What we shipped lately
Every entry is live in the current build unless noted otherwise.
Holiday events
For a few weeks around each big holiday, a holiday track now runs beside the Season Pass. The XP you already earn moves both. The rewards are new full-color art, and much of it moves: a Holiday Tree with blinking lights, a waving Candy Cane Pennant, a Bunny Banner whose ears twitch. A freshly claimed holiday flag gives off snow, leaves or hearts on the map for every player to see. Holiday capture effects add a burst of snow, leaves, hearts or bats to the replays of land you take. Holiday frames and share-card themes come with a matching ornament or pattern. Each holiday's rewards can only be earned while it runs, and you keep them. The gold lane is included with Pro and with that season's Gold Pass. First up: Harvest Moon in November, then the Winter Holiday from December 1.
Notifications that open the right thing, and clearer offline messages
Tapping a notification for a different team session, event or league while one was already open could show the old one. Each now opens the one you tapped. Tapping a Pro notification in your notification list now opens the Pro screen, the same as tapping the push. When you're offline, TerraLoop now says it can't connect and asks you to check your connection, instead of showing setup instructions meant for developers. The Server settings option is gone from the sign-in screen. Runs saved while offline are also better protected if the phone's saved copy is ever damaged.
Crew banners in the right place, and a steadier map on iPhone
Crew banners now show on the right territory, and land owned by a Crew Supporter has a steady glow in its banner color. On iPhone, the map clears what it has drawn when memory runs low, so the app is less likely to close. The location permission prompt also shows up every time after the explanation screen.
A steadier map when you zoom out
Zooming out over a busy area could make TerraLoop close on some Android phones. The map now draws the territories in view up to a limit, starting with the ones on screen and the biggest. When some are left out, a Zoom in to see all territories banner appears. Tap it to zoom in and see the rest.
Your land stays yours, and flags mark fresh claims
A loop that touched a teammate's land used to merge it into one zone owned by whoever ran last, even when most of it was someone else's. Now a teammate's zone stays theirs: your loop claims the ground around it, and the result tells you how much was left with them. Loops still merge with your own land. A loop that sits entirely on teammates' land claims nothing, but still counts toward your training. Claim flags now fly over land claimed in the last 24 hours, then give way to your emblem, so each zone shows one icon instead of two.
A map that keeps up
On Android, the map sometimes didn't update until you left the screen and came back. Clearing a suggested route with the x now removes it straight away, land you've just claimed shows up as soon as the claim goes through, and the outline from Show target on map fades after a few seconds like it should. Tapping a flag or emblem also no longer brings up Google's directions buttons next to the recenter control, so you stay in TerraLoop.
Flags that show up, a calmer map, invite codes in the app, and honest event times
Claim flags and emblems could show as blank squares on the map. They're now drawn as TerraLoop's own icons, so they look the same on every phone, and an emblem on an L- or U-shaped claim now sits on that claim instead of in the gap. The map stays readable when a lot of land is marked: zoomed out to a city, flags and emblems hide; at neighborhood scale they're small colored dots; up close you see the full icons. Markers that would overlap merge into one with a count, and tapping it zooms in. If you installed TerraLoop straight from a store, you can now enter a friend's invite code when you sign up, during setup, or later under You → Membership & rewards in your first 30 days. You both get the same bonus as an invite link. Live Events now says when each event actually ended ("Ended 3 months ago" instead of "Just wrapped up"), and ended events move to an archive when their season closes.
A bolder Season Pass, an easier Territory look, and a Pro save fix
The Season Pass has a new look: a tier crest and XP bar up top, free rewards on one side of the track and gold rewards on the other, and rewards that pulse when they're ready to claim. Territory look is easier to set up. The preview stays pinned while you pick, land and profile items sit on separate tabs, each option says what it does, and the Save button stays in reach with a count of unsaved changes. Pro members could find that saving opened the Pro screen instead of saving when they'd picked a Season Pass reward they hadn't earned yet. Those rewards are now marked, and the app points you to the Season Pass instead. The Crew Supporter card now explains plainly what your team gets, who pays and how long it lasts.
Season Pass, a signature look on the map, and a new Pro
Every season now has a Season Pass: 25 tiers of rewards earned just by playing, since every loop, quest and Route of the Day counts. The free lane has emblems and titles for everyone. The premium lane has exclusive claim flags, capture effects, card themes and profile frames, and it's included with Pro or can be bought for a single season. Rewards are yours to keep. Your first claim now plants a flag: for 48 hours your land wears a signature ring and claim flag that rivals can see. Pro is rebuilt around making the map yours. It adds a signature ring and claim flag that show even on a team, a capture effect that plays in the replay when you take someone's land, share-card themes and profile frames, a Conquest Map of everything you've held and lost, a season and year in review, and a territory health view. Invite a friend and you both get a week of Pro once they verify. Team leaders can become a Crew Supporter for the season, which flies the team's banner on the map and unlocks a contribution board. Calories are now free for everyone. Nothing Pro offers changes claiming, capture, shields, decay or alerts.
