GasBuddy Has a New Privacy Policy (Spoiler: Not As Customer Friendly)

An anonymous reader writes: GasBuddy has been a popular iOS and Android app for the last 5 years used to find the cheapest place to get gas. According to the Google Play store, there are over 10 million installs (in additions to the installs from Apple and Amazon's appstores). Now that they have a large enough number of users, GasBuddy has updated their privacy policy to allow them to collect more information. Some highlights of the privacy policy changes include: only 10 days for new terms to take effect (previously users were given 30 days to review the changes); collection of "signal strength related to Wifi or Bluetooth functionality, temperature, battery level, and similar technical data"; and [a warning that the company] will not honor a web browser's "do not track" setting.

Comments

Is that even worthwhile?

[hawguy]

Is it even worthwhile to use an app like that to save a few cents on gas?

If I have to spend even 5 minutes looking up gas prices and driving out of my way to go to a cheaper gas station, it's not worth saving 30 cents a gallon on gas. My local Costco regularly has 20 minute lines of drivers waiting to buy cheaper gas (though it's possible that one family member is shopping and the other is waiting for gas). If I see a line at my preferred gas station, I'll use the one down the street that I know is 15 cents more expensive.

Maybe my 11 gallon gas tank just isn't big enough for significant savings, but I really wonder whether these gas price apps are worth it.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[sims 2]

Oblig xkcd https://xkcd.com/951/

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[ExXter]

Actually it is in more ways than the one shown in the little funny comic of the other poster.

It is not worthwhile if you only go out of the house to refuel your car for half or quarter of a tank and only do a drive for that. Thats stupid.

It IS worthwhile once you do travels which you do for other purposes than refueling your car.

My easiest example is Los Angeles. I checked with GasBuddy and saw that at the end of the 10 mile through the city which I had to drive to get to my surfing beach I could save 50 cents per Galon and my tank was in the 'Last 20 miles Area'. So i went there and didn't visit the gas station right around the corner. I saved 12 $ of which I spent 4 $ at the beach later and had actually 8 $ more for food and drinks.

Even better example is a road trip. Since you can estimate how far you get with your car and remaining fuel you can check ahead and see where you will refuel instead of taking the next best station because you fear to not make it to the next city or its maybe not worth it. My highest savings in this case was a saturdays trip from LA to SF and instead of going for 3.89 $ in the north of LA for Premium, I saved 80 cents per Galon and went for 3.09 in the orange valley. 20 Galons sums up to 16 $ and it was on the way anyway.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[Anonymous Coward]

Absolutely - I have a 23 gallon tank and I may see a 20 cent difference. Right at this moment I happened to check the app to see the price around me - I was in Blythe, CA where it was 4.39/gal and 5 miles east in Arizona it was 2.79/gal. Ummm yeah, I'm going to drive over the 5 miles.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[sims 2]

Since they came out with ethanol added gasoline I have found it more important to get ethanol free fuel than get a cheaper price.

Have you seen what ethanol does when it sits?

It separates and trashes lawnmowers/chainsaws/weedeaters/generators and anything that goes any length of time between starts.

What ive noticed is high traffic areas tend to have ethanol added (near walmart) and everywhere else that actually needs the fuel to bring the traffic has ethanol free fuel.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[tompaulco]

Since they came out with ethanol added gasoline I have found it more important to get ethanol free fuel than get a cheaper price.

Have you seen what ethanol does when it sits?

It separates and trashes lawnmowers/chainsaws/weedeaters/generators and anything that goes any length of time between starts.

What ive noticed is high traffic areas tend to have ethanol added (near walmart) and everywhere else that actually needs the fuel to bring the traffic has ethanol free fuel.

I know exactly what you mean. I went on vacation with my RV and had to go through Texas. In Texas you can't get real gasoline, only what I call "Mazola". After I got back from Texas, my generator stopped working. It would only run if I used my finger to manually force the idler to idle higher. I replaced spark plugs, replaced fuel filter, drained the old fuel which was not even pure Mazola, but a mix of mostly real gas, with some leftover Mazola, put all new fuel, used about two cans of Sea foam, which also seemed to help it run better. Took the carb off and let it soak in carb cleaner, Made sure all the jets were clear. After about 20 hours of work, I was able to get it to run pretty consistently, but it will still occasionally just stop running on long trips, though it usually starts right back up. Basically, the gas permanently ruined the generator, and it is in limp mode.
I never run any of my lawn equipment on Mazola. I know people who live in Texas who actually make runs up to Oklahoma with dozens of gas cans to buy real gas and take it back to Texas to run their equipment.
I really can't believe that it is legal to sell E10. At the very least, they need to put a warning not to use it in any sort of small engine and not to use it if the intended motor is going to sit unused for more than a week or two. The stations need to be required to sell real gasoline so that people can purchase it for use in small equipment.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[imidan]

Maybe my 11 gallon gas tank just isn't big enough for significant savings, but I really wonder whether these gas price apps are worth it.

