Driving can be a very relaxing past-time as well as a very exhausting endeavour depending on what the occasion is. We all have those days where we spend hours looking for our destination but end up getting miserably lost instead or we stuck hopelessly in traffic. The best thing to do is get smart about it and make the most of your driving journey. You can do that with Smartphone apps and I have taken the liberty of listing some of the most ingenious ones below.

Google Maps

Many hail this app as a Godsend, completely free on both iPhone and Android; this app has made paper maps almost obsolete. This free navigation app is probably one of the biggest of its kind with the maps of all major cities of the world at your fingertips. It works by utilising your phone’s GPS and internet connection to download maps of your area, triangulate your position and map out your route.

Waze

Available for free on both Android and Apple iPhone, this is one of the largest community based traffic and navigation app in the world. Users input and receive traffic updates in real time which can potentially save you a lot of time and money on fuel. So, whether it is an accident or a traffic jam, you can see the live updates on your phone and take alternate routes. It also offers a turn-by-turn navigation feature and you can even add your friends on the app, so that when you all are driving to the same destination you can see each other’s ETA on this app.

Find My Car

Another free app for Android and Apple mobile phones, this application helps you find where you parked your car or any other saved location. The app relies on your GPS location to locate where you forgot your car. You just have to log into the app and after getting your GPS coordinates, hit the park key on the app. The app saves your GPS coordinates which are accurate up to 5 metres, so if you forgot where you parked your car, you can just turn on the app and use that to locate it easily.

Pandora Radio

This app though not strictly a driving app per se but it comes in very handy while driving. The app uses your phone’s internet connection to give you access to more than 100’s of internet radio stations. The app offers a century of popular recordings not just limited to songs and the option to make a personalised list of up to 100 radio stations you like. It’s available for Android and Apple iPhone for free, however your data carrier will charge for the bandwidth you use.

What all these apps have in common is the convenience they offer to commuters. So, the next time you’re leaving for somewhere just check out the directions with Google Maps, use Waze to see traffic updates for your route, listen to Pandora radio on the go and employ Find My Car to save your car’s parked location.

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