THE 5 BEST APPS FOR MOTORCYCLISTS
IN 2024
Hey,
Are you also on the lookout for the best apps for motorcyclists in 2024? You’ve come to the right place! We’ve delved into this topic extensively, and in this blog post, we’ll present you with all the essential information about the best motorcycle apps.
Smartphones are constant companions these days, and they’re becoming increasingly crucial for motorcycling. Motorcycle apps serve not only as navigation tools but also provide information on speed, weather, and aid in planning motorcycle tours. But which apps are the best for motorcycling? In this article, you’ll find out everything you need to know about the best motorcycle apps in 2024.
Here are the top 5 motorcycle apps for 2024:
Criteria of the analysis
We’ve considered the following criteria for each app:
- User-Friendliness
- Route Planning
- Navigation
- Tour Tracking and Analysis
- App Stability
- Updates
- Rating
- Free Version Features
- Full Version Price
Additionally, we’ve also summarized the unique features each app offers. What do these criteria mean to us and why are they important? Here’s a brief explanation:
User-Friendliness
This criterion is of great importance because only a simple and intuitive user interface enables the creation of routes, making motorcycle tours easier and more enjoyable. A motorcycle app with poor user-friendliness can lead to frustration and a reluctance to use it.
Route Planning
A good motorcycle app should give you the ability to plan a route quickly and easily. This means that the app should provide a simple and effective interface that allows you to create a motorcycle tour quickly and easily. If the app is complicated and difficult to use, it can be challenging to plan a route, ultimately affecting the riding experience negatively.
Navigation
It doesn’t make sense to plan a motorcycle tour perfectly if it then becomes a challenge to follow the navigation instructions. Therefore, navigation is crucial in a motorcycle app to have the best possible riding experience on the motorcycle and the road.
Tour Tracking and Analysis
A good motorcycle app should give you the ability to record your motorcycle tour and analyze it later. This means that the app should provide detailed information about the tour, such as the distance traveled, the duration of the tour, elevation changes, and average speed. This information can help improve your riding skills and optimize each subsequent tour.
App Stability
A good motorbike app should be stable and, above all, reliable while riding. This means that the app should run without crashes or errors in order to ensure a smooth user experience and enjoy using it.
Updates
A good motorbike app is also characterised by the fact that it is regularly updated to ensure that the map material is always up to date. This is important as roads and traffic conditions can change over time, which can affect the accuracy of route planning.
Rating
Google’s Play Store provides important information about whether the app is good or not. In the Play Store, apps are rated with stars, with the minimum being 1 star and the maximum being 5 stars. As a rule of thumb, you can say that 4 stars is a good rating and anything over 4.5 stars is very good. We have taken the average rating of the apps in all countries where they are available at the beginning of 2024 as a reference.
Free Version Features
A good motorbike app should also offer the user useful functions and options in the free version to improve the riding experience. This means that even the free version of the app should give you the option of using basic functions such as route planning or recording and analysing motorbike tours. If the app only offers all functions and options in the paid version, it can deter potential customers and make the app less attractive.
Full Version Price
Most motorbike apps offer a full version for a certain fee, which usually allows you to use all functions without restrictions. For this criterion, we used the price of a full annual membership, which is common.
These are just some of the most important criteria that should play a role when evaluating motorbike apps. Depending on individual needs, however, other factors may also be relevant, such as the availability of different languages or the integration of social networks, and much more.
So let’s get started and take a closer look at the apps!
The 5 best apps for motorcyclists in 2024
Calimoto
You may already be familiar with Calimoto, as it is one of the best-known motorbike apps on the market. One of the features that makes Calimoto special is the algorithm it has developed that takes the “curviness” of a road into account when planning a route. Although other motorbike apps now also offer this function, Calimoto remains a popular choice.
User-Friendliness
The Calimoto app is relatively easy to use, but the user interface was completely overhauled in 2022, which some users rated negatively and found very challenging.
Route Planning
Calimoto offers various options for creating a route, including automatically created round trips as well as the “classic” option of entering start and destination points by address or searching for waypoints on the map. There are also different routing modes and ways to customise the route between waypoints, or POIs. Nevertheless, some users report that the new user interface has made route planning less intuitive.
Navigation
Calimoto offers either audible navigation instructions via the speakers or visual navigation instructions via the smartphone display. The navigation generally works well, although some users have had problems with the app when there has been a loss of connection or a road block.
