Waze
If there’s one new product that can enhance your phone (and your driving experience) it’s Waze. This is the ultimate all-in-one app that every driver with a cell phone needs. One of the largest community-based applications, Waze can supply all of the information you might want during your commute. Take a look at some of the ways this handy tool makes driving to work a little less stressful:
- Community-reported alerts of accidents, speed traps and road closures
- Turn-by-turn, voice-guided navigation
- Automatic rerouting for best route
- Saves frequent destinations, commuting hours and preferred routes
- Locates the cheapest gas stations on your route
Of course there is much more that Waze offers, including the option to create your own community by syncing your contact list. Once your friends have been successfully synced with the app, you won’t have to text and drive again because Wave will supply the information on your ETA automatically. The best part? It’s free!
Help! I Crashed My Car
Because no one ever anticipates an accident and it’s pretty difficult to prepare for one ahead of time, Help! I Crashed My Car is a handy tool to have in your pocket—or wherever else you keep your cell phone. This app will provide step-by-step instructions on how to handle a car crash, and it’ll let you know where all of the nearest emergency service centers, towing companies and car repair shops are. You’ll also be able to record important details from the incident including photos and information on other parties involved. This one’s free too and certainly worth the download – although we hope you never have to use it.
Car Care
With gas prices escalating constantly, you might want to keep track of how much you’re actually spending on fuel, and Car Care will make it easy to do just that. Though we can’t tell you that this one is free, we can assure you that it’s worth the $3 price tag, because it’ll help you calculate your exact or average fuel usage – which could mean substantial savings down the line. And Car Care offers an added service feature that’s sure to please any automotive service technician – it will send you notifications when maintenance is needed on your car. And keeping track of this data can help enhance your car’s re-sale value by recording and saving any service or mileage reports.
Maps.Me
This is definitely not your average car app. While other options—especially navigation ones—must be connected to data to function, this navigation tool gives you access to tons of maps, even while you’re offline. So even though it’ll cost you $5, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that help is at hand if you’re lost and can’t catch a cell signal.
Trapster
Though you should be driving cautiously all of the time, once in a while we all press a little heavier than we should on the accelerator. In order to help remind you to slow down, Tapster provides tips on nearby red light cameras, speed traps and speed limit changes. How? It’s community-based, so the information is reported by other users who have spotted the traps. Oh, and it’s free, so download away!
What’s your favourite driving app?