Do you want to see which Archery apps can help you become a better archer? Which ones are worth your time and which ones are going to waste your time? This article discusses which archery apps are going to help you and which ones will not.
So, let’s do a deep dive into which ones are best.
The best free archery apps for beginners are:
- ArtemisLite (Created by a professional coach from the Netherlands in the free version it operates mainly as a scoring app)
- Ubersense (An app that allows you to analyze your technique and send the results to your coach where they can analyze it as well).
- iSolunar (An app you can use if you are a bowhunter, it is mainly designed to make hunting easier for you).
- World Archery head2head (A scoring app, with an added benefit that you can compare your results to world-class archers from the past and anyone else who uses the app.
Why only four apps? There are a few bad things about using archery apps. We will touch on a few reasons why you should be careful with these apps in a moment.
Do You Need Archery Apps?
Let me get this off my chest.
No, absolutely not. You don’t really need most archery apps.
Why do I say that?
Archery apps can be put into two main categories.
The first category is scoring apps. They are designed to collect and save your score from your archery practice. This allows you to compare the progress you made this week with last week’s results.
It’s a fancy way of saying, it can easily be replaced by a piece of paper with an archery target on it to plot your arrows and a table to insert your score from this week’s practice.
At the end of your practice, you take a picture of your results on paper and send it to your coach or any other archer you’re competing with.
Paying money for an app that measures scores, makes no sense to me.
That said.
The second category of archery apps can be extremely useful to you. Here is why …
What Type of Archery Apps Can Be Really Useful?
If they are not just scoring apps. You can get an app that records your movements and is able to play it back to you in slow motion. This allows you to check your form from beginning to end.
See where your flaws are, and in most cases, you can send the recording to your coach or your archery buddy to have him take a look.
Which helps you improve.
So, this is why certain apps are just plain AMAZING! And you will see which one I highly recommend a little later on.
What is the Downside of Archery Apps?
- The money you spend on them
- The time it takes away from your training
- Overreliance on your phone
Let’s start with the first one.
The money you spend on them
Most archery apps are free, with the ability to upgrade to a paid version that offers more features. Most of the time you don’t need to pay for archery apps.
Time It Takes Away From Your Training
You are there to do one thing. Shoot arrows and get those »reps« in. Anything that takes away from that can be a drag on your development. This leads perfectly to …
Over-Reliance On Your Phone
If your phone breaks down or gets a software update that interferes with the app, your ability to use the app is greatly reduced. And on top of that, don’t you spend way too much time on your phone already?
Focusing on the target is the name of the game here.
List of Recommended Archery Apps
ArtemisLite
Pro:
- Created by a professional archery coach from the Netherlands.
- Is an effective scoring app even in the free version
Con:
- It’s a scoring app, therefore its use is optional in helping you improve.
- Easily replaced by a well-designed piece of paper like with most scoring apps
UberSense
Pro:
- Is not a scoring app but it actually allows you to take a video of your form while you are taking the shot, slow it down for review and you can even send it to your coach or archery buddy for inspection and advice
- The community function is AMAZING. It allows you to post your video for other users to see and comment on your form. It’s using like using social media but for good things. You get to tap into years of experience from other archers for FREE.
- The free option is excellent. If you stop there, that is okay.
Con:
- Not specifically an archery app, since it’s used in a wide variety of sports from golf and tennis but even so it packs an enormous benefit to you if you use it right.
You can create a community of archers and can share videos and you can help each other improve and get better.
Get this app now! I can not recommend this enough.
iSolunar
Pro:
- It provides you with the best hunting times for any location (so they claim, with the help of astronomical data from the US Naval Observatory), and the best time to go fishing.
- Provides weather updates.
Con:
- It’s a hunting app, so if you are not into hunting it will do nothing for you.
World Archery head2head App
Get this app. Just get it, it’s amazing! You will see why in just a second.
Pro:
- It allows you to compete against archers from around the world. After a round, you enter your results and the archer across the world does the same, hence the name »head2head«.
If you ever wanted to test your skills in archery, you can now do so by the means of friendly competition.
You can also compete against professionals from the past, your results get matched against their past results from official competition.
How good are you? Time to find out isn’t it?
I can’t really find any negative for this app. Just get it it’s awesome!
My Final Thoughts
Archery apps are unnecessary. There I said it.
Any scoring app can be replaced by a sheet of paper with an archery target on it and a spreadsheet to input your results. You can add a graph to plot your progress between rounds and practice sessions across weeks and even months.
You can get another archer to do the same and you can send yourself the results to compete.
Main point: Never pay for an archery app.
You can do it. It’s just not necessary.
That said, no harm in using them. I suggest head2head and ubersense. You will get the most value from these two apps.
The rest are just a burden that will suck away your time. Since most archery apps were built as a way to cash in on archery’s growing popularity.
That is all. Thank you for reading and see you in my next article.
Take care.