Tour Tracking and Analysis
Calimoto offers the option of recording the data and displaying important information such as date, duration and maximum speed. For premium users, there are additional graphs that show the angle of inclination and acceleration. However, some users have reported that these values are not always accurate as they are calculated from the GPS sensor. Unfortunately, the graphs are not linked to the map, so it is difficult to see and compare the graph data with the recorded position on the map.
App Stability
Calimoto has made some improvements since the major update in April 2022. However, there are still reports of the app occasionally crashing, which cannot be completely avoided with any app.
Updates
Calimoto is constantly working on improvements, resulting in regular updates that prevent crashes and fix problems. Whilst there have been no new functions for some time, the current functions already cover most user needs.
Rating
With 3.3 out of 5 stars on Google Play, Calimoto has a pretty poor rating.
Free Version Features
In the free version, you can only plan and record routes in one region and navigate within this region. In addition, round trips are limited to 200 km and you cannot download and use offline maps.
Update: From July 3rd 2023, all features except route planning will no longer be available free of charge. The free version can still be used to create routes, but navigating or recording your journey requires a subscription (€59.99 per year). You can find all the information about the new prices and Calimoto’s new subscription model in this blog post.
Full Version Price
The full version of Calimoto is one of the most expensive apps in this comparison and currently costs €49.99 per year (€59.99 from 3 July 2023) and is very rarely available at a discount.
However, if you’re looking for a low-cost alternative, Motobit is the perfect choice. At half the price of Calimoto (and with some features like ride tracking which is even free), Motobit offers all the features you need to fulfil your motorbike needs.
Specialities
A special feature of Calimoto is the offline navigation. You can download the map and navigate and plan without an internet connection, which many users find very useful.
Riser
Riser is a well-known motorbike app, especially in Austria. The company that developed the app is based in Vienna and has become well-known because KISKA, the famous designer of all KTM motorcycles, was one of the company’s shareholders.
User-Friendliness
Riser is simple and intuitive to understand. The menu at the bottom of the screen contains the most important functions, while the rest is organised in a side menu. Navigation through the app is simple and the first impression is very intuitive.
Route Planning
Riser only offers limited options when it comes to route planning. You can plan a circular route or a route with start, destination and intermediate destinations. It’s not super intuitive to plan intermediate destinations directly on the map, but it is possible. The app does not integrate POIs such as gas stations or similar, but you can find them using the address search.
Navigation
Riser’s navigation is quite simple and the necessary information is clearly displayed. However, the navigation is probably the least detailed function of the app.
Tour Tracking and Analysis
For each recorded motorbike tour, the Riser app provides a summary of the route with the most important data. Details such as speed or altitude are not summarised in graphics, but the maximum altitude is displayed, which is sufficient for many people. You can add additional information for each ride, such as a description of the landscape. Everything that is useful, so to speak, but no more.
App Stability
The stability of the Riser app is very good. This is possibly also due to the fact that new functions are rarely added, which can be potential causes of crashes.
Updates
The biggest shortcoming of Riser is, as already mentioned, the long intervals between updates. The app is not updated often and gives the impression that it is hardly ever developed further. The last update was in October 2022, which is a long time for an app.
Rating
Riser is rated with 4.0 out of 5 stars. It is therefore a “solid” average rating.
Free Version Features
Many functions are already available in the free version of Riser. In the full version, you can use the super-curvy routing mode, share your live position via a link (such as in WhatsApp) or create a group and see the position of all members on the map.
Full Version Price
The full version of Riser costs €59.99 per year, which may put many people off for what is on offer.
Specialities
Riser also offers the possibility to organise a ride together with friends or other motorcyclists. Riser also offers regular challenges with a competition where you can win the full version.
Kurviger
Kurviger is something of a “legend” for motorcyclists in German-speaking countries and became famous for its Web route planner. Remember the algorithm for finding curvy routes we mentioned earlier? Most of it is the work of the team at Kurviger, who then released the methodology used for it as “free to use” (or open source) so that other developers could use, adapt and improve it. Kurviger then started to offer an app, which is currently being “renovated”.
User-Friendliness
Kurviger is a very technical tool with many options, which can put many motorcyclists off. This was especially true for the old version, but the new version of the app has a revamped and more intuitive user interface. However, the new version of the app is still under development, which means that features may still be added that may affect the user experience.
Route Planning
In short: Kurviger means tour planning! Route planning in Kurviger offers a huge selection of customisation and filter options. You can really spend countless hours planning a tour with Kurviger down to the last detail.
