MushScout: Mushroom Foraging

WHEN TO GO FORAGING, NOT JUST WHAT THE WEATHER IS DOING Mushrooms don’t pop up while it’s raining: they pop up days later, if the temperature holds. MushScout looks back over up to a month of rain and temperatures at your spot and tells you how good today is – and how the next twelve days are shaping up. There’s always a reason under the score: how much useful rain has fallen, how many days ago, and what the temperature has done since. And if something is missing, it gives you the numbers: not “45 out of 100,” but “12 mm has fallen, another 28 are needed.” EVERY MUSHROOM HAS ITS OWN TIMING Morels, chanterelles, king boletes, black trumpets, hedgehogs, honey mushrooms, wood blewits, giant puffballs, field mushrooms, cauliflower mushrooms and more: 25 species in all. Each with its own rain, temperature and season. BUILT IN EUROPE, LEARNS YOUR WOODS The forecast was first tuned on European forests. In North America your journal does even more of the work: log a few outings – the empty ones too – and it adapts to your own spots. A SPOT YOU DON’T KNOW YET Pick a spot on the map, or trace its outline with your finger. In one line the app tells you whether today is worth the trip or which day will be better, and colors in the most promising areas: the right slope, elevation and trees for this week’s weather. Interested? Tap “Tell me when it opens” and we’ll let you know when the time is right. It’s an estimate based on weather and terrain – never on anyone else’s spots. YOUR FORAGING JOURNAL Log each mushroom with a single tap – GPS position, photo, notes – and record your route even where there’s no cell service. Every find keeps the weather of the days before it, so season after season the app gets to know your spots. Empty-handed outings count too: they teach it when to stay home. YEAR OVER YEAR Compare your seasons at each spot on the same date, with the rain of the weeks before: are you early this year, late, or just short of rain? (Premium) THE ROUTE, THE NIGHT BEFORE Tap the points on the map you want to pass through: the app works out the distance, elevation gain, the steepest stretch and the hiking time. IN THE WOODS, EVEN WITH NO CELL SERVICE Download the area before you head out: with no service the map still works, your route keeps recording and your finds are saved. As you hike, the app points you to the most promising area around you, with distance and direction. STAYING SAFE Before you head out, the app drafts the message for whoever stays home: where you park, which way you go, when you’ll be back and when to start worrying. You send it to whoever you like; at your return time the app asks “All good?” The SOS button prepares a text with your exact position, and one more tap calls 911. PHOTO IDENTIFICATION Photograph a mushroom and the app suggests what it looks like, along with the dangerous look-alikes of the main species. ⚠️ THIS IS NOT AN EDIBILITY GUIDE. No app can tell you whether a mushroom is safe to eat: if in doubt, ask a mycologist. And follow the picking rules where you forage. YOUR SPOTS STAY SECRET Only you can see the coordinates of your finds, unless you decide to lend a spot to a friend. FREE, AND WHAT PREMIUM ADDS Free: today’s score and the trend for the week, 3 mushrooms to follow, 3 analyses of a new spot and 1 spot to keep an eye on, 20 finds and 10 outings (more by watching a video), 3 photo identifications a day and 1 offline map (3 with videos), in total. Premium: every figure for the next twelve days at all your spots, “what’s missing and how much,” rain alerts, all 25 species, the colored areas on your route and while you hike, unlimited analyses, finds and offline maps, year over year, voice notes, relief and 3D view, lending a spot, the full journal and no ads. Try Premium free for a month by watching a video or with a friend’s code: once per account, no card needed. Annual subscription, cancel anytime in Google Play.