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Chances are that if you’ve had a driving dilemma or need more convenience or organization for your drives, there’s an app for that. From helping you find the best parking to scouting out favorite restaurants along your route, these driving apps help your commute or road trip go smoothly.
BestParking helps you park your car without the hassle and stress of finding a spot. While it doesn’t cover every city, even if your city isn’t supported, consider this app for occasional trips to a bigger city where you’re not as familiar with parking. BestParking is free to download for iPhone or Android smartphones.
This app provides reviews for hotels, campgrounds and places you’d want to eat or see along your road trip. You can string all your stops together using a route-planning tool.
Waze is a community-based traffic and navigation app. It relies on community users inputting information as it happens. It’s available for free on both Apple and Android phones.
Don’t want to drive at all? Waze Carpool lets you find other commuters and share the ride.
TomTom, one of the original GPS device brands, has an app for navigation that can run straight from your phone without the need for a separate device.
Root is a unique app that lets you buy car insurance directly, rather than going through an agent. The Root app also tracks your driving behavior and set your rates according to its findings.
Once you download the app and sign up for the test drive, the app takes several weeks to score your driving, including your speed and braking habits. Then, you’ll be given your car insurance rate, or denied if you don’t meet Root’s safety standards.
You can find similar policies that track your driving skills, called telematics or pay-as-you-go car insurance.
Metromile’s app lets you pay by the mile for your car insurance. You can test-drive to see a quote with its Ride Along app.
You’ll be quoted a low base rate like $30 a month and a per-mile rate like six cents per mile. Each month, you only pay for the miles you drove from the previous month.
iOnRoad is a driver assistance tool. It works by monitoring the road ahead of you and providing a warning for possible dangers or potential collisions.
To use it, mount your phone on the windscreen so that the camera has an unobstructed view of the road ahead. iOnRoad requires at least a 1GHz processor. It works best on iPhone 6 or newer, Samsung Galaxy S VI or newer and LG G4 or newer. It can work on other phones, but the results aren’t guaranteed.
Dash connects your car’s engine with your smartphone. The app integrates with an on-board diagnostics device and displays information about your car’s performance and current state. The app is free but requires an on-board diagnostic device to work. They range in price from $10 to $99.
Spotify is a digital music streaming service that works like radio, but is transmitted over the Internet. You can make your own playlist or look up playlists of friends or musicians.
It’s free for the basic version, which can be used on your computer or phone, but does have occasional ads. Spotify Premium is free for the first three months and then $9.99 per month afterward.
Driving while using a phone is dangerous and can be illegal. Make sure you stay safe on the road by preparing for your trip.
To find specifics about how each app protects your data, you can look at its privacy policy linked from the Apple or Google Play Store.
Generally, you should see app privacy policies list or specify what information is stored and whether it’s transmitted and stored with encryption. The privacy policy also should include when the company might share that information with others.
Every app on the Apple or Google Play Store must meet the app and developer criteria that Apple or Google requires, such as the app getting your consent before collecting user information.
Compare just a few of the many apps available to help make your daily commute and road trips a little easier. New driving apps come out all the time, so keep an eye out for new services that make driving and comparing car insurance easier.
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