Don’t get stuck in traffic: INRIX updates with new Live Tiles and bug fixes for Windows Phone

We’re one of the few lucky ones who don’t have to do a daily commute anymore (something for which we’re grateful) but on the occasion we need to venture against a sea of cars INRIX TRAFFIC comes to mind as a great planner tool.

For those of you who aren’t aware, INRIX monitors traffic around you in real-time but perhaps more importantly, it predicts traffic hours ahead based on current conditions. That means you can better plan by entering in routes and getting a deeper sense if you’ll be angry or happy during your commute.  Using that information, INRIX can give you an estimated time that you should leave, making it quite a unique app.

Version 4.2 just went live in the Store and it features some new Live Tiles and “lots of bug fixes”, which is always a good thing. Indeed, the Live Tiles now allow you to create numerous tiles based on your criteria, including Follow Me, Custom, Place or Route. Under Custom, you can select an area on the map and even zoom in to your desired level. The app will then “lock in” that Tile and pin it to your Screen. Later, when you tap that Tile, you’ll be taken to a live traffic overview of those roads. (Too bad there's no doublewide Tile yet).

While INRIX could still benefit from offline maps and faster data acquisition, we’re not going to deny that the app is quite useful and just neat to use. The app for us is our go-to traffic app if nothing else for the ‘incident reports’, allowing us to learn exactly what is causing the delay.

INRIX TRAFFIC for Windows Phone 7.x and 8 can be downloaded here for free. Thanks, Rodney, for the tip