Image via Complex Original
It’s essential to find the right balance when using your phone at a music festival. You don’t want to spend the entire event staring at the screen inches in front of you instead of the performance. But your phone is still a worthy companion that can enhance your festival experience. The key is knowing which apps to use. Obviously, you have Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook to share what a ridiculously great time you’re having. That’s just the beginning, though. If you add a few more apps to your home screen you’ll be able to roam the grounds masterfully. You’ll know right where your friends, tent, and car are. You’ll be able to plan the perfect schedule. You’ll keep your phone and yourself alive. As you prepare yourself for the festival(s) of your choice this summer, make sure you download The Best Summer Music Festival Apps of 2015.
Festival Buddy
Platforms: Android
Price: Free
Getting lost at a festival might as well be guaranteed in the fine print when you purchase your pass. It’s 100 percent going to happen, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t prepare yourself. Festival Buddy places geotags on the places you need to get back to, making it especially handy if you’re camping. Just drop a marker and the app will guide you right back to your tent, your car, or wherever else you need to return to.
Glympse
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone
Price: Free
Losing your friends is also inevitable. And trying to link back up via text or shouting on the phone is just asking for miscommunication and frustration. Glympse allows you to share your location with friends, even when you’re on the move. There’s even a group mode so you can see where all your homies are at once. Your location will automatically expire, or you can set a time limit—perfect for when you know that you’ll only be somewhere for the duration of the set.
Battery Doctor
Platforms: Android
Price: Free
Your phone’s juice is a commodity at festivals. You need to ration it properly so you don’t end up out of the matrix, unable to induce FOMO with your Instagram photos, unable to communicate with your group, and unable to wave that blue light back and forth with the crowd. Battery Doctor will point out the apps that are draining your battery and cut off those moochers like a parent sick of their 37-year-old live-in child. And in case you end up face-to-face with the imminent demise of your battery life anyway, it’ll give you an accurate estimation of how much time you have left.
Water Tracker
Platforms: Android
Price: Free
Surprisingly, water is an even more vital resource than your phone’s battery life. You don’t want to be that guy who passes out during the middle of Bassnectar's set because you didn’t hydrate properly. Water Tracker will calculate how much water you need based on your age, weight, and gender. Then it’ll let you record how much you’ve consumed and let you know when you’re due for some more H20. This may seem like your mom nagging you, but you should be old enough now to realize that she’s usually right.
Wunderlist
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone
Price: Free
There are two lists that you need to make before you head to your festival of choice: one for packing and one for all of the acts that you need to see. With Wunderlist, you can create those vital lists and share them easily with your friends. You can also set reminders (St. Vincent 8:15; don’t you dare miss this!) and delegate specific items to another person. Your tentmate will have no excuse for forgetting the lunch meat.
Tinder
Price: Free
If you’re not already on Tinder, festival season is the time to do it. The grounds will be covered with people your age and who share the same enthusiasm for music. Just set your discovery radius to a mile and you’ll be swiping through a grip of other singles at the festival. You could end up finding your soul mate—that one other strange person who has a Björk tattoo.
Yahoo Weather
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone
Price: Free
You’re going to want the most accurate weather forecast, especially if you’re at a festival like Sasquatch or Glastonbury that can be overtaken by rain faster than an annoying purist can say, “Kanye West doesn’t play a guitar.” Yahoo Weather will give you updates that are as detailed as the app is beautiful. That way you’ll know whether it’s a day for ponchos or sunscreen or both.
Snapseed
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone
Price: Free
If you’re going to finesse, finesse all the way. Your festival photos deserve better than simply choosing an Instagram filter. With Snapseed, you can quickly and easily edit your photos to make them as beautiful and envious as possible. The recently updated version added lens blur, brush tools, and spot repair to an already stacked lineup of features.
Meerkat (Beta)
Platforms: Android (Beta), iOS
Price: Free
Meerkat and Periscope are in an arms race to conquer live streaming on Android, and so far Meerkat is winning. While neither has been officially released on the platform, Meerkat is leading the way with its beta version (which you can sign up for here). Hopefully, the alpha version will hit Google Play by the time we’re at the heart of the festival season, and Periscope promises not to be far behind. This will be the best way to share a set with your friends or the general public, if you’re feeling generous.
Official Festival Apps
Just like the festivals themselves, all of the accompanying official festival apps aren’t created equally. The best go beyond sharing lineups and offer schedule planners, weather and emergency updates, radio stations, photo booths, and more. Many festivals haven’t updated their apps for 2015, but you can already check out what Firefly, Bonnaroo, and Sasquatch have in-store for this year.