, or go back to the route your phone recorded.
Route to video
Turn a GPX or a drawn route into a flyby film
- Make a flyby film of a route · Upload a GPX or draw your route, add moments, and get a film of the map flying along it.
- Getting a GPX file · Where to find the GPX in Strava, Garmin Connect, Komoot, AllTrails and others.
- Moments, photos and icons · Add the places that mattered: a name, a few words, an icon and photos.
- Free and Premium films, and credits · What Premium adds, what a credit is, and how to get more.
- Your finished film · Downloading, sharing, the 48-hour limit and keeping it on Pebbls.
Social
Following, reactions, comments and the Explorer Directory
- Following Adventurers · Follow people to see their Pebbls in your feed and hear when they set off.
- Reactions and Comments · React to and comment on Pebbls, and what the author sees.
- Reporting and blocking · Report something that shouldn't be on Pebbls, and block someone you don't want to hear from.
- Saving Pebbls · Save Pebbls to find them again later.
- Explorer Directory and Profiles · Find adventurers by name or transport, and what a profile page shows.
- Badges and Countries · Travel badges earned from your tracked journeys, and the countries you have been to.
Communities
Join communities, run a Hub and share journeys with a group
- What are Communities? · Places where adventurers with a shared interest meet, share journeys and talk.
- Joining a Community · Browse, search and join open communities, or request to join.
- Sharing Journeys to a Community · Link your journey to up to three communities.
- Discussions · Threads for questions, tips, trip reports and meetups.
- Creating a Community · Start a free open community in a few steps.
- Managing Your Community · Members, moderators, settings and content for admins.
- Invite Links and Join Requests · Invite people with one link, and approve join requests.
- Community Hubs · Hubs: communities with branding, private membership and tools for organisations.
- Creating or Upgrading to a Hub · Create a Hub or turn an existing community into one.
- Hub Settings · Branding, privacy, approvals, moderators and the promotion kit.
- Upgrading and Downgrading Hubs · Change your Hub plan, and what happens to members and content.
Privacy and security
Masking, private journeys, passwords and your data
- Privacy Options at a Glance · Every privacy option in one list, from least to most private.
- Location Masking · Hide the part of a route nearest your home, a friend's house or tonight's camp.
- Tracking Privacy · Hold back your last few kilometres until you have moved on (Explorer).
- Private and Password-Protected Journeys · Make a journey private or protect it with a password.
- Private Pebbls · Pebbls only you can see.
- Your Data · What we store, what we strip from photos, and how to get or delete your data.
Membership
Day Tripper, Explorer and managing your subscription
- Explorer Membership · Day Tripper is free; Explorer adds live tracking, privacy tools and more.
- Manage Your Subscription · Upgrade, cancel or restore Explorer on iOS, Android or the web.
Account
Profile, password, deleting your account and getting support
- Edit Your Profile · Photo, bio, links and nickname: what people see when they tap your name.
- Password and Email · Change your password or email address by reset link.
- Delete Account · What deletion removes, and the alternatives if you only want to hide a journey.
- Get Support · How to reach Pebbls and what to include so we can help quickly.