Outdoor Enthusiasts Will Love These Incredible Apps

Many outdoor enthusiasts find phones to be a distraction from nature and wildlife — something you must abandon to truly enjoy the world around you. But it doesn't have to be that way. While phones can cause you to miss some of the beauty around you, they can also help you appreciate it even more.

No matter what part of nature attracts you, there are apps available to improve your adventures, from putting a name to mountains to learning about the flora and fauna you trek past. You can even find software to help you explore the stars and the constellations they form. Instead of letting your phone hamper you, use it to your advantage and take the time to learn more about the world you live in. 

All of the apps featured below are suggested based on their reviews on app stores and discussion pages like Reddit, as well as personal experience with the software and similar options. Many of them are free as well, though some do require a rather cheap one-time payment. Either way, you don't need to worry about spending a lot of money while you learn.

If you've ever heard a bird in the distance you weren't able to identify or you want to know about the feathered friends flocking to your yard, Merlin Bird ID is a great tool for both Android and iPhone users. There are several ways to use the app. You can simply look through a list of birds found in your area, start an ID by answering a few questions, submit a picture of an animal you saw, or figure out which creatures are around you based on their call. Whether or not you can see them, you don't need to know much about bird anatomy or scientific terms to get the right identification. 

There are over 8,000 species the app can identify based on these various methods, and it even covers variations in their songs and plumage. If you download the pack for your region, it even works offline. Whether you're just casually curious about the birds in your area or you're working up to being a birdwatcher, Merlin Bird ID is a great app to have on your phone. For the most part, all of these identifications are pretty accurate, though sometimes species mimicking others can throw the software for a loop. 

It's also part of a citizen science program run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology alongside eBird, but in a much more convenient and understandable format for those not so experienced with identifying birds. It doesn't matter if they're near you in the wild or species at your feeder — you'll be able to identify them and help to further research. 

PlantNet is available for both Android and Apple users, offering people a way to identify and learn about the plants they pass on their adventures. The app is free and simple enough to use. You take a picture of a plant or a part of one, and then the software begins to search through images for greenery with a similar appearance. If you find one that looks correct, you select it yourself. Then, as those experienced with the species go through the app, they tell you if your pick was correct or if it was another species. This is great because it lets you guess the plant yourself before getting an accurate answer later on. There are thousands of species in the database, with new ones added every day as more and more people use PlantNet.

Its primary purpose is to help users identify wild and native plants in the area. However, it has another benefit: It's part of a citizen science project. By taking and sharing these pictures, you're not only learning more about your surroundings and the flora within it, but you're also helping scientists get a better idea of plant habitats and learn about their diversity.

When you're traveling, you'll no doubt come across some amazing mountain views that you'll want to remember forever. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to know the name of a peak, especially when there are several next to each other. PeakFinder helps you with that, whether you're just looking to expand your knowledge or considering taking your next mountain adventure to the top of a specific summit.

PeakFinder, using your phone's GPS, gives you a 360-degree view of your surroundings in augmented reality. As you move around, it provides you with the names of all the mountains in your camera's view. If you want to remember the peak for later, you can even take a snapshot of all the labels so you can look back on them when you're home bragging about your fun trip. 

The app is available on the Apple App and Google Play stores for an initial cost of $4.99. The software claims to know more than 1 million peaks, so it should be easy enough to find the names of the mountains near you. For some, spending $5 on something they'll perhaps only use once or twice isn't worth it. But if you love exploring new places and learning the names of the mountains surrounding you, this one-time payment is definitely worth the cost. 

Stars are not just pretty — they also can help you navigate if you get lost in the woods at night. However, to use them properly for navigation, you need to know which balls of light you're looking at. Whether you want to confirm you have the right star or you know nothing about them, an app to identify the constellations in the sky is handy and fun. 

Star Walk 2 offers more than just a name of the stars. You can learn the stories behind the constellations and how they earned their titles, as well as view an outline of the creature, person, or object they are meant to represent when you switch to augmented reality mode. There's even a section to allow you to keep track of the latest astrology news. If you're planning to look at the stars through a telescope in a few hours but aren't sure where they are going to be, you can adjust the time on the app and it will tell you the future location of the constellations at different points in the night. 

There is a paid version of this app, which costs about $2.99, and a few extensions you can purchase separately. However, if you just want to test out the software or are looking for a basic star identification tool, the free version offers plenty of features for beginners, and the banner ads are only minor inconveniences. Star Walk 2 is available on both the Google Play and the Apple App stores.

Shroomify is yet another app that is available for both Android and Apple smartphone users, and it's used to identify mushrooms. We definitely don't recommend trusting the software completely, especially if you plan on eating the fungi later (never consume them right off the trail). Nevertheless, it's useful to help you learn about the fungi in your area and what kind of foraging might be available. 

Because of the sometimes minor details between mushrooms, it's often almost impossible to use an app or a simple identifier to tell apart specific species. That's why, even when you get a possible answer, you should always be careful to confirm the identification and ensure it's not a poisonous or deadly fungus. With that said, Shroomify is a great way to start expanding your knowledge of mushrooms. The software makes identification as simple as possible while still remaining pretty accurate by limiting potential options to what's currently blooming in your region. There are about 400 species listed in the app, so it's not all-inclusive, but it does cover quite a few of the common ones, making it a good place to start. 

In addition to helping you narrow down species, the app regularly highlights mushrooms so you can take the time to learn more about other kinds of fungi common in your area that you might not have seen yet. There is a premium version available, but it's probably not necessary for most mushroom enthusiasts. Chances are, you can get everything you need from the free version.