Yeah, I have a 12 gallon tank. The other day, when I was about on empty, I went and bought gas. It's the end of the month, so I put in my phone number to claim my Safeway rewards. I got a $0.10 discount per gallon! Wow! That's... about $1.20 that I saved. I don't even know if that was worth the amount of time that it took to type in my phone number (twice, because I did it wrong the first time, and then it took forever to cancel the transaction...)

I absolutely wouldn't use an app that helped me find the cheapest gas. On average, I buy no more than 15 gallons of gas per month, so even if the app can save me twenty cents a gallon, the cumulative effect of saving $3.00 per month is so insignificant that I couldn't really care much less.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[thinkwaitfast]

It was a major milestone in my life when I realized I could make a dollar at work for holding my breath one minute. My first job I would have had to work hard labor for half an hour to get one dollar.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[Anonymous Coward]

false economy. My truck gets 15 mpg and costs about $500/yr in maintenance. Payments on a nice, efficient, much less useful car are about $8K/yr, collision on a new car will add about another $1K to my insurance, and add about $800/yr in taxes on a new car v.s. an 20 year old truck. We spend about $2400/yr between the two of us for gas. Assume that $2K of that is my truck (it's not). For $9K a year in new car costs, I can save, maybe, $1K in gas. And, I'll end up with something that is less useful in every way except squeezing into parking spots. It'll be a lot less convenient to go kayaking; loading the truck is merely throwing kayaking stuff in the back, vice deliberately packing the car. Towing a trailer a few times a year will be out. In no way is it better for me to "save money on gas" except for a marginally smaller CO2 footprint.

If I were driving 40 miles each way like I did in norcal amd gas were $5/gal, then it would be worth considering. However, right now, it's not even close.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[geckoFeet]

It's worth it for trips out-of-town where you don't know where the gas stations even are. Or, at least it's worth it for me.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[pepty]

If saving money on gas is important to you, wouldn't you be better off with a smaller can than a large car (or SUV or truck or whatever) that has a 24+ gallon tank?

Note:

which I had to drive to get to my surfing beach

Personally I can fit a 9'6" longboard in my Mazda3, but that precludes carrying anyone or much of anything else. Some folks head to the beach with a quiver.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[hawguy]

If saving money on gas is important to you, wouldn't you be better off with a smaller can than a large car (or SUV or truck or whatever) that has a 24+ gallon tank?

Note:

which I had to drive to get to my surfing beach

Personally I can fit a 9'6" longboard in my Mazda3, but that precludes carrying anyone or much of anything else. Some folks head to the beach with a quiver.

Why wouldn't you just carry it on the roof rack like everyone seems to do here in their little civics and mini coopers?

I've seen a Mini Cooper on the way to the beach with 4 boards on top (and presumably 4 people to go with them).

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[whoever57]

Is it even worthwhile to use an app like that to save a few cents on gas?

I go out of my way to avoid one brand, irrespective of price: their pumps are old and make it too easy for people to install card skimmers. Since avoiding this brand, I haven't had problems with my credit card being cloned. When I bought from this brand (at the gas station closet to my house), credit card fraud was a recurring problem for me.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[Lokni]

I use it to find diesel as that is what my vehicles take and I am not always in my normal area. That being said... I just unloaded the app. Fuck that company. Its one thing if they said they would track if do not track was set. But to say fuck you to your customers and track anyway? FUCK YOU GAS BUDDY!

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[Mashiki]

Is it even worthwhile to use an app like that to save a few cents on gas?

Here in Canada it's generally more then a few cents. In my neck of the woods gas is $1.16/L(~$4.90/gal), if I travel 30km(~18mi), I can buy it for $0.82(~$3.15/gal). Usually I don't use the app, rather I use their website. But their new policy violates a bunch of federal and provincial privacy laws here in Canada, and since they operate Canadian-centric sites, they're going to have to change their policies on it again.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[gstoddart]

Honestly ... do you really thing do not track means a damned thing? Are you that naive?

