Everything you want to know about Barbel

A freshwater fishing app made for Europe: the legal rules of the waters, a bite index for each species, rain radar, trips with a GPS route and a catch diary. It runs on your phone, offline too after the first download.

It is coming to Android and iPhone and is designed for phones (not tablets). There is no exact release date yet: the Roadmap section of the site shows where we are.

You pick your language and your country. The app downloads the chosen language and the maps and rules of that country (the first setup needs internet). Then you can get straight in: if something is still downloading, a bar shows the progress.

No. The app works fully without an account. The account is optional: it is for cloud backup, for changing phone without losing anything and, in future, for finding your diary on the web too.

Waters, map and rules are available for the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Germany. The regulations guide (licences, permits, costs, laws) covers ten European countries. Forecasts, the atlas and the diary work wherever you are. More countries will follow: we keep working on it.

Italian, Czech, English, German, French, Spanish, Ukrainian and Russian. English is built in; the other languages are downloaded once and you can change them whenever you like in Settings.

No: Barbel is made for freshwater (rivers, lakes, reservoirs, canals). The atlas includes some species that migrate between sea and river, but rules and maps are about inland waters.

The basic features are free: the atlas, today's and tomorrow's bite index, the rules and map of your country, trips, catches and the diary, regulations by country, knots and basic guides. Some advanced features are in Barbel Pro.

The maps of all countries, the rain radar, the 16-day hour-by-hour index, how-to-fish and baits for every species, all the guides to knots, baits and tackle, advanced statistics, trips with unlimited alerts and an unlimited diary.

We will announce the prices before the release. We will say clearly what they buy and whether it is a subscription or a one-time purchase.

No. The map of your home country is free; for another country you can buy its map with a one-time purchase, or unlock all maps with Barbel Pro.

From the store (Google Play or the App Store) at any time, like any subscription. It stays active until the end of the paid period.

Purchases are tied to your store account (Google or Apple): on the new phone use "Restore purchases". Your diary and the rest of your data come back with the backup of your Barbel account.

A number from 0 to 100 for each part of the day (dawn, morning, afternoon, evening, night) and for each species, combining weather, time, estimated water temperature, pressure, wind, biological season and moon. It also tells you why.

No. It is a compass, not a promise: it estimates how favourable conditions are for that species, not how many fish are in the water or how they behave today. It has not been compared with real catches.

The 40 most common sport species (carp, pike, zander, wels catfish, trout, grayling, perch, barbel, tench, eel…). The other species in the atlas, including protected fish, have no index because they are not fished.

Because each species has a water temperature range in which it feeds: outside it the index cannot rise much even with perfect weather. A wels catfish at 11 °C, for example, stays almost still.

From the Open-Meteo service (temperature, pressure, wind, clouds, rain) computed for the spot you look at; geomagnetic activity from NOAA; the moon is calculated on your phone. Water temperature is an estimate from how the air has behaved.

Yes: the app tells lakes and rivers apart (wind, for instance, matters differently) and takes into account the water clarity you choose. It does not yet know which species live in that particular water: we are working on it.

Today's and tomorrow's index is free; 16 days, hour by hour, with Pro. The further away the date, the more uncertain it is, as with any weather forecast.

A table with all of today's fish and a colour for each part of the day: tap a fish and see the index, baits and the rules of the day.

In the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Slovakia: the app picks the right source for the spot you look at. Outside these areas it tells you the radar is not available yet.

Where the source offers one, yes: up to one hour in Czechia, two in Germany, three in south-east Austria. In eastern and southern Slovakia there is only measured radar. The forecast moves the current rain along its direction: it does not predict rain that forms or dissolves.

Because every source uses its own scale: the app converts them to the same one, so green, yellow, orange and red always mean the same intensity wherever you are.

The official weather services: ČHMÚ for Czechia, Deutscher Wetterdienst for Germany, GeoSphere Austria for Austria and SHMÚ for Slovakia, under open licences (CC BY 4.0). The source is always credited under the map.

No: radar and weather always need internet. The rest of the app (atlas, rules, diary, spots) works without it.

For the Czech Republic the app shows river levels from the official gauging stations (ČHMÚ), where a station is near the water.

In Czechia and Slovakia from the regulations of the associations (ČRS, MRS, SRZ); in Austria and Germany from the laws of each Land. Every sheet shows the source and the date of the version. They are in your language, with the original text always next to it.

They are read from official sources and translated, but they do not replace your permit or the official regulations of the water's manager, which may be stricter. Always check your permit before fishing: the responsibility stays with the angler.

The law of the Land or the association sets the common minimum (closed seasons, minimum sizes, banned methods). The manager of the individual water can add stricter limits on their permit: in Germany and Austria the app shows the legal rule and reminds you of that.

From OpenStreetMap and, for some Austrian Länder, from official open data. There is no open register of fishing rights: who manages a water and how to get a permit must be checked on the spot or with the manager.

It depends on the country: in the Regulations by country section you find what you need, where to get it, how much it costs and what to do, including if you come from abroad (for example the German Fischereischein, tourist permits, temporary licences).

Yes: if you log an undersized fish, one in a closed season, a banned one or one you must keep, the app tells you using the rules of that water on that day.

A riviera is a fishing water with its own rules. You find them in the list of waters (search by name or number, filters and sorting, also by distance) or by tapping them on the map.

Yes: you can enter your licence expiry and get a reminder before it; during a trip a notification arrives 30 minutes before and at the end of the hours allowed on the water.