TerraLoop is on Google Play
TerraLoop is now live on Google Play as well as the App Store, so Android players no longer need to join a beta. Get it free from Google Play or the App Store and sign in with your existing account. You → Help & support → Rate TerraLoop now opens the review page on whichever store you installed from.
Cleaner suggested loops, and route cards you can swipe
Suggested loops no longer make you turn around and walk back the way you came on streets that carry on elsewhere. Those U-turns came from the route being steered onto side streets, and they're now cut out, so the loop keeps going and the distance shown is the one you'll actually walk. Route choices now sit on cards along the bottom of the map: each shows the loop's shape, distance, time and climb, and the land it would claim, with a Start button. Swipe to compare and the map follows. The last card loads more routes and keeps the earlier ones a swipe away. Routes you've already been shown come back instantly if you ask again from the same spot.
Pick your route, see what it's worth, and get turn-by-turn directions
Suggested loops now come as a choice: real trails, landmark tours, loops toward land your team doesn't hold yet, and neighborhood loops. Each one shows its distance, time and climb, how far away it starts, and what it does to the map: how much new land it claims, how much enemy land it takes, and which enemy zones it captures whole. Choose flatter or hillier terrain, or plan from anywhere on the map instead of where you're standing. While you record along a route, TerraLoop now calls out every turn ("In 60 meters, turn left"), warns you if you stray off the route and tells you which side it's on, and lets you know when the loop is done. Mute the voice any time. Landmark loops now sweep out past the landmark and come back a different way instead of doubling back, and nearby trails rank ahead of ones across town. Every player gets the best suggested loop; Pro adds side-by-side route choices, more options and landmark tours. On the web portal, download any saved route, or one you've just built, as a GPX file for Garmin, Coros, Wahoo or your watch app.
A tidier team board, and raid targets you can actually see
A cancelled team session could stay on the Sessions list looking live until you opened it. The Team tab now refreshes whenever you come back to it, so cancelled sessions are gone straight away. Cancelled challenges and raids now drop off the board immediately too, instead of hanging around for a week. "Show target on map" now frames the raid zone in the open part of the map, clear of the buttons and the bottom panel, and doesn't pop a sheet over it. Territory decay notifications land the same way, with the zone above its details sheet. Route of the Day now follows you: if you open it far from where today's route was made, it builds a fresh one near you.
Notifications that stay dismissed, and a map that keeps up
Tapping a notification and dismissing it could bring the Notifications screen back again and again, and a session invite link could keep reopening the same way. Both now open once. Join requests, invites and roster changes now take you straight to your team, and team session notifications open the session. The map now refreshes when you join or leave a team or alliance, or when a notification arrives while you're looking at it. The Compete shortcuts to Leagues and Events now work every time you tap them, not just the first.
The welcome walkthrough is back
New players were sometimes landing straight on the map after verifying their email, skipping the walkthrough that shows how to record a loop, explains walk, bike and drive modes, and sets a weekly goal. Every new account now gets it on first sign-in, on any device. If you signed up recently, missed it, and haven't recorded a loop yet, you'll see it the next time you open TerraLoop.
Simpler location permissions
TerraLoop now only asks for location while you're using the app — there is no more "Allow all the time" request. Recording with the screen off still works: while an activity is running, a notification stays up and location keeps coming in until you finish. Before your phone asks for location, a short screen explains exactly what's collected and why, and nothing is requested unless you tap Continue. On Android, reinstalling TerraLoop no longer leaves the map stuck without ever asking for location, and if location is off, the map's button now takes you straight to Settings and loads the map as soon as you come back.
Team sessions
Challenges give a team something to do together; sessions give it a time and a place. Leaders and officers can schedule a group workout — when, how long, walk/run or ride, a meeting point, an optional saved route, and a weekly repeat — and the whole team gets notified. Members answer going, maybe or can't, and get a reminder the day before and an hour before. Attendance fills itself in from the runs people record near the meeting point, with a one-tap check-in for anyone who didn't record. Organizers can also share a guest invite link so a friend on another team can join one session without switching teams. Like challenges, a session sets no reward of its own.
Signed-in devices
Profile now lists every phone and browser signed in to your account, and you can sign any of them out — or all of them except the one in your hand — and it takes effect immediately. Changing your password signs out your other devices, and resetting it signs out all of them. You stay signed in on your own devices without being asked to log in again.
Report and block players
You can now report a player, a team or a territory, and block a player outright: blocked players can't invite you or join your team, you won't see each other on the live map, and their names are hidden in leaderboards and territory sheets. Blocking never changes the game itself — territory and scores work the same. Offensive usernames, team names and territory names are filtered when they're chosen, and reports go to our moderators, who can rename, remove or suspend.
