Last updated: 15 October 2026
Every spot gets a score from 0 to 10 for how good the weather is for the activity you picked, worked out from the hourly forecast. For skiing it also takes in the avalanche danger from the official bulletin. 9 and above is Excellent, 7 Good, 5 Fair, 3 Poor, and below 3 Bad. It blends comfort and safety, so one serious hazard, such as strong wind, caps the score instead of being averaged away.
Each of the six activities (hiking, walking, trail running, climbing, skiing and cycling) has its own idea of good weather. Cold, dry air is good for rock friction but not for a walk. Falling snow is a bonus for skiing and a cost for everything else. Cyclists feel wind far sooner than hikers.
Open the spot to see which factors cost points. The most common reasons are wind, the apparent temperature (how cold or hot it feels, not the thermometer reading), and an official weather warning or avalanche danger, which caps the score however nice the forecast looks.
It rates the weather (and, for skiing, the avalanche danger), not the ground. It cannot see snow depth, trail closures, river levels or how busy a place is. For climbing and cycling it counts recent rain, but it cannot see the type of rock or which way a face points. Always check local sources before a serious outing.
The best window is the stretch of 2 to 6 daylight hours with the highest average score. It only shows when that average is above 4.5, so a day with nothing worth doing shows no window rather than the least bad hours.
Choosing a window needs a forecast for every hour of daylight, and hour-by-hour forecasts only reach about two days ahead. Further out the forecast comes in 6-hour steps, which is enough for a day's score but not for choosing hours.
The forecast comes from MET Norway, the Norwegian national weather service, which covers the whole world. Weather warnings come from the national weather services through MeteoAlarm, and avalanche bulletins from the regional avalanche services through EAWS. Webcams are from Windy.
The app shows 8 days. The first two or so are hour by hour; later days come in 6-hour steps and are less certain. When you open the app it updates any forecast more than 30 minutes old, and you can pull down on the list to update now.
A forecast is made for a point on a grid, not for the exact place you saved. In the mountains that point can sit hundreds of metres above or below your spot, so the app shows the gap and roughly how much warmer or colder your spot is likely to be. The spot's forecast and score are not adjusted for it. Route points are different: their temperatures are corrected to each point's own height.
One litre per square metre is the same as one millimetre of rain, and many people find litres easier to picture. Snow is shown in centimetres and the rain rate in millimetres an hour. You can switch to imperial units in Settings → Units.
The layers button on the map adds one layer at a time. With Pro there are four weather layers, rain, snow, temperature and wind, which you can move through hour by hour with the slider. Snow is shown as the water it would melt to, in millimetres an hour, not as centimetres of fresh snow. For skiing, hiking and climbing the same button also offers the avalanche danger layer, which is free. Contour lines appear by themselves when you zoom in, for everyone.
A small triangle before a score means an official weather warning covers that spot. Yellow caps the score at 6.5, orange at 4 and red at 1.5, whatever the forecast says. Open the spot to read the warning from the national weather service.
Import a GPX file from the Routes tab, or share one to OutdoorX from apps such as Wikiloc, Komoot or Strava. The app picks a few points along the way, up to 8, and shows the weather at each one for the time you will reach it.
One on the free plan and up to 10 with Pro. Every route carries the weather for up to 8 points along it, so each one asks the forecast services for several times what a spot does, and the limit keeps the app within what they allow. To add a route when you are at the limit, delete one from the menu on its card.
It estimates a time from the distance and the climbing, at a pace that suits the route's activity. You can pick a relaxed, steady or fast pace, type the total time from a guidebook, or change the time at any point, and the points after it move to match.
No. A track is treated as one way unless you mark it as there and back, because guessing wrong would put the return weather at the wrong times.
Beyond about two days the forecast comes in 6-hour steps, so the app shows an outlook for the start and the highest point only. It turns into the full plan by itself once the day comes within range.
For cycling routes the app estimates how many minutes headwind will add, or tailwind will save, and colours the map by stretch. For a loop it also says whether riding it the other way round would be quicker. This never changes the score, because a tailwind does not make strong wind safe.
Your spots and routes keep the last forecast they downloaded, with a line saying how old it is. Opening the Routes tab brings up to date the routes you have planned a day for or opened in the last week; the others keep their last forecast until you open them. With Pro, the map around each saved route is kept on the phone too, so it opens with no signal. Shaded relief and contour lines are not part of the offline map.
They come from the official regional avalanche services in Europe, collected by EAWS, the European Avalanche Warning Services. The app shows the danger level, the avalanche problems and the full text, in your language when the service publishes one. North America is not covered yet.
With skiing picked, each spot shows an avalanche card with the day's bulletin. For skiing, hiking and climbing, the map also has an avalanche danger layer that colours every region by its highest danger that day.
Most services only publish during the winter season, roughly December to April, and only for today and tomorrow. Outside those times, or outside a covered region, there is nothing to show. On the map, regions without a rating today are drawn in grey.
Yes, it caps the skiing score: danger level 3 caps it at 6.5, level 4 at 3 and level 5 at 1. Levels 1 and 2 leave it alone. The score still cannot see the snowpack itself, so read the bulletin before you go.
No. It shows the official bulletin and the weather, which are a starting point, not a decision. Choosing a slope needs training, the right equipment and judgement on the day.
The bell on each spot and route sets these up, and Settings → Notifications lists everything you have on.
First check that notifications for OutdoorX are allowed in your phone's settings. The app checks your spots at about 08:00 and 18:00, and your routes at about 07:00 and 18:00. It only writes when a forecast moves into another rating band or a warning appears, so small changes stay quiet on purpose.
iOS decides when apps may run in the background, based on how often you open them and on battery. A check can run later than planned, and if one was missed, the app catches up the next time you open it. The weekly digest always arrives on time.
No. The digest is worked out from the forecast already on your phone, so it still arrives with no signal. It is only as fresh as the last update.
| Free | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Activities | 1, changeable once a week | All 6 |
| Saved spots | 3, plus your current location | 10, plus your current location |
| Routes | 1 | 10 |
| Spot alerts | On 1 spot | On every spot |
| Planned days and route reminders | No | Yes |
| Offline route maps | No | Yes |
| Weather layers on the map | No | Yes |
Forecasts, weather warnings, avalanche bulletins, webcams, score explanations and the weekly digest are free for everyone. Safety information is never behind a paywall.
Nothing is deleted. You keep every spot and route but cannot add more beyond the free limits, the app goes back to your one free activity, offline maps stop updating and the weather layers leave the map.
Sign in to the same App Store or Google Play account, then tap Restore purchases in Settings. There is no OutdoorX account, so your purchase belongs to your store account.
No. There is no OutdoorX account, so spots, routes and plans stay on the phone they were made on. Keep your GPX files so you can import your routes again on the new phone. Pro moves with your store account.
There are no accounts, and your spots, routes and location stay on your phone. Usage statistics and crash reports are only sent if you allow them, and you can turn either off at any time in Settings → Privacy. The privacy policy has the details.
Email hello@outdoorx.app, or use Settings → Help & about. If something looks wrong for a spot, include its name and the date and time you were looking at.