OBD App Recommendations Please

[Martian O]

I'm looking to buy one of the OBD Bluetooth adaptors to link in with my iPhone 5S. There appears to be many apps which will display and record data, but which one is the most informative, DashCommand looks like a good one. Are the Bluetooth adaptors all pretty much the same, ie the £20 Amazon ones as good as anything else out there?

Thanks.

[kambites]

Hardware-wise, they mostly emulate the ELM327. I've got one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-V1-5-ELM327-OBD2-Bl...

bought largely because it's tiny so I can leave it plugged in, and it works OK. I use Torque to talk to it, mostly because it's decent and free.

[m0isty]

I'm pretty sure you cannot use a Bluetooth obd device with an iPhone, but there are wifi ones available that you can use instead.

[kambites]

m0isty said:

I'm pretty sure you cannot use a Bluetooth obd device with an iPhone, but there are wifi ones available that you can use instead.

You can use any bluetooth device on any phone with bluetooth if the drivers exist. For an ELM327, I'm pretty sure they exist for both iPhone and Android?

Edited by kambites on Saturday 4th January 17:23

[eldar]

m0isty said:

I'm pretty sure you cannot use a Bluetooth obd device with an iPhone, but there are wifi ones available that you can use instead.

The torque app is android only...

[m0isty]

kambites said:

You can use any bluetooth device on any phone with bluetooth if the drivers exist. For an ELM327, I'm pretty sure they exist for both iPhone and Android.

Unless something has changed with the 5s, iPhones do not support Bluetooth serial connections:
http://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/346/w...

[kambites]

m0isty said:

kambites said:

You can use any bluetooth device on any phone with bluetooth if the drivers exist. For an ELM327, I'm pretty sure they exist for both iPhone and Android.

Unless something has changed with the 5s, iPhones do not support Bluetooth serial connections:
http://mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/346/w...

iPhones don't support bluetooth properly? And how much do Apple charge for them?

Well people buy them - there's one born every minute I suppose.

[ShaunTheSheep]

kambites said:

You can use any bluetooth device on any phone with bluetooth if the drivers exist

There's more to it than that, on any generation of iPhone or iPad the Bluetooth API is restricted access.

Your dongle needs to go through "Made for iPhone" certification if you want to use Bluetooth.

If the dongle is retailing for less than £80, it probably isn't going to work.

[Martian O]

Thanks very much for your quick responses, looks like it's the wi-fi dongle I need then.

Sorry, I'm new to the iPhone so still learning about its capabilities.

[Martian O]

Thanks A.G. wifi dongle purchased, now do I go for DashCommand or Fusion?

[r11co]

ShaunTheSheep said:

Your dongle needs to go through "Made for iPhone" certification if you want to use Bluetooth.

Restrictive practices don't disappear, they just go high tech...

[yosamuel]

I’m still holding out for Automatic: http://www.automatic.com/