Are you one of the chronically lost, wandering the asphalt jungle in search of your car? There’s an app for that. IPark is a parking utility app that helps you keep track of your vehicle. It will get you there from any location as long as you’ve marked your car. Just follow the IPark compass back to your car.
Start up IPark and mark your vehicle. Marking your vehicle saves the location coordinates right into your phone. You can add notes about your vehicle location in the white bar above these coordinates. Remember you can only mark your vehicle when the border is yellow or green. This means there is a strong GPS fix on your location. After you’ve marked your vehicle and left any relevant notes you’re off to handle your business.
Finding your way back is even easier. IPark uses a GPS-powered compass to get you back to your car. The closer you get you’ll notice the compass will slowly become green and the distance in feet on the display will also decrease. You can even change the preferences so that your phone will vibrate when you are close. When you’re within a specified range, if you’ve snapped a picture of your vehicle and saved it, it will pop up on the screen.
IPark is loaded with extras. If you need a tow or to tell someone where your car is located you can email your location along with a link to Google Maps. You can also enter data on the parking structure such as what floor you were on, space number and set a timer to record how long you’ve been parked. IPark stores all of your previously saved locations by keeping a running history of your entries. It’s handy enough to let you choose between standard or metric units and you can even save your AAA number in the app if you’re a member.
IPark has most of its bases covered, although there are few issues. If you do not have access to clear skies or a strong signal it can’t use the GPS in your phone to navigate you to the car. Between the color coding and compass bar, there are a lot of graphic elements vying for attention. And, unfortunately, IParkfroze a couple of times and lost my information.
IPark seems like a good application. It’s well thought and fairly easy to use. However, I am not quite sure it’s a simple as it could be. After all, you could simply park near a landmark and snap a picture to remind you before walking away from your car.