Make a Travel Map Video from iPhone Photos

Use the TrailVid iPhone beta and photos from the trip with location and capture-time information. Original camera photos are the most useful input. Retained photos without locations can be linked to a visit or a place you choose. The app cannot recover a missing location from the picture itself.

Tap Select photos myself to choose individual images in the Apple photo picker. If your trip dates are known, set From and To, then tap Add photos from these dates. Scanning by date needs full photo-library access; individual selection also works with limited access.

1. Choose the trip to add to

   Open the trip you want to extend. For a separate film, tap the trip name, choose New trip, and return to Trip. Choose Find stops from photos; open Add if its choices are hidden. Use Select photos myself or choose a date range.

2. Check the added result

   Let the scan finish. Large selections and iCloud photos can take time to prepare. The places are added to the current trip. Read the Photos added receipt; Undo reverses this addition while it is still the latest edit. Photos without locations opens the retained images that need your help.

3. Choose the visits that belong

   Open Organize, then Include or remove visits. Clear unwanted visits or choose the beginning and end of the section to keep. Tap Review changes and inspect the resulting stops, connections and any affected clips. Tap Apply changes when the result is right. Visits left out remain available here to restore.

4. Check the timing, route and look

   Choose Dates from the Trip view menu to compare times. Estimated boundaries remain provisional; a Seen label records photo evidence. In Stops, confirm the order and transport. Open a stop, tap Stop name, edit Name shown in the video, and tap Use name to change its label. Expand Caption for a separate description. Open Style, then Theme to choose the look. In Scene, Journey under Direction makes the camera follow your route.

5. Preview, export, and save

   Press Play and check the route and arrivals. Open Export video and choose Aspect ratio, Resolution, and Framerate. For a first phone video, use 9:16, 1080p, and 30 fps; return to preview if you change the shape. Tap Start export, watch the finished video, then tap Save to Photos or Share….

The demonstration uses public place coordinates and synthetic photo records for a trip from Vienna through Beijing and Shanghai, with visits to Mutianyu Great Wall, Zhujiajiao and Hangzhou. Public-domain photographs illustrate the locations. The dates and photo records are demonstration data; your trip uses the selected images available on your device.

Opening choice

Include the departure from Vienna or begin in China

City detail

Keep local visits together or give them separate stops

Return visit

Distinguish the first Shanghai stay from the later return

Evidence

Read photo dates separately from estimated trip boundaries

For retained images without locations, open Organize, then Imported photos & routes, and open Photos without locations. Select the images, tap Choose a place, and link them to an existing visit or a new place. Review the link before Apply. When a city appears more than once, use the date, time and neighboring stops to choose the correct visit.

Check the place and photo dates together. A few airport photos can explain a transfer; home photos may fall outside the journey. A gap between photos does not prove how long you stayed. Review estimated arrival and departure times in Dates before using them to describe an overnight journey.

1. Is it an endpoint or chapter?

   Keep it when the trip begins or ends there, or when it introduces the next part of the film.

2. Was the time a visit or transit?

   A remembered stay can support a chapter. A brief pause between flights may only explain the route. Use the photos and what you know about the trip to decide.

3. Does the route still make sense without it?

   Clear the visit in Include or remove visits, then inspect Review changes. Keep it when the proposed connection between the surrounding stops misrepresents the journey.

4. Does the arrival deserve screen time?

   If the footage already tells the moment and the map adds nothing, the place can stay out of this cut.

Keep Vienna when the film should begin with the departure from Austria. To begin in China, open Include or remove visits and choose the beginning and end. Search for the intended first stay, tap Begin here, then choose the last stay with End here. Check the pinned dates before tapping Use this section. Existing omissions inside the section stay unchanged.

Review changes shows the route that the selected content will produce. Check the first arrival, the connections and any named clip endpoints before applying. To restore a visit afterward, return to Include or remove visits, open Left out, include it, and review the change again.

To simplify local detail, open Organize, then City stays. Choose One stop per city stay or A stop for every visit. Under Apply to, choose Whole trip or Part of trip. For a section, choose From and To using their dates and times, then Continue. The preview identifies existing local choices that will be preserved. Inspect the resulting stops before Apply changes.

For a city-to-city film, open Organize, then Airports & transfers, and choose Skip transfers. Airport visits remain available in Journey. Choose Show airport stops when the taxi ride, terminal or connection belongs in the story. Review both ends of each flight before applying; a suggested airport still needs your confirmation.

Leaving a visit out can change the connection between surrounding stops. Check the prepared result before applying, then preview the film. Confirm the order and transport after each change. If the latest edit was wrong, use the Undo toast or Organize, then Undo last edit.

Once the route reads correctly, preview it from the beginning. Check the two Shanghai stays separately so the return has the intended date and caption. Retained images remain available through Imported photos & routes while you edit the video stops.