Review Insights · App Store
Chimani: National Parks
Chimani, Inc. · 1,143 ratings · ★ 4.5
4.5
★★★★★
1,143 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 52 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"parks"
16 negative reviews mention this · 31% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Does not have all National Parks. I found my choice easy to not buy the subscription when I noticed it does not include all national parks. I am planning to go to Hot Springs and it was not available." - JBS890
2
"park"
15 negative reviews mention this · 29% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Does not have all National Parks. I found my choice easy to not buy the subscription when I noticed it does not include all national parks. I am planning to go to Hot Springs and it was not available." - JBS890
3
"free"
11 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Free Trial??. I would love to write a legitimate review however when I signed up for the trial, I didn’t get to use it. I had access to it for 24 hours before Chimani would no longer allow me to enter the site without choosing a payed plan. Disappointing…" - Kookooalichous
4
"national"
11 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Does not have all National Parks. I found my choice easy to not buy the subscription when I noticed it does not include all national parks. I am planning to go to Hot Springs and it was not available." - JBS890
5
"subscription"
11 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Does not have all National Parks. I found my choice easy to not buy the subscription when I noticed it does not include all national parks. I am planning to go to Hot Springs and it was not available." - JBS890
6
"been"
9 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App crash on iPhone 14promax. Application is been crashed after installation and unable to open it." - Rana@10
7
"information"
9 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Useless!. This app provides no information about the trails. You can find better info online." - adsubmdl
8
"other"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Hiking trail view is limited. Trails are only visible when zoomed in so far one cannot get the big picture. Also it would be nice to be able to highlight individual trails since otherwise it is hard to see which trail is which when there are many intersections" - Dracunculus
9
"national parks"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Does not have all National Parks. I found my choice easy to not buy the subscription when I noticed it does not include all national parks. I am planning to go to Hot Springs and it was not available." - JBS890
10
"useless"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Useless without paying for a subscription. You can’t use any features without paying for the subscription" - HikingCarol
11
"able"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Hiking trail view is limited. Trails are only visible when zoomed in so far one cannot get the big picture. Also it would be nice to be able to highlight individual trails since otherwise it is hard to see which trail is which when there are many intersections" - Dracunculus
12
"money"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "$$. Paying for apps is not good. Everything else is going to cost money." - Roadrunner Star
📋 All 52 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Hiking trail view is limited
Trails are only visible when zoomed in so far one cannot get the big picture.
Also it would be nice to be able to highlight individual trails since otherwise it is hard to see which trail is which when there are many intersections
Also it would be nice to be able to highlight individual trails since otherwise it is hard to see which trail is which when there are many intersections
App crash on iPhone 14promax
Application is been crashed after installation and unable to open it.
$$
Paying for apps is not good. Everything else is going to cost money.
Impossible to log in
I have no idea whether the app actually works. It requires a log in but won’t let me create a password. The forgot my password link indicates a reset link has been emailed to my email but after trying that about a dozen times today I can say that it doesn’t work. No email and nothing in the junk/SPAM folder either.
Free Trial??
I would love to write a legitimate review however when I signed up for the trial, I didn’t get to use it. I had access to it for 24 hours before Chimani would no longer allow me to enter the site without choosing a payed plan. Disappointing bc I find this app expensive and I wanted to be able to trial it prior to purchase.
AI? Really?
I get an email from you that’s made with AI? You really couldn’t hire an artist to place text over a photo of Yellowstone? There are hundreds of other trail apps and I’m going to pick literally any of them.
Lost data
Somehow all of my entries are gone! I had over 100 visits and they are all gone. Is it possible to retrieve all of my data?
Does not have all National Parks
I found my choice easy to not buy the subscription when I noticed it does not include all national parks. I am planning to go to Hot Springs and it was not available.
Good for car trips, not for hikers
If you want to hit all the scenic turnouts and overlooks on a scenic drive, then this is the app for you. If you want to plan out a hiking trails itinerary, look elsewhere. I had planned a combination of both things and it really annoys me that this app doesn’t let you add even the most popular park trails to your personal park itinerary. For such an expensive app, I expected MUCH better.
