iCarMode vs HUD Widgets
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iCarMode
This app transforms your phone into a car dashboard, offering large, easy-to-use controls for music, navigation, podcasts, and contacts. It includes features like parking reminders, nearby place searches, and customizable shortcuts to enhance your driving experience safely.
- Large button music player
- Turn-by-turn navigation
- Integrated podcast player
- Customizable themes and layout
- Radio player
- Quick dial contacts
- Parking finder and meter reminders
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iCarMode - A dashboard app for all your in-car needs: - Big buttoned music player with Apple Music and Spotify built-in integration. - Turn-by-Turn navigation built-in - now works with both Google Maps and Mapbox! *** - Integrated Podcasts player for both online & offline listening. *** - Customize how the app looks: 5 different themes. customize buttons layout, sizes, background, colors etc. *** - Radio player with endless list of radio stations and podcasts to choose from. - Quick dial-up to your contacts. - Dashboard widget shows Weather, time, location, speedometer & next calendar scheduled appointment. -'Where did I park?' - will help you find your parked car! - 'Parking meter' - set a reminder when your car is parked in a parking meter zone. - 'Places nearby' - your car is parked, what did you have in mind? coffee? the nearest ATM? this feature, powered by 'Google Places', will help you out. - 'Custom App shortcut' - you can launch your favorite apps from big buttoned shortcuts ** iCarMode is a subscription-based app, offering all features through a flexible monthly or discounted yearly plan. iCarMode theme changes automatically to night mode on local sunset and Dark-Mode settings. iCarMode supports both portrait & landscape orientations! To learn more about iCarMode, please visit our site: https://www.iCarMode.com or contact us at: support@iCarMode.com **iCarMode supports customized shortcuts to allow you to easily call your favorite GPS or music app. This requires the app provider to allow other apps to launch theirs. To see the current supported list visit: http://www.icarmode.com/#linkedapps-section If you have additional request, contact us and we'll do our best to add it to the list - if the app supports the required protocol. *** Turn-by-turn navigation, podcasts player, and advanced customization features are available only to subscribers. You can choose between a discounted yearly plan or a minimum commitment of one month REVIEWS: "iCarMode is a great dashboard app for the iPhone - that presents a number of large, easy-to-tap shortcuts to music controls, contacts, audio controls, and your favorite GPS navigation and audio streaming apps" - reviews.cnet.com "Download iCarMode and safely use your phone while keeping your eyes on the road." - appolicious.com "iCarMode is one of those ingenious and simple app that makes the iPhone easy to use in every situation." - applemobile.it "iCarMode presents a simple solution to a daily problem and promises that next time we'll "have to" use the iPhone while driving, We'll do it more safely and keep our eyes on the road." - www.ipsf.co.il "iCarMode is a new application for iPhone which tries to facilitate the use of the main functions that are commonly used while in car: music, contacts,GPS and phone but wrapped in an enlarged , simple and intuitive interface more suited to this situation and in fact makes the use of the iPhone while driving - safer." - iphoneil.net Terms of use (Apple Standard TOS): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.icarmode.com/privacy/
HUD Widgets
This app provides a suite of driving widgets, including speedometers, trip information, and weather, that can be used in standard or head-up display (HUD) mode. It offers features like driving score calculation, fuel consumption tracking, and a land meter for car slope angles.
