Any app that you are comfortable with is fine. I tend just to glance at a radar map to decide. But i have gone out, set up my quite heavy mount and scope and balanced it and aligned it and the clouds roll in, even caught out by rain that had a 5% chance of happening the once... The weather in this country is just quite unpredictable at times.
If the astronomy bug catches you, watch out for Aperture Fever... That is the unquenchable desire for a larger and larger telescope... I caught this terrible disease. I ended up getting a 12 inch reflector on a dobsonian mount. It was almost as tall as i am. My neighbours thought i was reenacting a scene from the battle of waterloo im sure... Thankfully, after realising that it was becoming more and more impractical i realised the beauty in using a telescope that i could set up in a shorter period of time, to get those nights when there may only be an hour or 2 of clears skies. Don't get me wrong, star clusters looked amazing in the 12 inch as did the details on Jupiter. But a common phrase used in the astronomy circle is the best telescope is the one you use the most... Now i have a 6 inch refractor which is still a beast and a 5 inch short tube refractor. Oh and a huge pair of binoculars...
Another tip is to learn how to use your peripheral vision. The light cones in your eyes are more sensitive in these areas. So if your hunting galaxies, peripheral vision is king. The art is finding the galaxies, learning to star hop is a good skill here. Once you are sure it's there, avert your gaze just to the side of the galaxy. With practice you will start to tease out detail, it is a noticeable difference. Try it on easy targets first, such as Andromeda, then head off to the Virgo cluster. Sketching is a helpful thing here too. I can't draw for poo but it helps focus the mind and it helps get more and more detail. BTW, this time of year is prime galaxy hunting season...
