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Field manual · 14/17

Import, Export & Backup

Your data is yours. Sixteen formats come in, nine go out, and one archive moves the entire app — layers, tracks, maps, presets and settings — to a new iPhone.

importing

Settings → Import Other Formats To Layer. Everything lands in the active layer unless you name a destination folder first.

Formats in
FormatExtensionsNotesTier
KML / KMZ.kml .kmzFolders, tags, attributes, photos and ground overlays round-tripFREE
GeoJSON.geojsonPoints, lines, polygons and their propertiesFREE
GPX.gpxWaypoints, routes and tracksFREE
CSV / TSV.csv .tsvRecognised by its headersPRO
Shapefile.shp or a zipAny projected CRS, read from the .prjPRO
IGC.igcFlight logsPRO
OziExplorer.wpt .plt .rteWaypoints, tracks, routesPRO
LOC.locGeocaching waypointsPRO
DXF.dxfCAD drawingsPRO
AlpineQuest.wpt .set .rte .are .trk .ldkWaypoints, sets, routes, areas, tracks and landmark librariesPRO
GeoPackage.gpkgTiles, features and elevation at oncePRO
GeoTIFF / GeoPDF.tif, GeoPDFFrom Map Type — becomes a custom mapPRO
AlpineQuest maps.aqmFrom Map TypePRO
MBTiles.mbtilesFrom Map Type, file or URLPRO
TAK data package.zipMarkers and maps togetherPRO
The import list showing which formats are free and which carry a PRO badge
Import formats
Import Into Folder sits at the top of the import section. Name a folder there and everything you import next lands inside it — which keeps two hundred waypoints from a downloaded GPX out of your working list.
You can also open a file from the Files app or an email attachment and share it into Tactical GPS. The app registers all of these types — including map files (.tif, GeoPDF, .gpkg, .mbtiles, .aqm), which go into Custom Maps rather than a layer. See Maps & Overlays.
A KML/KMZ with a <GroundOverlay> — a georeferenced image baked into the file — imports as an image overlay rather than an item, positioned from its lat/lon box. Remote-hosted overlay images are skipped; the picture has to be inside the KMZ. PRO
Custom attributes round-trip. A KML's <ExtendedData> and a GeoJSON feature's properties import into each item's Attributes table, and export back out the same way.
Format notes worth knowing. A DXF has no coordinate system of its own: the app reads the UTM zone comment its own export writes, accepts a bare drawing whose numbers are plainly degrees, and refuses anything else rather than guessing it onto the wrong continent. A .zip is inspected to tell an app bundle, a zipped shapefile and a TAK data package apart. CSV columns are name, latitude, longitude, elevation, description — the same layout the app exports, so it reads its own output.

geopackage import PRO

A GeoPackage can hold three different things, and the app reports what it found before importing anything.

  1. Open Settings → Import GeoPackage and Choose .gpkg File.
  2. Read the inspection panel: Tile Layers, Feature Layers and Elevation Layers with their counts and zoom ranges.
  3. Choose where features go — a new layer per table, or all of them into the current layer.
  4. Import.
Tile layers become custom map sources, reprojected to Web Mercator when needed. Elevation tables feed contours and the terrain tools offline. Feature tables become your items.
The result is reported precisely — how many features were imported into how many layers, how many were skipped for unsupported geometry, and how many map layers were added.

exporting

Settings → Export Layer to Other Formats writes the active layer and hands it to the share sheet. All exports are Pro.

Formats out
FormatCarries
KMLItems, styling, folders, tags and attributes
KMZAll of that plus photos and voice memos embedded
GeoJSONGeometry, with attributes as feature properties
GPXWaypoints, routes and tracks
CSVPoints as a table
DXFCAD geometry in UTM metres, with the zone recorded
ShapefileA zip of up to three datasets — points, lines, polygons
GeoPackageEverything in one WGS84 container
JSON / ZIP bundleThe app's own lossless format
KMZ Photo Size — Original, 4K, 1080p or SD — controls how attached photos are downscaled into the archive. Original is faithful; 1080p keeps a big photo layer sendable by email.
Shapefile export converts what the format cannot express: circles become 64-sided polygons and rectangles become 4-sided ones, with the true RADIUS_M, WIDTH_M and HEIGHT_M preserved in the attribute table so nothing is lost.
Export & Share Layer writes the app's own JSON, or a ZIP bundle when pins carry attachments. This is the lossless option — everything re-imports exactly as it was.
Offline map regions have their own exports: Export as MBTiles and Export as GeoPackage from a region's row menu, on USGS base maps only. See Maps & Overlays.

backup & restore PRO

An exported layer is one layer. A .tgpsbackup is the whole app in one file: every layer with its attachments and custom icons, every recorded track with its activity and laps, your custom map sources, offline region definitions, map presets and settings.

Settings → Data Import & Export → Backup & Restore.

  1. Under Create Backup, tick what to include.
  2. Tap Create Backup. The file is written and offered through the share sheet — save it to Files, iCloud Drive or anywhere else.
  3. On the new device, open the same screen, tap Choose Backup File… and pick it.
  4. Read the Contents summary — layers, tracks, custom maps, offline maps and presets, with counts.
  5. Choose Merge or Replace, then Restore.
IncludeNotes
Layers & ItemsWith attachments and custom icons
Recorded TracksWith activities and laps
Custom Maps & Layer StackSource definitions and the overlay stack
Include MBTiles FilesOff by default — these are often hundreds of megabytes
Offline Maps (re-downloaded)The region definitions; tiles re-download afterwards
Map PresetsYour saved map setups
SettingsUnits, formats, grid, tracker and navigation preferences
The Backup and Restore screen with the contents checkboxes
Backup & restore
Merge or Replace. Merge keeps everything on this device and adds what is missing — anything already present is skipped, and the report tells you how many. Replace deletes local layers and finished tracks first. Shared layers stay. Replace asks for confirmation before it does anything.
Shared iCloud layers are never deleted, even by Replace. They belong to their owner, not to your archive.
Offline regions come back as definitions and re-download their tiles, which is why a backup stays small. Tick Include MBTiles Files only when the imported map files themselves cannot be obtained again.
A .tgpsbackup opened from the Files app goes straight to this screen — the app owns the file type.
The restore report lists exactly what happened: layers, tracks, custom maps, presets, icons, offline maps queued, settings restored, and how many items were already present and skipped.

choosing a format

You want to…Use
Move to a new iPhoneBackup & Restore
Archive a layer losslesslyExport & Share Layer (JSON / ZIP)
Send a route to another GPS appGPX
Send pins with their photosKMZ
Open it in Google EarthKML or KMZ
Open it in QGIS or ArcGISShapefile or GeoPackage
Open it in CADDXF
Put it in a spreadsheetCSV
Work with a team liveiCloud sharing, not a file
A file is a snapshot, frozen when you exported it. For a picture that stays in step with your team, share the layer over iCloud instead — see Layers & iCloud Sharing.