Navigation
Kurviger’s navigation is pretty good, the map is clear and you can easily skip waypoints, pause the navigation or get an overview of the entire route. The recalculation of a route usually works very well, even if it can take a little time.
Tour Tracking and Analysis
Not much can be said about this, as this function is currently not available, as Kurviger is mainly focussed on tour planning and navigation. If you want to navigate and also record your motorbike tour, you need to use an additional app with Kurviger.
App Stability
It is still too early to assess the stability of the current version of Kurviger, as the app is currently still in development. This means that some developments are taking place and the app may not be 100% stable and crashes may occur.
Updates
After many years, the new version of the Kurviger app is finally available as a beta version. It seems that the app is being continuously developed. We hope that this remains the case, as it would be a shame if the development of this “legend” were to stagnate for a long time, as was the case with the first version.
Rating
As the app is still in the beta phase, there is currently no public rating.
Free Version Features
All functions are available free of charge in the beta version. It is currently unclear whether there will be a 100% paid version at a later date.
Full Version Price
All functions can currently also be used in the free version. To be able to use all functions in the web portal as well, there is a subscription for €10 per year.
Specialities
No other app or online route planner offers as many customisation options as Kurviger.
Scenic
Scenic ist eine App, die sicherlich zu den Urgesteinen am Markt gehört. Tatsächlich ist Scenic die “Weiterentwicklung” von Motomappers, das bereits im Jahr 2014 gegründet wurde. Seitdem ist viel passiert und jetzt ist Scenic ein bekannter Name bei Motorradfahrern, besonders für alle, die ein Apple Smartphone haben. Warum ist das so? Derzeit ist Scenic nur für iOS-Geräte verfügbar und sich eine Version für Android gerade in Entwicklung befindet. Wir sind jedoch der Meinung, dass die App gut gemacht ist und sie trotzdem einen Platz in unserer Liste der besten Apps für Motorradfahrer verdient.
User-Friendliness
You can see that the app has been around for a long time and that the developers have listened very carefully to user feedback, as the Scenic app is very easy to use for most applications. Chapeau!
Route Planning
Scenic offers a good route planner. You can create round trips or fully personalised trips using the address search or directly on the map. You can also add your own POIs to the map and organise your planned routes into folders to make them easier to find. This is a very cool feature, but it can also be very easy to lose your route in folders. Fortunately, there is also a search function.
Navigation
Navigation in Scenic works smoothly. Following the course of the road is easy and very visible on the map, but the navigation instructions on the screen may be too small for some motorcyclists. It can happen that you are routed to roads that are not passable, but in this case the route is recalculated in no time.
Tour Tracking and Analysis
Scenic can also be used to record motorbike tours. In addition, every journey with activated navigation is automatically recorded. At the end of the recording, you receive an overview of the tours travelled with the most important information such as distance, duration, etc. You can also export the tour afterwards or share it with friends.
App Stability
The stability of the Scenic app is very good, crashes are rare and the app generally runs smoothly.
Updates
The app is updated at irregular intervals. There are phases in which the app is updated frequently, but also longer periods in which no updates take place. The last update at the time of writing this blog post was in November 2022. One reason for this could be that the developers are currently focussing their attention on finalising the Android app.
Rating
The Scenic app has a very good rating of 4.7, although it should be noted that the app ratings in Apple’s App Store are generally higher than those in Google’s Play Store. Nevertheless, this is a very good rating overall.
Free Version Features
The free version of the Scenic app already offers many functions. However, it is not possible to navigate the route with navigation instructions without subscribing to the premium version. In the free version, the route is only shown on the map, but you have to pay attention to where you have to ride to. Creating round trips is also one of the premium functions, where other apps often offer more.
Full Version Price
Scenic offers various packages. It is possible to take out a subscription for €27.99 per year or purchase an unlimited lifetime licence for €110. However, not all functions are included in these packages. To download maps, you need credits, which must be purchased separately. This model is unique and can cause confusion.
Specialities
A mentioned beforte, a special feature of Scenic is the ability to organise tours in folders. Other apps often do not offer this and it can be very practical, especially for motorcyclists who are often on the road and plan or record many tours.
Motobit
Motobit is one of the latest apps for motorcyclists and was first released in summer 2020. The development of Motobit was initially focussed on the delivery of road hazard warnings to improve motorcycling safety. The app has been continuously developed and currently offers almost all the functions motorcyclists could wish for.
