Rever Review

What are we looking at here? - Rever

Rever is a route planner, tracker and GPS system for motorcycles, snow mobiles and off-roaders. Also available as an app on your phone, which has some additional features.

Online Features - Rever

Sign is required, so users must start by creating a free account. This will give them access to the ‘Create Route’ feature, as well as other aspects.

Creating a route is very simple, and enables detailed planning of trips consisting of up to 25 waypoints. These can be added after a quick search, then rearranged by dragging and dropping them into any order. The estimated total trip time will be displayed, along with the distance and number of waypoints.

By clicking continue, the user can fill in a description for the trip, add photos and save it – either publicly or privately. Saved routes will be automatically sent to the mobile app, and are available to use for navigation on your mobile device, as long as the app is opened using the same profile. Routes can also be exported to GPS devices in GPX format, by searching for them under the ‘My Activities’ tab, then ‘Planned’ rides.

A created route on Rever

Further options include a change of map style, which allows the user to view the map as a satellite image if they wish. With the free version, users can choose to avoid tolls and avoid highways, but the Pro version is required to opt for twisty roads or add points of interest, such as petrol stations.

A full list of the benefits for the Pro version can be seen below. A yearly subscription costs £36.35, working out at approximately £3 per month.

Pricing for Pro subscription

As well as creating their own route, users have the option to ‘Discover’ other users’ shared routes. In the bottom left, under the ‘Create Route’ section, information on the location and various tags can be input. The tags give the user the option of viewing snow mobile routes, paved roads, race tracks, plus many more preferences. These will then be displayed on the map, and are available for saving to the user’s planned routes by clicking on them.

‘Discover’ options from other users

The ‘My Activities’ tab shows all saved routes. Information logged on total time and distance travelled, can be viewed in intervals of a week, a month, or a year. Routes can also be sorted into tracked, planned, and favourites for easy reference.

All the user’s data can be found under ‘My Activities’

The social elements of Rever can be located by clicking the ‘Communities’ tab. Searching for communities, then joining them can be done without an invite. The user can view an array of information about the community by clicking on the name of it.

Shared rides will be available to view, and upcoming events will also be displayed in this section. A leader board shows who has travelled the furthest, and who has tracked the most activities on Rever. Bar charts illustrate this information as a collective community, over different time periods.

The ‘Communities’ tab opens up the social aspects of Rever

‘Challenges’ are similar to the communities, in that you can join as you please. They are free to participate in, and some offer prizes. A description of the challenge can be read by clicking its title. Rules, a map highlighting points of interest, and a leaderboard are all accessible for each individual challenge. Participants will also be able to see their ranked position in specific challenges.

Information located under the ‘Challenges’ tab

App Features - Rever

The ‘Discover’ and ‘Challenges’ options on a mobile device are the same as they are on the website. The ‘Profile’ button displays accumulated information on tracked routes. Note – the settings menu allows the user to change some functions of the app, including the measurement of distance in kilometres or miles.

‘Discover’ display on mobile app

‘Challenges’ menu

Settings

The ‘Rides’ button features a live feed of other riders’ trips, which can be converted into routes for the user to replicate. Tabs at the top of the screen sort rides into various categories such as tracked rides, planned rides, friends’ rides, and favourites. Again, these can be converted into routes, then automatically used as a navigation system on your mobile device.

Trips saved in ‘Rides’

Last but not least, there is a ‘Track’ function for your mobile device. This is where users can load a previous route or create a new one, then use it for navigational purposes. There are two options to ride the route: either by following the route line, or by having turn-by-turn navigation. The route can also be reversed if the user chooses. Routes can be saved and shared upon completion.

Alternatively, the tracking function can be used to do just that – ‘Track.’ By activating this option the app will record an improvised route as it is ridden, whilst displaying the distance and time travelled, as well as a speedometer.

Pros

1. ‘Discover’ Options – With lots of variation in tags, it was easy to find plenty of offerings for snow mobile trails and other themed routes that other brands don’t necessarily include.

2. Open App, Navigation Ready – The synchronised web-to-app route creator makes it super convenient to plan routes online, then convert them for navigation on your mobile. As soon as you log into your profile on your mobile device, all of your rides are there at your fingertips!

3. ‘Communities’ & ‘Challenges’ – It’s all about the social aspect with these two attributes. Joining a community makes it easy to find like-minded people, share your hobby, and gain inspiration. This option encourages you to participate in activities by providing the platform for you to get involved. If you have a more competitive nature, the ‘Challenges’ also present the opportunity to expand your circle, whilst giving you a great reason to get out and ride.

4. Smooth Through Waypoints – By passing a waypoint, the app logically continues directing you to the next without requiring interaction.

Cons

1. Battery Drainer – Surprisingly, the app runs horribly unless your phone is set for high performance. This drains its battery very quickly, meaning the app is only as useful as long your battery permits it to be.

2. Following The Route Line – Honestly, this is one of the most ineffective options I’ve tested on a navigation system. It literally just displays the route line, without providing vocal direction or visual aid. It was way too hard to follow, and frankly dangerous. I missed a number of turns because I had no idea they were coming up unless I constantly looked at the screen. I would not recommend using this option.

3. Turn-By-Turn Navigation – I wasn’t a fan of this option either unfortunately. A huge blue button prompting me to turn off the turn-by-turn navigation blocked the information at the top of the screen, which is where the navigation was shown! When I pushed the blue button, the screen displayed the map as if it were tracking me, and the only navigation I had left was from the vocal direction, which I could barely hear through my helmet.

4. No Route Options Between Waypoints – This one’s another big flaw. You can select twisty routes for the whole route, but not just certain parts. Same with avoiding highways. What happens if you’re planning a route where you want a mixture, or when you want to get somewhere fast so you can then enjoy the twisty routes when you get there? This rigidity made no sense to me.

5. Missed Waypoints – If you miss your waypoint, you have to pull over and opt to skip through it. This is something that bugs me about a lot of navigation apps.

6. Limitations In The UK – Rever definitely feels like it’s geared toward the American user, and not the global one. There are only a few routes in the ‘Discover’ section, and even less options in the ‘Challenges’ for anybody outside the United States.

So, What's the verdict? - Rever

Well, I think you can see from the pros and cons that the latter tips the scale heavily in a negative trend. Although the concept is strong, the structure of Rever is weak. Gaping holes in the free user experience made me feel it was virtually essential to become a subscriber.

Credit where credit’s due though – I appreciated the communal opportunities. If there were more challenges in the UK, I could see myself taking part and keeping track on a regular basis. Maybe I’d even start a community of my own, although I’d need to be a paying subscriber to do so.

Sadly, too many features are privy to Pro members, which leaves everyone else with the bare bones. Sometimes that wasn’t even enough, as the turn-by-turn navigation is only available if you have the Pro version. Luckily, you can sample a free trial for a week, which allows you to see the full capabilities of Rever. This is the only way to have a halfway decent experience, but even during my trial, I found it buggy and poorly executed.

It is for these reasons, that I would not recommend using Rever as your trip planner or GPS. The integration with the website is convenient, but the same can be said for other brands too. I would suggest riding with one of them instead.

How to use Rever