Follow: Drive Together iOS App REVIEW
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If you have ever caravanned, then you have experienced the ire-inducing feeling of being left behind. As the leader speeds ahead and then weaves through traffic, you must potentially speed to catch up, feel the need to nearly run red lights, California Stop at stop signs or perform many other dangerous/illegal maneuvers. I have rarely found a quality leader, one that times lights and adjusts speed based on traffic flow and to adjust based on the number of cars following behind. I wish that I could say that I have learned from this and that my leading skills were amazing. Truthfully, I am no better than the average driver leader.
In my son’s cub scouts pack, we have had 2 caravan trips this year, which proved typical. Being car number eight in a ten-car caravan, I ended up having to use the map application on my iPhone, to get myself to Cumberland Caverns. While searching through the app store, I came across a digital caravan app known as Follow: Drive Together-The Multiple Car Tracker. What better time to test the device than while on my Spring Break trip to North Carolina, to visit my parents. This way I can follow them to our destinations.
When you navigate to the App store, you can search for “Follow” or you can follow the link in this review. The logo resembles a large letter F, with two horizontal arrows. The premise of the app is quite straightforward and is actually ingenious. Essentially, one person from each car downloads the app, one individual will serve as a leader and each additional car will be a follower. Each person in the app can see each other vehicle. If the leader changes course, you are immediately aware. You can see how far ahead the other vehicles are in the caravan, see when they exit the interstate or change course. The app will provide verbal instructions for hands-free driving.
Once downloaded, you will need to sign up. You can log in with Facebook or you can setup the app through an email account. I chose to set up the account with my email. You will need to enter a phone number, email address, password and then it will send you a verification code to input into your app. The app will ask for permission to use your location, notifications, and contacts and will then walk you through a tutorial. It will ask you to share location to be a leader. Within the app, you will note an address bar across the top. You can input your desired location into the window and then select the waypoint icon. This will start your trip.
Across the top left of the app, you will notice 3 uneven, horizontal parallel lines. Tapping this will take you to the main menu. From this menu you can share Location and be a leader or follower, you can access the map, invite people to the app, replay the tutorial, purchase the permanent upgrade ($.99), access settings and log out. Under settings, you will find a display name (currently set as my email), a slider to turn on/off speed broadcast, voice speed slider and then additional information about the app.
The version that I reviewed was the free version of the app, which only allows a single follower. For a $.99 fee, you can upgrade to the full version and enjoy unlimited followers. If you allow the contacts, be aware that you may have multiple contacts set for each person. You may have a separate contact for their email and another one for their phone contact. I had some issues connecting to my dad’s phone because I was trying to connect to his phone. I continued to get messages stating that he was not on the app when clearly his phone was logged onto the app in my other hand. When I realized he logged in with his email, I sent a message to that account and there was no issue. ON my leader phone, you will see just your arrow. On the follower phone, you will see a small blue arrow inside of a larger red arrow.
This app seems ideal for our scouting caravans or may work perfectly for a realtor, who needs to have people follow them to a residence. The app also lists the app as a good way for parents to see where their children are currently located, see their route and destination. For a free app, the features seem very fair. I will introduce this to my fellow scout pack leaders.
DOWNLOAD — Follow: Drive Together — FREE
For more information, visit followapp.us
Originally published at macsources.com on April 7, 2017.