User-Friendliness
The Motobit-app is very easy to use. The developers have really put a lot of effort into making the user interface as intuitive as possible and the results are clearly visible: you can always see which button has which function and you never lose track within the app.
Route Planning
With Motobit, you can easily plan motorcycle tours directly on the map or via the address search or generate a round trip in just a few clicks. The app offers 4 different routing modes that allow you to customise the route as you wish. Instead of flooding the user with options, Motobit does a lot in the background: the routing options are pre-optimised to favour beautiful rural roads and avoid boring and straight roads.
Navigation
Navigation with the Motobit-app is simple and very intuitive. The navigation instructions via audio commands or the smartphone display are easy to follow. The route is automatically recalculated if a turn is missed, although as with many other apps, this can take a while depending on GPS and network reception. While navigating or tracking a motorbike tour, Motobit also provides warnings about dangers on the road, such as dangerous bends, damaged roads, etc., as well as speed checks. These warnings are very useful, especially when travelling on new and unfamiliar roads.
Tour Tracking and Analysis
The Motobit app offers a lot of information about the tracked tours. Of course, all general information is available, such as the total duration, distance, altitude, etc., but the app also analyses your cornering style during the ride and provides an overview of how you ride each corner in order to constantly improve your riding style. Motobit also calculates the lean angle and acceleration in the direction of travel with a higher accuracy than other apps and provides this information in graphs linked to the map so that you can view and analyse the values point by point on the map. That’s world-class!
App Stability
The stability of the app is really good. Crashes and problems are solved quickly by the developers.
Updates
The Motobit app is updated very frequently and new functions are constantly being added. The developers constantly utilise user feedback and try to implement it quickly in the app.
Rating
The average rating of the Motobit app is 4.5 with over 2200 ratings. This makes it the top-rated app for motorcyclists in the Play Store.
Free Version Features
In the free version of Motobit, you can plan and navigate tours.
However, the length of the tours is limited to 100 km for navigation. The full version also offers the option of importing GPX files, displaying the inclination angle and acceleration points, among other things. There are other practical app functions included in the full version, which are clearly listed in the app.
All warnings and the analysis of the cornering style can be used free of charge by all users, which really benefits everyone.
Full Version Price
The full version of Motobit is called “Motobit Premium” and costs just €29.99 per year. This makes it much cheaper and more attractive than other apps for motorcyclists.
Specialities
The Motobit app is the only app that also offers free personalised warnings about dangers on the road. In addition, only with Motobit is it possible to receive an analysis of your own cornering style. Another special feature of the Motobit app is the cornering assistant.
The cornering assistant constantly analyses the current driving style and combines this with information about the road network. This makes it possible to be alerted in advance if you are about to underestimate a bend in order to avoid a potentially dangerous situation based on your own riding style. This function alone can already help many motorcyclists to avoid accidents and enjoy motorbike tours in a more relaxed manner.
Summary
If you are not yet sure which app is right for you, we have put together a table with a summary:
+ = Very good
o = Average
– = Below average
/ = Can not be evaluated
| Motobit | Calimoto | Scenic | Riser | Kurviger | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| User-Friendliness | + | o | + | o | - |
| Route Planning | o | + | o | - | + |
| Navigation | o | o | + | o | o |
| Tour Tracking and Analysis | + | o | o | o | / |
| App Stability | o | o | + | + | / |
| Updates | + | o | - | - | / |
| Rating | 4.5/5 | 3.3/5 | 4.7/5 | 4.0/5 | / |
| Free Version Features | + | - | o | + | / |
| Full Version Price | 29,99€/Year | 59,99€/Year | 27,99€/Year | 59,99€/Year | 10€/Year |
…and Google Maps?
Are you wondering why we haven’t included Google Maps in our list of the best apps for motorbike riders? Quite simply: Google Maps is not an explicit motorbike app. Of course, Google Maps can also be used for motorcycling and works well if you want to get from A to B quickly. However, it does not offer any special functions for motorcyclists.
An important final tip
If you’re still unsure which motorbike app is right for you, it won’t hurt to simply download a few motorbike apps and try them out. Most apps can also be used in the free version and often also offer a free trial period of the full version before you have to pay for it.
Of course, you can also ask your motorcyclist friends, but be careful: many people have only used one motorbike app and recommend it without knowing what other apps offer. In addition, each motorbike app has specific strengths that may be more or less important to you. That’s why we recommend trying out each app for yourself and not always relying on recommendations alone.
We can of course recommend that you simply give Motobit a try. 😉
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