Guide
How to use Waypoint
Waypoint turns a pile of vacation photos into a map of your journey — your route traced day by day, ready to relive and share. Here's everything you need to get the most out of it.
Quick start
Three steps and your first trip is on the map.
- 1 Create a trip. Every journey is a “trip.” Tap + New trip and give it a name like “Greece 2026.”
- 2 Add your photos. Upload from your computer, or install the phone app and let it upload as you travel. Photos with location plot themselves on the map.
- 3 Relive & share. Open the map to watch your route trace out day by day, then share a link with the people who were there.
Adding photos
Two ways in — pick whichever fits the moment.
💻 From your computer
Open a trip and go to Upload. Drag a whole folder in, or pick files. Waypoint reads each photo's date and location to place it on the map and along the route.
Before uploading, it checks how many of your photos actually have location — so you know what will map and what won't.
📱 Automatically, as you travel
Install the Android app, pick your trip, and turn on Vacation Mode. From then on, every new photo you take uploads on its own — nothing to remember mid-trip.
Set it to upload on Wi-Fi only or while charging so it never touches your data or battery at a bad time.
Your map
This is the heart of Waypoint — your trip, drawn out in the order you lived it.
- Photos plot where they were taken. A photo needs location data (GPS) to land on the map — most phone photos have it, as long as location was on in your camera.
- Your route traces day by day. Waypoint connects your stops in order and can replay the whole journey like a little film.
- Name your days. Rename a day or a stop (“Santorini sunset”) so the story reads the way you remember it.
- No location? Place it by hand. Photos without GPS collect in a tray — drop each one onto the map and Waypoint remembers where it belongs.
AI captions
When AI captions are on for your trips, Waypoint writes a short, natural caption for your photos automatically — and links famous landmarks to more about them.
Your yearly allowance
Each plan includes a number of AI captions per year. You can always see how many you've used on your account page and in the app's Settings:
| Plan | AI captions / year |
|---|---|
| Daytripper (free) | 100 |
| Traveler | 3,000 |
| Voyager | 12,000 |
- You're always in control. Don't love a caption? Edit or replace it yourself on any photo — your words are never overwritten.
- You'll know when you're out. Reach your yearly limit and we'll tell you once, by email and in the app. Your photos keep uploading and mapping — only the auto-captioning pauses until your allowance resets on January 1.
- One trip, one bill. On a shared trip, captions count against the trip owner's allowance — co-travelers never spend their own.
Traveling together
The best trips have more than one camera. Everyone's photos can land on the same map.
- Invite co-travelers by email. They get a link, sign in, and the trip appears in their account — ready to add their own shots.
- Everyone manages their own. Co-travelers can add, caption, hide, or delete their photos; a little “📸 by” tag shows who took what.
- See each other on the map (optional). Turn on live location sharing during Vacation Mode and trip members can see where everyone is in real time. It's strictly opt-in and only while Vacation Mode is running.
Plans & storage
Your account page is home base: your trips, your storage bar, your AI-caption allowance, and your profile.
- Storage grows with your plan. A live bar shows how much you've used. The trip owner's storage covers everyone's photos on that trip.
- Manage your account. Change your password or email, pick an avatar, and review your plan any time.
Tips & best practices
Troubleshooting
My photo didn't show up on the map
It probably has no location data — either location was off in your camera, or the photo was edited/shared in a way that stripped it. Open the trip's gallery, find it in the “no location” tray, and drop it onto the map by hand. New phone photos map automatically as long as location is on when you shoot.
The app isn't auto-uploading
Check three things: (1) Vacation Mode is on and the right trip is selected; (2) the app has photo and notification permissions; (3) if you set Wi-Fi-only or only while charging, those conditions are actually met. Remember it only picks up photos taken after Vacation Mode was switched on — use the Upload tab for older ones.
My photos aren't getting AI captions
A few possibilities: you may have used your yearly allowance (it resets January 1, and your account page shows what's left); AI captions may not be enabled on your account yet; or captioning is briefly paused. Your photos still upload and map normally either way — and you can always write captions yourself.
I ran out of AI captions — what now?
Nothing breaks. New photos keep uploading and appearing on your map; they just won't get an automatic caption until your allowance resets on January 1. You can caption those photos yourself any time, or move to a plan with a larger yearly allowance.
My storage is full
Free up space by deleting photos you don't need, or move to a plan with more storage. On a shared trip, storage counts against the trip owner, so that's the account to check.
A co-traveler can't add photos
Make sure they've accepted the email invite and signed in — the trip has to appear in their own account first. Viewers can look but not add; only invited co-travelers (and you) can upload.
Ready to map your journey?
Start a trip, then get the app so it fills itself in as you go.