Favorite Apps (weather, navigation)

I just discovered a new app that I think is worth sharing. If you haven't tried the weather app Dark Sky (free online) $4 for the app, you should definitely check it out at Darksky.net. This app does a great job, even here in the mountains, of predicting, for example, times when it will rain and when it will stop. For example, it might say, "light rain starting in 8 minutes and continuing for 20 minutes." It has the radar map and radar forecast too, along with other features. It's freaky accurate- give it a go.

For navigation I have Scenic, Sygic, ESR, CityMaps2Go, and have tried others, but I keep going back to Google Maps and using the "avoid highways" feature. Also, you can download regions in advance and navigate without using data. My second favorite is Waze for giving a heads up on traffic stalls, law enforcement, and fastest routes (when that matters).

I've found that I can't deal with the temptations of a changing iPhone display on my handlebars, so I just listen to directions in my helmet on my Sena blue tooth, and that works well enough.

Do you guys have any apps you'd recommend?

We're watching the tail end of the rain from the hurricane pass through here in western NC. We were lucky in this area for the most part, but there are some folks here that have been hit hard by flooding. I hope everyone on this forum weathered the storm safely.

#ell I use the air temp and my nose to tell if it about to rain. No one talks to me while i ride. Other than the little green guy who sometimes shows up on the back seat. No distractions or toys.

sonny said:

#ell I use the air temp and my nose to tell if it about to rain. No one talks to me while i ride. Other than the little green guy who sometimes shows up on the back seat. No distractions or toys.

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So, where do I get one of those little green guys?

So many good apps out there, depending on your interests. I have to admit, I ride naked (and by that I mean, no music or distractions. I do have a headset in my helmet to to yak with the missus when shes on the bake).
As I'm a keen fisherman and boater, I have heaps of different apps for weather, tides, best fishing days etc.
I use a great app for camping called Wiki Camps, not sure if it's available in other countries. I use Speedometer Pro for calibrating vehicle speedometers, Windy for wind forecasts and have a heap of guitar/ukulele apps for music tabs.

sonny said:

Other than the little green guy who sometimes shows up on the back seat. No distractions or toys.

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How do you get him to stay on the seat. Little blighter seems to be able to crawl inside my head.

Journeyman28778 said:

So, where do I get one of those little green guys?

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Sonny gets him out of a bottle or aluminum can

barbagris said:

How do you get him to stay on the seat. Little blighter seems to be able to crawl inside my head.

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There's an app for that

Jason Jurgens said:

So many good apps out there, depending on your interests. I have to admit, I ride naked (and by that I mean, no music or distractions. I do have a headset in my helmet to to yak with the missus when shes on the bake).
As I'm a keen fisherman and boater, I have heaps of different apps for weather, tides, best fishing days etc.
I use a great app for camping called Wiki Camps, not sure if it's available in other countries. I use Speedometer Pro for calibrating vehicle speedometers, Windy for wind forecasts and have a heap of guitar/ukulele apps for music tabs.

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I see that there is a WikiCamps USA. I camp off the bike when touring, so I'll definitely check it out. Thanks

sonny said:

#ell I use the air temp and my nose to tell if it about to rain. No one talks to me while i ride. Other than the little green guy who sometimes shows up on the back seat. No distractions or toys.

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I will second that except my little man is red and pops up on my shoulder, why listen to any device when you have 2300cc of pure music humming away.

Ive been using Dark Sky for a couple years now and love it.

For GPS I use RideWithGPS. It is one of the only ones i've found for android that has turn by turn functionality. I plan my rides at ridewithgps.com and it creates the waypoints as you set up the route. Then the routes sync with the phone app for your turn by turn. One caveat, it isnt very good at recalculating the route when you go off course. Google maps is much better at recalulating, but planning the route is a bit more difficult.