- Speedometers (classic, digital, retro)
- GPS trip information (driving score, fuel consumption)
- Land meter (car slope angle)
- Weather and clock
- Eco-driving graphs
- Internet Radio
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HUD Widgets app is a set of handy and popular navigation widgets, like speedometers, trip info, landmeter, weather, eco-driving, etc... All widgets work in regular or head-up display (HUD) mode. Speedometers: — Classic digital speedometer — Digital, with compass, odometer, and distance traveled (Chevrolet Aveo style) — A set of retro speedometers: Cadillac style, arched, circular GPS trip information: — See how safely you drive: the app calculates your driving score based on your acceleration, braking, turns, and speeding data. — Know your fuel consumption per each trip and the expenses on it. — Information on your current, maximum and average speed, distance and time traveled — Large compass — Eco-driving. Acceleration and deceleration graphs indicate driving efficiency Other: — Internet Radio — Land meter. Indicates the angle of car slope or tilt — pitching and rolling — Weather and clock Launch the app, select the widget, and place the smartphone close to the windshield (to use it in HUD mode, with the screen image reflected onto the windshield), or fix it in the mount. Attention! 1. On a clear day, the device screen brightness is typically insufficient to give a decent reflection for HUD mode. In that situation, you can use the app in standard mode with the phone fixed with some mount, OR stay HUD using our HUDWAY Glass accessory (more at hudwayglass.com or see bellow). At night, in dusk, or in dull weather the reflection is normally well-discernible. 2. Continuous use of geolocation services (GPS and GLONASS) may drain your device battery fast. 3. When driving, make sure that your smartphone or tablet is well fixed in some mount or on some sticky pad, and doesn't prevent you from clearly seeing the road. HUDWAY Glass car accessory makes smartphone work as a head-up display in any car even in daytime. Removes doubling, offers sharp enlarged reflection image. Learn more: http://hudwayglass.com Privacy Policy http://hudwayapp.com/privacy Terms of Use http://hudwayapp.com/en/terms/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: HUD Widgets at free with in-app purchases against iCarMode's subscription. HUD Widgets also leads on review sentiment (55% vs 47%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.6). iCarMode's advantage is rating (4.0 vs 3.5). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. iCarMode sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and HUD Widgets sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
iCarMode holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 249 and 109 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 47% of iCarMode's written reviews are positive against 55% of HUD Widgets's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
iCarMode ships an update every 6 weeks, HUD Widgets every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iCarMode | HUD Widgets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (249 ratings) — better | 3.5 (109 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 46.5% of reviews | 55.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 249 — better | 109 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 279 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Diego Resnik | HUDWAY LLC |
Customer experience
iCarMode
HUD Widgets
User reviews
iCarMode
From 249 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great app for older vehicles without infotainment
- 🚀 Simple and easy to use interface
- 💡 Customizable shortcuts and widgets
- 🚀 Performs flawlessly as advertised
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
- 🔋 High battery drain when not in use
- 💡 Limited customization options
- 🔒 Requires iTunes login for music functionality
HUD Widgets
From 109 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Clean and modern UI design
- 🎯 Highly customizable widgets and displays
- 📊 Accurate speed and distance tracking
- 🆓 Ad-free experience
- 🌙 HUD mode for daytime visibility
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes on startup
- 🔋 Excessive battery drain
- ⚠️ Settings reset after closing app
- 🌞 Poor visibility in bright sunlight
- 📱 Landscape-only orientation support
Bugs and requests
iCarMode
Reported bugs
3 issues- Buttons sometimes display incorrectly on launch
- Music controls don't work when connected via USB
- Contacts setup frequently crashes the app
Requested features
4 requests- More app integration options (e.g. Spotify, Waze)
- Ability to rearrange and resize shortcut buttons
- Compass widget in the banner
- Automatic launch when connected to car Bluetooth
HUD Widgets
Reported bugs
13 issues- App crashes before starting on latest iOS versions
- Settings reset to default when app is closed
- GPS data inaccuracy error persists after GPS recovery
- Crashes after 3-4 uses
- Compass displays backwards
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Speed readings significantly inaccurate (10mph shows as 57mph)
- App crashes on older iOS versions (iPhone 4S)
- Cannot get past initial setup screens
- App becomes unresponsive in certain orientations
- Screen burn-in after extended use
- Notification permission requirement blocks app launch
- Incompatibility with certain iOS versions
- Volume control unavailable when using CarPlay simultaneously
Requested features
12 requests- Apple CarPlay support
- Portrait mode (vertical orientation)
- 180-degree screen rotation capability
- OBD2 adapter support for real vehicle data
- Truck vehicle type option
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Widget support for home screen
- iOS widget integration
- Improved screen rotation for left-hand drive countries
- More speedometer skin options
- Navigation feature integration
- Persistent settings after app close
- Secondary display support for CarPlay head units
In-app purchases
iCarMode
- All Access (monthly)$2.991 Month
- All except navigation (yearly)$14.991 Year
- All Access (yearly)$24.991 Year
HUD Widgets
- Premium$2.99
Questions
Is iCarMode free?
Is HUD Widgets free?
Which has better reviews, iCarMode or HUD Widgets?
Do iCarMode or HUD Widgets have ads?
Which is updated more often, iCarMode or HUD Widgets?
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