Name your territory
Territory now takes the name of the loop that claimed it, and you can rename any zone you own right from its sheet on the map. Zones without a name get a plain label like "Walk zone · Sep 27" instead of the nearest shop's name, which usually wasn't even inside the loop. Landmarks inside your loop still earn their bonus.
Suggested loops that actually work
Suggested loops failed far too often. They're rebuilt to start and finish where you are without doubling back down the same street, and they come back with a real loop of the distance you asked for. New players now get their first loop drawn on the map automatically, ready to start. Planned routes are drawn as a bold line with direction arrows and a start pin, the map zooms to fit the whole route, and daily routes show an estimated time.
Smaller improvements
A run you finish while our servers are briefly down is now kept and sent again, instead of being marked rejected and lost. Raid cards have a "Show target on map" button, and tapping a raid notification takes you straight to the zone. Typing in sheets no longer makes them jump around, fields near the bottom of the screen stay above the keyboard, and distances and goals accept a decimal comma ("2,5"). Screen readers now announce every button and tab, and there's a full user guide on the website.
Challenges and raid runs
Leaders and officers can now call the team out on something. A goal sets a shared target with a deadline — cover 50 km together before Sunday, log 25 workouts this week, climb 2,000 m — and the board tracks how close the team is and who has actually put the work in. A raid points the whole team at one rival zone: big territory has always needed several loops to crack, and a raid gives that a start time, a roster and a scoreboard. Finishing either one pays exactly what the runs already earn — the territory you take, the season points, the XP and quest progress. A challenge sets a target, never a prize, so there is nothing for a leader to hand out and nothing to inflate.
Every workout counts now
Runs that don't close a loop — out-and-backs, intervals, point-to-point routes — used to earn nothing at all. Now every accepted activity earns XP, advances quests, and keeps your daily streak alive, whether or not it claims a single square metre. New training quests ("cover 3 km today", "log 4 workouts this week", "climb 300 m") go with them, and the streak counts any day you trained rather than only days you took ground. Territory is still earned the same way it always was: by closing a loop.
Leaders decide who joins
Teams now vet their roster. Ask to join and a leader or officer approves you, or they invite you and you accept — either way both sides agree before anyone's on the roster. Leaders choose how strict the door is: by request (the default), open to anyone, or invite-only. Officers can work the request queue so a sleeping leader isn't a bottleneck, and you can see every application you have out and cancel any of them.
First-loop moment
A brand-new account now sees a "First loop? Try today's route" banner on the Map screen — one tap loads that day's Route of the Day as a ghost you can start along. When your first accepted claim lands, the celebration sheet goes gold and oversized instead of the standard "Territory claimed!" card.
Push controls per category
15 notification categories (captures, sieges, decay, nearby activity, quests, streaks, weekly recap, and more) each have their own on/off in Profile → Notifications & presence. Muted categories still record to the in-app bell — the switch only stops the OS-level buzz. Critical account and tier messages always push.
Live map presence
Opt in and see anonymized team-colored pips on the map for other players recording within ~1.5 km — no username, no precise coordinate. Fully symmetrical: you appear only if you're also broadcasting. Pips expire within a couple of minutes of the last heartbeat.
Weekly recap trophy card
Every Monday morning your finished week rolls up into a shareable trophy card at terraloop.app/card. Distance, area gained and lost, longest loop, and MVP teammate. Deep-linked from the "your week is ready" push.
Streak shields
Spend your free weekly shield on a territory and decay skips it entirely for 14 days (21 for Defenders). Everyone gets one shield per ISO week — no purchase, no roll-over.
Roles, boss zones, route of the day, heatmap
Every account picks an identity role (Scout / Defender / Striker / Cartographer) that grants a small, thematic edge — a season-point nudge on the kind of claim it's about, a longer shield, or extra route XP. Alongside: neighborhood boss zones that reward teamwork, a real road-following daily route, and a territory heatmap of who has taken what from whom.
Verified route badge
An accepted claim with zero anti-cheat flags earns a "verified" checkmark on the territory sheet — a public, non-punitive read of what the anti-cheat pipeline already computes for every route.
Sieges, alliances, and regional leagues
Territories over 20,000 m² take siege damage instead of flipping in one loop; alliances leave a team's land untouchable to allies; regional leagues run rolling promotion/relegation cycles inside admin-drawn divisions.
Tracks, replays, and a route builder
Not every run is a claim: a Track recording is kept for personal stats without touching territory. Every recording (loop or track) can be named at the end and gets an owner-only animated replay you can also share as a link.
Following along? Watch the app for the next release, or email support@terraloop.app to nominate what should ship next.