Komoot has announced a new app for Apple Watch users, which works without a smartphone to provide offline maps and navigation, along with turn-by-turn navigation. Users can download maps and routes from Komoot for offline browsing on their watch.
Komoot promises sport-specific maps in its Apple Watch app, with details such as trails and paths, as well as roads. There’s functionality to enable you to pan and zoom to see what’s around you, too.
The Apple Watch app will also track activities and provide real-time stats while on the move and it passes activity data to the Apple Health app.
Other functionality enables the screen to be locked using Apple Water Lock, so it is not susceptible to interference from rain or other moisture.
According to Komoot product manager, Tom Eldred: “Our goal was to make Komoot's Apple Watch app fully capable on its own.
“For many of us, the ability to disconnect is the best part of being outdoors, so we wanted the community to have the freedom to leave their phone at home – or at least in their pocket.”
The new Apple Watch app can be used for an unlocked map region by any user, without needing to be subscribed to Komoot Premium.
First stop on the 2026 development roadmap
Komoot says the Apple Watch app was one of the most frequent requests when it surveyed its user base and conducted more than 100 interviews to understand its users’ needs in 2025.
It updated its user interface last year and claims to have made more than 80 other enhancements since it was bought for around €300m by Italian private equity group Bending Spoons last March. The acquisition reportedly saw the majority of Komoot’s previous 150-strong development team laid off.
Komoot says other new features for the Komoot iOS and Apple Watch apps that are in development include instant syncing between the two, automatic rerouting, real-time location sharing and increased customisation. It's not the only fitness-tracking app to focus on Apple Watch enhancements, with Strava refreshing its own Apple Watch app at the tail end of 2025.
Komoot's enhancements are part of its roadmap for app development during 2026, including improved route planning in the mobile app, personal heatmaps and waypoints, easier route searches and better organisation of saved routes. There’s a long-list of further potential enhancements stretching later into 2026.
