Follow: Drive Together
How many roads must a man go down? Find out
Free Developer Follow App, followapp.us Platform iPhone Requirements iOS 8.0 or later
We’ve all been there: Following a friend or family member’s car while on vacation, only to get separated at a red light and then wasting valuable travel time trying to find each other. Follow: Drive Together offers a solution to this first-world problem, but the road ahead isn’t always smooth.
Follow designates one driver as the leader and the other as the follower. The leader appears as a large orange arrow on a Google-powered overhead map, while the follower is displayed in blue; the map doesn’t face forward like most navigation apps. You share your location to become the leader, or follow by requesting another person’s position.
When an invitation pops up, you can accept or deny it, taking the fastest available route or following the leader’s exact course. The map optionally displays the leader’s current speed, and when cars become separated, an orange line steers you back onto the correct course.
It’s a neat bit of GPS trickery, but we found the turn-by-turn voice navigation had a habit of announcing road names at random, creating confusion more than anything else. Also, the default map view is entirely too small — you can pinch to zoom in, but that’s not only awkward but also downright dangerous when you’re trying to keep your eyes on the road. A modest $0.99 in-app upgrade enables an unlimited number of followers.
the bottom line. A great idea that winds up being a bit of a bumpy ride.