Do not track says "gee Mr Website, will you be nice and not attempt to monetize my traffic". It doesn't mean a damned thing.

You should pretty much assume that everyone on the internet will track everything about you they can at every chance they can get. You should assume some greedy asshole with an MBA and a tendency to be a sociopath doesn't give a fuck about your desire not to be tracked is making the decision to obey no not track.

Do not track was an industry attempt to distract people from regulations which would have tried to stop them.

Do not track is a complete fucking lie.

Don't be all surprised now to find out it doesn't actually do anything or hold any weight. Which is why you should be actively blocking as many of these things as you can, instead of relying on the kindness of some greedy sociopath asshole who doesn't give a crap that your browser has pathetically announced it doesn't wish to be tracked.

Hell, do not track, when ignored like we know it is, just gives them another point of data. I don't even set it, because I know damned well it's not going to do anything.

When a company publicly says they won't respect do not track, you can pretty much assume every other company is already ignoring it anyway. There is not do not track.

Re: Is that even worthwhile?

[Anonymous Coward]

> My Multisrara leaked

California Cycleworks made a replacement tank for the Multistrada. Mine caught fire at a red light, and fortunately a cop behind me noticed the fire and was running at me with a fire extinguisher before I even knew there was a fire. The fire did about $5k worth of damage. I now buy non-ethanol gas at a marina in my neighborhood, but not everyone has that option. I bought a replacement metal tank from CA Cycleworks, and it has been fine since. I don't see the tank I have on their web site any longer, but it still might be worth checking with them to see if they still have some of them in stock:

https://ca-cycleworks.com/

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[Anonymous Coward]

E10...not to use it in any sort of small engine

Or, in a motorcycle. My bike was totaled when Ethanol ate through the rubber hose from the tank and dripped onto the exhaust. The carb on the bike was constantly giving me trouble and required cleaning several times a year until I stopped putting in Ethanol. Then on a trip, I had no choice but to use E10, and about two weeks later the bike was gone. The plastic tank on the next bike I bought warped and leaked from the bad gas here in Washington State, but since I was paranoid after losing the first bike, I caught it before it started another fire. It was painful buying a $700 replacement tank for a bike worth only about $5k, but it was cheaper than losing an entire bike again and taking a chance on getting stranded.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[ITRambo]

Excellent point. For years we've made sure to put BP Ultimate (clear with no alcohol) gas in our lawn mowers so no varnish builds up. It works wonders. Same mower after ten years has never not started.

Re: Is that even worthwhile?

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL at the Mazola. Carbed mitorcycles have the same problem. I have to pay $7 per gallon for gas for my bike. It sucks that the EPA requires that a solvent be added to gas. My 1993 Celica made it through the thirty years of hard driving in Alaska until solvent gas caused a leak that caused a fire. Losing that car was a sad day. That's what I get for driving it to a crappy state.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[tlhIngan]

Here in Canada it's generally more then a few cents. In my neck of the woods gas is $1.16/L(~$4.90/gal), if I travel 30km(~18mi), I can buy it for $0.82(~$3.15/gal).

So if your car averages around 10L/100km, 60 km round trip is 6L of gas. At 82 cents, that's $4.92 in gas for the trip. Using that gas station saves you 34 cents/L, so to break even would require 14.4L. That doesn't count the added wear, or your time, which would basically mean roughly an hour trip. If you put in 50L, then you'd have saved about $12.10 after accounting for the trip. For that hour trip just for gas to save $12, it's debatable - it is better than minimum wage...

Now, if you're routinely doing that trip, then it completely makes sense to fill up there. But if you're doing the trip just to fill up, it's in the realm of false economy. Unless you have a lot of time to kill, that is.

And if anyone reading is wondering, those prices are in Canadian dollars, which makes it roughly US$3.76/gal and US$2.42/gal at the current exchange rate.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[eWarz]

I can drive 3 miles in one direction and save close to 60 cents per gallon of gas. That's around $12 for a fill-up (20 gallons). depending on how much you drive (I drive quite a bit), it adds up.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[TechyImmigrant]

>Is it even worthwhile to use an app like that to save a few cents on gas?

