The best app to identify mountains on iPhone, compared

For most people, the best app to identify mountains on iPhone is PeakFinder: you pay once, it works with no signal after a download, and you can correct the compass by hand. PeakVisor is the strongest alternative if you want 3D trail maps and don't mind a subscription. Budget and US-only options exist too, along with a new wave of AI photo apps.

A note on method before the details. We compared these apps using current reviews, developer pages and the features each one documents. We have not published measured accuracy results, and neither has any roundup we found. So treat the accuracy sections as a guide to what affects results, not as a lab score.

The best app to identify mountains on iPhone: quick verdict

• Best overall: PeakFinder. One-off price, fully offline once data is downloaded, manual compass correction, and it works on photos you already took.
• Best for trip planning: PeakVisor. Free to start, with a PRO subscription that adds more offline content and 3D maps with hiking trails.
• Best free option: AR AlpineGuide. Free with ads, a paid option removes them, and it has a 3D map mode.
• Cheapest for North America: SummitPeek. A small one-off price, offline, but only covers the US and Canada.
• One to try, not rely on yet: the new AI "Mountain Identifier" apps. Interesting, but they guess from a photo rather than from geometry.

If you also like naming stars at night or birds by their song, Sky Guide and Merlin Bird ID make good companions. More on those near the end.

Comparison table

Prices below are as of October 2026 and come from review sites rather than the App Store itself, so check before you buy.

App	Price model	iPhone?	Offline	How it identifies	Coverage claimed
PeakFinder	One-off (about $4.99 / £4–5)	Yes, plus Android	Yes, after download	Live AR and existing photos	Over 1 million summits
PeakVisor	Free, PRO $39.99 a year	Yes, plus Android	Yes, after download (limited on free tier)	Live AR, 3D maps	Over 1 million mountains
AR AlpineGuide	Free with ads, paid ad removal	Yes, plus Android	Not confirmed	Live AR, 3D map mode	About 1 million summits
SummitPeek	$0.99, no in-app purchases	iPhone and iPad	Yes	Live view	70,000 peaks, US and Canada only
Mountain Identifier: Peaks	Not confirmed	Yes, iOS 17 or later	Yes	Live view with line-of-sight check	687,599 summits from OpenStreetMap
Mountain Identifier: Peakr	Free to download	iOS only	Not confirmed	Live AR plus AI photo ID	Not stated

How mountain identifier apps work

There are two quite different approaches, and it helps to know which one you are using.

Sensor and terrain apps

PeakFinder, PeakVisor, AR AlpineGuide and SummitPeek use your phone's GPS to find where you are. The compass and gyroscope work out where the camera is pointing. The app then draws the skyline from an elevation model and labels each summit along it.

The strength of this method is that it does not depend on the photo at all. It works in fog, at dusk, or when a ridge looks nothing like its famous postcard angle. The weakness is that it is only as good as your compass reading.

AI photo apps

Several newer iPhone apps, including Peakr, try to recognise a mountain from the picture itself. That can be handy for a well-known peak in a holiday photo. It is less reliable for an unnamed shoulder of a ridge, which is often what you actually want named. Some apps mix both methods, so read the description before you download.

AR accuracy and how to fix it

When a sensor-based app puts labels in the wrong place, the cause is almost always the compass. A label that is a few degrees off can land on the wrong summit, especially when peaks are far away and close together.

Quick fixes that work in any app

• Calibrate the compass by moving the phone in a figure-of-eight motion.
• Take off magnetic cases and remove any magnetic mounts or wallet attachments.
• Give GPS a clear view of the sky before you start; deep valleys and dense trees slow down a good fix.
• Step away from metal, such as car roofs, railings and cable car stations.

Manual alignment matters most

The review site Alti-Mag singles out manual compass correction as one of the biggest differences between apps. PeakFinder lets you drag the drawn skyline until it lines up with the real one. Once a single obvious peak matches, the rest of the labels usually fall into place.

According to Alti-Mag, the Android app PeakLens has no manual correction and no zoom, which is part of why it ranks lower. If an app gives you no way to nudge the view, you are stuck with whatever the compass reports.

One caution: an AI-generated review summary on a third-party site says some PeakFinder users report compass or GPS trouble. We could not verify this. If labels drift, try the calibration steps above before blaming the app.

Offline use and storage

Mountains and mobile signal rarely go together, so offline support is not optional. The catch is that most apps need you to download data before you lose signal.

• PeakFinder works fully offline once its data is on the phone. Download it at home on Wi-Fi.
• PeakVisor also works offline after a download, but the free tier only includes limited offline panoramas. Its high-detail maps take up extra storage, so check free space before a trip.
• SummitPeek is described by its developer as working offline.
• Mountain Identifier: Peaks ships its summit database inside the app, so there is less to fetch later.

A good habit: put the phone in airplane mode at home and open each app. If it still labels your local hills, it will work on the trail.

