Four Must-Have In-Car Smartphone Apps
Automakers and tech giants are striving to better integrate mobile devices into cars, hoping to increase safety by reducing distraction. The now-ubiquitous center screen is key, permitting direct app integration or in-car phone-mirroring solutions. These systems are still getting off the ground, so compatible app availability is limited, but here are a few multiplatform apps every serious driver should have in his quiver. So budge those thumbs off the text box and over the download button, and get ready to bring your app collection into the car.
SpotHero
What It Does: Finds parking spaces.
How It Does It: SpotHero connects parking-lot and garage operators with parkers, netting the latter discounted rates and the capability to reserve or prepay for spaces. Browse for the best price near your destination and SpotHero does the rest, even navigating you there. So far, the app only covers off-street parking in major cities such as Chicago, Fresh York, Denver, and a few others, but expect it to spread.
What It Costs: Free via Google Play and iTunes stores.
VBOX Sport Spectacle Test
What It Does: Measures car spectacle.
How It Does It: Okay, so this Apple iOS–only app isn’t a standalone chunk of software; it requires some hardware as well. In this case, it’s Racelogic’s VBOX Sport performance-data recorder, an affordable version of the full-blown VBOX equipment we use for testing. The app makes analysis of dynamic data quick and effortless, with no need for a laptop. The VBOX Sport might be pricey, but its very precise global-positioning capability (it refreshes its location twenty times per 2nd) makes its data more accurate than the handful of apps already out there that rely on your phone’s pokey GPS and accelerometer feeds.
What It Costs: Free via iTunes store ($429 VBOX Sport not included).
G0Pro
What It Does: Simplifies movie recording.
How It Does It: By turning a user’s phone into a comprehensive Wi-Fi remote control for a GoPro movie camera, this app displays what the camera sees live and lets you initiate or stop recording. You can then take your beloved clips and download them to your mobile device to share with the broader world via email, Facebook, or Twitter. Select BMW and Mini models even suggest in-car integration.
What It Costs: Free via Google Play, iTunes, and Windows Phone stores (required GoPro camera not included).
How It Does It: Waze uses crowd-sourced data from its bank of more than thirty six million “Wazers” to whip together the quickest, most traffic-free route to your destination. Users report accidents, speed traps, construction, and road closures to the broader Waze network, while the app surreptitiously hijacks each Waze user’s GPS information to paint a picture of road speeds.
What It Costs: Free via Google Play, iTunes, and Windows Phone stores.
Fresh FINDS Digital connectivity is becoming a more significant part of the modern driving practice, with apps now available to augment traditional in-car information. And the two thousand fifteen Chevrolet Malibu is leading the charge, integrating this fresh universe into the car itself. Using GM’s available OnStar-based 4G LTE* data connection, drivers can run as many as seven devices at a time. But no playing World of Goo on the 405.