You have the smartphone now - welcome to the 21st century! - and you want to fill it with apps which you can use in your daily life and which enhance your experiences. Being a motorcycle rider, or a good friend or relative of one, your gaze will surely turn to those additions which are moto-related. In that segment of the app world, as with most of them, there are plentiful choices with multiple purposes and several different functions and features. Deciding which to download is a difficult task made all the more so due to the small screen of your device and the long lists.

In order to assist you in finding the best smartphone apps available for riders in the here and now, we have compiled the list below. These apps have risen above the rest in terms of usefulness, actual user reviews, and number of downloads. Most also have well-supported customer issue resolution practices and all have been tested and vetted as safe.

Open yourself up to the information these apps provide and any one of them could change your riding experience for the better, and at least one of them could save a life. Have a look, do your own research to determine if the app will suit your needs, and then get to downloading!

Best Biking Roads

(iOS and Android)

Want access to 10,000 route reviews submitted from 80 nations around the world? This is the app for you. The Best Biking Roads app makes finding new and interesting rides easy no matter where you are or when you go.

It was created by the website of the same name to allow motorcycle riders to log their journeys and share them with everyone. Each listing is rated in eight separate categories and is searchable based on your proximity to it or by a text string. Nearly 20,000 riders are already using it, so why not join them and add some routes of your own?

Price: $3.99

CoPilot GPS

(iOS, Android, Windows Phone)

CoPilot is not your ordinary GPS app. It actually downloads all of its maps when it is installed on the device so that it will work even if not connected; each region has its own download to allow for this, and maps may be added later.

On the surface, CoPilot acts like the software included with a full-featured GPS unit; it will allow trip routing, automatically recalculates should you diverge from that path, allows for 2D, 3D and "Driver Safety" views, has thousands and thousands of points of interest, includes lane assist, and it can even speak in a voice you select. That is merely the beginning of its feature list for the free version, and the Live version of the app adds even more utility. That uprated version also brings live weather updates, real-time traffic, current fuel prices, and connectivity to others using the same app. If you need to go somewhere that you are unfamiliar with, take this app with you on the ride and you are certain to know exactly where you are going.

Price: Free to $49.99 (Live version)

EatSleepRIDE

(iOS and soon Android)

EatSleepRIDE bills itself as the most advanced and comprehensive app available for motorcycle riders. It is a social app designed to give the rider tools to make the ride better and to share that information with others. The idea is to record your trips while you ride and then share them with whomever you like.

The app will keep track of the route, including elevation changes, along with your speed and lean angle, allowing you or others to 'replay' the entire journey. And, of course, being 'social' you can use the app to connect with others who share your riding ideals. An add-on for EatSleepRIDE called CRASHLIGHT may make this a required download. CRASHLIGHT uses the phone's sensors to determine if the rider has been in a crash and, if it does, sends the location to a custom selection of contacts.

Price: $2.99

  • Google Play Store: Coming Soon!
  • Apple iTunes: EatSleepRIDE

MotoGP™ Live Experience

(iOS and Android)

Just can't get enough motorcycle road racing? Enjoy watching the best in the world go for glory? MotoGP.com's MotoGP Live Experience app will satisfy your appetite and more.

This app brings you World Championship races live with incredible detail including live audio commentary, live timing and live 3D tracking of each and every event. Backing that up is a full-featured MotoGP guide full of vital statistics, information and images of all participating riders. You also get a complete news feed, exclusive videos and images, and the ability to watch any previous race of the season on demand. This app usually gets updated annually, so keep it current and don't miss a minute of the MotoGP World Championship action.

Price: TBA

  • Google Play Store: Not available currently. Will be updated for 2014 season soon!
  • Apple iTunes: Not available currently. Will be updated for 2014 season soon!

mototrackTOUR

(iOS and Android)

mototrackTOUR is a ride logging app which works with a central website to keep track of routes from those who use it. This one is designed to be simple and quick to configure and use, with very little to get in the way of mapping the trip.

