I have worn a Road ID Wrist ID Sport for more than three years. I never go on a ride without it. Fortunately my Road ID has never been used for what it was designed: to identify me, list medical information, and provide emergency contact details to first responders to an accident or medical emergency.
My Road ID tag does give me some peace of mind when I am on my bike. So I was very happy to get an email from Edward Wimmer, the co-owner of Road ID, inviting me to test their all-new Road ID app for the iPhone. This app is designed to take advantage of the GPS and internet access capabilities of the iPhone to complement the Road ID tag.
Click on the Road ID app icon below to go to the iTunes Preview of the app.
There are three things that you can do with this app.
The first is to create an image to use as the Lock Screen for your iPhone. This image is displayed whenever your iPhone is turned on. Entering the data to be displayed is straight forward. The app then creates the image for you. The final step is to go into your iPhone Settings app to select this image as your Lock Screen, Home Screen, or both. The Lock Screen looks like this.
This screen identifies you, lists essential medical information, and shows emergency contact details for up to three people. If you can’t speak for yourself, your Road ID Lock Screen will.
The second thing you can do with this app is to track your movements. Road ID calls this eCrumb tracking. You can select up to five of your contacts to receive a link that allows them to track your movements using any web browser on any device. The app transmits your location on a regular basis, which is plotted as a track on a map.
I tested eCrumb tracking during the Iskandar Johor Mega Ride. This is the map showing where I started from, the route I took, and where my ride ended. My biker chick followed my progress ‘live’ over the 100 km / 62 mi course.
The third thing this app can do is to send a Stationary Alert Notification to your selected contacts in the event that you stop moving for a pre-defined period of time. The worst case scenario being that you have had an accident or a medical emergency and are immobile and / or unconscious.
The Alert message is customizable. An audible 60 second countdown is activated if you stop moving for the chosen period of time. That gives you the opportunity to cancel the Stationary Alert Notification if your stop is not because of an emergency.
You can activate eCrumb tracking only, or Stationary Alert Notification only, or both at the same time.
I have replaced the default Lock Screen on my iPhone with a Road ID Lock Screen. When someone turns my phone on they see the same details that I have on my wrist tag.
The eCrumb tracking works well and is a fun way for others to follow your progress while you are biking, running, skiing, hiking or whatever outdoors.
I have not tested the Stationary Alert Notification.
The Road ID iPhone app is currently in beta. Edward Wimmer is actively soliciting feedback from early users to drive bug fixes and future enhancements.
I am very pleased with this app. My only complaint is that eCrumb tracking cuts my iPhone battery life to just over three hours. I think that eCrumb tracking should run for at least five hours before completely depleting the phone battery.
Apart from the battery power management issue, I think this app is ready for prime-time. It is an excellent safety aid for anyone.
Old Roots, New Routes 