Native GPX POI Support – It’s 2026, Stop Forcing Paid Subscriptions!
I am incredibly frustrated as a Karoo owner. It is unacceptable that in 2026, a premium device like the Karoo still cannot natively read standard <wpt> (Points of Interest) from a simple GPX file.
Why is basic functionality locked behind a paid RideWithGPS subscription? Parsing standard XML waypoints is a trivial task for any developer, yet Hammerhead forces users to pay a third party just to use their own route data. Competitors like Garmin and Wahoo have handled this standard feature for years without forcing subscriptions.
This feels like an artificial limitation rather than a technical one. We bought this device for its open Android potential and great screen, not to be locked into a walled garden of paid partners.
Hammerhead, please answer directly: Is native GPX POI import actually on the roadmap? If not, why are you ignoring an open standard that your competitors support out of the box? Many of us are seriously considering switching brands for our next upgrade if this continues to be ignored.
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Try this: https://github.com/mendalka/gpx-poi-karoo-fixer
The repo's own README claims Hammerhead has quietly made partial progress: the Dashboard can now import POIs directly from a plain GPX file (no RideWithGPS detour required) — but only if each has both and tags matching one of exactly 9 hardcoded categories (Food, Water, Parking, Camping, Lodging, Geocache, Summit, Generic, Danger). Anything else gets silently dropped. -
Thanks a lot Marcus!
That fixer script was exactly what I needed. I just wired it up directly into my desktop context menu and tested a GPX file — works like a charm!
Appreciate the tip about the 9 hardcoded categories as well. It’s still crazy that Hammerhead doesn't handle this natively out of the box, but at least this script completely solves the problem without needing a RideWithGPS subscription. Cheers!
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eSka, as a follow-up, I created a route in Komoot. I named some of the Waypoints I used to create the route (Generic, in my case). When the route was saved and auto-imported to the Hammerhead Dashboard, the Named Waypoints were present on the route. When I clicked it, the option to add it to the Global Map was also there. I will personally find this useful for adding in Official Feed Stops on Sportives, as organisers often do not embed them on the gpx, and instead just show them on a PDF map, before the ride. This way, I can add them on Komoot (or RWGPS), before importing to the HH dashboard. Hope this helps.
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