Free software solution for tow truck services. App Store Evacuation.NET – your personal navigator for safe parking
Type of software: Navigation, roadside assistance
Developer/Publisher: HappyLab
Version: 2.0.0
iPhone+ iPod touch
: Free [Download from App Store]
Every year there are more and more cars, and there is less and less space for parking them, or at least temporary parking. The struggle for a place in the sun among motorists is especially difficult in big cities. For example, in Moscow, parking during the day closer to the city center is practically an art. The Evacuation.NET service is designed to make this difficult task easier. He will tell you where you can park your car and give you directions to the selected parking lot.
The Evacuation.NET application is free and only requires the user to access the Internet and enable geolocation. If these two conditions are met, you can start using the program. In its work, the service uses maps from Yandex, which provide excellent coverage of Moscow and the region, as well as other cities with a population of over 100,000 inhabitants.
Immediately after launching the application, it shows your location on the map, as well as nearby parking lots. “Evacuation.NET” displays free and paid parking lots with different icons, and also divides them into private and public. All that is required from the user is to select the desired parking lot, and the application, in turn, will offer directions to it, show some information about it, and also provide the opportunity to read comments from other users or leave your own. In this regard, everything is quite simple and extremely driver-friendly.
In addition to parking lots, Evacuation.NET can show the location of impound lots on a map. This can be useful if your car has been towed. But this is an extreme case that can be avoided using the service. The application allows you to place a mark on the map about the operation of a tow truck anywhere, wherever you are. This is where the social component comes into play. Users themselves warn each other about possible dangers. However, you don’t have to open the app to see a tow truck nearby. "Evacuation.NET" will alert nearby users via push notification.
Finally, "Evacuation.NET" contains a small information section, which contains up-to-date advice for drivers on the actions to take in the event of a vehicle tow. Also in the next version, the developers will add a “Parking Timer”, which will help control the time a car spends in a paid parking lot, intercepting parking lots, and will give users the opportunity to map new parking locations, which will finally turn “Evacuation.NET” into social service. Of course, places added by users will undergo preliminary moderation, which will eliminate the appearance of false information.
The "Evacuation.NET" application is a real find for any motorist who is forced every day to look for a place to park his iron horse, but at the same time wants to do this in specially designated areas. In other words, finding parking thanks to the service has become much easier. Undoubtedly useful function for users is a warning about the appearance of a tow truck nearby, as well as the ability to leave comments on parking lots. Finally, I would like to note the simple and extremely clear interface, which only contributes convenient use service.
iPhone + iPod touch: Free [Download from App Store]
The topic of vehicle evacuation is very, very pressing. For example, every day in the city of Moscow alone, the towing service takes thousands of cars to the impound lot for unpaid parking. Unfortunately, there has been public outcry more than once about parking tariffs on the streets of Moscow, as well as about the fact that... Also, not everything is so clear with parking tariffs, which, according to many drivers, are greatly inflated. However, despite this, the Moscow authorities are gradually expanding the territory of paid parking, introducing paid parking on many streets. What to do? How to protect your car from a trip to the impound lot. There is a solution.
Our online publication several years ago already published a method that helped avoid evacuation, which actually worked. But, unfortunately, in Last year this is not 100 interest protection from illegal towing of a car.
Fortunately in Russia for phones running on Android system, a unique “Anti-tow truck” has appeared, which allows you to 100 percent protect your car from illegal movement to the impound lot. True, for this method to work, you will need to use two phones (one Android smartphone and one regular phone, which will receive SMS messages).
In order to protect your car from a tow truck, you need to install it on a phone running on the Android system, which has an acceleration sensor and a GPS/Glonass system special application. Next, the smartphone needs to be installed in the car. After launching the application, .
In case of an attempt to evacuate, the application will be sent to you in advance set number phone SMS message.
Smartphone sensors using an application are able to detect the following effects on the car:
- installation of fastening elements on vehicles in preparation for evacuation
- lifting the car to a height above 10 mm from the ground level
- any impacts on the windows, body and wheels of the car
- when trying to steal wheels
- when trying to open the door, hood and trunk, as well as when trying to break into the ignition switch
It is worth noting that on average 5 seconds pass from the moment the sensors of the smartphone on which the Anti-Tow Truck application is installed are triggered. Next, the application will send you, and when certain settings can also call you and tell you about a problem with the machine.
