OBD Diagnostics vs Tachwire
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
OBD Diagnostics
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OBD Diagnostics turns your iPhone into a powerful real-time vehicle data scanner, dashboard, session recorder, and AI analysis tool. Connect to supported Bluetooth OBD-II adapters, including Veepeak and compatible ELM327-style adapters, to read live vehicle data directly from your car. View key engine metrics, track driving sessions, graph sensor data, and send your recorded measurements to AI for personalized analysis based on your vehicle’s make, model, year, and engine. Whether you are troubleshooting a check engine light, monitoring engine performance, reviewing fuel trims, checking battery voltage, or learning how your vehicle behaves over time, OBD Diagnostics helps make your car’s data easier to understand. **Real-Time OBD-II Dashboard** Monitor live data from your vehicle with a clean, easy-to-read dashboard. View supported OBD-II PIDs such as: Engine RPM Vehicle speed Coolant temperature Battery voltage Engine load Short-term fuel trim Long-term fuel trim Oxygen sensor readings Fuel level Additional supported sensor values Large gauges, live value cards, and quick-access charts help you focus on the vehicle data that matters most. CarPlay support with live data. Shortcut actions to automatically connect and start as well as disconnect and stop analysis. **Interactive Graphs** Visualize your vehicle’s live data with real-time graphs. Select up to 10 dashboard PIDs and track changing values over the last 60 seconds. Great for reviewing RPM changes, coolant temperature rise, fuel trim movement, voltage behavior, speed changes, oxygen sensor activity, and engine load patterns. **Session Recording and History** Record OBD-II sessions and review them later. Each session can include duration, sample count, vehicle information, VIN when available, make, model, year, engine, battery voltage, and min/max/average stats for recorded metrics. Use session history to compare drives, spot changing patterns, and better understand intermittent vehicle issues. **AI Vehicle Analysis** Send recorded session logs to AI for a plain-language review of your vehicle data. OBD Diagnostics can analyze readings using your vehicle’s make, model, year, and engine to help explain performance trends and possible areas to watch. AI analysis can help summarize coolant temperature, RPM, speed, battery voltage, oxygen sensor readings, engine load, fuel trims, and other supported metrics. Choose from multiple AI provider options, including Apple on-device AI where available, OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, xAI, or a custom URL. AI Analysis should NOT be considered a replacement to a professional automotive expert. Please use the data as a means to provide a rudimentory analysis of your vehicle. **Demo Mode** Explore the app without an adapter using Demo Mode. Simulate vehicle data, view dashboards, test graphs, record sessions, and preview AI analysis workflows before connecting to a real car. **Built for Drivers and DIY Mechanics** OBD Diagnostics is useful for car owners, DIY mechanics, used car shoppers, fleet users, and anyone who wants better visibility into vehicle health and performance. **Key Features** Real-time OBD-II Bluetooth data Veepeak and ELM327-style adapter support Live RPM and speed gauges Custom dashboard PID selection Interactive vehicle graphs Session recording and history Vehicle info and VIN capture when available Min, max, and average metric summaries AI-powered session analysis On-device AI option where supported Custom AI provider support Demo Mode for offline testing Clean dark-mode iPhone interface OBD Diagnostics combines live OBD-II data, Bluetooth scanner support, real-time charts, session tracking, and AI-powered vehicle analysis into one simple app for understanding your car’s performance and health.
Tachwire
This app displays real-time car data like temperatures, boost, and battery levels on your car's screen. It offers customizable layouts, drive logging, and alerts for critical conditions. It also provides road camera warnings and track-specific features for performance driving.
