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I'm switching from an android phone to an iphone soon. I use the google maps bike directions all the time to figure out how to get to friend's houses, restaurants, bars and navigating around a new city, usually with no pre-planning on a computer.

On my droid, I just bring up google maps, type in an address, and get bike directions. However, the iphone doesn't have bike directions on the maps app. What is a good native app alternative for the iphone?

I'm not trying to track my rides. Just trying to figure out how to get from A to B.

Update: It does seem that the cycling layer and bike directions are serviceable in a pinch on the google maps website when viewed on the iPhone or android device, but a native app would be more desirable.

Edit: June 2014 : Google Maps on the iPhone does support bicycle routes.

mattnz
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Benzo
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  • Not quite the same question, but also see: What is a good iPhone app for bikers? – Goodbye Stack Exchange May 10 '12 at 16:06
  • So far, the only thing that looks promising is http://www.gpstuner.com/ which is also available for android. However, the POI is pretty lousy. Try searching for 'restaurant' or 'beer'. No results. Search results are not local either, they search the whole damn globe, way too broad. – Benzo May 11 '12 at 13:46
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    The following URL seems to have a list of apps that use open street maps and lists the navigating features (car / bike / walking ) which the app provides. I'll be checking out these apps in more detail that are listed as providing iphone support. However, I'm still looking for personal recommendations as I can't test these apps myself. http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/IPhone#Navigating_features – Benzo May 14 '12 at 06:34
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    Surely this is a list question and as such not really a valid SE topic? – Unsliced May 15 '12 at 16:19
  • Have you tried using the walking directions the iPhone maps app provides? – Glenn Gervais May 15 '12 at 20:15
  • I havn't tried anything, I need to know whether I have a good replacement for google maps bicycling directions before I switch phones. I doubt walking directions would work well in my home city because we have an abundance of public staircases and wouldn't want to get routed through those. – Benzo May 16 '12 at 12:58
  • I dont think you are going to get a holy grail of answers without trying something. Every app idea has 5+ people who built an app for that. Sometimes its trial and error. Its clear there are 5+ google bike map apps out there. Thats probably as good as you will get before actually using and trying them. – Matt Adams May 16 '12 at 13:38
  • Not exactly "urban/commuting", but it should be pointed out that the US cycling organization Adventure Cycling has a large selection of touring route maps, and GPS waypoints can be downloaded for at least some of them. – Daniel R Hicks May 17 '12 at 21:54
  • You want to know what us iPhone users do? We use specialized tools for the jobs we need them for. In this case, this Apple fanboy uses a Garmin Edge 800 to get a cycling specific, small enough to actually carry device with turn by turn directions and the option to use a variety of map styles. It also costs about the same as all the iPhone cases with ANT+ connectivity and speed/cadence do as add-ons. You can get maps for pretty much any location, and although the maps are expensive if you buy the downloads, there are "alternative sources". – zenbike May 18 '12 at 05:30
  • @zenbike - I'm an anti single-purpose gadget guy, it's just what works for me, I had a garmin edge 605 that was given to me and did't ever use it (had city-navigator maps). It was just overkill for me. I don't even own a cycle computer. I really don't care about my speed / cadence most of the time. I'm riding for commuting and fun, not to track my workouts or train seriously for a race. I figure, I'll probably have my phone on me for a lot of reasons, so I make the best of what I've got. – Benzo May 18 '12 at 13:24
  • So basically, you got 3 or 4 solid answers, but you still aren't happy with the results? Why? – Matt Adams May 20 '12 at 22:37
  • Looks like a google maps app just got released for iOS, NO BIKE DIRECTIONS! – Benzo Dec 13 '12 at 16:07
  • I did just get an iphone. Best solution seems to be using the web interface for google maps. It's the only way I can find on iOS 6 to view the cycling layer. It actually works pretty well despite not being a dedicated app. – Benzo Dec 16 '12 at 17:05

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Have you tried "Get there by bike"? http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/get-there-by-bike-interactive/id457288250?mt=8

The few times i tried it i had good results.

