Last week Trapster 4.0 was released for the iPhone, bringing some great new features to the speedtrap app. One new feature that definitely adds to the “coolness factor” is Caravan(TM). Caravan lets Trapster users see friends and other Trapster users in real time on the map, and then easily send them messages, photos, and audio recording attachments. This is popular for road trips when Trapster users caravan together. To make it easy for you to get started using Caravan, lets explore exactly how to get up and running.
Caravan Main Screen
Tap on the 2nd blue tab down on the right of your iPhone’s screen to get to the Caravan main screen. You will get very familiar with this screen, since this is where you can turn Caravan on and off, set your discoverable radius, check out your buddy’s locations, and check your messages.
“On” means you are discoverable and “Off” makes you un-discoverable. Hint: if you don’t want anyone to know where you are, slide to off 
.
Set the range in which other users will be able to see you on the map. IE: set to 5 miles, users within a 5 mile radius will be able to see you on the trapmap.
This will show your buddy list. You can tap on your buddy’s name to get to the buddy detail screen.
Here is the collection of the messages you have received
Here is the collection of the messages you have sent.
Adding Buddies
To get started with Caravan you need to have some buddies. If you know your buddy’s Trapster username, simply tap the Caravan icon, then “buddies” then “+” and type in your buddies username. To start requesting buddies you see on the trapmap, it is as easy as 1, 2, 3.
Tap the buddy you want to request. A user’s icon who is not your buddy will be white with a question mark.
Then tap the blue arrow, to get to the “Request Buddy” screen.
Now simply send the request, you have the option of typing in a message with your request.
The Buddy System
Now that you have buddies, lets explore how you interact with them. You can easily stalk them wherever they go by checking their location on the trapmap
. Once you click on their buddy icon you will see a couple of icons on both sides of their username:
The arrow icon will take you to the next closest Trapster user’s buddy icon.
The arrow icon will take you to that user’s detail screen.
On the buddy detail screen you can get a zoomed in view of your buddy’s location. You also have a few options on what kind of message to send them, get directions to their current location, change the color of their buddy icon, or delete them from your buddy list.
Create a message, either by recording an audio message, taking a photo, or sending a text message.
You can get turn by turn directions right to your buddy.
Don’t like the default color assigned to your buddy? tap color and you can customize the color of your buddies icon.
Easily remove a buddy from your list by tapping the big red button.
Any Questions?
If you need any assistance do not hesitate to send us an email: Contact@trapster.net. You can also reach us by commenting below, or on our facebook or twitter page.
Creative Commons photos from Flickr: “Question Mark and Arrow” by laurakgibbs
