Using Dash IFTTT to notify others upon reaching a location
I have been using a mobile app called Dash (smart driving app) for a week and decided to write a review about it as well as sharing how I am making use of it to notify others (in my case, family members) as soon as I have reached an area, i.e. home, office, etc.
What is Dash
In case you have not heard about it, Dash is a smart driving app that connects to a vehicle’s diagnostics via an OBD-II dongle. It is then able to retrieve your fuel consumption as well as fault codes (if present), just to name a few. Combined with your mobile phone’s GPS data, it can tell you MPG/KPL numbers at a glance.
Setup
Connect OBD-II dongle
Connect an OBD-II dongle to your car. Unlike some of its competitors, Dash does not compel users to use dongles that they recommend. I bought one online for under USD10.
Note that some dongles only work for either Android or Apple exclusively while some may support both.
After connecting the dongle, here is how mine (white object) looks like:
Ensure that you can mobile phone can pair with it before proceeding.
Install Dash app
Install:
Register for an account as you will be needing it to hook to IFTTT (more on this below).
Dash greets you in audio upon starting your engine. It also informs you upon switching off. One quirk I faced with this app is that it thinks my drive has ended when my car’s auto start/stop functionality stopped the engine for roughly a minute.
Configure IFTTT
For this, you will need IFTTT. In a nut shell, IFTTT can listen to events triggered by a service and subsequently take an action on the same or different service. An an example, I have configured IFTTT to send a message to a LINE group as soon as Dash detects that I have both reached or am leaving my workplace.
I have configured an IFTTT applet as per screenshot below:
Configure LINE
Finally, I created a new LINE group called “Drive” specifically for receiving Dash drive notifications and added LINE Notify into the group as I did not want these messages flooding regular chat groups.
Here is how a notification look like in LINE:
Note that there is a bit of delay before notification arrives, up to ten minutes based on my observation but does not discourage me from recommending this setup to others.