I used it when I had a diesel pickup truck, because it could tell me the nearest petrol station that had diesel.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[Solandri]

If I have to spend even 5 minutes looking up gas prices and driving out of my way to go to a cheaper gas station, it's not worth saving 30 cents a gallon on gas. [...] Maybe my 11 gallon gas tank just isn't big enough for significant savings, but I really wonder whether these gas price apps are worth it.

If you get 30 MPG and drive 12000 miles/yr, a 30 cents/gallon savings works out to $120 over a year.

But it's pretty pointless to find a new station every fill-up or to drive too far out of the way to get a lower price - the time you waste is usually not worth it. What it's good for is to get an idea what the average gas prices are so you know if a station is regularly priced high or low, and to find a station that's consistently low-priced in the area you normally drive around. That way you can just go to that station most of the time instead of having to constantly check prices. But you can do all that via their website. I downloaded the app for my phone, and immediately uninstalled it when it demanded I create an account before I could use it.

My local Costco regularly has 20 minute lines of drivers waiting to buy cheaper gas (though it's possible that one family member is shopping and the other is waiting for gas). If I see a line at my preferred gas station, I'll use the one down the street that I know is 15 cents more expensive.

You should only wait in the Costco line if you're waiting while a family member shops, or if it's nearby and you need gas that day and have time to waste. Most Costco gas stations are open a few hours after the store closes. If you go there an hour or a half hour before they close gas service (usually around 9-11pm), there's no line.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[Aereus]

E10 is government mandated in my area as well, but Shell and Citgo premium is still 100% gas... albeit at a 30% markup. I've since found a family-owned Lucas Oil place with 87 octane 100% gas for only 20 cents more per gallon. Considering you get about 10% better fuel economy with it, I consider it about a wash even before considering it's better for your car. Only other place I trust fueling up other than that is Mobil and Shell. I'll randomly trip my check engine light with an oxygen sensor warning if I fill up at other places.

Re: Is that even worthwhile?

[Lexical_Scope]

I suppose technically it was driven in three different decades, but yeah I think there's a degree of maths fail going on here.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[kybred]

There are probably 12 gas stations between my work and home. I can quickly check GasBuddy and see which one is the lowest and stop there without going out of my way. Sometimes my Costco is 10 cents/gal less that the others (usually just after all the other stations have done an increase), but usually the wait there is only a couple of minutes at the most. After prices have stabilized, Costco is usually within a penny or two of the others.

The other reason GB is handy is if you are traveling and don't know where the stations are. Typically, if you're on the Interstate the stations right at the exits are more expensive than the ones a couple of blocks farther. Of course other apps like Road Ninja are good for that as well.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[nazsco]

maybe you should not worry about cheap gas, but about cheap bikes

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[jwdb]

Depends on in which part of the country you are. I see a ~ $0.50/gal price difference in stations within 3 miles of home (Southern CA), and there's rarely a line at the cheaper places. It may only save me ~ $6 a tank, but that adds up over time, and the cheaper places are close enough that it's not really out of my way.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[evilviper]

Is it even worthwhile to use an app like that to save a few cents on gas?

Not EVERY TIME you need to fill-up, but it's very good for finding which gas stations in your area are consistently inexpensive, which ones play games with pricing (occasionally cheap to bring-in business, then crank-up the prices). And when traveling it absolutely INVALUABLE for avoiding gas-traps that can be $1 per-gallon more than the gas station half a mile ahead...

If I have to spend even 5 minutes looking up gas prices and driving out of my way to go to a cheaper gas station, it's not worth saving 30 cents a gallon on gas.

At $8/hour (a reasonable minimum wage), 5 minutes of effort is worth 67 cents, making even a 5 cent/gallon price difference worth the effort.

Personally, there's nothing I would love more than an app (or maps/navigation feature) that would show me which cheap gas stations are along my route, rather than a dumb radius search that might tell me to do a U-turn and drive a 10 mile loop to save 1 cent/gallon, or going 5 miles away from the highway, when in both cases continuing on my route for 5 miles to the next cheap gas station is most often the far better option. GasBuddy's map is utterly useless for such things, and would take an hour of clicking-on each pin to figure out the answer to that simple and frequent question.

I see Gas Guru is a solid competitor to Gas Buddy. I'll have to compare their terms and see which is slightly less evil.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[Slashdot Parent]

It's worth it if you only use it to help you decide where to stop for gas. If you're going out of your way to pay a few cents less per gallon, you're wasting your time.

