6 free car apps

We present 6 smartphone applications that can be useful not only when going on vacation. We only considered free software. Most of them also have more extensive paid versions.

Yanosik

This is one of the most interesting Polish applications for drivers, which can also act as a car navigation. Its main purpose is to warn about police cars, speed cameras, accidents and traffic jams appearing nearby. Thanks to Yanosik, we will quickly avoid bottlenecks and avoid possible fines.

The application is social - i.e. the drivers themselves report when they see a threat. The program for phones is free. However, we can buy the entire device, which will facilitate the reporting of visible events (by pressing a button) and receiving information about the traffic situation. The set for about PLN 500 also includes one year of internet access, which is necessary to take advantage of the system's capabilities. Competitive for Yanosik is Coyote.

Find My Car

Applications such as Find My Car, Car Locator or MyCar Locator are intended to remind us… where is our car. It may seem funny, but until we leave the car in a large parking lot or go for a long walk in an unfamiliar city.

When using location applications, we must remember to first use the application to mark the parking place of the car virtually. If we do this, later, using the GPS on our smartphone, we will easily find the parking lot. There are both paid and free locators available.

Torque

Torque Lite and Torque Pro are diagnostic programs with very large possibilities. To use them, you need to purchase an ELM / OBD bluetooth adapter. It will allow the smartphone to communicate with the engine. What for? For example, to get (and possibly reset) the error codes from the on-board computer. Thanks to this, you will find out what is happening with your car without visiting the garage.

The first application is free. The paid version (about PLN 15) has more functions and should work in most gasoline cars manufactured after 1996 and diesel cars - after 2004 (in cars supporting the OBD 2 system). The paid version allows, among others measuring the power and torque of the engine, and after connecting to the camera, also creating a black box of the vehicle (recording the last minutes of driving). The most important, however, are the extensive diagnostic functions.

The smartphone can also communicate with the car's computer thanks to other applications, such as Dash.

iOnRoad Augmented Driving

This application uses the so-called augmented reality. It is enough to place the phone against the windshield and it will warn us when we approach another vehicle too dangerously or suddenly change lanes. It works well both on the road and when parking.

The application uses the smartphone's camera and GPS technology. The program maps objects in front of the driver in real time, calculating the current speed of the car using native sensors. An audiovisual alert appears when the vehicle is near to danger.

The program also has the function of a parked vehicle locator. The simplified version is free. The full one costs about PLN 17.

EcoDrive Free Speedometer

An application for ecological learning, and above all, economic driving. The program uses a GPS receiver.

Based on the car's speed and acceleration methods, the application calculates the traffic efficiency index. It tells the user in what situations it can reduce fuel consumption and how to improve his driving style.

CB Radio Chat

This application is similar to traditional CB Radio, but uses the internet for audio transmission. Although it allows you to communicate with people from all over the world, it also allows you to limit the coverage to the immediate area.

CB Radio Chat offers a variety of channels, broken down by topic and use. The program works like a walkie talkie - to talk, press a virtual button.