Android apps by Ian Hawkins

Torque Pro (OBD 2 & Car)

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:10:59 +0000

See what your car is doing in realtime, get OBD fault codes, car performance, sensor data and more!

Torque is a vehicle / car performance / diagnostics tool and scanner that uses an OBD II Bluetooth adapter to connect to your OBD2 engine management / ECU

Layout your own dashboard with the widgets / gauges you want!

It can use the GPS to provide tracker logs with OBD engine logging so you can see what you were doing at any point in time

It can also show and reset a DTC / CEL / fault code like a scantool. Helps you fix your car and helps keep repair costs down!

Torque also features:

* Dyno / Dynomometer and Horsepower/HP & Torque
* Can read Transmission Temperatures (vehicle dependant)
* 0-60 speed timings - more accurate than just using plain old GPS - see how fast your car is (or truck )
* CO2 emissions readout
* Customisable dashboard & profiles
* Video your journey using the Track Recorder plugin with onscreen OBDII data overlay - a black box for your car/truck!
* Automatically send GPS tagged tweets directly to twitter (for example if you are going on a road trip)
* Massive fault code database for lookup of fault codes from different manufacturers
* Theme support (choose from different themes to change the look of your dashboard)
* Send logging information to web or email CSV/KML for analysis via excel / openoffice reader
* Heads up display / HUD mode for night time driving
* Compass (GPS Based) that won't suffer magnetic interference
* GPS Speedometer/Tracking and realtime web upload capability - see what you were doing and your engine, at a point in time
* Turbo boost feature for vehicles that support MAP and MAF sensors (VW & Golf / Audi / Seat etc supported)
* Alarms and warnings (for example if your coolant temperature goes over 120C whilst driving) with voice/speech overlay
* Car dock support
* Graph data
* MPG
* Able to share screenshots to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Email, etc
* AIDL API for third party apps, A simple Telnet interface for developers to talk to the adapter, and an OBD scanner.
* Works on tablet devices like the Motorola Xoom, Dell Streak, Samsung Galaxy Tab and Nook

Works on any vehicle that uses the OBD 2 standard (most vehicles built after 2000, but can work for vehicles as far back as 1996) if in doubt check with your manufacturer first or look for 'OBD2' on written on a big white label in your engine bay

Works on vehicles made by Ford, VW, GM/Vauxhall/Opel, Chrysler, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi, Jaguar, Citroen, Peugoet, Skoda, Kia, Mazda, Lexus, Subaru, Renault, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, BMW, Toyota, Seat, Dodge, Jeep, Pontiac and many more vehicle makes, European, US, Far East, etc. Some vehicle ECUs may support more/less features than others

The app needs a Bluetooth OBD2 adapter to work. The adapter is small and plugs into the diagnostics socket on the car which gives your phone access. You can find a list of adapters on: http://torque-bhp.com/wiki/Bluetooth_Adapters (Garmin EcoRoute HD adapters not supported)

If you buy one of the cheap china OBD2 ELM327 bluetooth adapters from ebay / amazon, then make sure you have a good returns policy with the seller

Some of the best reliable OBD2 / OBD adapters are the Scantool.net adapter, the OBDKey, and PLX Devices, OBDLink, Bluetooth, ELM327 and other adapters are supported - search on google for them

More features added every release - there are forums at http://torque-bhp.com/forums/ - if you want something added then let me know and I'll try to add it if it is possible! Vehicle ECUs vary in the amount of sensors supported

*PLEASE NOTE* Any reports of hanging or reboots after quitting the app is due to a bug in HTC devices and Galaxy Tab,this can be triggered by using the Pandora/Vlingo/Other BT apps. Disabling Pandoras new bluetooth settings fixes the problem, but HTC/Samsung need to release a fix.Please contact their support and request a fix,Thanks!

Changelog:
http://torque-bhp.com/forums/?wpforumaction=viewtopic&t=3.0

Recent changes:
*Tip:Turn on 'Faster Communication' in the OBD settings for faster read speeds!

