Automotive Apps for iPhone & Android

You're trying to beat 30% off, no tax (maybe) & shipping, with a 1-year manufacturer warranty. Good luck!

You might find it cheaper somewhere, but that's a damn good deal direct from Apple. Another reason to like Apple.

AA wrote:

You're trying to beat 30% off, no tax (maybe) & shipping, with a 1-year manufacturer warranty. Good luck!

You might find it cheaper somewhere, but that's a damn good deal direct from Apple. Another reason to like Apple.

Well that saves a bunch of work. Thanks a lot for your input on this. I hate shopping, but i do like to touch and feel or experience the product before buying.
But if i decide on the Apple, I will get a refurb unit direct from them for the discount and warranty.

Rickw wrote:

Derek, to get this straight, you are buying your wife an iPod Touch.??? or her own iPhone.?

I am buying her an iPod Touch. As I said, I have an iPhone and wouldn't be willing to pay for it over the iPod touch. I like the iPod touch for what it is, and to me a phone should just be a phone. Forget all the smartphone bullshit, just make a damn good phone. The iPod touch is amazing. The only thing I think it's missing is a videocamera, which my iPhone has, and I think the iPod touch will have very soon. The iPod nano has a video camera!

Personally I would wait and see what Apple announces at their big fiasco at the end of January. Stop by an Apple store and play with a few different iPods. Did I demonstrate my in-car iPod dock to you?

If you wait for the Apple conference, you'll be wanting their new Tablet.

deekster_caddy wrote:

Personally I would wait and see what Apple announces at their big fiasco at the end of January. Stop by an Apple store and play with a few different iPods. Did I demonstrate my in-car iPod dock to you?

Thanks for the heads up on the new Apple products coming out, had no clue as usual and NO, you did not demo the iPod dock for me.
Maybe I can schedule another tuning session with you and you can bring me up to speed on the Apple stuff as well.
What do you think.? I'll pay you for your time.

For those of you who prefer to spend your dough on fancy fones instead of super scan-tools, this free app will interpret the numerical-only DTC results from the really cheap scanners...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fuzzycodes/id319004364?mt=8

Just an FYI. For anyone who doesn't want to go through the trouble of installing a gauge, you can get a bluetooth OBDII dongle that plugs into your OBDII diagnostic port and allows you to use a computer, or in my case an android phone. Shows all sorts of information, and all you need is a smartphone. You can customize the display to show anything, and it also lets you reset any codes the car throws and also find out exactly what the code means.

Here's a screen shot of mine:

That's pretty sweet. I'm gonna have to check that out. I've got a Windows Mobile based smartphone. Where do you buy the OBDII bluetooth dongle from?

J. Chris Davis wrote:

That's pretty sweet. I'm gonna have to check that out. I've got a Windows Mobile based smartphone. Where do you buy the OBDII bluetooth dongle from?

I got mine from ebay. The cheaper modules are ok for the most part, but if you want good reliable extended PID support you gotta go with more expensive dongles such as the kiwi bluetooth dongle, which runs around $100..

Ok thanks. I'll be looking into this here in the near future.

Has anyone used the app Tourque which can clear codes via a bluetooth obd2 interface? The app is free or you can pay $5 which gets you more features. You can also check on many different things regarding you car. Just wondering if anyone has used it. I am thinking about buying the bluetooth interface and using it. you can upload data to the internet.

Edit: after thread was moved
Ok well thread got moved to a whole thread about the iphone and one app. Sometimes i hate when stuff like this happens. But it is what it is. I understand that some threads need to be combined but when an entire thread contain 6 pages of information about the iphone and one specific app why combine it? It seems to get out of hand sometimes. Maybe im just in a bad mood today. Who knows.

Edit: Well just bought a bluetooth adapter will have to see how this goes i suppose.

This thread is about automotive mobile apps, not iphones (or androids). If you read through it all, you'll see that. Sorry if I wrecked your world by merging the threads, but trust me, if I hadn't done it your thread would get lost in the abyss of other tiny topics that should have been merged with similar ones.

PS - your 3 consecutive posts are getting merged into one - no hard feelings!

