Backseat Geologist vs Sempervia

Ever wanted a geologist to ride along and explain what's outside your window?  Being a geologist myself, I went on vacation and wished I had someone to read geologic map descriptions as we drove across the countryside. When I got home, I started working on Backseat Geologist to do just that! Backseat Geologist will give you audio descriptions of the rocks below your feet or wheels as you travel. - Browse the geologic map and tap around to see details about the geologic units that are near you - Start an Explore session and get updates on the geology below you as you move around - Overlook Mode scans the geology of what you can see and tells you all about it - Create Routes to listen to the geologic story of your commute, road trip, or family outing. Routes combine the context of each geologic unit you pass to create a more cohesive set of descriptions. - Routes can be saved offline for areas with bad service - Long tap on the map to drop a pin and tap again to create a route to that location - Adjust descriptions for any audience from kids to geology enthusiasts - Geology data is powered by Macrostrat, USGS, GEM, Paleobiology DB, and more - Explore Points of Interest of recently active volcanoes and historic earthquakes - Choose between different base maps - View regional stratigraphic columns - See the paleogeography of Earth when rocks formed - Audio plays from the background and doesn't interfere with navigation or other apps - Works well with other playing audio like music or podcasts - Widget for the geology of your current location - Live activity shows on Lock Screen, Dynamic Island and CarPlay - App Intent gives Siri access to geology information from the app without opening it. Say "Hey Siri, use Backseat Geologist" Premium and Max users get: - Improved audio quality - Topographic map background layer option - Download geologic map tiles and data for areas of the map to use offline - Custom route creation - Import GPX files in custom routes - See further in Overlook Mode Download Backseat Geologist and discover the millions and billions of years of Earth history rolling by your window. If you find any bugs or issues please contact me at support@backseatgeologist.com Privacy Policy: https://backseatgeologist.com/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://backseatgeologist.com/terms-of-service End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Sempervia is a cycling navigation app that guides you by sound, so your eyes stay on the road. Pick a destination and put on headphones. At every junction, the roads you could take are strummed as one chord: each note comes from the direction of its road, the costlier roads sound earlier and quieter, and the easiest route lands on the beat. You don't follow a line on a screen. You ride toward the sound that resolves. HOW IT WORKS • Routes by effort, not distance. Sempervia measures every route in the energy it takes you: climbing, road surface, air resistance and time, for your weight, height and pace. • Any road within your extra-effort allowance is a good choice. Set the allowance (20% by default) and the music offers every road that fits, ranked by effort. • The music answers your choices. Take the harder road and the key lifts and the strums quicken with the climb. Crest the hill and it resolves. Arrive and it comes home with a final chord. • A soft harmony always plays from straight ahead. It keeps you oriented, and tells you when head tracking needs a moment to re-center. • Offline maps, downloaded as you need them: Sempervia's own maps for the whole United States, the open BRouter maps elsewhere. No signal required to ride. • A heads-up minimap on your phone, Apple Watch and lock screen, with a dot on each road that flashes with its note. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT Turn-by-turn apps give you one route and interrupt you with instructions. Sempervia plays all the good routes at once as music, from where they are, so you can choose as you ride and never need to look down. Sempervia was the first navigation app to guide by spatialized music (August 2025), and 2.0 is the first to play every good route at once. It never gets louder, so you always hear traffic. WORKS WITH Any headphones. Spatial audio with head tracking on AirPods Pro, AirPods Max and recent Beats keeps each road's note fixed to the world as you turn your head. Apple Watch and Live Activities show the map and flash with the music. PRIVACY Routing, guidance and the effort map run entirely on your phone. No accounts, no analytics, no advertising trackers. Your location never leaves your device. QUESTIONS Is it free? Yes. Sempervia is free to download and use. Optional purchases may be added later. Does it work without a signal? Yes, once the map for your area is downloaded. Can I use it for walking or e-bikes? It is tuned for cycling, including e-bikes; walking works but the effort model assumes a bicycle. Where does it work? Anywhere OpenStreetMap has roads. Sempervia publishes its own offline maps for the whole United States; elsewhere it downloads the open BRouter maps. What does it sound like? Hear a ride through two corners at sempervia.com. Sempervia™ is a trademark of Aaron Deibele. Patent pending. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); elevation SRTM.