Third Pole
Where the Karakoram begins.
An iPhone guide to Gilgit-Baltistan, in the north of Pakistan: its valleys, lakes and peaks, a planner that turns them into days, and maps and walks made to work where phones don’t.
Where the world’s highest mountains crowd together, the signal runs out long before the road does. Third Pole keeps the guide, your Plan and the maps on your iPhone, so they still work at the end of the valley.
Get the highlights.
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A Plan made around you. Your dates, who’s coming, what you love and your pace become days that fit the roads, the seasons and the altitude.
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Say it in your own words. Describe your trip and Apple Intelligence fills in the planner, then sums up each Plan, all on your iPhone.
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Trails, mapped. Each trail with its route, difficulty, climb, season and walking time, from an hour’s walk to the Baltoro Glacier.
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A map with no signal. Download a division once, and its roads, terrain, glaciers and trails work where phones don’t.
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Help, close by. Tap SOS for hospitals, clinics and pharmacies on the map, or hold it to find the nearest and call Rescue 1122.
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Take it with you. Your itinerary as a PDF that opens without signal, and its days in your calendar.
Made for the mountains.
Everything the app does, at a glance.
A planner that knows the roads. Days stay in one area where they can, drives fit your pace, and rainy days lean indoors.
More than seventy places. Forts, lakes, meadows, viewpoints and villages, from Karimabad to Khaplu.
28 trails. Day walks and treks, each with its route, height profile and walking time.
The great peaks. K2, Nanga Parbat, Rakaposhi and Masherbrum, and the places to see them from.
Works without signal. The guide, your Plans and the offline maps live on your iPhone.
Walks. Follow a trail or record your own with the phone locked, get a warning if you leave the path, and export it as GPX.
Check-ins. Say when you’ll be back. If you don’t answer, a text to your contact with where your phone last was is ready to send.
SOS. Hospitals, clinics and pharmacies on the map, and Rescue 1122 a tap away.
Weather for your days. Forecasts from Apple Weather for the places on your Plan.
Apple Intelligence. Describe a trip, ask about a place or read a summary of your Plan, all worked out on your iPhone.
PDF, Calendar and Lock Screen. Print or share the itinerary, add its days to your calendar, and follow the day as a Live Activity.
Private by design. No sign-in, ads, analytics or tracking. Your Plans and walks stay on your iPhone.
Take a closer look.
A dark palette, easy on the eyes at night and in the glare off the snow, with one sage green for the main button, routes and your position.
Behind the screens, and in place of a photo without signal, contour lines drawn from the real terrain around each place.
Landmark cards catch the light along the outline of the mountain as you tilt your iPhone.
The map’s buttons and the tab bar float on Liquid Glass, grouped the way iOS groups its own.
Two peaks under a blue sky, in light and dark, and two clear versions for tinted Home Screens.
Made to work where phones don’t.
Past the last village, the signal is gone. The guide, your Plan, the maps and the emergency numbers keep working.
Offline maps
Roads, terrain, glaciers and names for each division, downloaded once on Wi-Fi.
Walks
Your position on the trail with the phone locked, and a warning if you leave it.
Someone will know
Check-ins, emergency numbers and the nearest medical help, made for places with little or no signal.
Tech specs
- Platform
- iPhone with iOS 26 or later
- Availability
- Coming soon to the App Store
- Region
- Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan: the Baltistan, Gilgit and Diamer-Astore divisions
- Guide
- 71 places, 28 trails, 22 valleys and towns and 10 landmarks, updated without an app update
- Planner
- Dates, arrival, who’s coming, travel styles, pace and must-sees; drive times, altitude and seasons
- Maps
- Offline maps with terrain for each division; satellite photos with signal
- Walks
- Follow a trail or record your own; off-trail warnings; GPX export
- Safety
- Check-ins, SOS for medical help, Rescue 1122 and the emergency numbers
- Apple Intelligence
- Describe a trip, ask about a place and Plan summaries, on the device
- Privacy
- No sign-in, ads, analytics or tracking; no personal data collected
- Built with
- SwiftUI, MapLibre, WeatherKit, Foundation Models, ActivityKit and App Intents
- Credits
- Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Satellite imagery: Powered by Esri; Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics and the GIS User Community. Weather: Apple Weather.
