20 great car and driving apps no motorist should be without
Smartphone apps have infiltrated every element of our lives, but which are the essential ones that should be on every driver’s device? We’ve picked out 20 you should have at your fingertips
Almost all of us own a smartphone in this day and age, so it was only a matter of time before this revolutionary device became an essential part of modern motoring. There’s a plethora of apps out there that claim to be able to revolutionise your journey, but finding the very best driver’s apps is a mammoth task. This is where our team of experts comes in.
Our road testers spend loads of time with the latest cars and car-related tech, and even more hours on the road, so they’re at the forefront of finding and testing the best that the digital world has to offer.
Whether it’s finding cheap fuel, a convenient parking space or somewhere to charge an electric car, there’s an app for it, and we’ve picked out the very best apps for making your time behind the wheel as easy as possible.
Waze
Depending on your choice of phone, it will either come with Google Maps or Apple Maps pre-installed, both of which are very good alternatives to your car’s sat-nav. But the alternative to the alternatives is Waze, which uses real-time information from its approximately 190 million monthly users to provide faster routes and quicker re-calculating, if data shows there’s traffic ahead.
Other clever features include scheduling your trips, meaning you can save a route and Waze will tell you when is the best time to leave. Plus, if you need to urgently fill up with petrol, Waze can tell you where the nearest fuel stations are and how long it will take to get there. The app is also compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
What3words
Lifesaver is a term that gets thrown around a lot, but What3words really could save your life when you need to pinpoint your exact location to breakdown assistance or the emergency services.
If you’ve not heard of What3words before, the app divides the world into three-metre squares and gives each one a unique combination of three words you can share for others to easily find you. Alternatively, if friends or family send over a What3words code to help find their house, you can use Google and Apple Maps to plan a route. You can also save locations in the app.
Mileage tracker by MileIQ
Recording your mileage can be tedious, but it’s hugely important for company car drivers in order to get properly reimbursed. The mileage tracker by MileIQ is designed to remove all the hassle, by automatically tracking your drives, and allowing you to send reports directly from the app.
Users can add their working hours to the app, too, so MileIQ knows when your mileage is business-related, or you can classify whether a trip is personal or for work with a single swipe. Sign up for free and you get 40 drives recorded every month, while for a fee of £50 a year you get all your trips recorded.
RingGo
Of the dozen or so parking apps available these days, RingGo is one of the most highly rated and focuses on being user-friendly, because it's sold on allowing you to “pay to park in seconds”.
Once you’ve registered, you can either provide a location code or find somewhere to park using the built-in map, which also shows you how busy it is there. Then simply select your car’s registration, how much time you need and your payment method. Done. You can also check how much time is left on your current session, get reminders to avoid tickets or extend it if you need longer.
Cuvva
Nothing is worse than going for a ride in your mate’s two-seater on a beautiful sunny day along an empty, winding road, but not being allowed to get behind the wheel yourself because you don't have insurance.
Cuvva allows you to get short-term, fully comprehensive insurance on someone else’s car for between one hour and 28 days – and you only pay for the amount of time you need. It’s all done through your smartphone and is super-fast, because you just need to enter the car’s registration number, your details and declare any incidents from the past three years. You can also add 24/7 breakdown cover for just 99p.
Traffic Run!
Electric car drivers have plenty of ways to occupy their time waiting for a public charger to become free or for their EV to get topped up. While some can be productive, many of us would much rather watch videos or play addictive smartphone games such as Traffic Run!
It’s all about timing, because you have to tap your screen and hold to try and slip your car into the flow of traffic, without hitting any other vehicles, and reach the finish line. As you would expect, each level gets more complex and you unlock extra challenges the more you complete.
Smart Dash Cam
There are some great, affordable dash cams on the market these days, but when it comes to price, it’s hard to beat the Smart Dash Cam app, which turns your smartphone into a dash cam for free. It’s quick and easy to set up, features collision detection and uses continuous loop recording, meaning it overwrites old footage once your device’s storage is full.
There are lots of settings for you to play with, including the video resolution and frame rate, to help capture the best footage or maximise your remaining storage. You also choose whether you record footage with or without audio. Finally, video captured in the app can be shared via email or uploaded to the cloud, so you can keep a permanent record.
Petrol Prices
With fuel prices constantly fluctuating – usually in an upwards direction – we recommend everyone get the Petrol Prices app, because it sniffs out the cheapest petrol or diesel in your area. It’s free to download, and is claimed to be able to save up to £240 a year on fuel by comparing prices.
Users can filter search results by the specific fuel they need, what facilities are at each location, and if there are any promotions on at the moment. If you create an account, you can update any incorrect information or set helpful reminders about your car, such as when to think about booking an MoT.
JustPark Parking
JustPark says it offers users more than a million parking spots across the UK, because its network includes public bays and private driveways, to hopefully get you as close to your destination as possible.
You can book parking for 10 minutes up to a month, with spaces available on a rolling monthly basis and special weekday pricing available. EV drivers can also rent other people’s home wallboxes, which is handy if you don’t have one or the public charging network in your area isn’t great. You can use Apple’s Siri digital assistant to find nearby parking spaces while on the go, too.
Find My Parked Car
For drivers who don't have the best memory in the world, or are fed up with wandering around car parks hoping to stumble across their motor, the Find My Parked Car app is here to do exactly what it says on the tin.
As soon as you find a parking space, simply open the app to save your location, and when it’s time to go home, you’re given directions back to your car through Google Maps. You can also add a timer if you’re in a pay-and-display car park, and take pictures or make notes, which come in handy when trying to find the right floor in a packed multi-storey.
