The best free iPhone and Android apps for cycling

The arrival of good weather is often conducive to resuming physical activity. Whether it’s going for a walk, playing sports, or simply converting to vélotaf, cycling is not always as easy as you would like it to be. Finding a mount when you don’t have one can sometimes be a headache, just like finding a perfectly safe route to work, not to mention the days when motivation is lacking. To accompany you and help you face these little hassles, Telecharger.com has selected the best free applications for cycling on iPhone and Android.

Find a bike

Deciding to get back on the bike doesn’t happen without finding the right frame for you. If you don’t have the time or the inclination to invest in a bicycle, you can definitely turn to the self-service bicycles offered in many cities in France and Navarre.

On iOS, Bicyclette is able to display on a map the number of bikes and spaces available at bike share stations around the world. After having geolocated you, Bicyclette updates the data according to the service offered by the cities (Vélib in Paris, Vélo’v in Lyon, London Cycle Hire in London, etc.). The advantage of Bicyclette is undoubtedly its uncluttered interface instantly offering information in visual form. Depending on the tab chosen, “Bikes” or “Places”, Bicyclette displays for each station around you a color code indicating the number of bikes or places available: green when all is well, orange when the number starts to be. reduced, and red when there is no more bike or space.

Available on Android and iOS, OpenBike Now offers a similar service in a more readable interface. The occupancy rates of the stations around you are immediately visible thanks to the use of a bubble resembling a circular loading icon, showing in blue an overview of the number of bikes available and in gray the number of places. To get the exact number of each, it is necessary to select the station to see the information appear at the top of the interface. The search for a station can be done within a specific radius, but also from a search field if you know the name of the place, or even the number of the desired station. When your choice is made, OpenBike Now is able to create a route in your GPS application to guide you to your destination.

Like its two competitors, Véli Vélo displays, after having geolocated, the stations and their occupancy rate on a map. If it is necessary to switch between the number of bikes available and the number of free places, Véli Vélo offers the possibility of adding several stations to your favorites, and thus to visualize from a dedicated panel, the number of bicycles and of places for each one. between them. Here again, Véli Vélo operates in many cities in France and the rest of the world. And if, however, your city was not in the list proposed by Véli Velo, it is possible to make a request directly to the developers of the application.

Download Bicycle for iPhone (Free)

Download Openbike Now for Android (Free)
Download Openbike Now for iPhone (Free)

Download Véli Vélo for Android (Free)
Download Véli Vélo for iPhone (Free)

Choose a route

Choosing to go for a walk or to go to work by bike can very quickly become a puzzle as to the route to follow: no bike path, dangerous areas, roads unsuitable for cyclists are all reasons that can slow down your ardor. Unless you use the right apps and let yourself be guided. If at first glance this functionality is not used much, Google Maps is perfectly capable of creating a “bike-compatible” route for you. Just, as you usually do, enter your starting point and end point, and select the correct mode of transportation when searching for the route. To choose the route that suits your bike, scroll through all the icons to select the last one. If the suggested route is only half right for you, you can always try out the alternative route that Google Maps offers.

If Google Maps works perfectly, you must however be connected to the Internet to load the map. Here WeGo takes that thorn out of your side since this GPS app allows you to download the complete mapping of a city, region or country for offline use. Here again, if the application is well known to motorists, few people know that it knows how to manage bicycle routes perfectly. In the same vein as Google Maps, you just have to select the right means of transport when launching the route search. Here WeGo offers alternative routes, and for those whose calves would falter a little too easily, Here WeGo even indicates whether the path taken is “hilly”.

Cycling purists will turn to the excellent application of the Tourangeaux by GéoVelo. Precise and above all very complete, the application is available in a version dedicated to each city it supports, integrating data specific to the communities represented. GéoVelo calculates personalized routes by adapting to your level, your speed of movement and the difficulty of the desired route. It is indeed possible to favor a more secure route rather than a faster route. GéoVelo then adapts the route by giving priority to cycle paths and lanes, as well as to low-traffic roads. The app suggests a recommended route, but also allows you to display alternative routes by scrolling to the left. For each of them, GéoVelo indicates the percentage of developed routes that you are going to take, as well as the height difference. Practical, in particular, to avoid arriving at work in a sweat after having climbed a hill that would make it possible to reach the Col du Tourmalet. To guide you, the application offers the choice of following the indications displayed on the screen, but also to activate the voice guide which will give you the directions by speaking them to you. Best of all, the application even offers the ability to record and log your statistics and performance.

Download Here Wego for Android (Free)
Download Here Wego for iPhone (Free)

Download Google Maps for Android (Free)
Download Google Maps for iPhone (Free)

Download Geovélo for Android (Free)
Download Geovélo for iPhone (Free)

Monitor your performance

Those who have a few empty runs and are looking for excuses to avoid taking the bike may find a little motivation with RunTastic Road Bike. The tracking application aims to record the tracking of your activities during your bike rides: distance, speed, pace, altitude, number of calories burned, everything goes. RunTastic Road Bike offers real-time GPS tracking and even lets you share your ride with friends or family. Want to change your route? The application offers access to several thousand online courses. Maps can be downloaded locally to your device so you can use them when you are offline.

If you want more, CycleMeter GPS records all your bike rides with no limit on the number and without the need to log into a website. The application saves many parameters and offers you statistics, maps and graphs summarizing all your performance. To make sure you are keeping up with regular activity, CycleMeter GPS includes a calendar of your workouts and outings.

Finally, as an alternative, Strava will take care of monitoring your shopping and cycling trips, as well as other activities. The application allows you to consult your statistics during and after your outings and offers you challenges each month to test your limits. In addition to keeping track of your performance, Strava allows you to keep in touch with your friends and other outing companions. You can subscribe to the accounts of your relatives or professional athletes to follow their activities, consult their performances but also discover their career.

Download RunTastic Road Bike for Android (Free)
Download RunTastic Road Bike for iPhone (Free)

Download CycleMeter GPS for Android (Free)
Download CycleMeter GPS for iPhone (Free)

Download Strava for Android (Free)
Download Strava for iPhone (Free)