Bushwalking Apps

[walkinTas]

What bushwalking related apps do you have on your smart phone?

I recently installed Weather Tasmania. Its GPS enabled and it gives you a multi-screen weather report from the closest weather station.


....and Yes, you can get other states.

Last edited by walkinTas on Wed 19 Sep, 2012 1:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[MrWalker]

SeasonScape gives you views of scenes in the Cradle Mountain area taken from the same spot in two different seasons.
You can use a slider to move between the two views and your iPhone gps to go to the precise location and see what it's like right now.
Details about SeasonScape here
http://cowirrie.net/

The SeasonScape Arboretum demo gives you some idea how it works.
SepiaScape is similar but the pictures are 50-100 years apart rather than a few months so the areas available are less suitable for bushwalking

[Taz73]

The only app I have on my phone for bushwalking is EveryTrail.

It uses an open source topo map and has a lot of trails and huts marked.

If you can get over the crappy gps capabilities of smart phones, the app is actually really good.

You pre-cache the area you are going to walk before leaving so lack of cell signal is no drama.

This app is a really great back up for every one wandering out there.

I use the free version, it does what I want without expiring or registering.


http://www.everytrail.com/

Last edited by Taz73 on Wed 19 Sep, 2012 8:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[stepbystep]

I use the Weatherzone+ app it is far better than Weather TAS gives full range of maps 7 day forecast wind speed/direction and plenty more

[walkinTas]

I use the Weatherzone+ app it is far better than Weather TAS gives full range of maps 7 day forecast wind speed/direction and plenty more

Yes, there are many weather apps available for Android. What makes weatherTas different is that it is GPS aware. It knows where you are and gives you a wide range of BOM weather info from the closest weather station without you needing to type in the name of a city or town. Handy if you move around a bit.

As far as weather info goes SBS, I think you'll find there is very little difference - they both use BOM. WeatherZone gives you a 7 day forecast whilest weather Tas only gives you 3 days and weatherzones radar images are maybe a little prettier.

@Taz73: I'll be interested to see the different mapping apps that folk use. I'm currently giving backcountry navigator a run. The map sources for Aus aren't great (I'm using the Open Cycle Maps), but it allows uploading of your own maps and I'm planning to play with this a bit (sometime soon).

[Azza]

I use the Weatherzone+ app it is far better than Weather TAS gives full range of maps 7 day forecast wind speed/direction and plenty more

You missed the point. ...again!

I think maybe your confusing two different use cases.. forecast and observations.

Having a GPS enabled app that tells you the weather observations from the closest weather station is kinda nice.
Essentially its just recycling data from the BOM feeds with some bling for smugness.
But realistically I probably don't need that to tell me its cold and raining when I'm already there.
Maybe if it showed barometric pressure over time and a few other charts that could help establish the trend then it would truly be useful.
However I don't believe BOM release real time data from their stations.

When I'm doing a multi day walk I'm more interested in the 7 day forecast and charts.

[wander]

Can anyone point me to an app that gives me location in Oz grid coords instead of lat and long?

[frenchy_84]

Trimble outdoors navigator is a free app which allows you to cache imagery when you have reception and gives you UTM coordinates as well as lats/longs

[stepbystep]

I use the Weatherzone+ app it is far better than Weather TAS gives full range of maps 7 day forecast wind speed/direction and plenty more

Yes, there are many weather apps available for Android. What makes weatherTas different is that it is GPS aware. It knows where you are and gives you a wide range of BOM weather info from the closest weather station without you needing to type in the name of a city or town. Handy if you move around a bit.

As far as weather info goes SBS, I think you'll find there is very little difference - they both use BOM. WeatherZone gives you a 7 day forecast whilest weather Tas only gives you 3 days and weatherzones radar images are maybe a little prettier.

@Taz73: I'll be interested to see the different mapping apps that folk use. I'm currently giving backcountry navigator a run. The map sources for Aus aren't great (I'm using the Open Cycle Maps), but it allows uploading of your own maps and I'm planning to play with this a bit (sometime soon).

Sorry WiT I just think it's a bad app. I paid the extra $1 for Weatherzone because it gives me charts and a LOT more info... I can't even see a 3 day forecast?

[walkinTas]

Can anyone point me to an app that gives me location in Oz grid coords instead of lat and long?

Take a look at Handy GPS.
Among other things:

• Shows your current location in UTM map coordinates or in lat/lon.
• Allows manual entry of waypoints in UTM or lat/lon coords.

[walkinTas]

I can't even see a 3 day forecast?

