Android (phone) bike aps; any good ones?

Hi All,

Anyone have favorite Android phone aps for use with their bike(s)? If so, what are they doing for you that you like? What don't you like? Any "features" you HATE?! If so, why?

TIA,
RTIII

For long-range biking expeditions I like Sygic to plan routes, avoid getting lost and to find useful stuff: stores, restaurants, camp grounds, parks.

parajared said:

For long-range biking expeditions I like Sygic to plan routes, avoid getting lost and to find useful stuff: stores, restaurants, camp grounds, parks.

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Interesting. Does it cost anything? It gives you a moving map as you ride? ... What makes it better than GoogleMaps that comes on virtually every Android phone? (Would be nice if it gave you speed, direction, and lat / long coordinates!)

It's free for the basic version. You basically are getting a Garmin/Tom-Tom clone. You don't get turn-by turn navigation help, no traffic advice, no voice telling you things with the free version but if you pay for the app you get these features. I use the free version.

What makes it better than GoogleMaps that comes on virtually every Android phone?

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Sygic is specifically catered for offline use. You can chill out at the camp-site in the wilderness and plot out your route/see what attractions are near you. In the United States you download things a state at a time. If you accidentally enter a state that you haven't yet downloaded you are pretty much SOL, just basic nav with way-points, no streets, no attractions. Not as useful as google maps in terrain mode (topography/elevation), you get cutesy cartoonish (shall I say pretty much worthless) terrain.

Would be nice if it gave you speed, direction, and lat / long coordinates

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Speed and direction yes but Lat/long isn't on the fly. You can retrieve lat/long by slogging through a bunch of menus.

Or you could just get a Garmin, it's the same thing but that means one more thing to carry.

I have a fuzzy piece of sticky velcro on the back of my phone that causes people to ask questions about me/question my sanity and it's on there largely due to this app. I sticky velcro my phone to my bike.

parajared said:

I have a fuzzy piece of sticky velcro on the back of my phone that causes people to ask questions about me/question my sanity and it's on there largely due to this app. I sticky velcro my phone to my bike.

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-chuckle-

If I sticky-velcroed my phone to my bike I think I'd be out a phone and one half of a velcro pair! :lol:

That may change, however, on my new bike: Going with twice the tire and a suspension fork - I'm keen on trying it out. But the former setup was so jarring that I lost the front headlight more than once!

There is a much stronger version of "velcro" that is genderless and looks like tiny mushroom caps rather than hook and loop. It's also by 3M. I've seen a basic version of it at Michael's art supplies stores but there is a heavier duty version they don't have, which has nearly 1/8" thick backing plastic (so it isn't very flexible) and can actually be screwed down or bolted to surfaces, and when the pieces are then snapped together they are quite difficult ot accidentally remove.

A quick google shows it's called "dual lock"

rigid version
https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/dual-lock-rigid-backed-series/2132?mpart=SJ-3463&vendor=19

pics of various kinds
https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&biw=1127&bih=918&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=3M+Dual+Lock+Reclosable+Fastener&oq=3M+Dual+Lock+Reclosable+Fastener&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0j0i24k1l3.8883.8883.0.9189.1.1.0.0.0.0.207.207.2-1.1.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.1.206.R19wNXL_hLE

That's a good point, I don't use "velcro" like you would buy at Wal-Mart or the fabric store. I use the heavy duty stuff that wants to rip the back of my phone off whenever I try to detach it.