iOS Software

 

The iPhone, iPad , and iPod continue to be very popular ways of interfacing to our ELM327 OBD-II scanning tools.

One word of caution though - the Bluetooth that Apple uses in iOS devices does not currently support the Serial Port Protocol (SPP). As such, iOS devices can not connect to ELM327 modules with Bluetooth - you must use WiFi with your device*.

AutoProPlus

AutoProPlus is a free app for monitoring your vehicle with an iPhone. A little difficult to figure out as the Owner's Manual and web site are both very minimal.

DashCommand

Palmer Performance are here with another app for ELM327s and compatibles. DashCommand is a reasonable price considering what you get. You can also purchase enhancements that allow more than just generic data for many vehicles.

Engine Link

This app continuously monitors several engine parameters, but it's not clear how you can modify (or stop) them. It does allow you to define custom PIDs though, which might be handy (depending on just what you are using the scan tool for).

EOBD Facile

The basic version of this app is free, and works well. It provides some vehicle information, and will read trouble codes, but you can not clear them unless you buy the full package. Once you've got to that point, you will know how you like the software, and the decision should be easy. Well worth a try.

FORScan Lite

Lite version of the popular Windows software. Current version requires iOS 6, and a WiFi ELM327 (or compatible) device.

iOBD2

This software offers free support for their iOBD2 hardware, but you must pay in order to connect to an ELM327 device.

NovaScan - The OBD Total Solution

ubiqCOM offers this software for the iPad or iPhone. Unfortunately, the free demo version will not connect to a vehicle, so you can not really try it before you buy it.

OBD Car Doctor

A great little bit of free software. Provides all the basics, and works quite well.

 

* We are aware that older iOS devices have serial data available at the 30 pin connector, but do not know of any software that you could use to take advantage of it.

 

Android Software

 

There's a large number of Android Apps for talking to our ELM327 OBD-II scanning tools. We've had to pare it down to a few of the most popular:

DashCommand

Palmer Performance also support the ELM327 (and compatibles) on Android. This app only allows 30 minutes of (limited) use before you have to make your decision whether to buy.

EOBD Facile

The basic version of this app is free, and works well. It provides some vehicle information, and will read trouble codes, but you can not clear them unless you buy the full package. Once you've got to that point, you will know how you like the software, can decide whether to purchase the 'Premium Access' package. Well worth a try.

OBD Car Doctor

This one is very similar to the iOS version, and it remains a free app too. A great little bit of free software. Provides all the basics and works well.

OBD Trouble Codes Lite

Get trouble code descriptions on your phone or tablet. The free version of this app (ad sponsored) contains the generic trouble codes (from P0001 to P099F) in its database. The full (paid) version contains almost 20000 codes.

ScanMaster Lite

A great free app from WGSoft.de, makers of the other ScanMaster programs. Should be one of the first apps that you try.

Torque Lite

Free version of the popular app offers a lot for no cost.

Torque Pro

Is the full version of the app, which offers more features, supports more vehicles, and does not have ads.

TouchScan

This modestly priced app is getting fairly good reviews. If you're looking for an app with a gauge type interface, this one is worth considering.

 

Note that most Android software requires that you already be paired with a Bluetooth device. We are often asked about pairing codes and while we can never know exactly what code would apply to your interface, we can say that most use either 0000 or 1234.

 

 

Windows Software

 

 

The following are just a few of the programs that are available for the Windows platform:

 

DashCommand™ for Windows is a touch screen friendly software application that is designed to integrate OBD-II data monitoring and logging into the in-car computing experience.

AutoScan OBD2

Autosafe Diagnostics offers the AutoScan OBD2 software for the PC. You can download a free trial before you buy.

EOBD Facile

EOBD-Facile is diagnostic software that works with our range of OBD2 ELM327 type interfaces.

Com Port Terminal

This is a bare bones (but free) terminal program from WGSoft. Works well for communicating with our ELM327 scanners.

EngineCheck

Gendan's EngineCheck for ELM-based tools.

ScanMaster-ELM

WGSoft has been offering the full-featured ScanMaster software for a number of years. They offer great support, and a very reasonable price, considering all the features.

ScanXL Pro

Palmer Performance offers ScanXL. If you purchase the vehicle-specific versions, ScanXL will provide access to a great deal more than just the standard OBD information.

ProScan

ProScan is a must-have tool for any vehicle built since 1996!

 

 

Other Software

 

Some items that don't fit into the above categories:

Engine Link

Use ELM327 Bluetooth adapters with your Windows Phone.

OBD Auto Doctor

OBD Auto Doctor is also available for the Windows Phone.

OBD Gauge

Dana Peters provides this software for the Palm or Pocket PC platforms. There's even some Windows software for plotting the captured data.

opengauge

This is an open source project for interfacing the Arduino to OBD.

Raspberry Pi

If you're experimenting with a Raspberry Pi board, then you are actually using a Linux system, so should refer to the section above for suggestions. There is one Pi-specific article that we've come across that you may find useful though. It's called: Raspberry Pi Reading Car Diagnostics (OBD-II) Data.