Iphone 5c - Best Apps for it?
 

Since our local phone service provider decided to divest itself of it's wireless division I was finally forced to part ways with my beloved Blackberry Torch, damn I loved that phone. Well, welcome to the nineties, I got a new Iphone 5c as part of switching over company cell service providers. I gotta admit, this thing is freakin incredible and I am probably into it's capabilities less than 10%. One of my kids downloaded a few apps that were pretty amusing but I was interested to hear what adults and car guys considered to be useful things to use on the Iphone, car related and otherwise.

P.S. When my youngest kid was playing back my lecture to the daughter that he secretly recorded over how not to rear end my car with hers (gotta love when people hit your car with your car in your driveway) in "Drunk" mode I almost p*ssed myself laughing.

I highly suggest the app waze.

"Greatest Road." It's geared toward motorcyclists, but the idea is users can upload their favorite driving roads to the app's map, and rate them in a handful of categories (twistiness, road surface, etc). Route is highlighted right there on the map.

Other than that, I have some very work specific apps that are quite handy - drug/toxicology info, local protocols, etc (paramedic). Really nice when someone overdoses in the middle of nowhere on unknown pills and you can identify them and find expected symptoms/outcome for the amount they took, as well as any effective treatment options other than airway/fluid/diesel. Of course we have specific protocols for a large number of drug classes, but people sometimes surprise you with a very odd concoction.

Waze seems very interesting...may need to make some room on my phone (start having kids --> way too many pics).

Not that they are by any means revolutionary, but I use my flashlight app (by Surpax) and Alarm.com app almost every day.
What is surprising is that a phone that is "amazing" now can be a "POS" in 2-3 years.....lol

Track Attack and/or Harry's Lap Timer if you go to the track. I have Windows Phone so I use Track Attack. It is a good way to get video/basic data acquisition when driving on the track.

Torque OBD is about the best thing ever. For Android (Apple also?), there's a plugin that will record video with speed and rpm dials overlaid, map overlay, etc. Very useful tool, eve if you just replicate the dial on your instrument cluster -- more accurate and easier to read. With HUD mode available, too.

Unfortunately the Torque OBD app is only available for Android, not Iphones.

Question.....with either the Track Attack and/or Harry's Lap Timer app how does the info get from the car / ecu to the phone? Like I said, I'm still pretty much an idiot when it comes to the Iphone and Apps.

Dashcommand is the app stores equivalent of torque. It lacks a few features here and there but is nice otherwise

Is this what I would need to connect the car to the Iphone for a track app?

USA SHIP IOBD2 Bluetooth OBD2 EOBD Auto Scanner for iPhone Android by Bluetooth | eBay

What does the flashlight app do that the built in flashlight doesn't?

Yes, it looks like that will work with your iphone.

The bad thing is, the cheap adapters (http://www.amazon.com/iSaddle-Bluetooth-CAN-BUS-Diagnostic-Windows/dp/B008U1MOM8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1411593141&sr=8-2&keywords=obd2+bluetooth) are for bluetooth with android only

Well, I should at have have my calorie counter and waze. That is all that is important for me.

Thanks. Last SCCA event is tomorrow, after that I'll change out the car's fluids and shove it into the back of the warehouse until the spring. While I'm hunkered down for the winter will research apps and buy the OBD adapter.

I am an Apple junkie. Here are a few I like:

Harry's Laptimer and a hi-res GPS receiver is a must have if you are a performance driver that runs a lot of AX/DE/TT. Here is a list of recommended GPS receivers, motorsport quality mounts, and OBDII devices that are compatible with iphone and Harry's. http://www.gps-laptimer.de/Compatibility.html

Mapquest- Way better than the Apple GPS mapping IMO with live traffic updates.

Google Earth- Amazing function that does some things better than Mapquest.

Scanner Pro- A photographic scanner that sends documents anywhere with a few clicks.

Amazon- Quickly get current best pricing on anything, anywhere. Buy local or order online and wait a few days for it to be shipped. You decide with info at your fingertips.

Tons of very useful music/audio related apps if you have an interest in that.

Thanks Topless!!! In doing the initial walk of the autocross course yesterday 2 friends had their Iphones out with Harry's Laptimer plotting the course, I missed the last two events and they've been using them on both so I learned quite a bit. Now I have something to tell the wife and kid's that I want for Christmas. An homage to my now gone Boxster.......

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ps1f046d07.jpg

Trip It - amazingly useful travel planning / trip & flight monitoring app
Yelp - restaurant (and other businesses) reviews
Afterlight - easy and powerful photo enhancing/editing app
Reminder Pro - reminder for birthdays, other events
Shazam - recognizes songs
Flixster - movie reviews, showtimes, etc.