Find My Car Smarter app for iPhone and iPad


4.8 ( 1888 ratings )
Navigation Utilities
Developer: FMC
Free
Current version: 3.1.7, last update: 7 years ago
First release : 03 Aug 2012
App size: 21.76 Mb

Cant remember where you parked your car? Dont worry! Your iPhone will, AUTOMATICALLY!

Whenever you walk away from your car, the iPhone remembers where you parked your car last. Unlike other parking apps, you only need open the app when you are looking for your car.

PLEASE NOTE: Use of the Bluetooth functionality requires an iPhone 7,6S,6,5SE,5S,5 or 4S and the Find My Car Bluetooth Smart beacon.

The Pro version supports compatible 3rd party Bluetooth Smart proximity beacons. The Pro version additionally adds logging functionality to keep track of where you have parked.

Please visit our website for more information:
http://www.findmycarsmarter.com


How does Find My Car Smarter Work?

Find My Car Smarter uses a new technology called Bluetooth Smart.
When you start your car, the Find My Car Smarter App wirelessly connects to the Find My Car Smarter Device. After you have parked your car your engine and the Find My Car Smarter Device, powered by your cigarette lighter, turn off. The App realizes that your car is parked and then activates the GPS on your iPhone momentarily to save your cars location. If you lose your car, simply launch the app and it will help you navigate your way back by showing you your current location and the location of where you last parked your car.


Using Find My Car Smarter
The app will indicate where you have parked your car, how far away you are from your car, and how long you have parked at that location.

With Dropbox syncing a communal cars location can be shared between a group.

You can also setup automatic parking meter and sweeping notifications.


How do I set up Find My Car Smarter?
ONE TIME SETUP:
1. Download the "Find My Car Smarter" App. Dont forget to allow the app to "use your current location".
2. Plug your Find My Car Bluetooth Smarter Device or compatible Bluetooth Smart Device into your car and then pair it to your iPhone. You only need to do this step one time and it takes about 1 minute.


How do I use Find My Car Smarter?
1. Rest easy knowing that you have the Find My Car Smarter App on your phone.
2. Forget where you parked your car.
3. Click on the "Find My Car" App on your iPhone and allow the map to guide you back to your car.
4. Find your car.



Wont the app running the background kill my battery life?
No, when you are stationary within a 1 km (0.62 miles) area, such as at home or at work, the app is asleep and the only resource that is used is iOS periodically waking up and scanning for Bluetooth devices. This situation is similar to when your phone is paired to a Bluetooth headset.
However, the app will wake up momentarily every time your iPhone travels a few miles. This is to ensure that the app will get relaunched and is running in the background in case the phone closes the Find My Car Smarter App.

Some power consumption occurs after you park your car and the GPS is enabled to save the location of your car. Under good conditions, Find My Car Smarter can complete this process in about 5 seconds and then go back to sleep. The power usage is equivalent to opening the Maps App and finding your current location.

Generally, running this app in the background will not significantly decrease your battery life. However, drivers who drive long distances and park their cars frequently (e.g. pizza delivery person) may experience a noticeable decrease in their battery life.

Pros and cons of Find My Car Smarter app for iPhone and iPad

Find My Car Smarter app good for

This and previous version(s) worked Great. I am "lost" without working program. I am a loyal user. This version is Great!!
The map is so much better now that you can zoom and pan! With the beacon you purchase it works automatically to find your car.
The app uses a Bluetooth beacon you put in your car to remember where you parked. Works pretty flawlessly for me.
Whats not to love. Its effortless and it works. Has saved me at least a dozen times...
I had another app to Find my car, but if I forgot to turn it on when I parked it, of course, I couldnt get me back to my car. This app also has the piece you buy to plug in your car plus it works on blu-tooth along with internet to set location. It doesnt get me precisely to my car but close enough to find it. It has a calibration setting I havent figured out yet that appears to get you precisely to your vehicle. I like it and its well worth it.
Really great idea. App works as advertised. Always been accurate.

Some bad moments

This app is horrible!!!!! I was looking for a simple user friendly app. One that I could just pull out my phone while getting the kids and push a button and be done. This app is not user friendly and it trys to sell you a real cheap Bluetooth usb connector for $25.
Failed at its most basic task - finding my car. It provided a street address that was blocks away from where we actually parked, with full coverage and open sky. Im deleting this app immediately after posting this review.
App worked OK, then I bought a beacon and at the same time an update trashed the App. Had to reinstall to make it start and now maps and beacon malfunction.
Crashes since last update. Before this Version it works good.
I go to a lot of music festivals & small clubs. With this app & the Bluetooth dongle, I have never needed to worry about where I left my car.
This has got to be one of the slickest things I’ve seen in quite a while. The USB dongle you purchase from the developer arrived within 5 days with adapter (either purchased with the dongle or supplied by you) plugs into your 12 volt power outlet (the cigarette lighter). From then on, when ever you power off your vehicle, the app on the iPhone detects the loss of signal from the dongle and makes note of it’s current postion. With the Dropbox integration my wife’s iPhone has access to the same location information. The ability to have mindless integration every time your vehicle is parked is nice insurance. It’s not like you can’t remember 99% of the time. But, there are those times where you have a lapse in memory. Even if you do remember 100% of the time and if you have ever swapped cars or picked up a vehicle you did not park yourself, this item/app combo is priceless. Just a heads up though, if your vehicle does not power off the outlet you have this dongle plugged into when the vehicle is parked it will not function. Best to test this outlet first.