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The Honda Trail Experience iOS app, aka “HTX,” is a cool new tool that leverages your iPhone’s and SUV’s sensors to create an interface that’s both fun and genuinely useful. I’m always skeptical of companion apps for physical products, but I tried HTX myself with a 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport at one of Overland Experts’ off-road training facilities recently and came away impressed.
HTX is part data logger, part dash display, and part adventure-capture software. You can reference our news post about it for the full download. But basically, it’s an iPhone app (no Android functionality yet) that lives within CarPlay and is compatible with Honda’s TrailSport models. Scroll down a bit to see what app-captured video looks like.
On the vehicle’s infotainment screen, you can use it to call up readouts like a numerical water temp gauge, tire angle, pitch and roll, and some dimension displays. These are good-looking and help make Honda’s SUVs feel a little more adventurey.
On the phone side, it becomes a trip-documentation tool.
In fact, what I really liked was the trail recording functionality and video recorder with vehicle data overlay. With HTX running, you can record video from your iPhone just as easily as you would with the stock Apple camera app (audio is captured too), except you get a full suite of vehicle info and geographic position overlaid on your recording.
It’s clean and readable but also aesthetically pleasing. The footage, with vehicle info attached, looks purposeful and exciting without being corny. When you save a recording, in addition to the video, you’re left with a map squiggle tracking exactly where you went.
Yes, versions of this concept have already existed in various aftermarket apps and devices. But to be able to easily sync your phone with your car and have all this handled without any other dongles or antennas is really neat and user-friendly.
You can even hop out of the car and keep recording while somebody else drives—I didn’t test the limit, but I was able to walk about 20 feet from the car without the connection dropping. And while, of course, you could mount your phone inside the vehicle easily enough, the footage from outside, with the vehicle data overlaid, is a lot more fun.
Check out this quick demo to see exactly what HTX’s recorded video and audio look like using my iPhone 17. Sorry the footage is so shaky—I had three cups of coffee and like half a donut for breakfast before shooting this. With a gimbal or mount, that’d be a non-issue.
Honda HTX Off-Road Video Recording Demo
Honda HTX App Demo: Off-Road Video Recording with Honda Passport TrailSport
Honda’s HTX app will work with all TrailSport models. And given how seriously Honda’s taking its off-road initiatives right now, I think there’s a good chance it will continue to evolve and expand its capabilities in the coming years.
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Automotive journalist since 2013, Andrew primarily coordinates features, sponsored content, and multi-departmental initiatives at The Drive.