Useless without paying for a subscription
You can’t use any features without paying for the subscription
Useless!
This app provides no information about the trails. You can find better info online.
Why?
Confused why anyone would pay for this app or why it was even developed. I don’t see a single thing that’s not readily available online. Absolutely not a competitor to AllTrails
What happened?
Used to use this app for info on parks, what to do etc. Now I go thru pages of stuff, it requires location and notifications.
Sorry to see this good app go down the tubes. I’ve deleted it.
Sorry to see this good app go down the tubes. I’ve deleted it.
Deceiving; very little use for the free version
The free NPS app has very similar content on a much easier to use platform… and did I mention free?
The adds for this app were deceiving to make it seem like these guides were free, or at least affordable. But $19.99 per month to access park travel guides, which is what is advertised, is very overpriced. Based on other subscribers’ reviews of the paid content, I’ll pass. Without the $19.99/month subscription, the app offers little to no functionality and is not worth the used space on your phone! Do yourselves a favor and download the NPS app.
I’ll also add that the developers’ response to some of these reviews and the active deception and hiding of their fees makes me question the morality of the developer… yet another reason why I’m not willing to risk $19.99 to give the paid version a shot. I hope you will also think twice before paying the developer!
The adds for this app were deceiving to make it seem like these guides were free, or at least affordable. But $19.99 per month to access park travel guides, which is what is advertised, is very overpriced. Based on other subscribers’ reviews of the paid content, I’ll pass. Without the $19.99/month subscription, the app offers little to no functionality and is not worth the used space on your phone! Do yourselves a favor and download the NPS app.
I’ll also add that the developers’ response to some of these reviews and the active deception and hiding of their fees makes me question the morality of the developer… yet another reason why I’m not willing to risk $19.99 to give the paid version a shot. I hope you will also think twice before paying the developer!
Nonfunctional
Paid for the subscription. Verified that I’m subscribed but it freezes every time that I try to download the map for offline usage and then prompts me to “start 3 day trial” and then just repeats that I’m already subscribed. Shame.
Disingenuous - Hidden $19.99 Monthly Fee
I got excited after reading Nikon’s photography challenge. However, when I downloaded the app, they wanted $19.99/month! I do not go to enough parks for that kind of money. It was a little less for 3 months, but still an expensive regular fee. I’m not asking for anything for free, but this was too much for my budget. Best of luck to them. It looks like it would be a cool way to track park experiences.
Get the truly FREE NPS App Instead
The free NPS app has the same content, including links to nearby parks/monuments/trails without adding extra unnecessary information. You can also save the NPS parks for offline use. I mean, if you’d like to waste at least $19.99 per month, this is an option, I guess. EDIT: The developer responded, saying I’m putting out misinformation…that the PARK TRAVEL GUIDE app only costs money if you want to access PARK TRAVEL GUIDES. So, thank you Chimani for verifying what I wrote. You DO charge a minimum of $19.99/mo to use the primary functions of your app. LOL EDIT 2: Chimani removed their comment about “misinformation” and changed their claims YET AGAIN. I don’t trust a developer who keeps moving the goalposts and using doublespeak to hide their fees.
Used to be my favorite app
The “updated” version completely changed all the features that made this a fantastic app and now it’s almost useless. The previous map was great: you could sort by type of national park property (or just view them all) and easily see visited vs. unvisited sites. Yes, I’ve had communications as to how I’m supposed to still be able to do something similar, but let’s be honest, it doesn’t come even close to the functionality of the previous version. Oh so sad. I seldom use the app anymore.
Terrible upgrade
Was using this app for nearly 4 years and visited majority of the US while traveling for work. Perfect features for visiting monuments, preserves to National Parks. Absolutely loved this app.
Once the new upgrade happened, it’s simple features became a hinderance. Factoring in the pay feature, they had a great system going till they messed it up.
Hard to imagine messing up a mayonnaise sandwich but I guess anything is possible.
