Houby: Mushroom Forecast

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What it is. A map of where forest, recent rain and temperature favor wild mushrooms, with a score for every forest, the week ahead and safety notes on deadly lookalikes. Houby never identifies mushrooms. Never eat a mushroom unless you're completely sure what it is; ask an expert or a mushroom advice center.

How the score works

Each forest gets a score from 0 to 1 and a class from 1 (mushrooms unlikely) to 5 (excellent conditions). It combines tree cover, rain over the last one to four weeks (mushrooms follow soaking rain, most often after 8–18 days), soil temperature estimated from the air temperature, the season at that altitude, and recent frost or heat.
The model was calibrated on thousands of recorded mushroom finds in Central Europe. A high score means conditions favor mushrooms, not that you will find any.
Days ahead use forecast rain and temperature, so they get less certain further out.
Weather comes from Apple Weather. Forest cover comes from Copernicus land cover; protected areas from OpenStreetMap; elevation from the Copernicus DEM.

Where it works

Houby works worldwide: forest cover, elevation and weather are available everywhere. The model was calibrated on finds in Central Europe, so scores elsewhere are less tested. Protected areas come from OpenStreetMap and are only as complete as the map is locally.

Free

Every feature is free: the week ahead, the flush timeline, comparisons, the trip planner with driving times, sunny forest edges, worm risk, the walk guide on the Lock Screen, alerts for saved spots, the widget and importing past finds from photos. No subscription, no ads, no account.

Troubleshooting

"Couldn't load conditions": no data connection, or Apple Weather didn't answer. Tap Retry. Saved spots show their last reading while you're offline.
No alerts: alerts need notifications allowed (Settings → Notifications → Houby) and Background App Refresh on (Settings → General → Background App Refresh). iOS decides when the check runs, so an alert can come a few hours late.
The walk guide doesn't follow you: allow location "While Using the App" in Settings → Houby → Location.

Houby for Android

Houby for Android is in a closed test on Google Play. To join, become a member of the Houby testers group with the Google account you use on your phone; the Play test link follows once Google approves the test.

The Android app has the conditions map, the week ahead, the flush timeline, the score explained, best nearby, safety notes, protected areas, saved spots, alerts for saved spots, the home-screen widget and the walk guide (in a notification, how it works). The trip planner, sunny edges, worm risk and importing finds from photos are iPhone-only for now.

"You're offline, or the connection timed out": check your connection and tap Retry.
The map doesn't open on your area: allow location in Settings → Apps → Houby → Permissions → Location.
No alerts: allow notifications in Settings → Apps → Houby → Notifications. Android decides when the check runs, so an alert can come a few hours late.
The walk guide doesn't follow you: allow precise location for Houby.

Contact

Questions or problems: [email protected]. Mail is answered within two working days.