The appearance on the roads of stationary and mobile cameras fixing speed violations has greatly complicated the life of car owners. Moreover, conventional anti-radars, which work on the principle of radiation detection, turned out to be helpless against the systems of visual fixation. But we were helped by applications for smartphones, which contain a database of the location of cameras and road signs. If the car approaches the object, the program warns about it. Let's try to check how useful the radar app for iPhone can be.
Three of the most popular applications in Russia App Store were purchased for the test: HUD Speed - 199 rubles, Mapcam info – 279 rubles (monthly subscription to updated databases 59 rubles), Strelka – 279 rubles. They all have high ratings and a large number of reviews. To test the programs, I drove the route from the Altufyevo metro station to Tverskaya Street (from the outskirts to the center of Moscow). The trails along the way are crammed with cameras great for a test. Let's see who is capable of what …
To objectively compare the operation of radar detectors, each application was installed on a separate device (iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4S, iPhone 6). And during the test, all three programs worked simultaneously.
I was pleasantly surprised that all applications work stably even on Phone 3GS with firmware 6.1.6.
In addition, all tested radar detectors work autonomously, without the need for an Internet connection. Updated object databases can be downloaded as needed. Now in more detail about each …
HUD Speed
Remember the motion sensor from the movie “Aliens”. This is approximately how the cameras are displayed relative to your car in HUD Speed. There is no map, only a black screen with radar dots.
When approaching the cameras, this radar detector for iPhone is alerted about their mode of operation in the form of a picture. And also the information is duplicated by voice. This can be speed control or public transport lane control.
The settings are scarce here, you can only influence the sound. The database contains objects by country: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan. In particular, 12564 objects were loaded for Russia.
The application honestly worked out the entire route warning about cameras from 500 meters away. But with accuracy it turned out to be the worst of all. The distance to the object is shown with an error of 100 meters. You have already passed the camera, and the HUD Speed is still counting the distance to it. Since the cameras on the Altufevskoe highway are almost one after another, the countdown is interrupted before reaching zero and a warning about a new camera follows. In general, the trouble with accuracy.
HUD Speed has one unique feature that the competition doesn't have – glass projection. If you put iPhone closer to the windshield, you can see the reflection from the screen without being distracted from the road. For this, there is a special HUD mode in the application, which shows the speed of movement and the distance to the next camera upside down. The idea is good, but not very well implemented. The distance to the camera is shown in small print, and the speed of movement in large. It would be more relevant to do the opposite – to display the distance to the camera in large numbers. Unfortunately, nothing can be changed in the settings.
Install from AppStore
Mapcam
The first thing I did after launching the application was to go into the settings to adjust the brightness of the screen. Mapcam for some reason extinguishes it to a minimum. There are much more tinctures here, in contrast to HUD Speed.
The working screen is puzzling at first. But when you start moving, you realize that the needles scattered everywhere are the sectors of the camera's view.
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Of the features of this antiradar for iPhone, the most accurate location of the cameras can be noted. The indicated objects correspond to real ones up to one meter. Warnings are triggered 700 meters away. Too far away for the city, but it can be configured. In addition to cameras, the application warns about speed bumps.
From the unpleasant – a long pronunciation in a voice. Unlike the short phrase in the Arrow – “Camera at 60”, here it stretches – “Speed limit …”. It quickly tired me even on a short route.
Install from AppStore
Arrow
The Arrow does not display camera locations at all. Only gray screen and speed numbers. When approaching the camera, information about the object and the type of restriction is displayed.
This is the only radar detector for iPhone, which displays information about inactive cameras and dummies. And here I was very surprised. It turns out that half of the cameras on the Altufevskoe highway are dummies!
Here is one of them. Everything seems to be in place, but there is no transmitter equipment.
Another surprise from Strelka awaited me when I drove through the range of a camera I knew. In HUD Speed and Mapcam, the warnings were already triggered, and the Arrow was silent. I looked with my eyes for the familiar box on the post and did not find it. They took it off, just the other day. And this has already been noted in the Strelka database. Very prompt. For the sake of interest, I looked at Yandex maps – there the camera was still.
Like Mapcam, the arrow shows speed bumps and possible police checkpoints. The database contains 43202 objects.
There is another useful function in Strelka that other radar detectors do not have – notification in hidden mode. When another application, the same Yandex.Navigator, is running, when approaching the camera, the Arrow shows a pop-up banner about the object.
Install from AppStore
Outcome
In fact, all tested radar detectors for iPhone turned out to be working. Everyone copes with the task of warning about cameras and will help save on fines. But if you compare them with each other, then I got the following result.
- Arrow (279 rubles) – in first place by a wide margin.
- Mapcam info (279 rubles) is a good option. The screen is too overloaded and there is no such functionality as in the Arrow. Every month you need to pay 59 rubles for the current database.
- HUD Speed (199 rubles) – the weakest participant. But also the cheapest.
As I wrote in the beginning, all applications work autonomously, even without a cellular network connection.
Therefore, owners of older smartphone models can use their iPhones as radar detectors.
Thanks to the General account ijuice.ru for the applications provided.
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