ATTACK

By Carter Hammett

I’VE SAID IT BEFORE AND I’LL SAY IT AGAIN: YOUR CAR IS ESSENTIALLY A SMARTPHONE ON WHEELS. AND WITH THAT ARE YOUR UNIQUE NEEDS AS A DRIVER. WE UNDERSTAND YOU WANT TO CUSTOMIZE THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE TO SUIT THOSE UNIQUE NEEDS.

Maybe you want to check the weather or traffic or download some of your favourite music? Stuck for parking? There’s an app for that.

Our list of apps has become an annual tradition here at Auto and Trucking Atlantic.

We’ve tried to do some of the heavy lifting here for you and spare some of the stress ploughing through apps. Some you will recognize and others you won’t.

We’ve tried to avoid apps from specific companies promoting their brands and mixed in automotive with trucking as one app can often benefit the other.

Finally, all of the apps here are available at either low-cost or no cost on both Iphone or Android.

We always have fun compiling this list but the bottom line is that “the chosen ones” have to benefit you the driver.

So, with any further ado, here’s our list of the best apps for 2023 thus far!

1. WAZE

Topping the list once more is Waze. For the uninitiated, Waze uses real-time data from other drivers to offer you the optimal route. It’s frequently updated so you can monitor accidents, traffic jams and can interact with your calendar to give you the 411 on traffic prior to your trip!

Because it uses crowdsourced information, it allows you to make informed decisions while on the road. If there’s a downside it’s that it’s not equipped to provide you with any lane guidance options in its configuration. Aside from that it’s a must-have for most drivers.

Making yet another appearance on this year’s list is Gas Buddy. This free app allows you to save money on gas—especially critical these days—and you can search for the nearest gas stations online and compare pricing while also reading reviews from other drivers.

One caveat is that because this info is again crowdsourced you might come across errors if there’s not a lot of people in your area using the program.

This is a small price to pay however for the popularity of this app and its overall accuracy.

One of the criteria for inclusion this year is apps available in Canada and earlier this year Canada’s largest car sharing company expanded to P.E.I. just before the tourism rush

Turo lets drivers rent out their vehicles via an app on their phones. Again, this is a timely service given the difficulties with available car rentals last summer.

Rental hosts in Calgary and Vancouver generated an average monthly income of $1,100 during summer.

After receiving mixed reviews in its earlier in-car-nation - see what we did there? - MindBeacon relaunched to provide Candians with customized digital mental health care support.

For a number of years, we here at Auto and Trucking Atlantic have been mindful of the trials and stressors faced by longdistance truckers, including the havoc generated by Covid, so we’re always on the lookout for apps that support some of our loneliest drivers.

Interaction with this Canadian app begins with a simple question: How are you feeling today? From there the app launches into a wide range of supports including crisis counselling, access to Kids Help Phone, and other supports best suited to their needs.

The app is best suited for helping people over 16 years old who are experiencing mental health symptoms including panic, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, PTSD, depression and insomnia, among others. It offers therapist-assisted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy among a range of options.

With the increase in sales of electric vehicles, the range of charging stations is gradually expanding into a super network across the country. This free app is a great start for those new to EVs and a reliable reference for charging stations closest to you.

Grade 10 Math was the best three years of my life. And that’s one of the reasons we’re glad to see this new addition to our list this year. MileIQ is great for drivers who find themselves traversing the great expanse of land we call Canada, especially for business purposes, this app helps you to monitor mileage. It uses your phone’s clock and GPS to track each journey and even records start and stop times in addition to the per kilometer reimbursement rate as well as total kms driven. No more futzing around offers which may assist you with obtaining the best price.

Back again for another year is Parkopedia, which features parking spots in cities not included by other apps, while also providing data about hours, rates and availability.

with calculations and math, let this app help you give you ease of mind!

It’s difficult to argue with the track record of an app like cars. com Billing itself as the largest car buying site in Canada—and with the shortage of available vehicles out there, this is one app that’s truly needed-- the app offers a plethora of features that enable you to compare prices, survey car dealerships near you and help you identify your needs.

The app is quite user-friendly and allows you to contact dealers directly through the app. There’s tons of useful features including a payment calculator but perhaps the best aspect of it is that it enables you to view dozens of new and used vehicles at local dealerships.

There’s a plethora of offerings on it, but one of our fave features is a tool called On the Lot, which allows you to scope out the inventory of competing local dealers along with their special

And when we give praise to including cities not covered elsewhere, we mean 60 million of ‘em in over 8,000 cities worldwide. There’s no in-app payment feature, and while that’s tough to whine about the sheer volume of info more than compensates for that absence.

This unique app offers a satellite view that enables you to see a location from overhead. This is great for being able to observe any obstructions among other data that might be useful for drivers. The app also also permits you to see views from a 360 degree perspective, which is similar to what you would see driving a vehicle. Add to that the voice assistance feature, real time traffic updates as well as notifications which businesses are closed and open, it’s tough to be this one.

This one’s a bit tricky as that weather guy’s always wrong but for drivers of all stripes making long-distance trips, we like this app because it forecasts weather two weeks in advance. That’s great when plotting routes. The app also provides updates on the weather wherever you happen to be at any given time. And there you have it for another year. We hope this list provides drivers with some useful information about what’s hot and useful. We realize this list is also far from exhaustive so we invite you to share your own favourites. We’re always on the lookout for new and interesting ways of assisting drivers and that includes you.

Safe driving people.