The use of speed camera apps, controls and traffic alerts for mobiles are the order of the day. In this sense, there is no doubt that technology has always been a great ally of drivers. If not, ask your parents or friends what they felt when they found out about the GPS on the road, or if you are a little more rebellious and daring, tell me what you think about the evil radar detectors (which to this day I think they are still illegal, by the way).
Android for his part he also contributes his little grain of sand to the cause, and offers a commendable amount of apps for drivers that alert and report controls, radars, and possible incidents or accidents on the road. These apps are nothing more than small social networks of drivers who leave notices about relevant incidents that they see while they are behind the wheel in order to alert other drivers.
Are apps that warn of radars and roadblocks legal?
While I was documenting myself for this article, I have come across several comments from users who question the extent to which the use of apps that warn you of radars and traffic controls can become legal.
Most of the doubts are mainly focused on the alleged illegality committed when informing drivers of the location of road radars. That's right?
Currently and according to the existing regulation in Spain:
- Not stated to be illegal that an app warns of police controls.
- As reported by the Automovilistas Europeos Asociados (AEA),it is completely legal for drivers to notify you of the location of radars or controls to other users via mobile as long as this information is obtained from personal observation.
Apparently this type of appsthey are not very funny to the police and civil guard who carry out the pertinent road checks, since logically they feel signaled by making their location public and the possible risks that this may entail.
The 10 best speed camera and traffic alert apps for Android
Therefore, although the applications that we are going to review below are highly reliable, there can always be a small percentage of false warnings or alerts provided by the state's own security forces in order to carry out a small boycott (which for now seems not to be working according to the comments of the users of these applications).
It is important to remember that yes, the use of this type of radar applications can distract the driver. Always use them responsibly.
Google maps
For a few months, Google Maps has incorporated the speed camera warning as an extra functionality. Being the most popular navigation app on the planet, if you already use it to travel and do not want to install additional applications on your Android, this is one of the best options (and also free) that you can currently find to be aware of the radars landlines and mobiles during your journey by car.
A function that is also maintained thanks to its large community, allowing the presence of the radars to be updated by the users of the application in real time.
Download QR-Code Maps - Navigation and Public Transport Developer: Google LLC Price: Free 
Waze
Very few apps can afford to say they have more than 100 million downloads on Google Play, and Waze is one of them. It is the traffic and navigation app with the largest community in the world.
It tells you the best routes to get to your destination earlier, accident alerts and controls, and it even tells you how long it will take to get home. It also informs you of such interesting details such as which are the nearby gas stations with the lowest prices. A marvel, no?
Download Waze QR-Code - GPS, Maps, Traffic Alerts and Navigation Developer: Waze Price: Free 
Social Drive
This app is a great little social network, where drivers are adding the relevant notices to share them with other users from SocialDrive. Once the location service of our Android device has been activated, and the area where we are selected, it will be enough to go to "Notices" to see all the alerts for controls, radars, accidents and incidents.
For each alert, if we click on it we can see if more drivers have verified the notice (that is, it is not a false warning), and if we are passing through that area we can either confirm that the warning is still standing or indicate that the alert has already disappeared.
It is a very useful app with more than a million downloads on Google Play and a rating of 4.2 stars. Unfortunately it is only available in Spain.
Download QR-Code SocialDrive Developer: SocialDrive Price: Free 
Radarbot: Free Radar Detector
Radarbot is another radar detector that combines real-time alerts with GPS radar detection. It shows daily updates on mobile and fixed speed cameras thanks to the notices reported by the users of the application. It also warns of radars in tunnels, section radars, cameras at traffic lights and dangerous points.
The Radarbot app has other interesting functions like these:
- Warnings in the direction of travel (rules out radars in the opposite direction or off-route).
- Sound warning when we approach a radar.
- Warning when exceeding the speed limit.
- Vibration mode for motorcyclists.
It should be noted that the application is free to download, but you have to pay 5.99 euros to unlock all the functions.
Download QR-Code Radar Detector Free Developer: Iteration Mobile & Vialsoft Apps Price: Free 
Smart Driver
This is an application with double utility. On the one hand, it warns us of the radars and traffic controls, but it also acts as video recorder or dashcam For the car.
