Taking our phones everywhere we go a norm of today. Everyone has their phones on them at all times. As a matter of fact, when someone is away from home and without their smartphones, it is considered entirely abnormal. Our smartphones keep us involved with our social lives and various other aspects that we should be aware of.
But that’s not all they do; smartphones can be figured into every aspect of our lives. Professionals use their phones on the field to speed up their work. Students use phones as learning aids and for other different things that help ease their workload. Hiking is no exception to this. On hiking trips, there are several ways for our phones to come in handy. The apps on this list will definitely be useful when hiking.
1Weather
This app comes in during the planning stages of a hike. It’s a regular weather app, and it gives you the usual: weather widgets, forecasts, current weather, and weather radar. With the 12-week forecast feature, you can plan for trips that are further in the future. With this, you can plan your hikes depending on the weather. Using the radar feature, you can find and move away from harsher conditions.
Download from the Google Play Store now
BackCountry Navigator
BackCountry Navigator is one handy navigation tool for hikers. This app has a wide selection of offline maps to help you find your bearings. With this handy app in your pocket, you’ll have no problem traversing outdoor terrains. This app’s map data include USGS color aerial photography, OpenStreetMaps, NASA Landsat data, and more. It covers every major country globally, so you don’t have to worry about your location not being supported.
Download from the Google Play Store now
Compass
When going on an outdoor expedition, you’re going to need a way to get your bearings. A manual compass is, of course, the easiest way, but then again, several reasons could prevent you from using it, so a backup isn’t so far-fetched. This app is a simple alternative to the average compass. It shows you the cardinal points about your environment. This app has no ads and doesn’t require an internet connection, so it’s perfect for hiking trips.
Download from the Google Play Store now
Icon Torch
Every android device now comes with an inbuilt flashlight app, but older phones didn’t have this feature. This app fixes that problem as simply as possible. You tap the on-screen button to turn on the light and tap again to turn it off. That’s just about it.
Download from the Google Play Store now
Komoot
Komoot is a planning app that is especially useful for hikers, bikers, and other outdoor people. You can use this app to check paths and plan out your route before you hit the road. This app is quite easy to use and includes a slew of downloadable maps to help you navigate beforehand.
Download from the Google Play Store now
Offline Survival Manual
Offline Survival Manual is (obviously) an in-depth guide for surviving while lost in or traversing the wilderness. It has instructions for all the rudimentary skills you should have on outings; tying knots, building a fire, and avoiding poisonous plants. This app has concise guides in psychology tips for stress, procuring food, and surviving various environments and weather conditions. Being an open-source app, it receives regular updates.
Download from the Google Play Store now
Runkeeper
Runkeeper is a fitness app but can also be used alternatively during hikes. Use this app to track the distance that you have covered during your hikes. With Runkeeper, you can set distance goals so that you always stay motivated during hikes. There are also a few extra features that aid you during hikes.
Download from the Google Play Store now
Knots 3D
This is a hiking app that helps you out with knots. It uses 3D tutorials to teach you how to tie effective knots and which knots work best for each situation. The three-dimensional nature if this app sets it apart from all the other knot tying apps for mobile devices.
Download from the Google Play Store now
Water Drink Reminder
Water Drink Reminder is a great hiking app because it tells you when to drink water. Everyone knows that when on a hiking trip, staying properly hydrated is standard practice. While most reminder apps can serve this function, this app stands out because it is solely meant to tell you when to drink water. There’s really no other reminder that you’ll need when hiking. The app even makes a graph about how much water you drink, and it syncs data with Google Fit and S Health. Obviously, this is a handy app to have when hiking.
Download from the Google Play Store now
WikiCamps
WikiCamps is an app that shows you a library of camping grounds and RV parks. During a hike, there are lots of reasons why camping nearby is useful. This app helps you find camping grounds around the area where you’ll be hiking, which is really useful during emergencies and other scenarios. Setting up camp means you can hike all day long because you don’t have to worry about getting back before sundown. It even shows you if the RV parks have RV hookups for sewage, water, electricity, etc. Positive features like this are awesome for planning and going on hikes.