App Showcase: komoot

What it does

Komoot is an all-in-one platform for planning, navigating, and sharing outdoor adventures. It caters to activities like hiking, road cycling, and mountain biking, providing detailed route information, turn-by-turn navigation, and offline maps. The app also has a strong community component, allowing users to share their experiences, post photos, and discover routes created by others.

Where it shines

Komoot excels in its powerful and user-friendly route planning and discovery tools. The filtering system, for example, is remarkably insightful. When searching for routes, a user can adjust a duration slider that includes a histogram showing the density of available routes, helping them make informed choices instantly (06:02). The app's content is also well-structured. It seamlessly blends official routes with user-generated 'Collections' (03:25), which bundle multiple stages of a larger trip into a single, explorable package. Finally, its navigation interface is clean and packed with relevant data for tracking an activity live (08:52).

UX highlights

• Granular Route Details: Route pages provide extensive information, including elevation profiles, surface types (cobblestones, paved, etc.), and waypoints with community photos and tips (07:23).
• Interactive Map: The map is the central element of the UI. Users can long-press to plan routes (07:54), view highlights as points of interest, and see route lines for different sports overlaid.
• Rich Community Feed: The main feed is more than just a list of activities. It combines 'What's New' updates from the Komoot team (02:27) with user-generated posts and collections, creating a varied discovery experience.
• Contextual Actions: Actions like saving a highlight or viewing details about a point of interest are presented in context-aware bottom sheets that slide up over the map, keeping the user oriented (11:14).
• Robust Profile Hub: The user profile (13:05) acts as a comprehensive log, neatly organizing saved routes, completed activities, created highlights, and personal collections.
• Seamless Health Integration: Komoot integrates with Apple Health during onboarding (01:01), allowing for two-way data syncing that positions it as a central hub for a user's fitness data.

Monetization & growth

Komoot uses a freemium model with contextual, feature-driven paywalls. Instead of a hard gate at the start, users can explore the app extensively. Monetization is typically triggered by user intent. For example, trying to save a route for offline use brings up a targeted offer for map packs (06:29). The app offers both a one-time 'World Pack' purchase for global offline maps (01:28) and a recurring 'Premium' subscription for advanced features like sport-specific maps and live tracking. This dual-offering caters to different user needs, from the casual adventurer to the dedicated enthusiast.

Who it’s for

Komoot is built for outdoor enthusiasts who value detailed planning and reliable navigation. Its target audience ranges from casual hikers and weekend cyclists to serious long-distance runners and bikepackers. The community features also appeal to users who want to share their adventures and discover new places through the experiences of others. It’s for people who want to move beyond simple GPS tracking and engage in a deeper level of route discovery and planning.

Notes & opportunities

The distinction between the one-time 'World Pack' purchase and the 'Premium' subscription could be clearer, as a new user might be confused about which features are included in each. While the contextual paywalls are effective, the initial pop-up offer immediately after onboarding (01:22) can feel slightly jarring after a smooth personalization flow. Finally, the app offers extensive functionality, but this means the settings menu (15:11) is quite dense and could benefit from better information architecture to make specific options easier to find.