Car Dashboard - App Review

So there you are, driving your car and you want to know how fast you are travelling (don't you have a speedometer?), or your heading, altitude, and distance travelled... this is a neat way to do exactly that.

 

Now for the ACIDS test:

Aesthetics
The first steps are to set up your speed units (kilometres, miles, or knots), altitude units (metres or feet), and distance units (kilometres, miles, or nautical miles (no, they are not the same)). Interestingly, the speed and distance units do not need to coincide; full marks to the developer for giving the user the choice.

You then also set up the background colour, as well as an optional pattern. The final choice is whether you will use your iPhone display as the source of your information, or whether you would prefer a HUD (Head Up Display), as is used in fighter aircraft. In my experience, this latter solution is insufficiently clear, as it is too small, especially in daylight.

You are now set to head off and monitor your progress.

Cost
There is no charge for the App.

Indispensability
If you already have a fixed holder for your iPhone in your car, this is a bit of additional fun. There is however one very useful application for cars with speedometers in miles per hour, when travelling in Europe, when you can have a clear display of speed in the 'local currency' (and vice versa, of course).

Dependability
A traditional speedometer over-reads (a legal requirement in some countries), so you will think that the App under-reads; in fact there is a good chance that you are getting a more accurate measurement from the App, provided that your speed is constant. The inaccuracy of the App comes from the fact that it only gets positioning information every few tens of metres... and gets none at all if there is no line of sight view to satellites (such as in a tunnel).

Security
The App does not share data but, be careful not to concentrate too much on the App while driving.

 

ACIDS Test Rating:

Apart for kph/mph localisation, treat as a 'toy'.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

 

You can get Car Dashboard here and support for the App here.