- Live OBD data display
- Customizable screen layouts
- Drive logging and analysis
- Road camera alerts
- Track day features
- CarPlay integration
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Tachwire reads your car through a Bluetooth LE OBD adapter and puts what the dashboard keeps to itself — oil and gearbox temperatures, boost, gear, a hybrid's battery, on a BMW even oil pressure — on the car's screen, laid out the way you want. When something runs critically hot, it says so out loud. A SCREEN OF YOUR OWN IN THE CAR • Tiles of any size on a grid fitted to your car's display. • Pages for the road, the track and the warm-up, a button apart. • Arrange it on the phone, start from a layout in the Gallery, or edit on the car's screen while parked. • A Live Activity on the Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island and, on iOS 26, in CarPlay. YOUR CAR AND YOUR DRIVES • Car: your car pictured in its factory colour; tank, battery, tyres and the last drive at a glance. • Drives: a diary by day — city, highway or track, with alerts, pulls and records. • A drive's page: the route, a verdict with its reason, every reading on one time line. • Logbook: records and trends against your car's own usual; ignition timing pull and power by rpm. • Power from the torque the engine reports, never estimated. 0–60 mph or 0–100 km/h, ¼ and ½ mile, timed from the car's speed — on a closed track only. ROAD CAMERAS • Spoken alerts and a map window on the car's screen for speed and red-light cameras, section controls and low-emission zones in Spain, Portugal, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Norway, the Netherlands, Czechia, Cyprus, Malaysia and Russia. France: danger zones and low-emission zones only, as French law allows. Silent where such alerts are banned. • Off until you turn it on. TRACKS • 535 tracks in 17 countries, or set your own start/finish line. • Laps by session and the gap to your best, on the car's screen too. Runs and laps only on a closed track. • Track guidance in CarPlay: on a circuit, the track map with the next turn, and your braking points once a lap is recorded. A Track map tile for any page. WHICH CARS • BMW, the deepest: G-series from 2018 and F-series, recognised from the VIN — oil temperature and pressure, gearbox temperature and gear, boost, torque and power, a plug-in hybrid's e-motor and battery, a diesel's DPF and AdBlue. • MINI (2014–2024) and the Toyota GR Supra are read the way a BMW is. • First support, readings vary by model: Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Ford, Toyota and Lexus, RAM, Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT, CUPRA, Mazda and Honda. Renault, Dacia and Alpine are recognised. • Any other car with an OBD port: revs, speed, coolant, intake, load, often oil temperature and boost. A tile stays empty rather than show a wrong number. Make by make: tachwire.app/cars. WHAT YOU NEED • A Bluetooth LE OBD adapter: OBDLink CX (the fastest), vLinker, UniCarScan, or an ELM327 BLE clone (slower). Classic Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters can't connect to an iPhone. • iOS 18.4 or later and CarPlay, wired or wireless: the app reads the car only while CarPlay is connected. • No adapter yet? Choose "No adapter yet" on the first screen: which one to get, and a demo drive. READ-ONLY, PRIVATE Tachwire only reads live values: no fault codes, no coding, nothing changed in the car. No account, ads or tracking. Drives stay on the phone unless you turn sending on (encrypted, route removed; only laps on a track keep their positions). Crash reports turn off with one switch; usage data only if you agree. GPS runs only during a drive. SUPPORT TACHWIRE Everything in the app is free. Monthly coffee and Monthly burger are optional monthly subscriptions, a thank-you to the developer, with car looks: a playful picture for the Car card and your pick of its trim and colour; every figure stays your car's. Auto-renews monthly; cancel in Apple Account settings at least 24 hours before renewal. Terms of Use: tachwire.app/terms. Privacy Policy: tachwire.app/privacy. Tachwire is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by any carmaker. All trademarks belong to their owners.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Tachwire at none against OBD Diagnostics's shown. Tachwire also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (18.4 vs 26.2). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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. OBD Diagnostics sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Tachwire sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
OBD Diagnostics ships an update monthly, Tachwire every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | OBD Diagnostics | Tachwire |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.2 | 18.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 192 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | EJSmith | Maksim Pogozhii |
In-app purchases
OBD Diagnostics
- Remove Ads$1.99
Tachwire
- Monthly coffee$2.991 Month
- Monthly burger$9.991 Month









