With school resuming in September, August is the last chance for families to get in their summer road trips. This month’s apps help smartphone users with two important aspects of a successful highway adventure: finding cheap gas and discovering the best parks and places to explore along the way.
GasBuddy: Available on Android and iPhone.
You can always expect gas prices to be highest in summer. And because every penny counts, my family uses GasBuddy to shop around for the lowest fuel prices. You may remember that we recommended GasBuddy a few years ago; so with gas prices on the rise, we thought the app was worth highlighting again.
I love GasBuddy because it’s so easy to use. Simply tap the screen, and the app uses your GPS location to find nearby gas stations—listing them in order of price or distance. You can also sort by your preferred fuel type: regular, midgrade, premium, or diesel. When you select a price or location you like, the app loads a map with its location. It even offers driving directions—which is great when navigating an unfamiliar city!
You may be wondering: “How does the app know a station’s prices when they’re always changing?” GasBuddy relies on smartphone users to enter current gas prices when filling up at a station. Below a station’s price, you’ll see a time stamp showing when it was last updated.
Whether you’re running errands in your hometown or cruising the open road on a family road trip, GasBuddy will help you quickly and easily find the cheapest fuel around.
Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder: Available on Android and iPhone.
Being a member of an active family, it’s important to know what outdoor activities are available when planning a road trip to a new destination. That’s why I use Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder to discover places for our family to get outside and play while we’re on vacation.
Oh, Ranger! is a must-have app for any outdoor enthusiast. With a database of national and state parks and public lands, you can search by location or activity to find areas for your favorite pursuits. Whether you’re looking for a trail to hike with your dog, an RV-friendly campground, or a park to play tennis and have a picnic, Oh, Ranger! has you covered. For each location in the database, the app provides a description, an activities list, and even photos and user reviews!
Quickly finding outdoor places of recreation while on the road has never been easier! Thanks to Oh, Ranger! my family is able to do our favorite activities while traveling, which keep us healthy and happy.
Good idea I didn’t know Gas Buddy was available as a smartphone app. Thanks for the information. Use it all the time from home.
Thanks
I am sure you must have apps for the Windows phone – if not why not? …and why don’t you mention them along with the I=phone and android apps?
Good question, John. We focus on apps for the phones that we currently offer, which are available in the Google Play store or iTunes. Many of the apps we recommend can be found in the Windows Live store, such as Waze and Tune In radio. Thanks again for the comments!
I don’t remember what I used as a login or password on google play store. How do I find them?
I didn’t plan on adding apps to my phone. I have gas buddy on my iPad and use it. I don’t have my iPad with me all the time.
Thanks.
Thank you for the question, Leslie. Your Google login and password are the same as your gmail email address and password. If you can’t remember, try using the Google password recovery page here. Then you will be able to use the Google Play store and download additional apps. Thank you again!
Can you recommend a VoiceMail app that works with Consumer Cellular android phones?
We have the Motorola Moto phone. I believe CC is on the AT&T network, so I wonder if we can use the AT&T Visual VoiceMail app?
This is a critical app for any phone and a serious security issue because it needs full privileges to the user’s account, contacts and phone features. And because these apps can have all kinds of tracking and malware risks.
I believe Consumer Cellular has a responsibility to do the research an recommend an app.
Thanks
I agree with Leo. Consumer Cellular should either determine what apps will work with their service or develop one. The current system is the same as I had 15 plus years ago with another service.
We appreciate your feedback, Bob, and I’m happy to pass it on to our management team. Thank you for taking the time to post!
I have just signed on to consumer cellular with my mother, and am very happy with everything so far except voicemail. It is clunky and outdated, and not intuitive for my mother to use. It might be enough to make me switch back, which I would rather not do. I experimented with a couple of apps from Google play and they either don’t work with cc or have some undesirable feature. I would be happy to pay for one with the same ease of use i had with my Verizon phone but can’t find one!
Thank you for posting, Donia. We appreciate your feedback, and I’ll be happy to pass that on to our management team. If your mother is experiencing issues with the voicemail system, we’re happy to talk with her and ensure that all of the settings are correct over the phone at 888-345-5509. We appreciate you reaching out to us!
Has anything been done about a voice mail app. Using what comes with c.f. Is terrible!!
Hi Mike, thanks for your post. We don’t have an app for voicemail service. If you’re having any trouble with the feature though we’d be happy to help. Give us a call at 800-686-4460 or you can also chat with one of our live agents here for further assistance with this.