Weekly Blog #20 - Hiking? There's an APP for that...Part 3
Note: There may be Amazon Affiliate Links in this blog. Sponge receives a commission for purchases made from them.
posted: Thursday, September 10th, 2026
In a digital age, there are some worthwhile apps to consider for hikers.
Whoa! It's a Thurssday and SPonge is posting a blog EARLY! That's because Saturday is his 50th b-day. So enjoy this early installment!
Welcome to third and final installment of Sponge's highly recommended apps for hikers. Just a friendly reminder that Sponge uses an Iphone, so there is a chance some of these may not be Android-capatible .
App #7: Alpine Mode (Free Download)
This is a cool app specifically-designed for hikers to prolong the battery life of their phone. It gives more options than just switching to "airplane mode." Instead there is alpine mode (which should be used when you have little to no connectivity), hiking mode (which delivers better battery life when daytime hiking) and town mode (which offers FULL connectivity and normal battery life)
App #8: Spyglass (Free, $ for Premium)
For hikers that can't give up the sensation of holding a compass (even though their cell phone has a VERY functional one built-in)....there's Spyglass.
This app offers a detailed compass which overlays real terrain (via augmented reality) or satellite maps. There's a mode where you can point it at the sky and again use AR to find stars and constellations.
App #9: Night Sky (Free, $ for Premium)
If you want a standalone app that handles identifying stars, constellations, planets and meteors - this one is pretty hard to beat!
Featuring "deep zoom" capabilities, Night Sky claims it can allow you to access over 1.7 billion stars. You can also customize the app quite a bit. Sponge likes the color-coded tags that allow you to bookmark and categorize what you've found.
App #10: Avenza (Free, $ for Premium)
Sponge can almost hear the sigh and mutter: "Really? ANOTHER map app?" Why yes.
Avenza is Sponge's second-favorite map app, trailing only Far Out for its ease of use and overall usefulness. He uses it extensively when training at Hitchcock Nature Center in Iowa. Most maps can be preloaded to save battery life and many are free (such as Hitchcock). Others come with a cost and lifetime access.
That's it for now. Hopefully you've found at least one good app (or more) to carry into your next hiking adventure!