Smartphone Driving Apps Help Keep Us on the Road
January 10, 2013
Photo: iStockphoto
PumpTalk is back from our holiday hiatus - Happy New Year to all of you! I hope that you had a safe and satisfying holiday season, and perhaps received a nice gift or two. I was very lucky and received a new iPhone! So part of my holidays were spent trying out all kinds of apps. And in between trying to get a high score on Angry Birds Star Wars and Words with Friends, I have managed to find a couple driving-related apps that might be of interest.
First up is Waze. Waze is a community based traffic and navigation app. It uses GPS to map a route, but on Waze, that route will include additional info like accidents, traffic jams, speed traps, construction delays and other road info that has been reported by other Waze users in your community.
The data on Waze is only as good and plentiful as members of Waze in your area. But since the app is free, it's worth a download to see what kind of traffic and construction reports are being added in your area.
Waze is free on both iOS and Android.
The other driving app that caught my eye is iOnRoad - an augmented reality driving app that uses your native camera and sensors to detect vehicles in front of yours, alerting you where there is a danger of a collision or you are straying from the lane. Now, I thought, why don't we all just keep our eyes on the road? But I realised there are so many distractions while driving (kids, passenger, radio, flashing billboards), that it might be nice to have an extra set of eyes.
The following is a video (English only) of a demo at iOnRoad at a tradeshow - you can see how it works and if you think it is worth the $4.99 price tag.
iOnRoad is available on both iOS and Android. There is a "lite" version for Android that is free.
Have you discovered any great driving apps for your smartphone that we should take a look at?
- Julie S.
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