Generally people seem to swing one of two ways when it comes to a walking app, they either find them super useful and would use them on most walks, or they like an old-fashioned route map and wouldn’t touch a walking app with a barge pole. Whatever your stance on them, it can’t be denied that they are a useful tool when it comes to walking and have encouraged many people to get into hiking who may not have headed out otherwise.
Below we’ve picked our top six.
1.RouteBuddy
RouteBuddy is for iPhone and iPad and supplies topographical, aerial, road and Ordnance Survey mapping.
This mapping system works really well, the downside is you do have to pay for each map that you want to use.
If you like to print out your maps you can do this from RouteBuddy and take the hard copy with you.
Maps are stored offline so you don’t have to worry if you are in the middle of the countryside and have zero internet connection.
2.OutDoors GreatBritain
This walking app offers the full range of ordnance survey maps and although downloading them can be quite pricey you do get to keep them for life.
You can choose maps according to your favourite walking locations and they will work wherever you are with or without reception. This app is used by walkers, runners and cyclists alike and is dedicated to outdoors enthusiasts.
3.GD Nat Parks
This is a great app for the iPhone costing £7.99 and allowing access to maps of all of Britain’s national parks for no extra costs once the app has been purchased.
You’ll have complete access wherever you are which saves loads of planning time. The only thing to watch out for is the detail on the maps perhaps not being as fine as some of the other apps.
4.MapMyWalk
A great walking app for encouraging you to get out and about encouraging healthy habits with an intuitive design, this app is function loaded and easy to use.
If you pop in your height and weight details it’ll count your steps and calories burned as you walk, always a nice treat to see how many cals have been burned after all of your hard work.
With this app you can plan a walk or you can simply walk and let it track your distance, elevation, time, speed and so on. This is a great benefit if you’re new to walking and want to try and improve certain areas with each walk.
There are also routes, worksout and nutrition advice among other things. You can also share your journey on Facebook if you fancy a little brag!
5.Viewranger
This walking app will inspire you with thousands of great route guide ideas and detailed ordnance survey maps that you can download. These will work even if you’re offline in the middle of your walk so no need to worry about being lost in the wilderness with no phone access. ViewRanger see themselves as an all-in-one trail guidebook, navigator and adventure hub in your pocket.
6.Abvio
Last and by no means least is Abvio, a stunning walking app for iPhone and Android. This is a powerful walking accomplice which maps, graphs, intervals, laps, announcements, zones, training plans and even more, in fact there isn’t much this app can’t do.
It’ll monitor your time, altitude and speed whilst you walk and break your walk down for you.
The functionality is extensive and the app comes highly recommended.