User Guide & Documentation
iOS edition — search below to find detailed instructions for every feature in Tect O Trak.
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Tap the hexagon icon on the left side of the bottom toolbar. This opens the list of saved search areas.
Tap the + button in the bottom right corner. The map will open at your current location.
Before you begin placing markers, open Settings and choose a colour for the boundary line.
Enter a name for the search area in the top bar.
Marking the Boundary
Tap the map to place the first boundary marker.
Tap the map again to place the next marker at the next corner or bend in the boundary.
Continue placing markers until you have roughly outlined the entire area.
Don't worry about being perfectly accurate at this stage. Once the outline is complete, go back around the boundary and adjust the markers more precisely.
Editing Markers
Move a marker: Press and hold the marker, then drag it to the desired position.
Delete a marker: Tap and hold the marker until it is removed.
Saving the Search Area
When you are satisfied with the boundary, tap the swirl icon in the bottom toolbar.
The Save
button will appear.
Tap Save to store the search area.
You can now begin detecting within the area, or simply close the editor. The new search area will be available in the saved search area list, which can be accessed by tapping the hexagon icon.
Open a saved Search Area tap the swirl
Then tap the record button to begin
To stop recording tap the swirl then tap the pause button
The track recording session is saved automatically.
Tip: Give the GPS a minute or two to settle before you start recording, especially in overcast conditions.
While inside an open "Recording in progress" Search Area tap the swirl Then tap the star
Select an option to either add a new find or add an old find from a past hunt.
Tap Record a new find if you are actually detecting and want to record a find. Take a photo of the find. Save it.
You will then be offered the option to place a find marker at your current location or manually by touching the screen. Select Current Location if you are at the location and a marker will be placed automatically.
Long press the marker to move it. The findspot will become permanent when the map is closed.
Overlays let you pin a scanned or historic map image on top of the live GPS view — perfect for aligning old workings, pits and boundaries with the modern landscape. Go to Settings → Other Tools → Import overlay and choose an image from your photo library.
You will then be asked Cropped or Un-Cropped? Choose Cropped if the image is already framed the way you want it (a phone screenshot, for example) — it goes straight onto the map, scaled and ready to position. Choose Un-Cropped to open the trimming tool, whose frame matches the map's proportions: pan and zoom the image inside it, then tap the tick when you are happy.
The overlay appears centred on the map with the opacity slider at 65%, so you can see both images at once. Position it with a one-finger drag, pinch to resize, and a two-finger twist to rotate — old maps are rarely north-aligned, so the rotation is there when you need it. Touches outside the image go straight to the map, so you can pan the ground underneath without losing the overlay.
Along the bottom sit the controls: a padlock, an opacity slider (0–100%) and a bin. Slide the opacity to blend the overlay with the map. The controls fade to semi-transparent after a few seconds of inactivity and reappear at your next touch.
When the alignment is good, tap the padlock to lock the overlay to the map — it now moves and scales with the imagery, staying geographically true. The map stays flat bird's-eye while an overlay is on it, and a two-finger rotate turns the map and the locked overlay together, so the alignment can't drift. While locked, the overlay never swallows touches — find markers underneath stay tappable. Tap the padlock again to unlock and fine-tune.
Tap the bin to remove the overlay — you will be offered the chance to save the image (stored in iCloud and saved to your Photos). Leaving the map with an overlay still in place asks the same thing: saving keeps the image and its final locked position. The next time you open that same search area, the overlay is restored automatically in exactly the same spot, rotation and opacity — ready to go.
Grid overlays — instead of an image, you can grid the interior of your search area. In Other Tools, choose a cell spacing on the Grid overlay row (10 / 15 / 20 / 25 metres), rotate the map to how you want the grid to sit, then tap Grid overlay: the grid is dropped inside the area's boundary polygon, square to the map as you see it, with cells true to real ground metres. The grid is permanently locked — it fuses to the map the moment it appears, holding its position through pan, zoom, rotate and tilt. The bin deletes it outright; grids are never saved, so the map is clean next time you open the area. A grid and an image overlay cannot be used at the same time — selecting one replaces the other.
Go to Settings and tap Backup to iCloud. The app creates a compressed archive of your entire database (all search areas, tracks, finds, and photos) and saves it to your personal iCloud Drive.
To restore, tap Import backup from iCloud on the same screen and select the archive file. If the backup contains fewer tracks than your current data for any area, the app will warn you and show exactly which areas are affected before proceeding — giving you the chance to cancel if the backup is older than expected.
Back up regularly — ideally after every detecting session.
Go to Settings and tap Export find records to ToT Central — Upload new finds to your Collection. The app signs you into ToT Central automatically and uploads any finds that have not yet been added to your online collection.
Previously uploaded finds are never overwritten, so any edits you have made to titles or descriptions on the ToT Central website are preserved. Only genuinely new finds are added each time you export.
Tect O Trak iOS uses a single yearly subscription (£5.99/year) to unlock unlimited search areas, tracks, and finds, plus full access to ToT Central.
Legacy users — anyone who purchased the app under the original one-time payment model before October 2026 — receive full access for free as a loyalty benefit. This is detected automatically from your App Store receipt. No account or code is needed.
To manage or cancel your subscription go to iPhone Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions.
Custom Boundary Colour
Each Search Area boundary polygon can be assigned its own unique colour, making it easy to distinguish between permissions at a glance in you saved search areas list. Tap the settings icon, and select Boundary Colour to choose from the colour picker.
Custom Track Colours
Individual tracks within a Search Area can each be given a distinct colour. This is particularly useful when reviewing coverage across multiple sessions — you can see at a glance which ground was covered on which visit. Go to settings - Customise track colours, and set permanent colour. There is also an option to temporarily change temporarily change all previously saved tracks to a single colour, creating a high-contrast view that clearly distinguishes older tracks from the track currently in use. This simplifies the display so that only two track colours are shown: Old Tracks and Current Track.
Custom UI Theme
The app interface can be personalised via Settings → Appearance. Choose from a range of colour themes to adjust the look of the map controls, panels, and overlays to your preference. Changes take effect immediately without needing to restart the app.
Custom track style
In Settings, choose from three track styles: Line, Dot, or Dash.
Tap the star in the toolbar to view find records. Tap the find record's coordinates to view the findspot.
The Vault is your permanent finds backup, safely storing every record you've ever exported, along with all edits made later in ToT Central. Vault imports never overwrite existing records; they only add new finds, ensuring your carefully crafted titles, descriptions, and metadata are always preserved.
My Collection is your definitive digital archive and single source of truth. It's the safest place to store, manage, and enjoy your discoveries, while also providing a great way to share the fruits of your labour with family and friends. Your collection can even be exported as a professional PDF for easy viewing, sharing, and printing.
Pathfinder is a very useful tool. I recommend you use it. Primarily designed to help you find new lines between old ones, but it can also guide you back to findspots or your car.
On an open map screen, long press the screen to call out the Pathfinder. Long press the marker to pick it up, then set a line or destination. A compass needle will show you the precise direction to take. Look ahead, pick a distant on-line target to aim at, and start walking towards it.
Tip: It also helps to have an in-line middle target. Just keep them both in line. Continually update the middle target as you proceed. This will help you achieve perfectly straight lines.