Another alternative, but i have not used yet. http://www.bikemapsapp.com/

Matt Adams
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  • I havn't tried anything yet. If I don't find a good replacement for my google maps, I'm not sure I'll actually switch from android to iphone. It's one of those dealbreakers for me. – Benzo May 13 '12 at 03:09
  • Any reason not to just use the Google Maps web app, or built in mapping function from iPhone? – zenbike May 13 '12 at 05:11
  • Built in mapping does not give cycling specific directions on the iphone like it does on android. The google maps web app has pretty lousy performance as far as I know, at least that's my experience when trying to use it on my android phone. – Benzo May 14 '12 at 02:29
  • I don't think I can even view the cycling 'layer' on the iphone mapping app. – Benzo May 14 '12 at 02:29
  • Get There By Bike (iTunes Store link) is basically a wrapper around Google's bike directions. – Thalecress May 18 '12 at 18:12
  • I approve of Get there by bike. It's basically google bike directions. The routing still seems a bit weird sometimes, but it allows you to drag waypoints to tweak the route to your preference while still preferring bike facilities. – Benzo Aug 16 '12 at 12:55
  • Unfortunately, it seems that get there by bike is only available for 3GS or later iphones at this point. So people with older phones are out of luck. – Benzo Aug 16 '12 at 12:56
  • a 3GS is about 4 years old at this point. I feel 4 years behind is adequate time to be considered main stream. Anyone using something older is bound to be out of luck an just about any modern app out there. – Matt Adams Aug 16 '12 at 13:04
  • I'm also pretty happy with google maps web interface on the iphone. It's not perfect, but it's serviceable if you absolutely need it. – Benzo Oct 10 '12 at 14:42
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Google Maps for iPhone now has bike layer support and bike-specific navigation starting with update on July 16, 2013, version 2.0

Benzo
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4

If you are in the UK, use CycleStreets. It's a free journey-planning website designed specifically for cycling, so it can route you across off-road cycle tracks and bridges, and it gives you a choice of faster routes for more confident cyclists, and quieter routes if you want to avoid traffic. As well as the main and a mobile website, they have free apps for iPhone and Android. It uses data from OpenStreetMap (the wiki-like atlas anyone can edit), so even if it doesn't find a route you know is there, you can add the missing link yourself, or ask the developers to improve it.

I use it all the time. Sorry if you're not in the UK, as it's currently UK only: as a not-for-profit they can't yet afford the server capacity to route in other countries too.

Dan Hulme
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Try Bike On - Voice navigation for bikers https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bike-on-bicycle-routes-maps/id640958131?mt=8

tjay
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Tomtom for me. A little expensive but I like having built-in maps so that the mapping works when there is no phone reception. The voice directions are also good enough not to need looking at the phone.

Karl
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There's a new free app called Bikepath Country that has simple point A to point B cycling directions. You can also get suggested rides for any area. It's available on Android and iPhone, so whichever you decide to stay with/go to!

iPhone: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bikepath/id513898258?mt=8

Website with more info: http://www.bikepathcountry.com

Jaclyn
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See bikecityguide - available on both iOS and Android.

Its maps & routing are based on OpenStreetMap so if a certain bike route is not available on the map you could add it yourself. They have a couple of city packs - if your city fits that then you're in luck (I goes you could use it in any other city, but those city packs are really bike optimized).

A cool feature they have is the fact that use bike adapted turn-by-turn navigation instructions (see the app and you'll understand) and they also work offline (good to have while traveling)

Ando
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keep the android phone, maybe even bolt it to the bike, and use it exclusively for that with the iphone being a hotspot.

i did the research for you, as my wife rather the iphone. There's absolutely no GPS app that does a decent job in text to speech for cars. let alone with bike functionality. You can test yourself. most of them have trial periods. all of them suck. and are around $9/mo plus extra fees for the text-to-speech functionality.

using the iphone as a hotspot allows you to use google maps navigator, which has Bike Routes, and TTS. all that you need.

Also, it being your 'extra phone' you wont feel that bad if you fall or something, as your main phone will be protected in a bag or something. and better have an empty phone stolen then the one with all your info :)

gcb
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Check out Strava - it's a little more geared towards training and road cycling, but has some fun features (ex - recognizes hills on your route and ranks your time based on other strava users who have done the same climb).

Whatever you use, don't forget to look up!

http://www.strava.com/

David B.
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If you want to walk there is an iPhone app with very detailed instructions. useful if you get somewhere and then want to walk in a circular walk around a city or rural area.

iFootpath.com is for the UK only but works well for fallowing routes with photos, etc.

http://www.iFootpath.com

TalkTheWalk
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