The app will use your phone's GPS to create the route map as you go and will also record details like speed, altitude and even acceleration while you ride. This data can then either be stored on the phone itself or it may be uploaded to the mototrackTOUR website to be shared with friends or any rider you to which you wish to show it. Differentiating this from the others in this space is the fact that this is a set-and-forget app; just start the log and then put your phone in your pocket. When you arrive at the destination, pull out the phone and stop the recording. It also does not require a data connection to do its job, making logging remote out-of-range rides possible. mototrackTOUR is not just for riders, it is also suitable for driving, boating, or any mode of transport.

Price: $2.99 - 3.99

Pocket First Aid & CPR

(iOS and Android)

On the road and far away from any services is not an ideal place to encounter an injury or negative health event like a heart attack or stroke. Thanks to the Pocket First Aid & CPR app, a situation like that can be far less stressful and more likely to have a positive result.

This app can - and has on many occasions - save a life. It includes easy, detailed and understandable first aid instructions and a fully modern CPR procedure that both consist of dozens of videos and high-resolution diagrams. It is organized so that the user can very quickly find the information needed in an emergency. This is the same app which famously saved the life of a man stuck for 65 hours under a collapsed building after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. If it can do that, why don't you already have the Pocket First Aid & CPR app on your phone?

Price: $1.99

Rain Alarm

(iOS and Android)

The main idea behind Rain Alarm is very simple - warn the user of incoming precipitation. It does this by using the location of your phone to compare against national (in whichever covered nation you are at the time) weather service radar information. The various alarms can be configured any way you like so that you can tailor the app's inner workings to your own moisture preferences.

For instance, if you don't mind getting a little wet, it can alert you only after a storm starts to get on top of you; or, you can have it tell you when the rain is entering a specified range so that you can get home and put the bike under cover. It is all up to you! There are two types of this app, one for phones with Google Maps installed and one with its own mapping, and those are further divided into Free and Pro (called "XT" for iOS) versions. The Pro app is the one you want for real-time updating.

Price: $2.99 - 3.90 (Pro version)

Trapster

(iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry)

Want to avoid speed traps and the increasing number of speed cameras set up by law enforcement (ostensibly for safety)? The Trapster app will help you do that.

Thanks to its large community of users, speed traps, speed cameras, red light cameras, and all manner of traffic and road situations are logged and then entered into the app's database - over 6 million as of now. This allows the user to set up alerts which warn him or her of these hazards before arriving at them. It does this without the need of looking at the screen as well, so you can stay safely focused on the task at hand. Trapster will even inform you of the speed limits on the roads you trek. Install Trapster and let it save you from fines and traffic congestion so you can just ride.

Price: FREE

Ulysse Speedometer

(Android and, maybe, iOS)

The Ulysse Speedometer app is a GPS-based speed indicator and recorder which displays its trove on a high-definition 'car dashboard' on your phone's screen. In practice, this app is much more, though. It can integrate with other apps, keeps track of other GPS sourced data such as altitude and direction, and it can even store accurate trip information to inform you of how far you have come.

The customizable aspect is very useful, even permitting three of its 'gauges' to be set up by the user, and the app provides user-defined shortcuts throughout. It doesn't end there as the data set it records can be manipulated to produce lap times, acceleration readings, and various speed averages. Even if your bike has a full-featured electronic dash, the Ulysse Speedometer app will give you information to which you cannot ordinarily have access.

Price: FREE ($1.99 for ad-free Pro version)

  • Google Play Store: Ulysse Speedometer
  • Apple iTunes: (Many links, but not found on iTunes anymore.)

WeatherBug

(iOS and Android)

WeatherBug is quite simply the ultimate weather app for your smartphone. No other app has access to the largest network of weather stations on the planet like this one.

Want to know the forecast in Bengali? Or, just for your local Thursday bike night? In either situation, WeatherBug will get you the information you need and much, much more. A new social aspect has been added which allows users to browse amazing weather images and upload them as well. Severe weather alerts? Yep, it has them - many of them! Live weather cams? Yep! Need help with finding comfort in the storm? It can do that too! Since riders are completely exposed to the weather conditions, having information about the weather readily available is an absolute must in this modern, climate change affected world in which we all live and ride.

Price: FREE