Maps are packs you download once (one per Land or association): then they stay on your phone and work offline. At first setup your whole country is downloaded; the others are taken from the list of waters.

It depends on the country: Slovakia about 6 MB, Czechia about 11 MB, Austria and Germany a few tens of MB (all of Germany about 57 MB). In Settings, Data on the phone, you see exactly how much each map and language takes.

In Settings, Manage local data: you see what is installed and you can re-download or delete every map and language. Your trips, catches and photos are not touched.

Because each map draws thousands of water courses. Turn on only the ones you need: the app reminds you when you press "Turn all on".

Yes: when there is a connection the app quietly checks whether a pack changed and updates it, keeping the old one until the new one is ready.

Not for now: the map is the standard one (OpenStreetMap) for every country. An aerial view for each country may come back once we have open sources for each.

The app starts in English and tells you: as soon as there is a connection it downloads your language and the country's maps. Until they are downloaded you will not see waters and rules.

A recorded fishing session: you choose the water, target species and style, press Start, and Barbel saves the GPS route, catches, weather and the time of each fish. You can prepare it calmly before you arrive.

Yes, the route continues even with the screen off while the trip is running. GPS uses battery: recording stops by itself when you end the trip.

You choose the species (among 40), measure the length with an on-screen ruler, get an estimated weight, enter the bait, add photos and say whether you released or kept it.

You snap on the fly with wet hands and sort them later, calmly: the app links them to time and position.

You relive the day on the map at 1×, 2× or 4× speed, jumping from one catch to the next with the weather of that moment.

Yes: your points (spots, accesses, parking…) are private and only visible on your phone. You place a point by choosing on the map or with "Save my position as a point".

You choose the water and dates, prepare the checklist and get a reminder the evening before; if weather, wind or water level change, it tells you. At the end there is a story of the trip with catches and route.

Yes: hours, kilos, kilometres, fish in a row, a personal atlas, levels and angler titles. Advanced statistics are in Pro.

Over 100 species in 58 sheets: cyprinids, predators, salmonids, crayfish, lampreys and rare species. Every sheet has a photo or illustration, appearance, habitat, names in European languages and scientific data.

To avoid dozens of near-identical sheets, similar species are grouped (for example whitefish, native and invasive crayfish, lampreys). Inside you find the list with illustration, name and Latin name of each; tap an image to see it large.

Yes, for all species in the app's 8 languages, with the Latin name beside it. For species with no common name in a language, we built a descriptive name in the usual way of that language.

For 54 species yes, real photographs with author and licence credited (open, including commercial use); for the others there is an illustration. Local or uncertain forms, such as some whitefish, stay illustrated only so as not to show the wrong fish.

Because they are protected or not fished (sturgeons, lampreys, some rare forms) or are too small: there the sheet explains what the fish is like and where it lives, without fishing advice.

On your phone. Trips, catches, spots and photos stay there and go to no server, unless you create an account and make a backup: in that case the copy is stored in Europe and can be reached only from your account.

Nobody: your spots are private and stay on your phone. When the community arrives, sharing will be your choice, spot by spot.

It is designed to be: little data, kept on your phone, no ads, no commercial tracking. The privacy policy describes which external services we use (weather, maps, file server) and what they receive.

The coordinates of the spot you look at, rounded. Not your name or your email.

Yes. On the phone you can delete your data and downloaded maps at any time. With the account you can also export all your data to a file and delete the account from the app: the account, the backups and the saved photos disappear from the cloud.

With the optional account you save trips, catches, journeys, spots, tackle, profile and photos to the cloud, and restore them on the new phone. You make the backup whenever you like, or automatically once a day on Wi-Fi.

With your username (or email) and password. When you create the account we email you a code to confirm the address, and another one if you forget your password. Google and Apple sign-in will come with the store versions.

We are preparing it: spots and routes from standard files (GPX, KML), catches from CSV files. Connecting directly to another app is not possible because they do not offer public access.

Yes: from your profile you download a copy of all your data as a file, as the GDPR requires.

It is planned, later on: spots, catches and tips shared with other anglers, with everything private by default and tools to report and block.

On the sign-in screen tap "Forgot your password?": we email you a code and you choose a new password.

The basic plan keeps the latest backup and has limited space for photos. Pro keeps the last three backups and much more photo space. If your photos exceed the space, your data is still backed up and the extra photos stay on the phone.

In the cloud photos are reduced (1600 pixels on the long side) to save space and keep the backup fast. The originals stay in your phone's gallery.

The account, the backups and the saved photos disappear from the cloud; the app and the data on your phone stay. Your purchases (Pro, maps) stay tied to your Apple or Google account and you get them back with "Restore purchases". Subscriptions are not cancelled automatically: you cancel them in the store.

The map is probably not downloaded yet or not turned on. Go to the list of waters, open the country and download the packs; then turn on the ones you want to see on the map.

You may have no connection, or you may be in an area that is not covered, or the source data is more than half an hour old: in that case we prefer not to show it to you.

Check that location is on and the app has permission; outdoors with a clear sky it is faster. You can always place the spot by hand on the map.

Write to hello@barbel.app with the water and the text: rules come from official sources and change; we check and correct. In the meantime the official regulations always prevail.

Where official registers exist (Czechia, Slovakia, part of Austria) they come from those. Elsewhere they come from OpenStreetMap, which is made by volunteers and can have small inaccuracies.

Write to hello@barbel.app: we reply ourselves, and we read everything.