Camino Now

The App

Open your App or Play Store and you'll probably find close to one hundred apps designed to be (and vying for that spot) your very personal companion on the Caminos de Santiago. Each has its basic features, a map, probably something to plan stages with, and a list of accommodations to take for the night.

So why another one?

Said simply: first, because I wanted an app that did what I wanted it to do, secondly because I wanted it in the hands of the community or, at least, not in the hands of a business that only sees it as a means to make money (more about that in a second), and thirdly, because I felt that the current apps are, at least many of them, actively hurting the Caminos.

Please Read: Camino Now is a Community Project.

The App I Want...

Is offline first, 100% free, 100% ad free, and 100% private. It has all the features a good app should have, be honest about distances, elevations, and difficulties, and be my companion that also reminds me to check out an old church or get a stamp I don't have yet.

Boots, not Business

It's not that I hate money. I like money. And I understand, that the markers of those apps need to make that money. It's their livelihood, the thing that puts patatas bravas on the table. Or it would be, if they actually lived on the Camino and not somewhere in Germany, Ireland, or the US. Still, money has to be earned for a honest days' work.

The issue isn't with the "that" but the "how". During the past ten years, accommodation brokerages like Booking.com have worked hard to make themselves the only way, accommodations are booked. Both the convenience of payment and booking logistics as well as huge affiliate commissions have made them the only game in town. And with that, it's hard for any albergue or hostel on the Camino to survive without also being on Booking. The win is clear: be found when pilgrims search. But it slowly kills albergues: up to 30% of the monies spent on a night's sleep don't land in the coffers of those albergues but in the hands of Booking and affiliates.

It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't, faustian deal.

And... how do those apps make their money? Correct: by putting Booking links front and center everywhere. That's ungood, especially if those links aren't there to support a developer on the Camino but a business somewhere else in the world. It is, frankly, one of the worst things you can do to an albergue...

Data, not Dividends

Another part of the "bad for the Camino" consideration are the data used by the apps. Most, almost all, use data downloaded from OpenStreetMap. OSM is the world's largest geospatial database and entirely volunteer-maintained. Usings its data without either contributing changes back to opening one's own data silo to the world, is not just a morally questionable decision, it actively violates OSM's license. But with each app jealously guardings its hoard of up to date data, dozens of silos exist that no one, except the app's silo owners draw a benefit from.

So I wanted to put the power of one half million pilgrims a year to good use. Every time a user changes the potability of a fountain or ajusts facility features or opening hours of an albergue, those changes are sent to a team of volunteers and the albergue itself for checking and returning to OSM. Now, pilgrims actually know where the nearest known potable fountain is, when that albergue (that changed owners last week) is open, and where to get vegan dinners.