An interesting new iPhone app called Trapster has been released which will alert iPhone users of approaching speed traps, red light cameras and other live police traps.
Trapster makes use of Wi-Fi, cell tower location positioning and GPS features of iPhone to find out your current location and uses social networking to provide you real-time information on traps.
A startup, Trapster is looking at a creative way of using geopositioning and social networking to help drivers avoid known and newly discovered speed traps and other live police traps with their iPhone app.
Trapster makes use of Wi-Fi, cell tower location positioning and GPS features of the iPhone to keep track of your current location.
The iPhone app gives you heads up on speed cameras, red-light cameras, hiding places, and live police that could be patrolling that area by playing an alert sound which can be configured based on the type of alert.
The data on the live police traps comes from other tipsters (users) on the Trapster Network which is frequently updated. Since the data of the traps is generated by other users, it uses a karma system and a confidence scale to make sure tipsters aren't providing useless tips.
You can also report a trap by simply tapping the iPhone screen which will mark your current location as a trap.
The iPhone app has been integrated with iPhone's Google maps application but it does not allow you to drap the map with your fingers, you can zoom in and zoom out using the on-screen buttons. So you can only see traps around your current location.
The success of the application will depend on the number of users using the app as the data needs to be generated by users. Based on the statistics available on their website, more than 34k iPhone users are already using this app, there are more than 110k Trapster users worldwide (as they have clients for other mobiles as well) and more than 55k traps have been generated.
As per the developer they only need 10 active users in each city to provide a reasonable amount of coverage for live police and new traps on major thoroughfares, a number which has already been met in places like Rhode Island, Florida, and San Diego.
If you are concerned that this application is doing something fundamentally wrong or illegal then here is the developers take on it:
"If you are concerned you should probably check the laws in your state or country, but our lawyers don't think so. In fact, the police we've spoken with actually like the idea. It beeps, people slow down, they have met their objective, you save money on the ticket and insurance, and everyone is happy."
Fair enough! But I am a little concerned about people focusing on tipping others about a live trap by tapping on the iPhone screen rather than looking in front.
You can checkout the screen shots of the iPhone app below:
The iPhone app is available for free so give it a spin by downloading it from the App Store. Let us know how it goes and if it helped you save any money on speeding tickets.
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All it takes is some police officers in your area that have iPhones, going around "reporting" false traps in all sorts of random places, or some reject with nothing better to do than mess with people, to make an app like this absolutely useless.
Its interesting as a novelty, nothing more.
Also I remember reading about at least four similar apps for the iPhone, so "Trapster" isnt the only game in town.
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I had this idea last thanksgiving as I was driving from Mississippi to Kentucky and seen like a thousand cops and I have been trying to develop it but havent been good enough with the SDK
my hopes of being rich are gone !
I was going to call it Emergency Vehicle Transponder… to get around the moral issue and say its more of a tool to be aware of ALL emergency vehicles and not just dodge cops
Apparently this app is as stable as the US economy at the moment. All but one of the reviews I've read so far report that it works for about 2 mins once and then consistently crashes after that. And not only is the app crashing, but you have to hard reset the iPhone to get it to unfreeze.
Haven't tried it myself for that reason. I'll wait for an update.
Yeah not to mention this app and another one similar have been out for a while now…and wouldn't you know it…they both suck.
Sorry iPhone Hacks…stop posting useless crap just because you are in need of articles (ie…iphone vs other phones!, etc….)
Maybe the need for a website like this is dwindling. blog.iphone-dev.org has stopped weekly posting and now you end up digging for scraps.
I'm from Morocco, and an app like this will get people happier than ever, it'll save a lot of trouble, but when i used it this morning i thought it will automatically detect police traps without the fact being already reported by any one else using the Assisted GPS Features of the iphone3G but i figured out that it use the social network of tipsters users to fire traps.
this app stays amazing but needs more features,
it does not crash after 2 min of use as some users reported.
thanks.
Interesting nice app…I work in NYC and right now there is a police car in a bush…Can't recall ever seeing anyone in manhattan get pulled over for speeding… Maybe for going to slow. but if you're not moving fast in NY then something is wrong..
Hummm
it works this apps just saved me a ticket
it works this apps just saved me a ticket
This app is not working with an EDGE connection. My Iphone is from first generation. Please build something for our first generation Iphone.
Not sure why users take their anger out on iphonehacks web site. Are they charging you to use this website, if you don't like their postings just don't use it. I may or may not like the application, however, I'm thankful that they make me aware of it, I can then make my own judgment. There's only so much news that goes around on daily basis on iphone….
this app crashes instantly for me. dont know how others get it to work.
iPhone 3G 2.1 Jailbreak
I'm from Singapore.I'm wonder will this work in Singapore? If this work, i'll have no more worries of being receive tickets