In this mobile app review, we look at Trapster. This subversive little app just might help you get to where you're going a little more safely, as it lets users share driving conditions -- and much more.

Hello, my name is DJ and I'm a speedaholic. A Leadfoot Larry. Speed demon. Overdrivus Maximus. I just cannot drive 55. All these years, I thought that there was no hope of redemption for a repeat offender such as myself. That is until I stumbled across a little app, aptly named Trapster.

By the way, the preceding was in no way endorsed by the makers of Trapster. Now that I've covered my rear-end from any libelous reprisals, I just have to tell you folks about the best thing to happen to speedsters since the radar detector. Again, this is just one man's opinion. But then again, judging from Trapster's base of 8 million plus users, I think I can safely say that my opinion just may be shared by others.

Officially known as a "sharing system" for speed traps, this handy dandy little app has been helping throngs of Palm Pilot, iPhone, iPad, Nokia, Droid and even TomTom users avoid potential speeding traps and countless traffic tickets. Trapster allows users to access and share tips, alerts, even driving conditions via its highly detailed interface.

This method may reminds some folks of another "sharing" platform with a similar name, which drew the ire of some people in the music industry several years back. But we are not here to judge the fine manufacturers of Trapster. On the contrary, I am here to share my review of this fine, fine and by no means enabling product with you folks in cyberspace. 

By downloading and accessing the free mobile app, subscribers sign up for a free account; you can do this through the actual application itself. As of right now, it supports BlackBerry OS 4.3 and higher, and as an added bonus, you don NOT have to have a GPS-enabled BlackBerry, either. The signup doesn't require much time, nor does the account require much management. Hypothetically, this fact could be very conducive to usage while, let's say, behind the wheel.

The interface opens with three choices of map views: the basic Google/Yahoo road map, aerial "live" imagery, or a combination of the two. Toolbar options allow users to customize the types of alerts they receive. If only traffic itself was this user-friendly!

The maps themselves are easy to navigate without any of the annoying lag of jerky transitions. And better yet, each type of alert is color coded (Red being the highest) indicating that any particular alert or hazard has been verified by more than one user. Trapster even keeps a constant update of up to 50 traps or alerts within a 4 mile radius of the user's current position. 

There are also three choices of alert settings available for the app: audible alerts, vibrate, popups, or any combination of the three. Trapster will inform you once you're within a 0.3 mile radius of an alert, or you can choose a radius of your own if you prefer some padding on your own response time. The audio alerts even have a selection of customizable voices, including G.W. Bush, the Crocodile Hunter and Ah-nuld, up to 16 choices in all.

One extremely important caveat, is that Trapster's database is completely user-generated. Therefore, their alerts are only as accurate as the users themselves.

Now on to the public service announcement portion of this review. Trapster will NOT keep you from getting a ticket, so we want to remind subscribers to obey all the rules of the road and drive as safely as possible. However, if you are in need of a useful tool to help you navigate the harried highways and by-ways of your fair metropolis, I cannot recommend this app highly enough. Just imagine if Burt Reynolds had something like this in "Smokey and the Bandit," the movie would've only been twenty minutes long. After all, knowing is half the battle. 

DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware.

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