In order to avoid having your car towed to the impound lot after receiving an SMS message, you will need to approach your car as soon as possible. Taking into account the time that vehicle recovery employees spend installing fasteners on a car, you will have on average approximately 5-7 minutes to approach the car and avoid moving the car to the impound lot. Let us recall that according to current legislation, if you appear at the car, even during evacuation, then the car does not have the right to evacuate. In this case, you are required to give the vehicle back, which you simply move to another location in accordance with the traffic rules.
If you still don’t make it in time and the car is towed away, then with the help google maps you will be able to, which will be transmitted by a telephone installed in the car. It is worth noting that the Anti-Tow Truck application does not require the Internet to work. The entire system for protecting the machine from external attacks works in offline mode without internet. If the car is towed to an impound lot, the coordinates of the car's location will be transmitted in SMS messages received on your phone. The coordinates will come in the form of hyperlinks to the Google map. By following the link, you.
In order to install the application you need to follow the link in Google store Play: "Anti-evacuator"
Attention, the program can only be installed on phones running Android version no lower than 2.3.3
Please note that for a smartphone that will be installed in the car while you are away, you will need to install a SIM card with a favorable cellular contract for sending SMS messages.
It is worth noting that the application has settings that allow you to reduce the phone's power consumption by setting the economy mode or setting night mode. Considering that the application can work without an Internet connection, we can conclude that a phone installed in a car can easily work for more than a day.
In addition, the owner of the car, who installs a smartphone with the Anti-Tow Truck application in the car, will be able to remotely control the system using SMS commands (SMS messages).
SMS commands of the Anti-evacuator application:
- on— enable observation mode
- off— turn off surveillance mode
gps— send an SMS message with the coordinates of the car on Google maps
call- call the car owner
sms on— enable the mode of sending SMS notifications
sms off— disable sending SMS notifications
call on— enable a call to the car owner when the security system is activated
call off— turn off the call to the car owner when the security system is activated
timer 3— turn on the auto mode timer for 3 minutes (after which the system will automatically arm the system)
timer 5— turn on the auto mode timer for 5 minutes (after which the system will automatically arm the system)
timer off— turn off the auto mode timer
It is noteworthy that the application has a lot of settings for the sensitivity of the impact on the car. For example, you can set the impact force to 44 units. With this setting, even the slightest blow to the car body will trigger the alarm and an SMS message will be sent to you. This is enough to know in time that your car is being towed.
For example, during an evacuation, the impact force is 1000 units. So, by setting the sensitivity to 44 units, you will not only protect your car from illegal towing, but also protect it from attacks by intruders.
In what place in the car can you install a smartphone with the Anti-Tevacuator application installed?
According to the application developers, there is no need to leave your phone in sight. You can hide it under the seat, in the trunk, in the glove compartment, or in door pockets. Regardless of the location of the phone, it controls the entire car.
We present the ten most popular applications For mobile phones drivers who work on Apple and Android platforms.
In 10th place among popularity is the application for Apple and Android - Tow Truck.
As for the interface design, it needs to be better. The developers, obviously, did not bother much with the design, but relied on functionality. In the end, everything turned out very simple, but functional and useful. All the information the driver needs will always be at hand: a list of the nearest private tow trucks, the distance to each one and the phone number. During testing mobile application one, but very significant, flaw was identified, which reduces all the usefulness of the information presented to zero. It turned out that the search radius for the nearest tow truck varies up to 3500 (!) km. Now imagine a situation where a driver from Moscow, using an application, contacts a tow truck driver from Yekaterinburg. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for developers to install filters to filter out unnecessary information.
In ninth place is the application for Apple devices - “AUTOCALS”.
At first glance, judging by the name, it may seem that this is a calculator program, but in fact it is an auto racing calendar. To launch the application, an F1 shortcut will appear on the desktop, but this does not mean that you will receive information only on all Formula 1 auto races. The user is informed about the start of the starts of DTM, NASCAR, WRC and other circuit and rally championships. True, all you get is only the date and name of the race track. I would like to receive at least minimal information about the route or a link to a website where you can read about it. Also a minus is the presence of only the English version of “AUTOCALS”.
Eighth place was taken by the application for mobile devices on the Apple and Android platforms - Moscow Transport.
This application is one of the official ones, which is distributed by the Moscow government. Although the idea is not bad, its implementation was not entirely up to par. The main disadvantage of the program is great amount inaccuracies. During application testing "Moscow Transport", it turned out that last summer our car was taken to the impound lot from the 20th km of the Moscow Ring Road, which is not true. We also encountered many errors in words and numbers (for example, in the cost of tickets). Last news we were never able to load it. Among the advantages of the program I would like to note good functionality fine databases, phone lists emergency services and parking (including interception).