* Fixes for problematic bluetooth drivers on some phones
* 60 to 130mph timer added

*If you are having connection problems with Cyanogen ROMs then update to the nightly builds as there is a bug in their BT drivers

*If your phone goes slow when Torque quits then you have bugged bluetooth drivers - enable the 'Hang fix for HTC/Samsung' in the settings (set it to 'Yes') to work around the issue

Torque Lite (OBD2 & Car)

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:10:29 +0000

See what your car is doing in realtime, get fault codes, sensor data and more!

An OBD II engine ECU diagnostics tool that uses a cheap bluetooth ELM / OBD adapter to connect to your car OBD2 engine management system

Some features include:

* Shows and Resets engine fault codes / DTC trouble codes stored in your car

* Can export map/track log files to Google Earth KML / CSV

* Engine performance data(0 to 60, 0-100, quarter mile, etc) (full version)

* Head up Display / GPS HUD mode perfect for checking your speed at night

* Data Logging functions including web upload and file logging, you can even upload data to your own web server from sensors you choose

* Customisable dashboard with theme support - setup the dashboard with the gauges and dials that you want

* Can help you fix your car and helps keep car repair costs down!

* Turbo Boost gauge support for VW vehicles (in Pro version only)

* MPG for Petrol/Gasoline vehicles. (Pro version has diesel support)

This is the free/basic version - it lets you get a feel for the application and lets you find out if it works with your vehicle / obd2 adapter combination; but may contain some small bugs including not working on some nissan/chrysler/subaru ECUs. The paid version has support for more vehicles and ECU types, looks a lot nicer, and works with more cars / trucks

The paid version has more features (HorsePower,Torque, 0-60 , quarter mile tests, graph data, map / track views) + no adverts and exra dial/display types! and better ABS / Knock sensor support, Transmission temperature support for some makes of car / trucks (GM / Ford, etc), and Turbo Boost on many more vehicles (including VW)

Works on vehicles made by Ford, GM/Vauxhall/Opel, Chrysler, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi, Jaguar, Citroen, Peugoet, Skoda, Kia, Mazda, Lexus, Daewoo, Renault, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, BMW, Toyota, Seat, Dodge, Jeep, Pontiac, Subaru and many more vehicle makes, European, US, Far East, etc. Some vehicle ECUs may support more/less features than others.

**PLEASE NOTE!** Any reports of hanging or freezing after quitting the app is due to a bug in the HTC Evo 4G and Galaxy Tab, this can be triggered by using the Pandora/Vlingo/Aldiko bluetooth enabled apps. Disabling Pandoras new bluetooth settings fixes the problem, but HTC/Samsung need to release a fix. Please contact their support and encourage them to fix, Thanks!

The pro version supports USB ELM adapters which are use 'Prolific' or 'FTDI' chips

* Update: A freeze/hang workaround has been found after a great amount of effort and is available in the full version in the General Preferences settings!

Recent changes:
Look for the pro version, it has many more features than the lite!

* Workaround for Galaxy Tab2 OS bug
* Crash fixes

PLEASE NOTE! If you are using Cyanogen or AOKP/AOSP, you may need to get the latest nightly builds to fix a problem with their bluetooth drivers (causing issues for bluetooth connectivity)

*The full version(after weeks of effort)has a workaround for the hang on exit issue that is caused by the bluetooth drivers on some handsets.

WinterSun MMORPG (Pre-Alpha)

Tue, 22 May 2012 02:24:06 +0000

Winter Sun is a little MMORPG (multi player online role playing game) for Android and is currently in development. I'm releasing it in it's current (Pre-Alpha) state to see if people like what there is so far (and also to get some feedback on what people would like!)

You can run around killing other players or NPCs via PvP, chat to other players using the online chat function and also level up your character, including battling other factions, and do some quests using the new questing system

WinterSun has large maps to explore and also features dungeons. The MMO will support instances and equip screens (so you can wear armour, swords, etc)

Please note that the RPG is not finished - *there will be bugs!*, and things that don't work. At the moment you can 'chat' to other players and kill things, go inside the shop and buy and sell things (there is no auction house,... yet!)

Feel free to mail suggestions to the developer link - I have yet to do things like a instance system so there is an opportunity to help sculpt what the game is going to be!

