Komoot, the outdoor mapping app, has announced today that they will be bringing new functionality to its Discover page on web, IOS and Android platforms. Users will now be able to filter tours by a number of in depth parameters based on their own fitness level, as well as filtering location in a number of different ways.
The changes are aimed at making it easier than ever to browse routes anywhere in the world, whether it's road riding, gravel riding, or even bike packing.
The app, which was launched 2013 has grown to over 30 million users, and thanks to the expanding community has an ever growing 5.5 million tour recommendations globally, across cycling, hiking, and running routes.
Best known for its mapping and route planning software, the German company laid a particular emphasis on both multi day, and multi surface route planning, which is useful for bike packing.
Komoot’s ‘Discover’ page is a place where users share ‘tours’, of any length, surface or exercise type to the community. This allows users to browse new routes, and filter them based on their demands. The ‘Discover’ page also allows for pictures to be embedded into routes, so users can for example, choose a ride based on a particular view they may have seen through the Komoot app.
From today, Komoot is bringing more features to this growing part of the app. You will now be able to refine searches in the discover page by surface type, elevation, distance and more. In addition to this, you can now opt for a specific start location to your tours, be it your current location, a specific address or map based pin.
Let’s take an example; say you want to find a 100 mile route, with 2000m of elevation for your weekend gravel ride. You can apply these filters and search for routes. Komoot will then compile the various routes around your specified location and show them as different coloured lines, enabling you to compare routes easily.
This makes sense for users wanting to to share different options with friends, or at a glance, be able to make a decision based on wind direction for example - no-one wants to end their ride with a headwind!
In terms of being able to vary location, the obvious benefit is for planning rides further afield. We can see this being particularly useful for example on holiday, where you might not know the roads particularly well, and may need a helping hand to plan a route that’s the right duration or adequate for your fitness level.
Although non-premium users are able to browse the Komoot Discover page for inspiration, the functionality of saving and downloading routes is only available when either purchasing a region on its own, or for users with full premium access, which is priced at $4.99/(£4.99) per month, or $59.99/(£59.99) per year.