I'll use it to see which gas station of my way to work is cheapest. I know I'm stopping for gas anyway, it's just a matter of where. So why not stop at the cheapest one? Again, I'm not going out of my way. Just deciding which of 15 or so gas stations that I will pass by anyway is getting my business.

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[praxis]

It's a little unfair to compare a used truck with a new car, isn't it?

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[wardrich86]

I pass a few gas stations on my way home every day. I'll scan the site to see which ones have the best price

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[RockDoctor]

Maybe my 11 gallon gas tank just isn't big enough for significant savings,

Why such a huge petrol tank? The one in my car (well, the wife's car ; I try to avoid driving when at all possible, which is almost always) is about 5 gallons (a bit over 50 litres ; I'm not sure what the conversion factor is for our gallons and I know it's different for American gallons).

Such a huge fuel tank suggests that you've not made any substantial attempts at fuel economy previously. (My tank will carry me around 400 miles depending on speed. By which point I'm LONG over due for a coffee and piss stop.)

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[hawguy]

Maybe my 11 gallon gas tank just isn't big enough for significant savings,

Why such a huge petrol tank? The one in my car (well, the wife's car ; I try to avoid driving when at all possible, which is almost always) is about 5 gallons (a bit over 50 litres ; I'm not sure what the conversion factor is for our gallons and I know it's different for American gallons).

50 liters is 13.2 US Gallons.

So is your tank 5 gallons (19 liters) or 50 liters? In any case, it's pretty hard to find a common production car in the USA with a tank much smaller than 11 gallons, even the two passenger Smart FourTwo has an 8.7 gallon tank, though it's not exactly a gas miser since other 4 passenger subcompacts get similar milage.

Such a huge fuel tank suggests that you've not made any substantial attempts at fuel economy previously. (My tank will carry me around 400 miles depending on speed. By which point I'm LONG over due for a coffee and piss stop.)

Your car gets 80 miles per gallon (400 miles per 5 gallon)? Or 8 miles per liter (400 miles per 50 liter)?

Re:Is that even worthwhile?

[RockDoctor]

My memory was telling me that our petrol tank is 5 gallons, but in hindsight I was remembering the litres-to-gallons conversion factor, not the capacity. I fill to the limit, so I don't actually look at the volume counter, just wait for the -click- as the pump trips out.

So an 11 gallon tank is actually a fairly normal size. I'd check what the car takes to fill, but since we did it a couple of days ago, it'll probably be September before I do it again. Actually, no ; I'll be out of the continent by then, so it may be October before I do it again.

Most all APPs are crap, it is there to spy on you

[Anonymous Coward]

What more can you say?

Re:Used it for 5 years, happily, but...

[dunkindave]

Unlike the first commenter, I regularly see savings of 10-15 cents per gallon. With an 18 gallon tank, that could mean $2.70 in savings...much more than 30 cents.

The first poster said "it's not worth saving 30 cents a gallon on gas", so for an 18 gallon tank that would be $5.40.

It also does not take very long... And when you are in an unfamiliar area, it has benefits for savings and simply locating gas! Going to read the new terms now...

I agree. My tank is much larger 18 gallons, and prices around me vary by about 60 cents, so I can easily save $5 to $10 if needing to fill-up in an unfamilar area versus stopping at the first place I see.

Does Force Stop work?

[sbinning]

I have an Android, Samsung Galaxy 5 and I have found the app very useful.

If I go into the 'App Info' and click "Force Stop" does that prevent it from collecting and forwarding information?

Re:Does Force Stop work?

[The MAZZTer]

Well they can collect data while the app is running, but as I understand it the app can't do anything when you Force Stop it until you restart it, or you reboot in which case it can once again be woken up by any events it is listening for (including the reboot).

You can also Greenify it (I am rooted, though I understand Greenify still works unrooted I don't know how well) and that should have a similar effect every time you turn off your phone if the app isn't in the foreground.

It's not just about apps

[gweilo8888]

What part of "will not honor a web browser's 'do not track' setting" did you find so difficult to understand?

Re:It's not just about apps

[PPH]

So, what's gas selling for in Anonymous Proxy these days?

Re:It's not just about apps

[nazsco]

what part of you can install Firefox and use privacy browsing don't you understand?

btw, almost no site pay attention to DNT since apple and Microsoft sabotaged it.

