Five years ago no one had ever heard of an iPhone, now many of us
can't live without them! With the hundreds of apps available it's hard
to know which ones are worth downloading and which ones are a waste of
time. Here are a few of my top motoring iPhone apps:
TomTom Sat Nav
There are a number of sat. nav. apps for the iPhone, but TomToms has to be the best, it's very easy to use and clear to read. At £49.99 (plus an extra £49 if you want the cradle to fix your iPhone to the windscreen) it's not cheap but you get what you pay for. TomTom is the only sat nav to offer IQ Routes, which finds the quickest routes not based on speed limits but on actual traffic speeds. It also offers real time traffic updates, speed camera and speed limit warnings, local search and even has a Help me! Emergency menu.
Green Flag Rescue Me
Free and multifunctional the Green Flag app is well worth downloading. If you are unfortunate enough to breakdown there is no need to worry about working out where you are as the app will find your exact location using GPS. Then all you have to do is click 'Rescue Me' and this will be sent directly to Green Flag. There is also a very useful 'Traffic Update' function so you can find out where there have been incidents and hopefully avoid them. On top of that there is also a 'Remind Me' feature that lets you know when your tax, MOT and insurance are due. Priceless!
iCar Park
If you are one of those people that always forgets where you parked the car the iCar Park App will be your savour. Simply tap to record the location of your car and tap again when you want to return to the car and the app will guide you back. You can even make notes about what level or section you parked in if using a multi-story car park as well as tell you how much time is left on your parking ticket. Only snag is you need to remember to use it, but at less than 70p it's a bargain!
Nosey Parker
Finding a car parking space can be a nightmare particularly on busy Saturdays and especially in London, Nosey Parker is designed to make finding a space stress free. The app can locate the nearest, cheapest and safest car park space, and with 1.8 million spaces across the UK there is bound to be one near your destination. No wonder Nosey Parker was winner of Best Application of Technology Award at Big Chip 2010, it's invaluable. Well it costs £2.99 but you'll probably save that in parking fees!
Top Gear Stunt School
The Top Gear Stunt School app is not the most useful (don't expect to be able to navigate your Mini Cooper to Aberdeen with it) but it's certainly the most fun! You can try your hand at completing 60 challenges in modded cars Top Gear style. There are nine different cars you can soup up with a range of extras including wings, jet engines and armour plating; in fact there are two billion different combinations! It's not the cheapest app at £2.39 but it's worth it for the fun factor.
TomTom Sat Nav
There are a number of sat. nav. apps for the iPhone, but TomToms has to be the best, it's very easy to use and clear to read. At £49.99 (plus an extra £49 if you want the cradle to fix your iPhone to the windscreen) it's not cheap but you get what you pay for. TomTom is the only sat nav to offer IQ Routes, which finds the quickest routes not based on speed limits but on actual traffic speeds. It also offers real time traffic updates, speed camera and speed limit warnings, local search and even has a Help me! Emergency menu.
Green Flag Rescue Me
Free and multifunctional the Green Flag app is well worth downloading. If you are unfortunate enough to breakdown there is no need to worry about working out where you are as the app will find your exact location using GPS. Then all you have to do is click 'Rescue Me' and this will be sent directly to Green Flag. There is also a very useful 'Traffic Update' function so you can find out where there have been incidents and hopefully avoid them. On top of that there is also a 'Remind Me' feature that lets you know when your tax, MOT and insurance are due. Priceless!
iCar Park
If you are one of those people that always forgets where you parked the car the iCar Park App will be your savour. Simply tap to record the location of your car and tap again when you want to return to the car and the app will guide you back. You can even make notes about what level or section you parked in if using a multi-story car park as well as tell you how much time is left on your parking ticket. Only snag is you need to remember to use it, but at less than 70p it's a bargain!
Nosey Parker
Finding a car parking space can be a nightmare particularly on busy Saturdays and especially in London, Nosey Parker is designed to make finding a space stress free. The app can locate the nearest, cheapest and safest car park space, and with 1.8 million spaces across the UK there is bound to be one near your destination. No wonder Nosey Parker was winner of Best Application of Technology Award at Big Chip 2010, it's invaluable. Well it costs £2.99 but you'll probably save that in parking fees!
Top Gear Stunt School
The Top Gear Stunt School app is not the most useful (don't expect to be able to navigate your Mini Cooper to Aberdeen with it) but it's certainly the most fun! You can try your hand at completing 60 challenges in modded cars Top Gear style. There are nine different cars you can soup up with a range of extras including wings, jet engines and armour plating; in fact there are two billion different combinations! It's not the cheapest app at £2.39 but it's worth it for the fun factor.