CityMapper
Unsure you car is the best option for a trip? Then check out CityMapper. As the name suggests, the app maps out a city with a focus on public transportation. To use it you simply enter your start and end locations on the map and press ‘go’ - then your journey will begin with all forms of available public transportation at your fingertips.
The app initially started in London in 2011, but data for global cities and plenty of others in the UK have been added to CityMapper since then. Keeping live transport times fresh is CityMapper’s ability to pull data in from local transit authorities, employees or user-generated data.
Spotify
If you have Bluetooth connectivity in your vehicle and you have a Spotify subscription, chances are you’ve used the Spotify app. The firm’s ‘Car Mode’ was removed in 2023 after some criticism and today the app is a simple way to enjoy your favourite music or podcasts.
With Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, if you connect Spotify to your car’s screen, you’ll notice the design is slightly different and some functions – such as the keyboard – are removed while driving for safety reasons. Not only will Spotify give you the option of saving songs, audiobooks and podcasts to playlists, but it can suggest new things for you to listen to as well. In 2023 the company added a new feature to its service called ‘DJ X’. It’s essentially an AI-generated radio DJ that will play songs you’ve listened to and some songs it thinks you’ll like based on your history.
Zap-map
For EV drivers, Zap-map is an absolute must-have app. It’s the UK’s most popular smartphone app for searching, planning and paying for charging – designed to make life with your EV hassle-free. Since its launch in 2014, Zap-map has put together a comprehensive map of the country’s charging stations with more than 95 per cent of them listed on the app.
It gives live updates on chargepoint status – whether it’s in use, free to use or unavailable for some other reason. The app also provides the price of charging (per kWh), so you can account for that when choosing where to top up your EV. You can also pay at selected stations with Zap-map’s easy Zap-pay method.
Roadtrippers
Thinking about making a road trip across the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand? If so, the suitably named Roadtrippers app will be a great companion in your smartphone.
Available either as a free app or in ad-free Pro form, Roadtrippers is a user-friendly mapping service that can plan out a lengthy route across the country with advice on fuel stops, dining and accommodation as pitstops along the way. For those with RVs (recreational vehicles), motorhomes or large vehicles, the app can also take their weight and dimensions into account and come up with suitable routes.
Tile
Nervous about losing your car keys, wallet or handbag? The Tile app ensures you’ll never have to worry again because it’s designed to find lost items, thanks to Bluetooth monitoring. There are several ‘tiles’ to choose from and all weigh less than 15 grams. Once you've picked, you then attach a 'tile' to items.
There’s the fob-like ‘Pro’, which has a one-year battery life and is good for bags or key rings. Then there is ‘Mate’ with a three-year battery life, the credit-card sized ‘Slim’ and the ‘Sticker’ that can be attached to any flat surface.
To use the app, you can simply ring Tile from within the Bluetooth range (up to 500ft). You can also use the ‘find my phone’ function or ‘view the last known location’ via the map. There’s even a ‘Tile Detector’ that fills with green circles the closer you get.
Fuelly
Keeping an eye on your motoring expenses can be difficult, but lightening the load is the Fuelly app. It tracks your fill-ups and fuel consumption to give you reports that help you understand your car’s fuel costs.
You can compare these outgoings over time to see if any trends are emerging – viewing this information either via the app itself or on the Fuelly website. There are almost 700,000 Fuelly members with almost 1.1 million vehicles on the app and 15.6 billion miles of road tracked. All of this data is viewable and comparable to ensure you’re not wasting fuel and money.
RAC (myRAC)
The myRAC app is a great tool for drivers in the UK. If you’re covered by the RAC for breakdowns, then it’s a must-have because it’ll allow you to contact the service, give details of your car's breakdown, and receive updates on recovery.
You can set up profiles for multiple vehicles on the app to make it easier for the RAC to track your recovery needs, and these can also store data on your cars with helpful reminders on MoT, tax and servicing. Plus, there's a handy section that will give you the location of fuel stations and daily updates on the UK’s average petrol and diesel prices.
VBOX
If you don’t trust the manufacturer’s claims or just want to know what real-world performance you can get from your car, VBOX is a particularly good app to test your car to the limit. Developed by renowned motorsport expert Racelogic, VBOX is available on the App Store and Google Play.
The Sport Performance Test version of VBOX uses GPS to record braking and acceleration tests, maximum G-readings, top speeds, average speeds and much more. The VBOX Laptimer (a separate app also developed by Racelogic) can even map out a circuit and display current and best lap times.
YouTube
One app every driver should have on their smartphone is YouTube, where you can watch the Auto Express channel to keep you up to date with the latest news, reviews, features and more.
Stuck charging your EV? Well, YouTube can help you run down the minutes of those dull charging bay stops. The app now features connectivity to the car to play audio through Bluetooth or Apple CarPlay. But video isn’t available, because YouTube doesn’t want footage to distract the driver.
National Highways (National Highways reporting app)
If you’re looking to do your part and keep England’s road network running ‘relatively’ smoothly, then check out the National Highways reporting app. Formerly known as Highways England, National Highways set up the app with help from ‘FixMyStreet Pro’ – itself a reporting tool for roads and environmental issues.
The National Highways reporting app allows users to flag up problems about the road network managed by National Highways. This includes things such as potholes, fallen rocks and trees, animal dangers and any other concerns through the app. To set up the app you have to save the website address for the National Highways ‘report a problem’ to your phone's home screen. You can then use it like any other app on your mobile afer that.
Did you know you can sell your car through Auto Express? We’ll help you get a great price and find a great deal on a new car, too.
Find a car with the experts