In seventh place is the application for devices on the Apple OS - “Numbers”.
This is an interesting program, in our opinion, that shows the location of all participants registered in it. It turns out to be a kind of local social network for drivers. By installing the “Numbers” application on your smartphone and registering, you can not only see interactive map your neighbors, but also send them messages. You can also chat with the participants, but it seemed to us that this communication resembles an activity that no one needs, and the people who wrote in it did it for fun. By by and large, few drivers will actively chat on their phone while driving.
In sixth place we have a program for Apple phones - “CarCamCorder”.
This application is one of the best today that has managed to implement video recording in a smartphone. Among the advantages, we note the understandable and user-friendly interface, and also very good quality records. Among the shortcomings, I would like to note a small viewing angle, rapid battery drain due to the fact that the screen does not turn off, recording stops while receiving a call, and picture shaking even when using very high-quality brackets.
From all of the above we conclude that application "CarCamCorder" is not in any way alternative replacement specialized device, but is only suitable as a temporary replacement.
In fifth place is an application for mobile devices on the Apple platform - KeepEye.AUTO.
This application will be appreciated by drivers who want to save on the purchase and subsequent maintenance of a car. By logging into the program interface, you will have access to information from car dealerships throughout Russia. Lots of very tempting offers and promotions, and filter necessary information simply - we indicate the car we are interested in, the city and get the dealers we need with their contacts.
Fourth place is once again occupied by the Apple application - “City Transport of the USSR”.
By launching this program on your smartphone, you find yourself back in time, to the times of the USSR, remembering how LiAZ-677 passenger buses and funny Tatra-T3 trams roamed our streets. In the application "Urban transport of the USSR" The entire Soviet transport fleet was assembled - buses, trolleybuses, trams, metro. You will be able to find out brief technical information about the subject you are interested in vehicle and see photos from different angles. In our opinion, it would not hurt the developers to add, in addition to technical information, A little interesting facts from the history passenger transport, the location of routes and stops in those distant times.
And so, the top three starts with an application for mobile devices on the Apple and Android platforms - AutoQuiz.
For those wishing to check and also expand their knowledge about cars, this program will be of great help. Launch the application and start the game. Useful and interesting. All questions in the quiz concern car models and their emblems, both modern and those that have already become history. You can play either alone or with an opponent online, which in our opinion is a more exciting option. The toy is so captivating that you don’t notice how you freeze for several hours until some urgent matter pulls you out.
In second place is the application for mobile devices on the Apple platform - “Beepster”.
The program is a good logbook, where you can record expenses for gasoline, maintenance, and spare parts. After specified time intervals, the application displays expense data in the form of numbers and graphs. And we would like to note the advantages of the availability of information about the nearest gas stations indicating the cost of fuel. There is also a voice recorder function, apparently created so that the driver, not being able to enter information manually, can record it on soundtrack, and then transfer it to the journal.
Download our smartphone app
In 2013, we released an application for smartphones for our portal “Call a tow truck site-Clients”, by downloading which you can see the nearest tow trucks to your location. The application generates a list of the nearest tow trucks from among the project participants based on their distance from your current geolocation. In addition, in the application you can search for tow trucks by their location (overnight parking). Search is possible in Russian cities, and in Moscow by district, district, metro along the regional highway and the city of the Moscow region. You can also search by type of tow truck and load capacity.
To download our portal application in the AppStore or GooglePlay, enter the site in the search or scan the QR code below:
Project participants are private tow trucks or tow trucks of evacuation services who indicate their location (overnight parking) and transmit their coordinates to us using the mobile application for drivers “Orders for evacuation site-Drivers”. Drivers manage free or busy status, which allows us to provide up-to-date information about the nearest available tow trucks.
Unlike the well-known popular services(applications) for ordering a taxi, evacuation has its own specifics. And to order a tow truck it is necessary phone call to agree on details, features, nature of the malfunction or damage, car brand, type of tow truck and other nuances. Therefore, the application shows you the phone numbers of the nearest tow trucks and invites you to make a phone call to order. After the call there is the possibility of assignment certain status tow truck (will arrive, will not arrive, will call back) Download our application, as they say, just in case. And we, in turn, wish you not to break down and not get into unpleasant situations on the road.
* For correct operation application, you need to enable location detection in the settings of your smartphone and make sure that the search mode for all sources (GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile networks). This will allow you to obtain information about your location not only in open areas, but also indoors.
