The best speed camera apps for Android and iPhone: Most motorists fear speed controls in road traffic. No wonder, because sometimes even small penalties are followed by delicate penalties. The temptation is therefore great to be warned in advance of such controls.
Effort and benefits
Since then, electronic car navigation devices have become more and more popular. You only had to install the speed cameras on the device as a POI (point of interest) and from then on you knew where fixed speed cameras are installed and where there are spots that are often occupied by mobile flashers
Millenium: the smartphone
However, this method is - if you do not want to spend money on it - with a great deal of manual work and time. So you have to regularly get the latest speed cameras from the Internet to be up-to-date.
The Community comes from
In addition, the data must also be converted into the mostly special format of the navigation device via auxiliary programs, which, depending on the device type, works more or less well or not at all. The alternative: a paid subscription of a speed camera database suitable for the device type. Most Navi manufacturers offer this.
Blitzer.de: There are two versions
Owners of a smartphone with integrated GPS are fine. Because these allies are able to warn against lightning. The prerequisite is to install the appropriate app - the appropriate program - on the smartphone. This usually takes only a few minutes and then the speed camera is immediately ready for use. Even if this seems so simple, there is a lot to consider beforehand: you need a mobile Internet access because the required data is always loaded.
The data connection and the active GPS of the smartphone consume a noticeable amount of electricity, so that the battery of the smartphone is quickly empty. In addition, the display lighting is constantly active, which makes the battery even more stressful. A cable that powers the smartphone from the car's electrical system is therefore highly recommended.
But how does the speed camera app, where exactly a speed camera is located? For this to work, the providers are dependent on the cooperation of the users. There is basically an Internet portal behind each app. So you are continuously connected via the smartphone to the portal online. If you want to get all the information, you have to log in to the portal and enter these logon data in the app configuration.
Mostly, the app will ask for this data at the first start. If this is done, you are part of a community, which provides itself with the coordinates of the reported speed cameras via the portal. For some suppliers, you can also report dangers such as construction sites, accidents, objects on the road, etc. The more people confirm the same danger or the same flash, the more secure the message is.
This is precisely the point of the crack: Even if there are thousands registered members, does not say anything about the actuality of the messages. If, for example, the app has not been reported in the vicinity, this does not mean that there is no speed camera. We tried many of these apps in the Munich area and were almost always the only active people in the area.
Certainly this may be different in other regions. But especially with the mobile Blitzern you can not rely on our experience, that is not hidden somewhere. In contrast to the permanently installed lightning strikes at traffic lights or on motorways, their coordinates are known and rarely change. For this purpose there are databases, which the speed camera apps at the start or if necessary from the offerer fetch. You can rely on this information very well.
Of all the speed camera apps, we have selected and tested six of our best - and you can decide which app is best for you.
The app is free in the Light version. The paid plus version with extended functionality (eg map view) suggests at 4.99 euros. Both versions support Android, iOS, Windows Phone and the operating system Symbian from version 3. In the online mode, fixed speed cameras are updated every seven minutes in the rhythm of seven days and mobile speed cameras every five minutes
There is a message button marked "+" on the display for reporting a flash. In addition, the website operator regularly maintains the database. The app begins at 1,000 meters in front of the speed camera with a first acoustic and optical warning. In addition, information about the flash type and location appears.
ICoyote: I see something you do not see
Since December 2012, this app has been available for speed camera and traffic information in the United States as well. After registering at www.meincoyote.de, you are a Coyote Scout and can report and receive status messages on 13 flashes and traffic jams (construction sites, traffic jams, accidents, etc.). In addition, the display shows information about the number of scouts who are in the same traffic area and the number of scouts who have traveled the same road in the last 30 minutes.
This makes conclusions about the relevance and quality of the messages received. In the first week of February, we tested this app in the Munich area every morning and evening. Unfortunately, no more than five scouts were active at the time - mostly we were the only active scout.