I have read this entire thread twice and searched for droid in this thread. There are two posts(not counting mine) regarding the droid and it was whether the one iphone app that was discussed on 4 or 5 pages of this thread was on the android which was no. The other 2 or 3 pages are about the iphone and iphone prices. Why combine a thread about an iphone app and an iphone with a thread that is about an app on the android market. Later on no one wants to read 6 and a half pages of iphone related info to read a post about an android app. I know i sure wouldnt, Just a suggestion. My thread could have been reworded better but i was having a bad day.

Yes the combining of threads is a good thing when it is done right. But i feel(and im sure others feel the same way, because i have seen posts combine before and people complain) that sometimes it gets out of hand. Especially when a thread that is 2 or 3 years old with broken links etc is combined with a thread that is almost unrelated.

Sorry for my rant but i see stuff like this happen sometimes. Especially when i read old threads and you try to read them like responses but you look back and like wait we skipped from this to this hmm. Im sure there are some people that agree and just have not spoke up or maybe they have who knows.

Anyways, bluetooth connector came in today and my parents house(since i am moving and didnt know when it would arrive) so when i go up there this weekend, I will try it out and let you guys know how it goes.

PS no hard feelings.

What I've got for my android is called Torque and then I bought the PLX Kiwi bluetooth OBD II reader for android. Works great. The app is like 5 bucks from the android market and the OBD II reader is $100 from amazon.

I have the Toque app too and it is one of the best scanners i have seen.
The developer is VERY active and was communicating with me trying to get a few of the kinks worked out.
Finally have working KR scanner with the app (didnt work on gm cars previous).
There is an update at least once a week adding new things.

Here are some of the pluses:
*You can add your own PID's so you can monitor anything the pcm can read.
*Supports just about any OBD2 car with 100's of parameters
*Reads codes, resets them and has info one them too
Can log multiple parameters
wirelessly monitors the pcm and has a fast response rate
You can change the monitors, number of gauges and sizes of the gauges

Cons:
On my 96 it seems to have a weird relay reset problem when it first connects (has never done this on any other car, including 97 rivs and 99 reglals)
Still not 100% of the parameters work on my car (like trans temp) may work on other rivs though.

For the price and ease of access i cant beat it.

There were a few that didn't work for me either. One was the trans temp to and another off the top of my head was the voltage.

Well im gonna try it out right now and see how it goes. As of right now I have the free version of tourque.

Well hooked up the bluetooth. Works good. Couldnt get the voltage to work but it will check codes and clear them. I didnt have any codes but i checked my dads car and he had code p0102 which is maf. So we changed the maf since we had an extra one arround and changed it. Then cleared the code and it stayed off. Good app. App was free or you can buy it for 5 dollars. And the obd2 bluetooth reader cost 20 dollars. Totally worth it. Because you always have you phone on you and the bluetooth is small so easy to put somewhere. or just leave it hooked up.

Ya, I like mine alot. The obd2 bluetooth I got came with an on/off switch so I just leave it plugged in all the time.

Hey guys, ordering this today.

http://www.plxkiwi.com/kiwibluetooth/

From the website

Quote :

Kiwi Bluetooth turns your Droid mobile device into a powerful automotive tool.

OBDII Connectivity
Compatible with 1996+ Vehicles

Features Include:
Check Engine Scan Tool
Works with most Bluetooth enabled Droid Mobile Devices
MPG Gauges
Engine Sensors
Customizable Dashboard
Real-time Dyno
Data Logging
GPS Track
Connects to your OBDII Port

Anyone have one or have any experience with one? From what I gather Torque is the go to program for this little guy. This technology is awesome and I think it would be worth having some kind of tablet display mounted in the RIviera with this thing always running.

Yes i have one and use torque. there is a thread on this somewhere already tho.

Mr.Riviera wrote:

Yes i have one and use torque. there is a thread on this somewhere already tho.

Did a search for Kiwi PLX and got nothin' so I made this thread.


Here is a link to a thread at the Torque forum. Not much to see but the first guy's post is my favorite. Great installation.

I want to get a touch screen where the ash tray/lighter and cd holder is.

what do u need to use this app???

Here's the link for the app at the android market place
Click here!


I think you only need a bluetooth transmitter, the app, and something running the android OS.
I ordered the PLX kiwi today!

thnx..what kind of bluetooth transmitter do you have
?