The Apple App Store for iphone and ipod touch users now gets more than 170 apps per day released for sale or for free. Due to the huge competition developers are now facing marketing their apps to the masses they are now starting to make their apps for niche markets in an effort to get away from the multitude of fart application out there.
As a car enthusiast i have always searched for apps that cater for my interests and some that have in the past, have been the dyno type applications that allow me to test the performance of my car in terms of acceleration over the 400m and 0-100klm (0 to 60mph) The one I used was “Pocketdyno” which worked quite well as a rough gauge.
However I’m pleased to announce i found an awesome newly released app for car nuts like me out there.
It’s called vrimz and it basically lets you take a photo of your car “side on” with the iphone’s in built camera (bad luck touch users) and then change the wheels with a seemingly unlimited number of wheels from all the top manufacturers and they even have OEM wheels from the car manufacturers model range.
So lets walk thru the app in more detail.
The first screen shows a big start button (not fart, START a pleasant change)along with the vrimz logo, after clicking start you are presented with a choice of choosing an image from your devices gallery or to take a photo of your car with the in-built camera. The car image is then loaded and two default wheels (which I love by the way) are placed above the car for you to position over your current wheels and tyres. You can then use multi touch pinch gestures to move, zoom and size the wheels to ensure exact placement. Once positioned you click next and are prompted to select a location so the app can display your local wheel stores wheels, or you have the choice of choosing “all wheels”. (as a side note, choosing all wheels takes some time to load. I’m not sure how many there is but I estimate over 500) The app connects to the internet to download the latest wheels. So i recommend downloading your first lot using a Wifi connection. Once downloaded they stored on your phone for later use and each week it seems to update all the wheels and add more. So you will never run out.
Ok on to the main wheel change screen. This screen shows you your car with the overlayed “default” rims and a line of possible rims at the bottom of the screen that you simply tap to put on your car. The wheels Make and Model is also shown along with sizes and prices if you are viewing your local wheel shops offerings. You can slide your finger across to view tonnes of wheels and when you are satisfied with your choice you can click a snapshot button that saves the image to your gallery. The quality of these simulations is awesome, it actually looks real and that the wheels are really on your car. Kudos’s to the developer as they have done a great job.This app keeps me an friends amused for quite a while as there is some horrid wheels in the system along with some nice ones. You will also be surprised at what wheels look good and what looks terrible.
Here is a demo of the app on you tube here
And the link to the app in the app store here. Vrimz app