Re:It's not just about apps

[gweilo8888]

It's cute how you think that does anything. (Hint: It doesn't. They almost certainly can figure out who you are from your IP and tie that back to your known ID, then uncloak your "anonymous" session.)

Re:It's not just about apps

[gweilo8888]

What part of "privacy browsing uses the same IP address as your non-private browsing and if they're using even a single large ad network then it's trivial for them to uncloak your 'private' session" do you not understand?

Re:Is that even worthwhile? Serious Question...

[willworkforbeer]

Can someone explain the value of collecting data on battery strength, phone temperature, etc. ?

Seriously, they must be able to monetize that (why else risk alienating customers) but how?

What is the monetary value in knowing my phone temp?

Re:Is that even worthwhile? Serious Question...

[tompaulco]

Can someone explain the value of collecting data on battery strength, phone temperature, etc. ? Seriously, they must be able to monetize that (why else risk alienating customers) but how? What is the monetary value in knowing my phone temp?

I can only guess that they are using the phone temperature, location and the battery strength to estimate the radius of available gas choices that they should show you. Temperature effects the battery life, although it would be easier to snapshot the battery life at regular intervals than guess the temperatures effect on the battery. Location by itself at least established the location around which they should show gas prices, but location over time gives speed and helps them anticipate where to show next, or maybe a radius of how far out to show based on speed. I don't have the app or know how it presents the data, so I am just guessing here.

Re:Is that even worthwhile? Serious Question...

[gstoddart]

Everything about you they can get, all day long, as long as the app is running.

They'll figure out what they can make money off later. Like, do people buy more gas in the winter or summer.

This is just greedy assholes maximizing both greedy and asshole. And this why I look at apps as basically ads and analytics in disguise, and why I don't feel compelled to have a smart phone with a data plan.

You can always not play the damned game.

Me, I want Android to return the ability to selectively turn off stuff that apps can do. If your app keels over because I won't let it access my contacts, I don't want your fucking app.

I view most apps as about the same as if a retail store demanded the ability to rifle through my wallet before I came in the store, only in the case of apps it's pretty much all the time.

No thanks.

Bummer

[dcsmith]

Uninstalled from my phone, changed my rating from 5 stars to 2 and dropped them a note on their web site inviting them to contact me if they revise their TOS to respect my privacy again.

I didn't live and die by Gas Buddy, but I did find it useful. Just not useful enough to bare my soul quite as far as they are now requiring.

Don't update the app, get an older version.

[Blinkin1200]

I like the app and use it once in a while. The prices near me can be quite different. My local Costco is not so local but usually BJ's or Sams have the cheapest prices. A while back I did an update for GasBuddy and was presented with a huge ad across the middle of the screen in the list view. I usually do not mind ads in the free versions but this was obtrusive.

As quickly as I had updates the app, it was uninstalled. I then went to the Amazon App store and installed an older version, much older, and it was better, much better! Knowing there is a big obtrusive advertisement in the update / upgrade, I see no reason the make any changes. The older version is running fine on both a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (Kit Kat?), and a Samsung Galaxy S4 running Lollipop.

If you don't like the Play Store app, get the one from Amazon, then ignore the reminders to update the app.

10 million installs

[tompaulco]

10 million installs, 260 million drivers. So 1 in 26 drivers has this app. I find that hard to believe. It seems like if it was that popular, that I would have heard about it. On a similar note, one of our local news channels has local gas prices on their website.

Time to change settings in xprivacy

[Shadow of Eternity]

App gasbuddy no longer has permission to do fuck all.

Re: It's more worth it for premium

[Spamalope]

just use regular!

You need enough octane to prevent pre-ignition. If your engine is high compression, you need a higher octane. Turbo and Supercharged cars need higher octane. You only need 'enough', but that varies with air temperature, engine load and the exact fuel formula.

Re:Is that even worthwhile? Serious Question...

[im_thatoneguy]

Seriously, they must be able to monetize that (why else risk alienating customers) but how?

Isn't it possible that these features are needed to help the app work better? If your phone is running hot and low on battery maybe it'll update its map less frequently.

Re:Is that even worthwhile? Serious Question...

[Solandri]

Me, I want Android to return the ability to selectively turn off stuff that apps can do. If your app keels over because I won't let it access my contacts, I don't want your fucking app.

