Best Free Speedometer app

[Steve-B]

We've got a 1973 TR 6 which the speedo sometimes has a mind of its own. My wife noticed a couple days back that Gargle Maps was showing my speed as 27Mph when the speedo was reading 33Mph. This got me thinking as its a lot of time & money to remove, send off for recalibrating a speedo what was out there.

Looking through the Apple store for free speedometer apps, there appears to be quite a few. Before I go through the hellish download, test, delete, rinse/repeat cycle I thought I'd check what others are using on your mobiles?

I have a really nifty 3D mount done by a fellow Triumph owner to hold my mobile so it is easy to see so the app will need to be legible and not a distraction:



Looking forward to helpful suggestions!

[Mr E]

Waze for a combination of speedo, mapping/routing, traffic and camera alerts?

[tog]

I don't recall comparing many, but I have the free version of Speed Box on my phone and it does everything I need it to.

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/speedometer-speed-bo...

Usually takes a 30 seconds or so on first use to make sure the GPS signal is accurate.

[Steve-B]

Mr E said:

Waze for a combination of speedo, mapping/routing, traffic and camera alerts?

Thanks Mr E, I tried Waze a couple years ago and it was OK, but seemed to be a battery wh*re draining my iPhone 50% in 1 hour. Tried a second time and had battery go flat on a 2hr drive so kind of skeptical if it has gotten any better?

[Mr Pointy]

Steve-B said:

Thanks Mr E, I tried Waze a couple years ago and it was OK, but seemed to be a battery wh*re draining my iPhone 50% in 1 hour. Tried a second time and had battery go flat on a 2hr drive so kind of skeptical if it has gotten any better?

That's why you plug your phone into a USB port to power it: it's doing a lot of work to run GPS so you can't be surprised that it uses the battery up. Your speed app may not be much better than Waze for power usage.

[geeman237]

I’ve got this app. It has adverts but it’s free and worked well for me. I also have used jdo1.com in the U.K. for speedo repairs. Very good service.

[Mr E]

Steve-B said:

Thanks Mr E, I tried Waze a couple years ago and it was OK, but seemed to be a battery wh*re draining my iPhone 50% in 1 hour. Tried a second time and had battery go flat on a 2hr drive so kind of skeptical if it has gotten any better?

It’s certainly going to cause consumption. I’d wager a decent chunk of it is the screen, so your speedo app might also be appreciable.

Another option *might* be to fit a CarPlay/android auto screen (and power it) and then mirror the phone in your pocket to it when you turn the car on.
Potentially pretty cheap, and you could hide the power in a suitable manner.

[OldGermanHeaps]

Magsafe chargers are a game changer. Whatever speedo app will drain the battery, they prevent the phone going to sleep.
I like drive mode dashboard.

[OutInTheShed]

You can get GPS speedo units which might be less faff?

Not up to date personally, but it looks like a simple unit for under £10 just does what you want?

[M138]

Is your voltage stabiliser on the back of your speedo kaput?

[Sebring440]

M138 said:

Is your voltage stabiliser on the back of your speedo kaput?

What? the TR6 speedo is not electrically powered.

[caziques]

M138 said:

Is your voltage stabiliser on the back of your speedo kaput?

Voltage stabaliser is to do with the fuel and temp gauge.

[Riley Blue]

OutInTheShed said:

You can get GPS speedo units which might be less faff?

Not up to date personally, but it looks like a simple unit for under £10 just does what you want?

I bought one, it is just as inaccurate as the speedo in my Riley; possibly because it uses the Chinese owned BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, who knows? If anyone can recommend an accurate GPS stand alone speedometer I too would be grateful.

Alternatively, I've found the GPSTrip phone app (Android) is very good as it gives speed, average speed, maximum speed, overall distance and intermittent distance.

[droopsnoot]

This is the one I have:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/speedometer-55-start...

It's just the first one that came up when I was searching for one, so I can't say whether it's better than any of the others. It was free, though there is a paid version with more features. I wouldn't have it running without the phone being plugged into the power, though.

I use Google maps for nav, and sometimes find that the speed display on there is a bit small (I wear glasses for driving, meaning that I can't see close-up as clearly while I have them on) and sometimes disappears completely. There seems to be a way to make the app work with maps, but I haven't tried it, maybe it's only in the paid version.

[//j17]

Doesn't help the OP but anyone looking to do the same with an Android phone should check out AGAMA Car Launcher.

[Puddenchucker]

I use DigiHud.



This is no longer available from Google Play, but can be downloaded from the developer's website.
However, there will be no updates to the app: http://digihud.co.uk/blog/

[Steve-B]

[quote=Puddenchucker]I use DigiHud.



Thanks for the recommendation matey, I downloaded and tried it yesterday and it seems OK so far. What's annoying is it comes preconfigured with the various speed limits, and you can override them (e.g., 74 for a 70 zone) and it alarms annoyingly at 70. Not sure based on the noise it makes if I'll keep it...

[Puddenchucker]

Steve-B]uddenchucker said:

I use DigiHud.



Thanks for the recommendation matey, I downloaded and tried it yesterday and it seems OK so far. What's annoying is it comes preconfigured with the various speed limits, and you can override them (e.g., 74 for a 70 zone) and it alarms annoyingly at 70. Not sure based on the noise it makes if I'll keep it...

Hmm. Mine doesn't do that.
But, I've got the free version which doesn't have as many features as the 'Pro' version.
Or maybe I just disabled that feature when I first installed it a couple of years ago.

[Retro_Jim]

Speedycables can recalibrate old speedos, there's some information on the site on what information they need to do it

[Steve-B]

I’ve received several recommendations for JD Instruments : http://jdo1.com/speedos.html which according to those I the know has done a great job with their speedometers.
F
F
T