Email support@echo.cool with what happened, what you expected, and your iOS version. Most answers are below.
Before you lose signal
Download the area you are hiking
On the map, tap the dashed-rectangle button, drag a box around where you are going, then tap Download. The chip at the top left tells you how much of what you are looking at is downloaded — it reads a percentage when only part of the screen is covered, so pan around the trailhead and the whole route before you leave.
Pick the right detail level
Standard suits almost everyone. Overview is smaller and still includes the trail network. Fine adds junction-level detail and is the largest. The first download also fetches the shared map fonts and icons, so it is a few megabytes larger than later ones.
Recording
Allow background location, or the track will have holes
iOS stops delivering positions to an app that only has "While Using" access once the screen locks or you switch apps, and the hike simply stops recording until you come back. HikeGPS warns you when it is recording without background access. Fix it in iOS Settings → HikeGPS → Location by choosing Always.
Finishing a hike
Hold the Finish button for about two and a half seconds. The hold is deliberate — a single tap is too easy to trigger from a pocket — and the button fills as you hold it. Lock disables the controls entirely while the phone is in a pocket.
The app recovered an interrupted hike
HikeGPS writes a checkpoint while recording, so if iOS terminates the app or the battery dies, the hike is offered back to you next launch. You can continue it, save it, or discard it.
Trails and the map
Trails appear only when you zoom in
The trail network is not present in the map data at wide zoom levels — it starts around zoom 13, which is roughly a valley filling the screen. When you are further out, the map shows a Zoom in for trails hint; tapping it zooms to where trails begin. This is a property of the map data, not a setting.
Turning layers on and off
The stacked-layers button opens the layer switches: trails, trail names, peaks, outdoor places, downloaded-area outlines. They all draw from data already downloaded, so switching them works offline and downloads nothing.
Sync and backup
Sync uses your own private iCloud database, so hikes appear on your other devices signed in to the same Apple Account. It can be turned off, and there is a local-only mode that never contacts iCloud. Downloaded map areas are deliberately not synced — they are large and can be re-downloaded.
To move a hike elsewhere, open it and export GPX.
Sending a diagnostic report
If a recording looks wrong, a diagnostic bundle helps a great deal. Enable diagnostics by tapping the version number in Settings seven times, then use the export there. It contains a log of accepted and rejected GPS fixes plus the GPX track — including coordinates from that hike, so send it only if you are comfortable sharing them.
HikeGPS is a navigation aid, not emergency equipment. Do not rely on a phone as your only means of navigation or of calling for help. Carry a map and compass, tell someone your route, and turn back early.
Still stuck
Email support@echo.cool. Please include your iOS version, your iPhone model, the app version from Settings, and — if it is about a recording — the diagnostic bundle described above.