We recently decided to purchase a premium membership to the Rever Phone App to see if it’s worth it for adventure riders.
Rever Premium App Review
Straight up – the coolest part about this app is that you can install it for free and access many of its features. Essentially, it was built by motorcycle riders and the community really keeps it updated.
With Rever, you can:
- Find new places to ride that other riders have uploaded into the app
- Build your custom route while also tracking your daily rides
- Share the ride reports with others including other ADV riders globally
- Access the maps offline, while also tracking and recording your data
- 3D maps so you can see terrain variances with a big-picture view
- Use the LiveRide feature which sends an automatic SMS to friends/family including location
You can use waypoints on any routes to take note of any landmarks, either for yourself or other riders in the community. All the data exists in the cloud so you don’t need to download anything to your computer after a day of riding.
One of the coolest things is that the data can be imported into a GPS unit via the GPX format. Often when riding we have our cell phone but also a standalone GPS unit too. We don’t believe at this time that phones are quite the replacement, but the world seems to be trending this way.
Our ADV experiences with Rever
We really loved the fact that, while this is an app, you can just as easily use it offline. It’s normal for adventure riders not to have phone signal and yet the app still works reasonably well. That is – as long as we don’t stray too far from the chosen route. I found the accuracy wasn’t the best but good enough for a non-gps system.
Is it worth the $48/year membership fee? Well if you’re a regular rider, absolutely! This works out to just $4/month USD. If this is only something you might use every few months, then stick with the free version. Save that for 3 tanks of fuel.
In our experience, you’ll want to use a phone mount and protective case if you’re riding offroad. Most ADV riders use a GPS instead and the Rever App won’t work on a GPS. Also, get an anti-glass screen cover installed so you can view your Rever maps in direct sunlight as smartphones are notoriously bad during high noon.
Pros and cons
Archiving and sharing rides with fellow adventure riders is the key feature for this app and one that we really praise. Not only that but on 2 occasions we reached out to their tech support and got a reply back within a few hours.
However, the app can be a little buggy and as we’ve noted, the offline maps aren’t perfectly accurate. Also – you are reliant on the riding community for route information which might not always be accurate.
One thing that the app doesn’t take into account for is changing track conditions or differences in weather or seasonality. So while you might see someone else finishing a ride in 3 hours, this could take you 5 hours and well past sunset.
But these are merely 1st world problems. Given that the data stays in the cloud so you don’t need to mess around with transferring data or map files, it suffices to say that apps like these for riders will soon overtake GPS systems, even for round-the-world motorcycle travel.
In summary
Start with the free version to learn the ropes. Even the free version provides some basic value. Many riders do opt to take up a Pro subscription which they don’t regret. If you search around, there are various people offering a Rever coupon online.
Rever is the almost-perfect solution to adventure riders everywhere. As technology improves, so will this app.