Recent changes:
Please remember the game is still alpha-quality and there *will* be bugs and odd things happening in some places!!!! I will fix! :-)

*** Double tap the direction arrows to run instead of walking slowly ***

* Minor bugfixes in this update - things that have been reported. Pets will arrive hopefully in the next update!

I am listening to your suggestions - unfortunately I just have to balance my time. Please be patient, I'm hoping to release some big updates soon (based on your feedback!)

Track Recorder(Torque OBD/Car)

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:05:34 +0000

This is a plugin for the 'Torque' android app that allows you to overlay a video with your car OBD2 data. Perfect to see how you were driving!

Some features are:

* Watch the video you made with OBD data (speed, turbo boost, rpm as well as other OBD sensors) GPS, Accelerometers overlaid on the video.

* Google Maps semi-transparent overlay so you can watch your position on a map as well as the video at the same time.

* Can record in Hi-Def / HD or Low-def video (an option in the settings).

* Even if you don't have an OBD2 module, the app can still record sensor information from GPS and the acceleromteter

* Layout the recording dashboard how you want by press-and-holding on the screen.

* Video export (including subtitles for supported players)

* Other uses include as a blackbox video recorder to record your daily drives,

If you have a feature you want to see in the app, please email me using the contact developer link below!.

More sensors and gauges will be added in the next few releases!.

Check out the Torque forums at http://torque-bhp.com (click the developer link below).

Transfer of video (including overlays) from the phone is done and available by using the export video function in the app menu - this then lets you export the recordings you have made in a format suitable for uploading to YouTube or for your own storage

Note: This plugin needs the full version of Torque

Recent changes:
Changes in 1.6.38

* Export location fix for some samsung phones
* Some crash fixes

TorqueScan (Torque OBD Plugin)

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:08:40 +0000

This is a plugin for the Torque pro OBD2 application that shows all the data that Torque has access to as well as some other features that some may find useful for OBD debugging.

* Quick and easy display of available ECU sensors

* OBD PID scanner to quickly map and locate extended PIDs

* Simple Telnet server that allows direct connection to the adapter to allow far easier debugging (aimed at developers)
The main application - Torque - allows you to connect your android device to your cars engine management, and read various sensors, even retrieve fault codes (DTC) and clear them once fixed. It can post to Twitter, log data, supports themes, and so much more!

If you are interested in developing your own plugin then you can find an example app here(which uses AIDL): http://ian-hawkins.com/torquescan.zip

Join the Torque forums (click the developer link below) for more information or to ask questions!

Note: This plugin needs the full version of Torque

Recent changes:
* AIDL api update to support multiple sensors on the same PID

SpeedHUD

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:01:02 +0000

Ever wanted a heads up display of your speed?

Speed HUD uses your GPS and phones screen to display your speed
You can reverse the text so you can put your phone on your dashboard at night and see your speed on your windshield, keeping your eyes on the road and not looking down at your speedometer

You can also:

* Log and export KML files to Google Earth

* Speech support - get speed and camera warnings (with appropriate database file)

See the 'Torque Pro' app for more dials/widgets and customisable dashboard layouts, HUD options, colours and themes!

Recent changes:
* Speech fixed on new devices
* Many bugs fixed
* GPS code updated

LiveView for Torque (OBD/Car)

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:29:46 +0000

This is a plugin for the Sony Ericsson LiveView MN800 device and Torque - it allows you to display gauges from the Torque Pro OBD application on the remote display, so you can have a small digital (or gauge) readout on a separate location of your car

Imagine being able to keep your phone in your pocket and still be able to see a digital boost gauge readout on the LiveView display, or any other OBD2 sensor that Torque can read.

The plugins display will even match the graphical theme you have selected in Torque itself!

Now supports HUD mode (heads up display) mode, so you can put the LiveView device on the dashboard and see it reflected in the windscreen at night!

The 'LiveView' device is a little 'remote display'. You can find them on sites like ebay and they're not too expensive.

