Automatic is an App That Can Make You a Better Driver
For many of us, driving is a daily habit. On busy days, I can be in the car for as many as three hours! (Thank you, California traffic.) When it comes to technology and being on the road, we’ve explored the latest and greatest in road trip technology like apps that help you find wifi, gas, and even an exit to get that greasy road trip snack. But now there’s a new technology on the block that is sure to step up your driving game on a number of levels. Meet Automatic.
Automatic (due out in May) is an app that lets you manage your car from your phone in ways that are more useful than we ever could have imagined. For the price of $70, your phone can now be your ultimate driving assistant, informing you about how good of a driver you are, keeping you safer on the road, and ultimately extending the life of your car. Simply download the app, then plug the Automatic Link device into your car’s data port. Voilà! You’re connected.
One of the coolest parts about Automatic is its driver feedback feature — it can give you tips on how you drive! Scary, but very cool. It’s kind of like being back in the car with your Drivers Ed teacher, only now, you can turn him off if you want.
For example, if you tend to brake often and accelerate rapidly, or constantly drive over the speed limit, Automatic may give you a lower driver score. The app tracks how often this happens to make you more aware of it while driving. Becoming a more environmentally friendly driver has an added bonus of better gas mileage — meaning, less money to spend on filling up your tank!
Next, there’s the Engine Health feature. Have you ever spent 45 minutes scouring your car manual trying to understand what an engine light turned on means? Automatic’s Engine Health tool not only tells you when the engine light comes one, but it gives you a solution to fix the problem. The app can retrieve data about what is happening within your engine so that you can use it to inform the mechanic. Or in many cases, it will tell you what to do to fix the problem so that you don’t even NEED a mechanic. Um, awesome.
We all know that one of the scariest things about driving is the possibility of being in a car accident. While Automatic won’t be able to prevent car accidents, it can alert emergency services in the event of one. If you’re in a car accident, Automatic reports it to *911 with your name, location, and vehicle description.
Last but not least is one of our favorite Automatic features: the “Where the $#&!(@ Did I Park Again?!” feature. (Okay fine, we named that one ourselves.) Automatic always remembers where you’ve parked using its internal GPS sensor that connects to the app. Gone are the days of wandering around the parking lot and clicking the panic button over and over while searching for your car. Your cool points just went way up.
