Best apps for tracking bike routes?

Actually, plotting routes is only half the battle - what you really need is to figure out what you're looking for. If you just want to record where you've been, that's one thing; if you want to plan a new route before you head out, that's something else entirely. Anyway, Strava is probably what most people use because it's intuitive and the community is active, but honestly it's become kind of a social tool now and less of a pure tracking tool. If you're not interested in sharing or competing with others, maybe it's not the best fit.

For planning I'd recommend Komoot, which I think is better structured if you want to discover new routes - you can filter by difficulty, scenery, surface type and it suggests pretty reliable stuff. The interface is clean. If you're more old school and just want maps and tracks without too many extra features, Osmand is free and works well, even offline. Then there's always Google Maps which people underestimate, but for bike tracking it's pretty limited.

It really comes down to your style: are you the type who wants a community around you or do you prefer to do your own thing? Do you want detailed data after every ride or just to know where you've been? After years of using these apps I find myself switching between them - Strava when I'm riding with the group, Komoot when I'm exploring new areas. Try a couple for free and see what fits your way of biking.

Don't download an app just because it's popular or because your friend uses it. It really depends on what you need to do - and here's the thing that a lot of people skip over: if you use something that's only designed to record tracks, you end up stuck if you change your mind and want to plan routes with more detail, or share in formats that app doesn't support.

What I'd say from my experience is that it depends on your workflow. If you're the type who just goes out biking, records everything on your phone and then checks where you went, then Strava or similar work fine (though Strava is more social and sometimes it's a hassle if you don't want everyone seeing your routes). But the real black hole is when you discover months later that the app doesn't export data in a format you can use elsewhere. I personally use Komoot because you can plan first, record during your ride, and then edit and share without issues. But it's less straightforward than other apps. If you're doing road stuff and want in-depth analysis on watts, heart rate and all that, then Zwift or Garmin Connect are different beasts entirely. What bugs me is that there really isn't a perfect app - except for one specific purpose. It depends whether you want speed, simplicity, analysis, sharing, or maybe you don't care about the community around it at all. Try two or three for a week and see which one bugs you the least.

Strava is the one you use if you seriously want to share your rides with other cyclists and track statistics - I've been using it for years for both bike routes and runs, and it has an amazing community! But if you're like me when I first joined the fire department and had little free time, Komoot is better if you need to plan new routes because it suggests the most interesting trails and calculates everything before you leave, not after. The thing is figuring out whether you just want to log what you do or if you want to discover new places - they're two different needs and there's no app that beats all the others at everything!

It really depends on how serious you are about cycling - are you just using the bike for fun or are you trying to improve your performance and compete with others?

I personally use Komoot because I work as a firefighter and I need something that doesn't drain my battery like crazy during shifts. The routes are already mapped out and you can filter by difficulty and terrain type, which is useful when you want to avoid super busy roads. The app is pretty intuitive and honestly the design isn't bad. But if you're the type of person who wants to see detailed data from every ride - average pace, elevation gain, calories burned - then maybe Komoot isn't the best, it has less analytics compared to others. What other people say about Strava is right, if you want the community and competitive segments that's the way to go, I use Strava for running and I find it works well for that.

What I don't always get is: are you looking for an app that automatically tracks you while you ride, or do you want to plan the route beforehand from home? Because that changes everything. If you just need to record where you went, even GPS Tracks works fine and takes up barely any space on your phone. But if you want to plan it first and then follow directions while you're riding, then Komoot or Strava are more suitable, even though they have different approaches. Which is your situation?