VER 1.0 // GREAT BRITAIN // SUMMIT VERIFICATION
[FAQ] Common questions about Northing: product scope, how summit verification works, data sources, privacy, and pricing.
01. Product
What is Northing?
Northing is a summit verification app for Great Britain. It ingests GPS activity data from Strava, GPX files, or FIT files and verifies whether you reached the summit of a Munro, Wainwright, or Marilyn. Verification uses a 200-metre coordinate tolerance against Ordnance Survey summit positions. All verification is post-hoc — Northing does not track you in real time.
What peak lists does Northing support?
Northing covers three peak lists. 282 Munros — Scottish peaks above 3,000 feet. 214 Wainwrights — fells of the English Lake District. 1,550 Marilyns — hills across Great Britain with a minimum 150-metre topographic prominence.
Is Northing a navigation app?
No. Northing does not provide routes, directions, or navigation of any kind. It verifies where you have been, not where you should go. All route decisions are yours.
Does Northing track me in real time?
No. All verification is post-hoc. Northing does not run in the background or monitor your location during an activity. It processes completed activities after the fact.
Does Northing cover Ireland or Northern Ireland?
No. Great Britain only — England, Scotland, and Wales. Ireland and Northern Ireland are currently excluded.
What devices does Northing run on?
iOS. iPhone only. Northing accepts activity data from any GPS device that outputs GPX or FIT files, plus Strava. iOS 17.0 or later is required.
02. Verification
How does summit verification work?
When you import an activity, Northing reads the raw GPS coordinate samples. Each sample is compared against the Ordnance Survey position of every summit in the database. If any sample falls within 200 metres of a summit, that summit is marked as verified for that activity. The tolerance is fixed and not adjustable.
Why is the verification tolerance 200 metres?
Summit positions represent a coordinate, but a real summit is an area — sometimes a broad plateau, sometimes a rocky cairn approachable from multiple angles. The 200-metre tolerance accounts for GPS accuracy variation and the physical reality that a summit is not a single point. The tolerance is fixed and not user-adjustable.
What if my GPS track didn't pass close enough to the summit?
If no coordinate in your activity falls within 200 metres of the summit position, the ascent is recorded as unverified. The raw activity data is retained. Verification is determined by the GPS record, not by user input.
How is elevation gain calculated?
From atmospheric pressure (barometric) data where available. Consumer GPS altitude measurements are inaccurate due to atmospheric conditions and satellite geometry. Northing uses barometric pressure samples to calculate vertical gain, which reduces drift error. If barometric data is not available in the activity file, GPS altitude is used as a fallback.
03. Data Sources
Does Northing work with Strava?
Yes. When you connect your Strava account, Northing pulls raw GPS and barometric data from your completed activities for summit verification. It does not monitor activities in real time and does not post to Strava. See Strava Integration for full details.
Can I upload GPX or FIT files?
Yes. Northing accepts GPX and FIT files from any GPS device — Garmin, Wahoo, Coros, Apple Watch, or any platform that exports these formats. All sources are treated equally. No source hierarchy.
Does Northing post anything to Strava?
No. Northing reads activity data from Strava. It does not write to your Strava account, post kudos, create segments, or modify your profile in any way.
04. Privacy
Is Northing private?
Yes. Private by default. There is no public profile, no leaderboard, and no social feed. Your activity data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256). Northing does not sell your data or use it for advertising.
Can other people see my summit data?
No. There are no followers, no shared profiles, and no public statistics. Your verification ledger is visible only to you.
Can I delete my data?
Yes. Full data deletion is available within the app settings. Upon deletion, data is handled in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
05. Pricing
How much does Northing cost?
The Registry tier is free. The Archive tier costs £24.99 per year and includes a 7-day free trial. Payment is via Apple In-App Purchase. See Pricing for a full comparison.
What is the difference between Registry and Archive?
Registry is read-only database access — browse summit positions and list membership. Archive adds the verification engine: import activities, verify summits, and maintain a personal ledger. Archive includes a 7-day free trial.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Archive includes a 7-day free trial. Accounts not subscribed after the trial revert to the free Registry tier. No data is lost.
What happens if I cancel my Archive subscription?
If annual access lapses, visibility reverts to the free Registry tier with a 1-month historical window from first sync baseline. Your ledger data is retained.