Apps for drivers - when you need help on the go

A life without a smartphone? Hardly conceivable today. Even when driving a car, the technical miracle has crept in: Whether as a car key as with Volvo, as an aid to remote parking, for cheap refueling or for on-board diagnostics - in the App Store are numerous multi-talented, to facilitate the driver's everyday life. Especially the topics of parking, security, refueling and traffic jams are well served.

Find parking and parking

Especially in big cities, we sometimes need a lot of time and strong nerves to get a parking space. And best he should not cost anything. This problem has been adopted by many app developers, so you can find today parking finder, price informer and even fully automatic parking systems. If you are looking for a parking space, you can for example use the App Parkopedia. The database provides information on 38 millions of parking spaces in 52 countries and shows the location and number of parking spaces as well as the price and the type of parking space. Since October 2015 Garmin offers the so-called Navigon App, which shows all information from Parkopedia. Other parking seekers are Parku and Parkda. A good overview of parking lots, multi-storey car parks and P + R facilities is also available with the ADAC ParkInfo app. Seat, SAP and Samsung even work together on an appwith which one can search the parking space, reserve in advance and pay. The idea was presented, among others, at the Mobile World Congress 2016 in Barcelona.

If the car park is found - and quite narrow - you can simply park the car via smartphone. Daimler calls the system Remote Parking, while other manufacturers call it Trained Parking or Piloted Parking. If you park the car close to the gap, you can make sure that it will automatically drive in via your fingertip. The system is unfortunately dependent on the equipment of the car and not yet arrived in mass production. Anyone who still wants to park via smartphone, can in the meantime Dr. med. Parking 4 on his phone load. This game app is about parking the car correctly.

Workshop and emergency call service

Sites like Drivelog guide the driver with a single click to the appropriate workshop nearby. Simply enter car brand, problem or service type and the corresponding repair location will be displayed. Of course, this also works via app. There is, for example, the Drivelog Connect app. Here one is told, where the next workshop is and even, which defect the car has. Depending on which of the car lights up, the app knows what's up and gives the driver a first on-board diagnosis. If the damage comes from an accident, so-called emergency apps alert the accident service. The newest system is the Accident reporting service of the GDV, who already looks after the emergency pillars on the German motorways. The app automatically sends an emergency call to the insurance's emergency center in the event of an accident and requests assistance.

Gas station finder and traffic jam detector

To refuel cheap or even find the nearest gas station in the area, there are also numerous apps. One of them is enerQuick. The app even gives gasoline price forecasts and personal fueling recommendations, which it uses to calculate the data from the Market Transparency Agency for Fuels. Other options are clever-refueling, re-fueling, properly fueling, the fuel-price app from the ADAC and the App from The Phonebook, Especially around the holidays, the Stauwarner apps are again in demand. While many of the apps recognize most traffic jams, but do not know when a traffic jam is over, StauMobil scores with just that feature. In addition to current traffic jams, the app also offers traffic forecasts for the coming hours.

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