Pebbls in plain facts
Pebbls is a free app for iPhone and Android that records your route as you travel and pins your photos to the map where you took them. Each trip becomes a map and a journal that friends and family can follow from a link, without the app or an account.
It's made in Guernsey by Simon Harvey, an independent developer. This page is the short version of what it does, what it costs and what it doesn't do.
Checked 18 October 2026
The basics
- What it's for
- Tracking and sharing slow trips: long walks, bike tours, sailing, van trips and backpacking. It works for a day out too.
- Where it runs
- Apps for iPhone and Android, and the website at www.pebbls.com, where anyone can open a shared journey.
- Price
- Free, with no adverts. Explorer is an optional membership at $20 a year.
- Languages
- English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch, in the app and on the website.
- Who makes it
- Simon Harvey, an independent developer in Guernsey (Lisia Digital). He built the first version a few days before cycling to Gibraltar with Lucy.
Tracking
- How it records
- In the background, a point roughly every 15 metres you move, with the phone in your pocket or bag.
- With no signal
- It keeps recording and sends the route when you're back in coverage, an hour or a week later. Photos wait on the phone too.
- Data
- A whole day of tracking uses less data than one photo.
- Battery
- A full day of tracking on one charge is normal on most phones. On long days a battery pack is still worth carrying.
- How you travel
- Pick how you're moving, on foot, by bike, boat, train, bus and more, and the line on the map shows it.
- Trips you've already done
- Import a route file (GPX) from a GPS watch or a planning app and add your photos afterwards.
Sharing
- Following a trip
- Send one link. People see the map, photos and journal in a browser with no app or account, and can leave an email to hear when you post.
- How fresh the map is
- On the free plan your map updates every few minutes when you have signal. With Explorer it keeps up with you as you move.
- A pebbl
- A pebbl is a few photos and a note, pinned to the spot where you took them.
- Journal
- Every journey becomes a journal with a map, chapters and your photos in the order you took them.
- Flyby films
- A chapter with a few pebbls and photos gets a short 3D film flying over the route, made for you, free.
- Privacy
- You can hide the start and end of a chapter and make a single pebbl private. Free journeys are public and shared by link. With Explorer you can make a journey private, put a password on it or hold back your latest position until you've moved on.
Free and Explorer
| Free | Explorer ($20 a year) | |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking, photos and notes | Yes | Yes |
| Map and journal pages | Yes | Yes |
| Sharing and family following | Yes | Yes |
| Flyby films | Yes | Yes |
| Map updates | Every few minutes | As you move |
| Private and password-protected journeys | No | Yes |
| Videos in your pebbls | No | Yes |
| Downloading your routes as files (GPX) for other apps | No | Yes |
| Offline maps | 1 area | 4 areas |
| Adverts | None | None |
Explorer renews yearly with no lock-in. Cancel any time and you keep it until the end of the year you paid for.
What it doesn't do
- It isn't a satellite tracker. Your route goes up when the phone has signal or wifi, so with no signal at all, people following see it later.
- It doesn't give directions. You can add a route file for a trip you haven't done yet and it shows as a dotted line on your map, but there's no turn-by-turn.
- It isn't a fitness app. There's no heart rate, training plan or step count.
- It isn't for planning a holiday itinerary. It records what you actually did.
Compared with other apps
Polarsteps and FindPenguins do a similar job. We've written up the differences, including where they're the better pick.
Questions
Is Pebbls free?
Yes. Tracking, photos, the journal, sharing and flyby films are free, with no adverts. Explorer is optional and costs $20 a year.
Does Pebbls work without signal?
Yes. It keeps recording with no signal and uploads when you're back in coverage.
Do people following my trip need the app?
No. They open your link in any browser.
Which phones does Pebbls work on?
iPhone and Android. Shared journeys open on any device with a browser.
Who makes Pebbls?
Simon Harvey, an independent developer in Guernsey.