Cheap Gas! is a useful iPhone application for finding the cheapest gas closest to where you are!
Download Cheap Gas! from iTunes HERE.
Station data is supplied by GasBuddy.com.
Fan Page on Facebook: Cheap Gas! on Facebook
With Cheap Gas! you can:
- See the cheapest stations nearest to where you are, by device location or by postal code (U.S. and Canada)
- Sort station by price or distance
- Display all grade prices
UPDATE 06/25/2010:
Cheap Gas! 3.03 is in review with iTunes and will (hopefully) be available any day now. Version 3.03 is a minor maintenance release to fix some long-standing display issues.
UPDATE 12/10/2009:
BIG NEWS! BIG NEWS! BIG NEWS!
GasBuddy has purchased Cheap Gas!
Cheap Gas! will continue to be the best way to quickly – and cheaply – find the cheapest gas nearest to where you are.
Look for great new changes, coming soon from GasBuddy.
Frequently Asked Questions:
I know there are more stations around me than are being reported… what gives?
GasBuddy.com only shows the most recent gas prices reported for an area. If a price is stale, it will not show up. Also, if no one is reporting prices to GasBuddy.com in your area, then nothing will be reported.
How do I set whether I want to use my device’s location settings or postal codes for my default search preference?
Go to the iPhone Settings app and look for the Cheap Gas! icon. Set the search by postal codes setting to yes and enter the postal code you wish to use. Alternatively, you may interactively search for stations by postal code from within the application by clicking the Search Icon (Magnifying Glass).
By default, the app uses your device settings. But you MUST have location services enabled.
How do I change grade pricing for a station?
Click on a station. A heads up display will appear, showing all grades listed. Click any of the blue arrow buttons and display allowing you to enter a new grade price for the selected grade will appear. Enter the new grade price and submit. That’s it!
My prices aren’t showing up. What gives?
Make sure that your GasBuddy.com credentials are correct. Credentialed updates will show up predictably.
Why are you about to incorporate ads?
Well, because our kids like to eat. A lot. And we have mortgages to pay.
Hopefully, we have incorporated ads in a way that are not gratuitous and has minimal impact on the use of the application. We’ll be monitoring feedback to make sure we continue to provide a great service and pleasant user experience.
When will Cheap Gas! be incorporating maps into the app? In a large city there are tons of stations within a given zipcode. It would be nice to see one’s location on a map and see where the closest, cheap gas station is.
Brian,
You may already know that by tapping on the station’s row you can open Google maps and generate a route to that station.
If you mean adding a screen with a map showing your location relative to stations around you, I’ll make sure we try to add it soon.
We’ve been focused on getting price updates for GasdBuddy.com working (which was relatively quick to do) but have been waiting on Apple to “release the hounds” and approve the app.
Once that happens, we’ll take a look at your suggestion for the next release.
Thanks for your feedback!
David
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When will iPod Touch support be added? I understand that location info might not be as accurate, or even always available* – but i don’t understand why this is a limiting factor. Price lookup by postal code would (should) still function.
*works in most major Canadian cities on my iPod Touch
Jon, you are correct. Postal code lookup on iPod touch does work.
The limiting factor is that the iPod Touch does not include GPS capability for detecting location outside of a WiFi connection, and so rather than draw the ire of users who miss this nuance we err on the side of caution and certify use only on the iPhone.
Thanks for your feedback.
David – I appreciate your response, and understand that some iPod Touch users may complain if not warned that location info doesn’t work; But that’s a known limitation of the iPod Touch’s capabilities… I live in a city where the wifi GPS does not work – and i would still find this application greatly useful here, as it appears to be a quicker, more stream-lined version of gasbuddy.com. And it would be even more useful in a city where it does work (see coverage here: http://www.skyhookwireless.com/howitworks/coverage.php )
Numerous other apps use location info (ie. Weather Apps and Restaurant or Coffee Shop finder apps, among others) but they remain useful on the iPod Touch because they offer the ability to specify a location (a function that you have already built into your app.
