iOBD2 Demo

Download iOBD2 from app store.

How to diagnose your car on iPhone with iOBD2

iOBD2 is an app for your car. It makes your iPhone or iPad into a car diagnostic tool to read your car engine data.
The first impression iOBD2 gives me is that it is so small but with powerful function. Now plug the iOBD2 into the OBD connector on the car. Remember to check whether it is connected firmly.

Then download the free iOBD2 app from APP store on your iPhone.

XTOOL iOBD2 on-board diagnostic tool

Clever diagnostics box plugs into your car then sends data to your phone

Speedos and in-car fuel economy readings are notoriously inaccurate, but this clever new kit flashes up real-time performance and efficiency data on your phone.

iOBD2 comprises a small white box and a free smartphone app. The box took minutes to fit, as it simply attaches to your car’s On Board Diagnostic (OBDII) port – under the steering wheel in our Kia and in the glovebox of our Peugeot.

Once you’ve downloaded the app to your Apple or Android smartphone, select iOBD2 from your list of WiFi connections. Enter your car’s details, and you get three ways to view live data: Diagnosis, Performance Test and My Dashboard. Diagnosis offers the most info, so can bring up fault codes and tell you what they mean. It found a problem on our car we thought had been rectified.

Performance Test lets you measure acceleration or braking over a set time or distance, while My Dashboard enables you to personalize the data – everything from revs, speed and efficiency to coolant temperature. However, the displays could be clearer.

iOBD 2 works on Android and Apple devices, and is a worthy investment for its functionality.

Download iOBD2 from app store.

Xtool iOBD2 brings car diagnostic and performance testing into the wireless age

Xtool iOBD2 brings car diagnostic and performance testing into the wireless age

Home-brew car diagnostics generally do two things. With a little knowledge, they can save you money on car maintenance. And they can also be a lot of fun.

It's the latter that the Xtool iOBD2, a combination of hardware and app that supports iPhone and Android, majors on. That's not to say, however, it can't do the useful bit.

It's at least as powerful as most low cost on-board diagnostics readers, possibly more so. But it gets the job done in a much more user-friendly way and throws some extra features into the mix. Best of all, it connects wirelessly to your smartphone.

What are on-board car diagnostics?

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First a quick recap on what, exactly, digital car diagnostics involves.

It starts with the OBD II, or On Board Diagnostics Version 2, port. It's an industry-standard data port that provides an interface for pulling car diagnostics and error codes, among other info, in a common format.

OBD II was made mandatory in 1996 for all cars sold in the US. The European Union didn't follow suit until 2001. But the US stricture means most cars sold in the UK after 1996 have an OBD II port.

It's typically found somewhere under the dashboard. In our test car, a 1997 Porsche Boxster, the port is freely accessible without any dash disassembly, if slightly obscured. So a little neck craning aside, getting at it is no harder than, say, the USB port on the back of a tower PC.

A wide range of data can be pulled via iOBD2, from engine error codes to sensor data and current operating parameters like coolant temperature and road speed. Exactly what can and can't be read will depend both on your reading equipment and the make and model of car in question.

The OBD II port can also be used to program car ECUs, for instance resetting error codes. But that's another level of sophistication that doesn't apply to relatively straight forward readers like the Xtool iOBD2.

What is the Xtool iOBD2?