If your phone is rooted, you want xprivacy (requires xposed). It lets you selectively control what info apps can access, plus it'll feed fake info to the app which refuses to run if you don't let it view your contacts or location or whatever. Works with Android 4.x, requires the alpha version of xposed for Lollipop.

Re: It's more worth it for premium

[konohitowa]

Many (most?) modern engines have knock detectors in them. If they are expecting higher octane fuel and you use something lower than specified, they retard the timing significantly to try to prevent pre-ignition. This results in a significant drop in power as well as mileage. The end result is that you'll pay more for the regular in loss of efficiency than you will save in cash. On my 1996 328i, the drop was ~20% in mileage (had a two week fuel shortage and couldn't get premium and I was pretty anal about tracking my mileage at that time). Premium isn't 20% more in cost (at least where I live it isn't). Add in the time spent making more frequent fuel stops and the potential for engine damage, and it's a money loser. Basically, follow the manufacturer's recommendations.

Re:Is that even worthwhile? Serious Question...

[thegarbz]

I used to run xprivacy but really it was a gargantuan pain in the arse. The sheer number of options for every app at every update meant spending more time playing with the stupid privacy settings then actually using my phone.

My comparison AppOps was an awesome tool. Simple and to the point.

Re:Zipcar app wants your camera

[Lexical_Scope]

I think that if you report damage to the car you can do it through the app (including pictures and maybe videos) rather than have to mail them in separately.

Also they like watching you driving...

Re:Is that even worthwhile? Serious Question...

[adolf]

I'll just add GasBuddy to Greenify's list, and not care.

Why don't I care? Because I'm already sending my GPS coordinates to GasBuddy when I use it, as part of the app's basic functionality. If it wants to gather up some more stats like nearby Bluebooth and Wifi when I use it, I don't care: They've already got the most personal of my personal data.

Re:WHAT?

[ShaunC]

http://www.gasbuddy.com/Privacy

The effective date is August 31, 2015. The app probably won't be asking for any new permissions until then.

Re: It's more worth it for premium

[KGIII]

Higher octane does not necessarily mean higher output. It just means that the fuel requires more energy for combustion.

Re: It's more worth it for premium

[KGIII]

Keep an octane booster in your trunk - a few bottles is good. It is great for when you get crappy gas or when premium is unavailable. Beemers can be a bit finicky about regular.

More agressive recently

[ebvwfbw]

I installed that app years ago. Registered it, contributed to it. Around 6 months or so, somehow I wasn't registered anymore. Yet they still have my e-mail address. Then they started sending me e-mails. They wanted me to do stuff. Everybody around here is within a cent or two anyhow. So why am I concerned about this? Something changed over there. Think I'll de-install it. Besides, Waze has that stuff too I think.

It's alright for heavier drivers

[mgcarley]

I have 2 cars - one gets about 15-16mpg and has a 20 gallon tank + 3 gallon reserve; while the other gets about 30mpg and has a 10 gallon tank + 0.6 gallon thimble because... at 0.6 gallons I'm not sure why they bothered. But anyway, depending on where I'm going there might be 40 or 50 miles between towns and/or gas stations so it can be important to know whether I should stop and fill up in town A even though I might have 1/4 or 1/8 of a tank; or if I'll make it to town B but probably be on fumes (I also have AAA premier just in case, but so far, so good).

Because I drive between 500 and 1,000 miles a week on average (sometimes more, sometimes less, sometimes I do that much in a day) - all up I spend probably $400 a month on gas but I'm brimming my tank 3 times a week or so. Gasbuddy is useful for me simply because it can help me decide where to fill up based on where I'm going and helps me schedule breaks because some interstates are a bit monotonous.

And I use it with a hotspot (actually 2 hotspots - because mobile coverage from any given carrier isn't always perfect) so most of the time, the only wifi it's going to be detecting are my hotspot SSIDs, and as for bluetooth... I have some Bluetooth headphones but that's about it, so whoopdidoo.

I use Gasbuddy in conjunction with Fuel Buddy to track my mileage and other auto-related expenses, but I can see why you'd not really need to bother with such an app if you are only driving 20-50 miles a day and only filling up once a week or less.

Re:Is that even worthwhile? Serious Question...

[dacaldar]

Me, I want Android to return the ability to selectively turn off stuff that apps can do

FYI, you can do this in BlackBerry10 OS.