Automatic tracking
Miles is an automatic mileage tracker. It notices when you start driving and records the GPS route until you stop, so the mileage log fills itself in. You do not start it, and you do not need a Bluetooth beacon in the car.
How a drive is detected
The iPhone reports when it leaves a place and when it starts moving at road speed, and it classifies the motion it senses as walking, cycling, or automotive. Miles registers for those reports. When the phone reports automotive motion and a change of location, Miles starts a drive and records the route with live location updates inside a background session. When the vehicle has been stopped for longer than the end-of-drive delay, five minutes by default, Miles ends the drive and files it at the top of your list as unclassified.
Between drives, Miles is not reading GPS. It waits for the phone to report movement, which is how the battery stays out of the picture.
Review note. Add a measured battery figure for a typical driving day once the app exists.
Permissions
Automatic detection needs two permissions, and the app asks for them on first launch with an explanation of what each one is for.
- Location, Always. iOS only lets an app notice a drive while it is closed if it has the Always permission. With While Using, you can still record drives by starting them yourself.
- Motion & Fitness. The automotive signal comes from the motion coprocessor. Without it, Miles falls back to location alone, which detects drives later and ends them less precisely.
Miles never asks for contacts, photos, or anything else. Camera access is requested only when you scan a receipt.
Starting and stopping drives yourself
Manual control is always available.
- A Start drive button in the app, and a Stop button on the drive in progress.
- A Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island while a drive is recording, with the elapsed distance and a Stop button.
- A Control Center control to start or stop a drive.
- Shortcuts actions. "Start a drive", "Stop the drive", "Start shift", and "End shift", which you can put in an automation. For example, start a shift when you open the DoorDash app.
Starting on a car connection
If your car has Bluetooth or CarPlay, you can tell Miles to start a drive when the phone connects to it and to end the drive when it disconnects. This is optional. Detection works without it, and it helps most for a car that is used only for work.
Offline
Drives are recorded without a connection. The route is stored from GPS, and the addresses and place names are filled in later with Apple Maps when the phone is back online. Nothing about detection depends on our servers, because we have none.
Multiple vehicles
Each drive is assigned to your default vehicle. If you use more than one, change the vehicle on the drive, set a rule (a car connection always means the truck), or switch the default when you switch cars. See vehicles.
Passengers and other people's cars
Miles cannot tell whether you were driving or riding. A drive in a taxi, a bus, or a friend's car is detected like any other. Swipe it to personal, or delete it. A rule can mark drives in a set time window as personal, which handles a daily transit commute.
Miles is coming soon. It will start with a 14-day free trial and need no account.