1. Speedometer
iOS – free
OK, we know what you’re thinking: your car already has a speedometer. But there are numerous reasons why it might be wrong – if you’ve changed the size of your wheels and/ or tyre profiles, for example, your speedo won’t be accurate. This app will help keep speeding tickets at bay.
2. Carcorder
iOS – £1.49
Dashcams provide all sorts of hilarious YouTube footage of motoring mishaps in Russia, but they’re also genuinely useful in the event of an accident, road-rage incident, or insurance dispute. And you don’t have to pay through the nose for one – this easy dashcam app is just £1.49.
3. grdian
Android – £0.99/month
This is your motoring guardian angel. It looks out for you in case you have an accident, and if you do it’ll automatically sense the impact and immediately call their specialist accident centre and the emergency services, as well as notifying your family and friends of your location.
4. 3DTuning
iOS/Android – free
A fun thing to play about with, 3DTuning offers over a thousand cars in photorealistic quality for you to customise – wheels, bodywork, paint, the lot. Sure, it’s ultimately pointless, but isn’t everything? We’re all just twiddling our thumbs till the sweet embrace of the crypt, might as well do something.
5. Appyparking
iOS/Android – free
As seen on Dragon’s Den, this app helps you find somewhere to park in a variety of locations across the UK. It’s getting mixed reviews (it doesn’t work brilliantly everywhere!), but if you live in London, Manchester, Brighton, Birmingham, Portsmouth, Bristol or Edinburgh it should prove pretty handy…
6. Are we nearly there yet?
iOS – free
Ah, that age-old question that pipes up from the back seat. If you’re on a road-trip with the nippers, they’re bound to get bored eventually, so this app will help to keep them entertained with games, jokes and trivia about the route. Might help with your pub quiz knowledge too.
7. Harry’s LapTimer
iOS – £14.99
Sounds like something your mad uncle came up with in his shed, but if you’re serious about track driving, this is the app to have. Full data analysis, HD footage, shareable results, certified tracks across the globe… this is the definitive way to settle pub arguments about Nordschleife lap times.
8. Micro Machines
iOS – free
When Micro Machines came out on the SNES in the 1990s, it was pretty much the coolest thing that ever happened. And now you can play it on your phone, for free! You can even have Nerf battles while racing, for goodness’ sake…
9. Dashdroid
Android – free
Similar to iCarMode, this Android version simplifies your home screen to minimise mobile distraction and make interaction safer. It’ll also optimise your phone’s battery life in various clever ways, and auto-deflect calls and texts with a notification that you’re busy behind the wheel.
10. iCarMode
iOS – £1.49
Mucking about with your phone while you’re driving is, obviously, pretty dumb. So iCarMode is an app that makes interacting with your mobile driving apps easier and safer – in essence, it’s a way to turn your screen into big obvious buttons for phone, music, nav and so on. Foolproof.