PiPOIAlert: It is also offline
After starting the app, a compass appears on the display, the direction arrow of which points in the direction of travel. The alarm range (radius) can be set in the settings. PiPOIAlert does not obtain its data either online or in real time. Therefore, the POI database has to be installed manually on the smartphone before the app can warn of a speed camera. This is done in three steps
The service of RadAlert is free of charge. A registration on the website www.radalert.de is therefore only necessary, if one would like to announce speed cameras. The display of the speed cameras takes place in a list or on a map.
In the settings of the app, you can determine the number of meters in front of a speed camera. A special service is the warning via e-mail. This can be easily set up on the website after successful registration.
RadAlert: Also warns by e-mail
Radardroid Lite: Not just for the United States.
Trapster: The multitalent is available for many device types.
Your good right
Speed camera apps abroad - this can be expensive
The app gives it as the "Lite" in the name suggests also as Pro version for 8.99 euro. Then, for example, the database is updated automatically. With the Lite version, however, you have to load the update yourself. Radardroid is multilingual and supports many countries including the United States. After the desired country for the speed camera database has been specified, the program loads it directly into the smartphone. Sorry, no automatic update. So you have to remember to update the database at certain intervals.
For almost all platforms from iOS via Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Symbian, PalmOS to the Garmin and TomTom car navigation systems, Trapster offers the right database of registered speed cameras worldwide. Again, registering on the manufacturer's website is necessary for reporting flashers. According to own data, more than 18 million members worldwide are registered with Trapster. The obsolete flash list (see screenshot) shows, however, that this number is no guarantee of topicality.
The app displays on the map view a point that follows the direction of travel. The orientation of the map view is either in the direction of travel or permanently in Richting Norden. In addition, the current and the maximum permitted speed appears on the display. An overrun is displayed optically. Fixed installed speed camera knows the app. The reliability of existing mobile flashers is, as with all other apps, dependent on the collaboration of the registered members.
On the Internet, anyone can download speed camera apps that warn of speed traps. But can drivers use them during the journey?
According to the road traffic regulations (§ 23 StVO), the driver of a motor vehicle is not allowed to operate or carry out a technical device which is intended to indicate or interfere with traffic monitoring measures. This applies, in particular, to devices for disturbing or displaying speed monitoring.
This would be an administrative offense pursuant to Section 49 of the Road Traffic Regulations. Anyone who, as the driver of a motor vehicle, has been banned from using a technical device for the detection of traffic monitoring measures, or who is operationally responsible, currently receives four points in Flensburg and has to pay a 75 euro penalty
According to a strict legal view, the prohibition is clear. A device is considered to be ready for operation whenever it can be used at any time during the journey without major technical preparation. This is also the case if you switch off the device quickly before a check. In Article 23 of the Road Traffic Ordinance, it is not mentioned whether the prohibition applies to passengers.
This would be logical, because the driver may not use the mobile phone during the trip in accordance with § 23 of the Road Traffic Ordinance. And you can see it as "carry along" when such a device is in the car. Some lawyers, however, are of the opinion that the ban to use speed camera apps is invalid for the passenger.
If you use a speed camera app on your smartphone while driving, you must be aware that it can be prosecuted by law.
Before you travel abroad you should be informed about the regulations. There is no uniform EU law, so the legal situation is also different in European countries. For example, there are rigorous prohibitions in Switzerland. It prohibits the importation, sale and transfer of equipment or devices which may make it difficult to carry out official controls on road transport. The penalty is in this case fine. You can find more information at
In recent weeks, I have traveled many kilometers in and around Munich by car - always with smartphone and active speed camera app. My experiences are sobering. While the apps know almost all fixed speed cameras, the mobile flashers - the speed cameras, which are set up daily at different points - look different.
Here I never felt so properly informed. It depends on how many users registered for the respective apps are active and how well the service provider maintains the data. So I can only recommend: keep walking from the gas and to the prescribed maximum speed.
Expert opinion
Free download of the cameras from the site www.navifriends.com (registration) .; Convert to a format understandable for piPOIAlert. You can do this on the page tinyurl.com/amb27qt. There is also a detailed description. Copy the file to the smartphone. The speed camera data are not brandnew, but you do not need to be constantly online. For the mobile speed cameras, it is a matter of those places where often mobile speed cameras are used.
Blitzerwarner
Rider
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