Price: one-off, subscription or ads

The pricing models differ more than the features do, so this is often what decides it.

Pay once

PeakFinder is a one-time purchase. Alti-Mag puts it at about £4–5, and another listing shows $4.99, both as of October 2026. SummitPeek costs $0.99 with no in-app purchases, but it only covers North America.

Free with a subscription

PeakVisor is free to download, and PRO costs $39.99 a year as of October 2026. Its developer has offered a 7-day free trial, and it started selling PRO as a web subscription on 10 October 2026. Over a few years, that adds up to many times PeakFinder's price.

Free with ads

AR AlpineGuide is free with ads and a paid option to remove them. It is the obvious choice if you only want to name a peak occasionally and don't want to pay anything.

Identifying peaks in old photos and planning from home

Not every question comes up on the summit. Sometimes you want to name the ridge in last summer's photo, or plan a viewpoint before you drive there.

• PeakFinder can overlay peak names on an existing photo, as long as it knows where the picture was taken. It also shows sun and moon paths for any date, which photographers use to plan a sunrise shot.
• The PeakFinder website (peakfinder.org) is free to use in a browser, so you can explore the panorama from any point before buying the app.
• PeakVisor's Teleport lets you jump to another location and view the panorama from there. Combined with its 3D maps and trails, it is the stronger planning tool.
• AI photo apps are designed for this job, but check results against a map.

For a distant peak you still can't confirm, Alti-Mag suggests the terrain layer in Google Maps. Draw a line from where you stood in the direction you were looking, and see which summit it crosses.

Coverage and peak counts

Peak counts are hard to compare because sources disagree. Alti-Mag credits PeakFinder with over 1 million summits. A 2018 comparison by PeakVisor's own developer put PeakFinder's figure at about 600,000, and claimed over a million for PeakVisor. Both apps have likely grown since.

In practice, both cover far more peaks than you will ever see. The bigger coverage question is regional. SummitPeek lists 70,000 peaks, but only in the US and Canada, so it is useless in the Alps. Mountain Identifier: Peaks uses 687,599 summits from OpenStreetMap, and also checks line of sight so it doesn't label peaks hidden behind a ridge.

Battery use on long hikes

AR apps keep the camera, GPS and sensors running, so they drain the battery quickly. Use them in short bursts rather than leaving them open.

Even PeakVisor's developer admits PeakFinder uses less battery than its own app. One hiking reviewer also found PeakFinder several times faster to launch, though they preferred PeakVisor's aerial view. On a long day out, a quick launch and a lighter draw both count. Carry a power bank either way.

The PeakLens name trap and the new AI apps

If you search the App Store for PeakLens, be careful. The PeakLens reviewed by Alti-Mag is a free AR app for Android only. A different app, also called PeakLens, is advertised for iPhone as an AI photo identifier. They are not the same product, and reviews of one do not apply to the other.

The same caution applies to the many new apps with "Mountain Identifier" in the name, such as Peaks, Peakr, Peak Scan and Peak +. The main roundups don't cover them yet. Peakr is free to download and offers both a live AR mode and AI photo identification. They may suit you, but try one against PeakFinder at a familiar viewpoint before you trust it on unfamiliar ground.

Sky Guide and Merlin as outdoor add-ons

A mountain app covers the skyline. Two other apps cover what happens above and around it, and both pair well with a hiking phone. You can find more in our Reference category.

Sky Guide for the night sky

Sky Guide works on the same principle as PeakFinder, pointed upwards. Hold your iPhone to the sky and it names stars, planets, constellations and passing satellites. It is iPhone-only and freemium. If you camp high, it turns a clear night into something to explore. Check the App Store for current pricing and what works without signal before you rely on it remotely.

Merlin Bird ID for what you hear

Merlin Bird ID, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is free. It identifies birds from a photo, a recording of their song, or a few quick questions, backed by eBird data. You download regional bird packs to use it, so do that before you leave signal behind. For plants, insects and fungi, Seek is the natural partner, and we compare the two in Merlin Bird ID vs Seek: which nature ID app to install.

Which should you choose?

• Most hikers and travellers: PeakFinder. It is the most dependable app to identify mountains on iPhone because it is cheap, offline and correctable by hand.
• Keen planners and regular mountain users: PeakVisor. Start on the free tier, then decide if 3D trail maps and Teleport justify $39.99 a year (as of October 2026).
• Occasional users who won't pay: AR AlpineGuide, accepting ads, or the free PeakFinder website for planning.
• US and Canada only: SummitPeek, if a $0.99 regional app covers where you go.
• People naming peaks in holiday photos: PeakFinder's photo mode first, an AI app like Peakr second, and Google Maps terrain to double-check.
• Overnight and wildlife-curious hikers: add Sky Guide and Merlin Bird ID to your mountain app.

Whichever you pick, download its data on Wi-Fi, test it in airplane mode, and calibrate the compass before you trust the labels. For more trip tools, browse our Travel category.