It warns of speed cameras, photo-red traffic lights, radars that monitor exclusive lanes (public transport), section radars, radars that pursue from behind, fixed police control (sentry box) and police controls or mobile radars. An app that is emerging quite a bit in the Play Store, with an average rating of 4.5 stars and more than a million downloads.
Download QR-Code Ray.Radar Detector Free and DVR (Smart Driver) Developer: AIRBITS & Reactive Phone Price: Free 
GLOB - GPS, Traffic and Radars
GLOB is another highly rated speed camera and traffic app for Android by the community. With more than 1 million installations and a clean and clear interface based on Material Design, this application has everything you need: live routes with real-time information, alerts for fixed and mobile speed cameras updated at the moment, notification of detentions and how avoiding them, voice-guided navigation and much more.
We can actively report accidents and controls from the application, although just driving with GLOB open, we will already be sharing useful information about the traffic of our area in a passive way.
Download QR-Code Glob - GPS, Traffic, Radars and Speed Limit Developer: ProoWess Price: Free 
RadarDroid
One of the first apps to arrive for Android and a true classic. It warns of the location of radars and has an extensive database of a lot of countries (I have not counted them one by one but I would dare to say that they are all or almost). The Lite version is free and highly recommended.
RadarDroid also works in the background, which means that we can use our Android phone to listen to music or any other function. When we are near a radar or mobile control we will receive a voice and visual notice about with the alert in question.
Although it has been in the Play Store for many years, it continues to receive updates constantly. The last one, less than a month ago (December 18, 2018).
Download QR-Code Radardroid Lite Developer: Ventero Tel. Price: Free 
CamSam
Another radar warning device, and this one also with a tremendous database of more than 60,000 fixed radars from around the world. It updates automatically every 5 minutes and has sound alerts so you can leave your phone in the car and it will notify you when you have a radar nearby. Very well thought out to minimize distractions while behind the wheel.
It also includes mobile speed camera alerts, landscape mode by tilting the mobile 90º, Widget mode and support for HFP-Bluetooth.
Download QR-Code Radar Detector - CamSam Developer: Eifrig Media GmbH Price: Free 
Coyote: speed cameras, GPS and traffic
This radar detector, although it is paid, has a very specific feature that makes it stand out above the rest: its active community of users. Despite the 6 euros that the subscription costs has more than 3.5 million users who report the location of radars, accidents or incidents in real time. Believe me, if you are paying 7 bucks a month and it has so many users, it just makes me think that it has to work yes or yes. The first 15 days of trial are free.
Among all the information provided includes fixed and mobile radars, Stage radars, traffic light radars, belt cameras and mobile phone, traffic jams, slow traffic, moderate traffic and heavy braking.
With regard to road safety, we will find information on speed limits on each section, notices of stopped vehicles, works, objects on the road, reduced visibility, dangerous weather conditions, etc.
Download QR-Code Coyote: Radars, GPS and Traffic Developer: Coyote Group Price: Free TomTom Speed Cameras
The TomTom app is highly rated by the community (score of 4.4 and more than 1 million downloads), and among its functions is to report fixed, mobile radars and sections of controlled average speed, as well as traffic jams. It has a community of more than 5 million users who share and ratify the information and it has coverage for a lot of countries: Spain, Italy, France, Mexico, USA, Argentina etc.
Download QR-Code TomTom AmiGO - Radars, Traffic, Navigation & GPS Developer: TomTom International BV Price: Free 
Extra: LITE radar warning device
App that also has a premium paid version, and that has a lot of functionalities: detection of fixed radars, mobile phones, traffic lights and tunnels, night mode, voice or vibration warnings (if we go on a motorcycle), compass mode and view satellite / hybrid / street.
So far it seems that users were complaining that the database was out of date, but it just received a new update in mid-April that should fix the "lags" problem.
Download QR-Code Radar Warning LITE Developer: DIGITAL NOMAD Price: Free 
After reviewing all these apps, the only thing that is totally clear to me is that at least in the matter of the legality of the location of the radars there is not much to scratch. We have already seen at the beginning of the article howit is completely legal for drivers to advise of the location of radars or controls to other users as long as they see it by direct observation (that is, without using detection devices).
I understand that other applications such as SocialDrive or Waze may sting law enforcement a little more, but let's face it, those who are going to use them the most already know who they are, and although the excuse of terrorism may be certainly justifiable, it is still a vain attempt to try to put doors to the field. What do you think?
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