Must Have Apps for Walkers and Hikers

When heading out to explore the great outdoors, it used to be a case of taking a compass, a huge fold-out map and crossing your fingers that it didn’t start to rain. Thankfully, there’s less guesswork now, so if you’re thinking of going walking in the woods or hiking up hills, we’re sure that the apps below will help you plan your adventures.

Ordnance Survey (OS) Maps Premium

Available on: iOS and Android
Price: £2.99 per month/ £23.99 annually

Planning your route is the first step when heading out for a hike and one of the experts in the field is Ordnance Survey (OS). OS has extensively mapped out Great Britain for generations of walkers, now, you can download it as a space-saving app. The subscription service provides instant access to over 600 downloadable maps, which you can save for later or even print - just in case you are heading out somewhere remote. There’s also a selection of thousands of routes set across the nation, ready for you to explore, but you can always plot and then blaze your own trail, if you want.

Not only are the maps displayed in a traditional format, but there’s the eye-catching option of seeing your potential path in 3D. You can even immerse yourself in your surroundings when you’re out and about, using the AR (Augmented Reality) viewer, which lets you pan across the landscape and displays the names of the coastline, mountains, trees and hills that are within sight.

The app is available for both iOS and Android and can be downloaded for a free, two-week trial, before becoming an opt-in subscription service.

Met Office Weather App

Available on: iOS and Android
Price: Free

Planning where you’re going on your walk is only half of the job, you also need to know if the weather is going to be working in your favour. It might be sunny when you leave the house, but up a mountain, things could be very different - this is where the Met Office Weather app comes in handy.

This free app will give you accurate local weather coverage, so you can see what's happening over the next few hours, or anywhere up to seven days ahead. You’ll be kept up to date with the weather in your favourite destinations, with an easy option of switching between hourly and daily updates. If there’s snow on the horizon, you’ll be one of the first to know about it thanks to the ‘severe weather warnings’ function, while there's even an interactive rainfall map and text feature available for the forecasts within the next 24 hours.

There’s also a whole host of personalised options to choose from for your specific needs. If you want to make the most of every last minute of daylight, sunrise and sunset times are available. Meanwhile if you’re heading to a long, flat spot - like the beach - knowing the wind speed, direction and gusts will certainly be useful.

In addition to the free app, an advert-free version of Met Office Weather is available on both the iOS and Android stores for £2.99.

Red Cross First Aid Apps

Available on: iOS and Android
Price: Free

When you head out for a hike, knowing how to react if either you or another member of your party gets hurt is vital, this is where the Red Cross First Aid apps comes in.

There are two apps available, which span across the ages - one provides first aid advice for caring for an adult and the other for babies and children. Both are really user-friendly, featuring simple step-by-step guides for different scenarios, with easy-to-follow videos and animations. The toolkit feature on the child and baby app also gives you the option of recording children’s medical needs.

Both apps signpost you to further information and offer details on first aid courses.

Strava

Available on: iOS and Android
Price: Free

If you’ve got a competitive streak when it comes to sports like cycling or running, then we imagine you’re familiar with Strava. The app has more than 70 million users and helps you to measure the distance of your route, its elevation, the calories you have burned and the time that you’ve spent active - it'll even save the route for future reference.

There is also a social side to things, as Strava allows you to connect with your friends through the app to share your walks and photos of your routes. This also allows you to discover new strolls, which might otherwise have been off the beaten track.

When out for a walk, we know that some of you prefer to have your headphones in. There are plenty of free apps available on both Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store, including Spotify and BBC Sounds. Meanwhile, if you enjoy the serenity of wildlife, Warblr is an app that can identify birdsong, and is available for Android.

If you’re looking for a new handset to help you to plan, navigate and record your walks and hikes, make sure to check out our latest deals at Mobiles.co.uk. Whether you want to be accompanied by an iPhone or an Android when you stride out, there’s something to suit everyone.