Carrying two extra litres you did not need is a bad day. Running out because the tap at the trailhead turned out to be seasonal is worse. On foot, water comes down to weight and distance, and knowing what is ahead changes what you carry.

Fontavio maps drinking water, natural springs where their potability is documented, and the toilets, showers and laundry at the places you stop. Seasonal closures are shown where known, most useful on exactly the mountain and northern routes where facilities close for winter and are hardest to check in advance.

Signal is the obvious problem on a trail, so offline features are available to those who need it: Pro downloads the area you pick, base map included, so the map works in a valley with no bars.

One caution about natural water sources: a spring is only shown as drinking water when the source data says it is safe. When potability is contradicted or unknown, it is mapped as raw water instead. Treat unverified water accordingly.

01 PRO

Offline maps

Pick an area on the map and download it. The base map, the places and their details all come with it, opening hours and reviews included, so everything keeps working with no signal at all. Photos are the one thing left out, to keep the download small. Built for valleys, borders and prepaid data.

02

Closest, with a compass

Pick what you need and get pointed at the nearest one: a needle, a distance and a walking estimate. A home-screen widget and app shortcut open straight into it, so it is one tap from a locked phone.

03

Open now

Opening hours and seasonal dates are shown where they are known, checked live against your phone’s clock. A fountain that is off during winter says so.

04

Confirmed by the people using it

Every place carries a badge for whether a person has confirmed it works. One tap confirms it, one tap reports a problem, and repeatedly wrong edits limit an account.

Other ways people use it