Basically i’m just asking why not let the user have some functionality, instead of getting an error message when trying to install it blaiming compatibility? I’m not the only one requesting this either – reviews on the iTunes App Store are reflective of this.
Jon, I’ll definitely give it some thought.
I’ve also had requests to be able to turn off location services altogether and still use postal code searches, and if I go ahead with that, then that might be the opportune time to get the feature in.
Again, thanks for the thoughtful input.
I definitely want to make the application as useful as I possibly can, for as many people as I possibly can.
I bought the Upgraded Cheap Gas Plus, but for the life of me I can’t figure out how to get it to log into my gasbuddy account to update prices with my login.
Can you point me in the right direction so I can get logged in on my iphone?
Steven, I’ve sent you an email with instructions, but they bear repeating here.
To set your GasBuddy.com Credentials, go to the Settings Application. Find the Cheap Gas!+ Icon, and press the row.
Where it says “GasBuddy.com Credentials” enter your member name and password. That’s it!
To change grade pricing, press any station entry. A “heads up” display will appear, with buttons beside each grade. Press the button beside the grade that you wish to change the price for. Enter the new price and submit.
Hope this helps… and thanks checking out Cheap Gas! Plus.
I appreciate your help! This is a great app and I’ve been patiently (not by the will of Apple) for your app to arrive since before Christmas.
-Steve
Great App!
One enhancement request, any way to have a “favorites” list? Given the app does not display stale information (which is good), it is all but impossible to add a new site while your driving down the road, nor know the address of the station. A favorites section would allow you to save stations, say on your route to work, that you could select to update easily even if they are not displayed with new data.
I hope that makes sense.
Again, great app – Keep the enhancements coming.
Thanks
David – this app is awesome and I recommend it to all my iPhone friends. However, I thought a prior release had a GPS finder for where I currently was. Now that feature is gone, PLEASE put it back on. Currently, it seems that CheapGas is using my “last known location from Google Maps”. So, I have to go to Google Maps, hit the GPS finder, close Google Maps, then open CheapGas. VERY difficult, and time consuming. When I previously used CheapGas, there was a button I could push that it would find my GPS location, and then display the closest stations, why was this removed? It was a 5-star app, now its cumbersome for a travelling salesman, who doesn’t always know his zip code. Can we have the GPS functionality from within CheapGas, back PLEASE??? Pretty PLEASE??
David:
I love the app. Have been using GasBuddy online for some time before I leave the office heading home. I have a long commute so I like knowing what prices are where and in my city (Oklahoma City Metro) there can be big difference from one side of town to the other and it varies day to day. Anyway, I have Cheap Gas Plus! and the problem I’m having is it will not update to my location. When I first use the app of a morning, it will update to my location. But as I travel from one end of town to the other (about 50 miles) it will not update to my current location. It will still report the stations in the area where I first started that morning. I know I can punch in a zip code, but there are literally dozens if not close to a hundred zip codes in the OKC metro area as the metro contains dozens and dozens of small incorporated towns each with one or more zip codes. I want the program to always update to my locale. But it won’t. Please help.
Brent and Gary,
I hear you guys loud and clear. Look for improvements in the location based services – and the ability to use the app without location based services turned on at all – in the next release (hopefully available within the next couple of weeks, Apple and schedule willing).
David
Update – Version 1.91 has been submitted to approval to Apple this evening.
This version:
-) Improves accuracy for 1st gen phones
-) Allows the app to be used without requiring location services to be enabled – Use Postal Code = Yes in Settings App.
-) App may now be used by iPod Touch.
With luck, this should be approved in the next day or so.
Hi David,
WOW – your feedback and speed of action is great!!!!
However, I guess I didn’t explain my issue well enough to convey that I have a 1st gen iPhone. I have the 3G iPhone.
On the recent update for CheapGas it took away my settings options. Now I do not have the CheapGas+, but I know when I first put this application on my phone there was a Settings options and the application would always find my location using GPS. It does not do this anymore.
Again I have a 3G iPhone, and I have “Use Postal Code” settings turned off. I want it to find my location automatically. I’m not sure if there is a setting I am missing or not, but the application used to find it automatically, and I thought it prompted me to “Use your current location”?