Once the new upgrade happened, it’s simple features became a hinderance. Factoring in the pay feature, they had a great system going till they messed it up.
Hard to imagine messing up a mayonnaise sandwich but I guess anything is possible.
Map fail
Why did you screw up the map? I liked to be able to easily see which parks I had been to in an area. Bring that back!!!
Bring back the old app!
Just like ALL the recent reviews I’m so upset they ruined one of the Best apps for national Parks. This app helped us visit 46 national Parks and now it’s trash. It completely wiped all the tracking we had in place. The map to find parks near you is gone and now they show way to much on the maps so you can’t actually find the 63 NPs.
I can’t understand why they would take something so good and put out this crap. Look at your user reviews since the update they are all 1 star.
Bring back the original app!!!
I can’t understand why they would take something so good and put out this crap. Look at your user reviews since the update they are all 1 star.
Bring back the original app!!!
Not good
I am not happy at all with the new version, I will never use guides , you took away the map of the US showing each park and the ones I have already visited a different color. You would simply click on the park and would get a description and another click would take you directly to the National Park page, I wished you would change this app back , I cannot see using this app anymore
Why change what worked?
For years this has been my go-to national park app. I even bought the lifetime subscription. Ever since the last update to “improve” their app it’s straight garbage. Please roll back to the old version until you find developers that can actually build a good UI. The current version isn’t even a beta version. Please fix this or honestly I’d like a refund on my subscription. Back to the NPS app for me.
How do you use discounts? Very confusing!
I signed up for the app to get the discounts but there is no information on the app about how to use them. I think the discounts are on the web interface but sometimes they say to use a “promo code” to get them and then other times mention a “Chimani perks card” which I never received. Anyone know this?
What happened?
I have been using this app since it was started and now … ugh. What happened to the maps? I used to be able to hike in a park, open the map and see where I was. I have told so many lost hikers about this app, but now I can’t even find the map. What happened??
Why Did You Change!
Really dissatisfied with the recent update. Previously it was great to be able to see what Parks you’d visited by type on one of the many map layers that you could select from.
Impossible to unsubscribe
This app makes it impossible to unsubscribe.
Please give me back the old version!
No idea how to reach you; tried app support with no luck. I have been an extremely heavy user of chimani for several years…and loved it. Now, I neeed to go through multiple steps to load the map…and there doesn’t seem to be a way to display all the park sites without you grouping them…again, anotherstep I have to go through. Please, can I have my old simple app back?
Such a Downgrade
Why would you take what was a good app, and turn it into this?!?! The new map is horrible and the app is much worse now in general
Useless
Every time I switch to my Google Notes app to look up the date I visited a park, this app forces me to log back in and go through the process of finding the park that I was updating. So frustrating!
Account and renewal info hidden!
I tried to find out terms of use for renewals, etc, but the app makes this simple function impossible. Still trying to find this basic user info page after 20 mins. I don’t want to “auto-renew” as I only plan to use this app for a certain trip in 2021. So... this app lost cred with me right away.
No purchase is showing
I paid 29.99 and didn’t get anything???? What a waste of money, I want Apple to refund my $$ for this app purchase!!
What about people who bought previous versions?
It’s a sad you are forcing people to a subscription model. I Bought the Smoky mountain app and now it will not be supported anymore.
Expensive
It might be a good app if you spend the $30 a year subscription, but the free app is worthless.
I wish that in the description the App developer was clear about the subscription costs. Many apps have a free version that has some things, but this free version is useless
The information you get is absolutely not worth the price of this subscription. All of it you could easily get online or from the literature at the entrance gate of national parks.
I wish that in the description the App developer was clear about the subscription costs. Many apps have a free version that has some things, but this free version is useless
The information you get is absolutely not worth the price of this subscription. All of it you could easily get online or from the literature at the entrance gate of national parks.
Used to be unuseful, now worthless
Wouldn't store park info before. Now they charge a ridiculous fee for info that can be had for free from other sources. I have deleted this app.