Latest Update will look like the screens in the first post - forecast buttons and all.

I'm not selling it and I'm not saying it's perfect - it's there and it's different. Folk can read about it themselves at Google Play.

[Son of a Beach]

Am I the only one who uses PocketWeatherAU? I reckon it's great.

Has the tides in it too, which are very useful for me.

[dplanet]

You can bookmark the tides page from Bureau of Meteorology AU website on your device.

[walkinTas]

Looks good Nik. And it's got follow me and auto update. Maybe I need a forth weather app. My wife will like the tides info. She is a daily beach walker.

[stepbystep]

I can't even see a 3 day forecast?

Latest Update will look like the screens in the first post - forecast buttons and all.

I'm not selling it and I'm not saying it's perfect - it's there and it's different. Folk can read about it themselves at Google Play.

I ran updates and I still only have the 3 screens, no 3 day forecast, I'm on an iPhone, perhaps the Adroid version is better? Also at 99c per state seems expensive and annoying(individual app for each state) if you travel interstate. The interface is clumsy with few features, there's no way I'd recommend it. But if you're happy to so be it.

Weatherzone+ will search for the nearest weather station after hitting 3 buttons and covers the whole globe.

I'd like an app that combines some of the features of snow-forecast.com's interactive map as well. But we don't even have a website that does it all yet!

[MartyGwynne]

I use the gram weenie app which lets me get my pack lists worked out and how much food to take etc and I can pack my virtual pack before I go and see how heavy it is.
I also use it to see what I took last time and work out if I can pack things a bit better or lighter next time.

[walkinTas]

Sorry WiT I just think it's a bad app.

Not sure about the "bad" label, but there are other weather apps more feature rich. What caught my eye was the follow me bit and using the nearest weather station (not just the capital city). It took a few seconds to work out how to change the maps on pocket weather AU (tap the map first to full screen). Same story for changing tide locations. Also its a bit easy to crash (but that might be my phone). Since I only have the free version of weatherzone I can't compare, but from what I see weatherzone has a detailed forecast (more info). Next is to see what happens away from the wifi.

You can bookmark the tides page from Bureau of Meteorology AU website on your device.

Not sure I'm following you - can you give us a bit more info.

[wander]

Handy GPS is in Android and so not useful to iPhone, I should have added that I am lumbered with an iPhone as part of my query.

Weirdly there is a Handy GPS app for iPhone, but it does not provide the location in grid only lat and long. Insert rant about who the uses lat and long anymore here.

[walkinTas]

Sorry Wander, It appears you might need Map Tools by Richard Hoffman. Visit here for a discussion.

[dplanet]

Have not tried this tool yet, but looks useful app http://www.binaryearth.net/frames.html

[walkinTas]

Maybe if it showed barometric pressure over time and a few other charts that could help establish the trend then it would truly be useful.

Did you check out pocket weather aus Azza. It has a two day forecast as a graph showing pressure, wind, etc.

[walkinTas]

Has anyone tried out the Frog Log. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be available in Android flavour.

[tasadam]

I recently installed Garmin Fit pn my iphone 4s. Bought it (99 cents) to track mountainbiking but it can do walks just as well.
I see the impracticality in any app like that being battery life. Great for shorter durations though.

[Onestepmore]

Sunrise is a free small app I find useful - simply tells me what time dawn/sunrise/solar noon/sunset/dusk is, and how long it is until that time.
I like Weatherzone + for it's 7 day forecast, and i also use a couple of other ones too - Pocket Weather Au, and Weather NSW
I'm still playing around with a few GPS ones like Everytrail, and haven't used them enough to decide which I want to use. As I only do overnight or walks of a couple days duration I haven't really had a need, but it's something I should get familiar with
Beachsafe, run by the Surf Lifesaving Association is helpful for beach conditions
Columbia What Knot, KG (Knot Guide) Free and Fishing Knots I find useful
Compass and Orienteering Plus are fun, but I doubt I would want to actually navigate by them
Altimeter ones I have found to be scarily variable and inaccurate
Spyglass, Theodalite and GoSkyWatch (hold it up to a constellation and it will tell you which one it is) are fun to have a play with
I also have Fishlogger (bragging pics!) and am trying out a couple of Fish Nav and other fishing spot locator ones

Last edited by Onestepmore on Tue 06 Nov, 2012 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[wander]

I've loaded Frog Log and it's Bird brother, they look good and in fact look very like what I was looking to put together myself for use on a PDA many years ago, with the addition of GPS reporting of siteings. Will test it out late December.