Please note: This plugin needs a handset which can handle multiple bluetooth concurrent connections in a reliable manner. Not all handsets are able to do this due to various bluetooth driver bugs so some phones may be a little troublesome to setup. The LiveView devices can also be a little 'temperamental' at times so make sure you have the latest firmware update from it (available on the sonyericsson site)

Recent changes:
* Added HUD mode (for night viewing)
* Couple of bugfixes

There is a firmware update available for the LiveView device on the sony ericsson support website which fixes some stability issues with the device.

Widgets for Torque (OBD / Car)

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 09:39:34 +0000

Get vehicle OBD engine information as a widget on your home screen!

This is an add-on for Torque Pro, the OBD2 car app for monitoring your vehicle engine management data. You can find Torque on the Android Market

It lets you display the various dials and widgets from the app on your android homescreen! Monitor all the standard OBD2 sensors as you can in the app such as coolant, RPM/Revs, Transmission temperature*, knock retard*, MPG, HP and Torque!

For example, you could have a trip fuel cost widget displayed on your homescreen, showing your total trips fuel cost (perfect for when your kids are using dads taxi!)

There is an on / off toggle widget that you can also add which will pause the homescreen widget updates and to control the startup of Torque itself. Turn the widget off, Torque will shutdown, turn the widget on and Torque will start up automatically.

This widget needs the Torque OBD app, and will automatically start Torque to run in the background as a service (the app has been optimised to be very power efficient). It will then automatically connect to your vehicle when you start a journey and start showing information!

Supports phones, tablets, and tablets running honeycomb

Please note: Using launchers like ADWLauncher/TouchWiz may result in slow updates of the widget, the developers of those launchers will need to fix their code so it can update the widget faster. Works fast with the default launcher that comes with Android

* = capability dependant on vehicle.

Recent changes:
This plugin is configured to automatically start Torque by default. There is an on/off OBD toggle widget to stop this behaviour! - simply add the 'OBD Toggle' widget!

* To turn the widget (and Torque) off if you dont want it starting automatically, use the 'OBD Toggle' widget which is also part of this app - simply add the toggle widget (it's just like a wifi toggle widget)

* Add notice about how the plugin works in the configuration screen

Wifi Tracker

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:01:59 +0000

Wifi Tracker is a WiFi scanner that can help you see the state of wireless networks in your area.

Ever wanted to sniff out and plot those elusive open WiFi access points?

This wi-fi scanner uses your GPS and WiFi in combination to scan for Wi-Fi hotspots, then saves their location to a file which you can then export a KML file to Google Earth , export to Kismet, or use realtime web uploads to scan and upload in realtime!

Excellent for wardriving in your car, to scan lots of hotspots - it can handle logging the position of thousands of accesspoints without crashing without posting duplicates.

Quite useful for site surveys (scanning for unsecured Wi Fi access points), or surveying large areas as part of a larger security audit. Has slow down options for scanning whilst walking as well, so you can go for a stroll or a run around a site and the scanner will still work without consuming lots of battery power

It can also be used if you just have a passing interest in seeing what is out there - for example you could take a drive around your city centre and see the state of access points (open, secured, insecure, etc).

The CSV export lets you export the data for manipulation in your favourite spreadsheet editor (Excel, OpenOffice / LibreOffice), or visualise access points using the KML export.

If you have any suggestions, drop me an email using the 'contact developer' link and I'll see what I can do!

Recent changes:
* Fix for Galaxy S GPS not locking (thanks for the feedback)

SmartWatch for Torque(OBD/Car)

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 19:24:24 +0000

This is a plugin for the new Sony SmartWatch device and Torque - it allows you to display gauges from the Torque Pro OBD application on the remote display, so you can have a small digital (or gauge) readout on a separate location of your car

Imagine being able to keep your phone in your pocket and still be able to see a digital boost gauge readout on the LiveView display, or any other OBD2 sensor that Torque can read.

The plugins display will even match the graphical theme you have selected in Torque itself!

The 'SmartWatch' device is a little 'remote display'. You can find them on sites like ebay and they're not too expensive.

Please note: This plugin needs a handset which can handle multiple bluetooth concurrent connections in a reliable manner. Not all handsets are able to do this due to various bluetooth driver bugs so some phones may be a little troublesome to setup.