A waste of $30
There is absolutely no redeeming feature of this app. The parks themselves provide better and more insight than this ripoff. They stole $30 from me, DO NOT let this happen to you! A complete waste of storage space.
Requires subscription
I would pay a small fee but I don’t want the hassle of. Setting up a subscription and canceling etc. just make it an in app purchase and be done with it
Locked me out of my data
This used to be a free 5 star app. Then they changed their model to a rather expensive pay-for basis. In the meantime I have loaded years of info covering some 37 National Parks and I am now locked out of that data because they now insist I pay a fee to look at MY DATA!
I’m pretty angry. Not because they need to charge money for what is a pretty good app but they didn't give me chance to get my data or give me free access to the parks I’d already been to (and provided them info on). My data made this app better but I’m locked out of it. So when did I go to the Talus Cave at Pinnacles NP, or hike Wheeler Peak at Great Basin?
I’m pretty angry. Not because they need to charge money for what is a pretty good app but they didn't give me chance to get my data or give me free access to the parks I’d already been to (and provided them info on). My data made this app better but I’m locked out of it. So when did I go to the Talus Cave at Pinnacles NP, or hike Wheeler Peak at Great Basin?
Crap app
This app is not user friendly. I paid for the year and I can’t figure out the trip planning. I downloaded the minimal map and the other one that was supposed to be more detailed, they were the same. This app is a waste of money.
Rip off
Why on earth would I pay a subscription for what is essentially a database of National Park brochures. I can download these for free on the internet.
Used to be awesome!
I loved using Chimani to scope out National Parks before I went, but the new app that combines all the guides is ridiculously bulky and expensive. It costs more than a lot of people pay for an annual pass to our national parks where this information is passed out for free. I get that app developers deserve to make an income, but this app is not worth $50.
Not a good value
App is free and but use requires a subscription. The app was handy but didn’t provide any information that you couldn’t get from the nps website or by stopping by a ranger station/visitor center and talking to someone. Understandable development costs need to be recouped, but $30 a year is a bit much for what this app offers and not worth keeping on my phone.
You’re obviously not a LOTRs fan...
It’s J.R.R TOLKIEN!!!!
How am I supposed to use this?
The app provides little information and only one very random photo for each location. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to use this app. Even Apple Maps has more photos than this, and it still prompts me to download separate apps for other parks.
Unusable
I loved this app back when it worked. Now, it crashes whenever I try to input a visit. Chimani says in other reviews that they are working on a fix, but it’s been at least four months with no improvement. That’s a real shame.
Needs a update
I tried to note when I went to several parks. The program would not save the information. I was on the main app.
I don’t see the benefit
I don’t see how this is any better than the free NPS app. Much of the content seems pulled directly from the NPS.
Forced Subscription
Please allow some level of use of the app before forcing someone to create an account. I don’t like having all these useless accounts because I was forced to make one before knowing if the app would even be worth it.
Very little value
The information provided by this app is generic and not very helpful for selecting somewhere to visit and figuring out what to do there. I think you are better off visiting nps.gov and the many excellent travel blogs for actual useful information. There are more specialized apps that are much more useful for hiking. There is something cheap and tawdry about the app’s gamification of visiting national parks, as well as the ads appearing on most screens.
UPDATE: I did look at the guides and they are hard to use. Typically, you have a map with many points but few labels, so it’s hard to know or remember what you are looking at. You can also see lists of hikes, waterfalls, et cetera, but there’s no way to put together a coherent picture or plan. Information can be out of date, e.g., the Grove of the Patriarchs at Mt. Ranier is closed with no re-opening date.
UPDATE: I did look at the guides and they are hard to use. Typically, you have a map with many points but few labels, so it’s hard to know or remember what you are looking at. You can also see lists of hikes, waterfalls, et cetera, but there’s no way to put together a coherent picture or plan. Information can be out of date, e.g., the Grove of the Patriarchs at Mt. Ranier is closed with no re-opening date.
Problem downloading Park guides to iPad
The app work fine on my android phone, but I am unable to download Park guides on the iPad app.
+ 2 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
88%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
9%
Negative (1-2★)