Do you find mapping software hard to use?

I do. That's why I created PicBak. I made it for myself because for some reason mapping software and I just don't get along. It never seems to work the way I think it should work, so all I get is frustrated...and lost.

PicBak

PicBak gets you there and back again. Take a picture of any location, then when you need to go back to that same spot, just tap the picture and navigate back using Apple's turn by turn navigation. Just press and go. No memory required.

Some ways you can use PicBak to find your way:

home no matter how lost you are
back to a parking spot while visiting
back to a hotel while traveling
back to safety while exploring
back to retrieve something while multitasking
back to any favorite place while living
when you are occasionally forgetful
back to buried treasure at some later time

Simple to understand. Simple to use. Profoundly comforting.

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Pictures are the answer!

PicBak is easy to use because it's based on pictures. Take a picture of where you are and when you want to go back all you do is tap that same picture again to go back. Simple! Much simpler than dropping pins and fumbling around with overly complicated interfaces.

You can even draw, add text, apply filters, and add stickers to your pictures to make them personally meaningful at a glance.

PicBak has an Apple Watch Extension

If you have a new Apple Watch PicBak has a watch extension. Just press a button on your watch and it will remember where you are so you can get back to it later.

Find Your Way Home

The first thing I do is take a picture of my house and mark it as a favorite, so no matter where I am or how lost I get it takes only seconds to get directions to my home. I find this is very comforting. Tap the icon, tap home, and bang, driving (or walking) directions.

Find Your Way on Trips

Another way I use PicBak is on trips. Say we are at a hotel and we go out to eat and we want to go back to the hotel. If I take a picture of the hotel when we arrive we can venture out secure in the knowledge that we can always get back to the hotel, even if we don't remember its name or address!

Find Your Way When Exploring

Exploring is fun, but there's always that little fear in the back of my mind of getting lost. There's an app for that. Let's say I'm hiking on a trail, what I do is take a picture of various spots on a trail so I know what fork in the trail I took. The same idea also works when walking streets in a city.

Find Your Way Back to Pickup Something Dropped Off

Let's say you drop off some dry cleaning, or even your kids. How do you find your way back to pick up your joyous little bundle? Just take a picture of the drop off point with PicBak. Then from wherever you happen to be when it's pick up time you can find your way back. No muss no fuss.

Find Your Way if You are Occasionally Forgetful

Many people suffer from a little forgetfulness. If that's you or someone you know then PicBak can really help find the way there and back again.

How Does PicBak Work?

PicBak is pretty simple, so it doesn't have a lot of features, but there are a few:

Any picture can be marked as a favorite and at any time you can display just your favorites.
Short tap on any picture and you'll go directly to turn-by-turn navigation instructions.
Long tap on any picture and you'll go directly to the editable description of that location.
In the description view you can annotate the picture with graphics, set a caption, write some notes, and see how far the picture location is from your current location. Remember, the iPhone supports dictation by selecting the microphone on the keyboard, so you can even speak your notes.
Pictures can be rearranged and deleted.
Your picture can be sent from the Camera or Photos app to PicBak, where it is automatically added to your list of home locations. Just use the Share feature. This is a great way to add existing pictures into PicBak.
To share a picture from your camera roll first turn on PicBak as a share option. Go to a picture you want to export to PicBak. Tap the share icon. Tap the more option. Slide PickBak to on. Tap Done. Tap PicBak. Enter a caption. Tap Post. Now when you start PicBak your picture will be there!

That's all there is to it!

Find Your Way Back To Parking Spots

I also use PicBak to find my way back to a parking spot. Let's say I go to the City for the day and park in a parking garage. How do I find my way back after I've been wandering the streets all day? It's simple. When you park take a picture of your parking spot so you know where you parked in the building, PicBak already knows your location, so you can go back at any time knowing you can find your car again.

Find Your Way to Favorite Spots

There are some places I can never remember how to get back to. One of them is a local dog park that's hard to find. So I take a picture and when I want to take the dogs out it's easy for me to find my way back.

The same idea works for places I just stumble upon. If I find there's a great restaurant and want to remember where it is, I just take a picture with PicBak. Same for a yoghurt shop, or a place where there's a beautiful view, or a building with stunning architecture.