Automatic is a small device that connects to the OBD port of the computer and reads in data from the automobile. I managed to get one from US and was planning to use it in India.
Package arrived safe in my hand and then things started falling apart a bit. The first problem was that the app was only available in US App Store for iOS. I had to create an account there and then get the app downloaded.
Then I connected the device and started setting it up, and when I reached a point where it reads the comp on board of my car, it popped up a message, VIN could not be decoded. Manual option of entering the VIN also did not move it any further, The Setup was stuck at that point and I could make any progress further. I came to a sad realization at that point that the device was meant to US only:-(
Plunging into the User groups, I came across a suggestion from their support head that I can request to bypass this! I immediately shot a mail to the id and got a response back in a day that yes, its possible, but some of the features won't work in India, Like the emergency response and Fuel pricing and Units like Kilometer and Liter instead of the US standard of Miles and Gallons
I was OK with that. So she took some basic info from me in the vehicle and set up my VIN in their system and next time, I tried the setup, all went well!
So now I have it setup and using the Apple Maps, it reports the route I drove, the mileage I got, also rates me on the kind of driving I did, as in any sudden breaks or any sudden acceleration.
Its really cool ride as of now! I have couple of additional features I had in mind, like if it can report if my A/C is on or not, and for how long, because that gives another aspect to what the load on the system due to the A/C. And I understand the device probably have a Gyroscope in it, else the Phone definitely has one, and some qualifier on the kind of bumpy ride if I have one, also will be an added data that will be of interest.
When the Phone is not in the car, linked to the system, the Geo positioning goes for a toss a bit, I have my maps offset from the real trip I took for the initial few days when the connectivity was at fault. May be because it could not effectively locate the current position as well as the Phone can.
Also I am not sure how to add more tags to the trip if I choose to, may be to group all my trips organized well.
The kind lady at support also told me that there is a Beta program going to come up later and if I am interested, I can be invited! I hope that will have some of these things considered along with the regional change of units.
I am very happy about the device as of now, it just goes into the background and does all the reading for me and puts in a simple chart in the phone for me to look at. I hope new features will get added to make it more useful by the time the novelty wears off:-)
Thanks team and thanks for the prompt support!
Just to add couple of points,
I have now set up the IFTTT link and is getting all my trip details loaded into an evernote note! Thats cool!
I miss the information about the Fuel level in the app. I believe it is retrievable? If it is, it will definitely a value add.
As mentioned above, an ability to tag the trip as some specific one, will be of great use. And then when I complete a trip in the same route, if it can prompt me with the same name, it will be awesome!
I noticed that the Automatic Dashboard was not working for me in Chrome and IE. It worked well on Firefox though.
Ability to define the local fuel price, and local units, I believe will be there in the Asian version?
And Geo location is also a bit off at times, though I do not hold it too much against the team. It may be a good idea though then to give an option to drag the map around a bit:)
Package arrived safe in my hand and then things started falling apart a bit. The first problem was that the app was only available in US App Store for iOS. I had to create an account there and then get the app downloaded.
Then I connected the device and started setting it up, and when I reached a point where it reads the comp on board of my car, it popped up a message, VIN could not be decoded. Manual option of entering the VIN also did not move it any further, The Setup was stuck at that point and I could make any progress further. I came to a sad realization at that point that the device was meant to US only:-(
Plunging into the User groups, I came across a suggestion from their support head that I can request to bypass this! I immediately shot a mail to the id and got a response back in a day that yes, its possible, but some of the features won't work in India, Like the emergency response and Fuel pricing and Units like Kilometer and Liter instead of the US standard of Miles and Gallons
I was OK with that. So she took some basic info from me in the vehicle and set up my VIN in their system and next time, I tried the setup, all went well!
So now I have it setup and using the Apple Maps, it reports the route I drove, the mileage I got, also rates me on the kind of driving I did, as in any sudden breaks or any sudden acceleration.
Its really cool ride as of now! I have couple of additional features I had in mind, like if it can report if my A/C is on or not, and for how long, because that gives another aspect to what the load on the system due to the A/C. And I understand the device probably have a Gyroscope in it, else the Phone definitely has one, and some qualifier on the kind of bumpy ride if I have one, also will be an added data that will be of interest.
When the Phone is not in the car, linked to the system, the Geo positioning goes for a toss a bit, I have my maps offset from the real trip I took for the initial few days when the connectivity was at fault. May be because it could not effectively locate the current position as well as the Phone can.
Also I am not sure how to add more tags to the trip if I choose to, may be to group all my trips organized well.
The kind lady at support also told me that there is a Beta program going to come up later and if I am interested, I can be invited! I hope that will have some of these things considered along with the regional change of units.
I am very happy about the device as of now, it just goes into the background and does all the reading for me and puts in a simple chart in the phone for me to look at. I hope new features will get added to make it more useful by the time the novelty wears off:-)
Thanks team and thanks for the prompt support!
Just to add couple of points,
I have now set up the IFTTT link and is getting all my trip details loaded into an evernote note! Thats cool!
I miss the information about the Fuel level in the app. I believe it is retrievable? If it is, it will definitely a value add.
As mentioned above, an ability to tag the trip as some specific one, will be of great use. And then when I complete a trip in the same route, if it can prompt me with the same name, it will be awesome!
I noticed that the Automatic Dashboard was not working for me in Chrome and IE. It worked well on Firefox though.
Ability to define the local fuel price, and local units, I believe will be there in the Asian version?
And Geo location is also a bit off at times, though I do not hold it too much against the team. It may be a good idea though then to give an option to drag the map around a bit:)
No comments:
Post a Comment