Gadgetory

let's face it driving without an app is like driving without a map used to be nowadays your smartphone's part of the behind the wheel experience but what are the apps you really need I'm Brian Cooley with the top five best apps for the driver I'm gonna rank these bike categories and by the way we're not covering music apps because I bet you got that staked out already or telematics apps like OnStar and the others because they're very specific to the model of car you are let's go number five performance apps I put these at five because let's face it most folks don't give a rat's ass how many genes they're pulling but if you do these apps are cool you typically pair one with an obd2 dongle that plugs into your car's data port and merges the vehicle's data with time and GPS location and unlocks an unseen world of motoring we use one of these four CNET on cars chutes to merge the cars telemetry with video out the windshield even using one with out and obd2 dongle your phone's built-in accelerometer can do a lot to coach you to drive more efficiently or more precisely others function as GPS speedometer and odometer combos and some even have a mode to become a sort of poor man's head-up display this is truly a great category for the car geek number four gas apps I rank these low ish because I think most of us just buy gas when it's handy when the light comes on but if you're the Ben Franklin type these are great for finding cheap fuel and tracking the real fuel economy of your car won't you be surprised when it's different than what the car's computer says these are also great for quickly finding the nearest gas station when your car doesn't have built-in navigation number three our parking apps one of the great driving frustrations in 2014 remains what to do with your car when you get there here we are still driving around and around the block in a combination of childlike faith and pagan ritual hoping to find the spot parking apps can reveal municipal data on where spots are located say in garages as well as what the cost is to use them crowd-sourced apps can let people share information about spots that they are leaving so someone else can come get it and don't forget the other apps that let you actually pay for your parking and renew it without having to run back to the meter all the time with coins or a car use one of these and then go rediscover your childhood some other way number two navigation and mapping apps duh being able to live search for what you need tell that app to navigate you to the result or take you to the address of what's coming up in your calendar then fold in live traffic conditions and best route information that can include crowdsourcing or even use one of these to find a great scenic drive when you're not in a hurry and run all of this with great voice command all better on your $200 phone then on your car's $2,000 nav rig but not more safely which we'll tackle with number one in a moment before I get to number one I'll tell you what it won't be to some of your howls of objection and that is speed apps I know these are popular calling out speed traps and even alcohol checkpoints but there's something unseemly about apps that are meant to circumvent the enforcement of laws that work best when you don't know where smokey is so I'm kind of leaving these out the number one kind of app for really any kind of driver I think is a car mode app this functions with whatever you're using your phone for and turns your phone into less of a disaster waiting to happen behind the wheel the idea is to put the car relevant stuff on the screen behind big buttons and then bury the 99% of apps you shouldn't be using while driving while rolling in easy access to voice command and bonus points for a few of these that combine a slick head-up display mode to keep your eyes out the windshield customizable buttons help you make it yours combine it with a good windshield mount not one of those crappy ones you get for seven bucks at the car wash and you've got a great infotainment system in the car for more like this go to CNET on cars comm where it's all about high-tech cars and modern driving i'm brian coulis thanks for watching you