And again THANK YOU so much for your prompt reply and action.
Brent
Hi David,
When will it update to my current location. I came back from California last night. I just opened up Cheap Gas + and it was still showing the gas stations in Cali. Thanks.
Another David
Working to get a fix for this scenario in place for next release. The fix has been submitted, but Apple has come back to us with something else to check before approval. Hope to have a new submission to Apple by the weekend, for a quick approval thereafter.
Hi David,
I got the the plus version of CheapGas today; turn out it does not work on iPod Touch which I supposed it does since the normal version does. Do you thick you will improve the plus version to support the iPod touch?
Loc
I am working on a change for Cheap Gas! that has some features that I also want to get into the next release of Cheap Gas! Plus – namely, the ability to search for stations without having to have Location Based services enabled.
Apple has a few things that I must check in Cheap Gas! first, and once I get that new version into the Store, I will apply the same features into Cheap Gas! Plus, including iPod Touch Support.
I have Cheap Gas Plus. I would like list to display same list as on-line. It looks like you are limited to 10 stations on this list. In addition, I would like to have ability to check on diesel fuel same as on-line.
Hi David,
Just wondering if you could provide an update to the latest CheapGas? The application still does not use my “Current Location”. I have a 3g iPhone, and the application always uses my last known location from Google Maps. This is very frustrating. I have the CheapGas settings OFF to use postal code, but it still doesn’t work. The original app did use Location Based services.
Also I saw your post that said “namely, the ability to search for stations without having to have Location Based services enabled.” Might I ask WHY you wish to do this? PLEASE bring the using Location Based, or allow me to push an area on the screen, please give me this option.
Do you have an ETA on this? I know it was an option on the original that I purchased and I LOVED it. Are you not going to turn this back on?
Thanks in advance for your time.
Brent, et. al.:
No excuse, really – except than other projects stepped in the way and took priority of my time.
Version 1.9 was submitted to Apple, and they failed to pass it on a networking issue. The fault is all mine in not getting this resubmitted to Apple in a timely fashion. Mea Culpa, big time.
All versions of the application use Location Based services, even the current release. Version 1.9 has a correction to fix the problem you are describing, Brent, without the need for the proximity screen.
So, I am making time in my schedule this afternoon to insure that I get this back into Apple’s court an into iTunes; first, for the free version, and then a similar update for Cheap Gas! Plus to follow upon approval of the free version.
- David
OK Guys. Updates for Cheap Gas! and Cheap Gas! Plus have been submitted to Apple for approval this afternoon.
Specifically, improvements in the use of the CLocationManager usage has been made for better (more accurate) location finding.
Also, improved checking for “Airport Mode” (network availability) is now in place.
Sorry for the delay between updates, everyone.
- D
When trying to update to 1.91, it says that “Cheap Gas!” cannot be installed on this device. It is an iPhone original. Any ideas?
Please make sure your device has the latest OS installed – 2.2.1.
- David
Hey there, I’ve heard reference to a Cheap Gas! Plus version, but can’t find it in iTunes. Has it been pulled? Will it return? What’s the latest version?
Cheap Gas! Plus has been pulled.
However, all of the features of Cheap Gas! Plus are going to be incorporated into the next release of Cheap Gas! (Version 2.0) which should be out sometime this week (April 2-9).
This will include the ability to update Station Grade Pricing and the Ability to Add Stations to GasBuddy.com. You will be able to do this anonymously or using your GasBuddy.com account.
- David
Again, what about those of us that paid for Cheap Gas! Plus?
Hey David,
What happened between 1.91 and 2.0 in terms of stability? This now crashes every single time you press the refresh button and half the time you’re trying to input prices through gas buddy account
Keith,
I’m looking at the refresh issue. It’s not happening with everybody, but hopefully I’ll be able to ferret out what’s happening with the people having issues.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
David
Hey Everybody….
I just submitted a bug fix for version 2.0 for the refresh issue. Sorry for the problems this has caused.
The problem stemmed from a fix made to make the location manager more accurate… and there was a place where memory was released… twice. Ouch.
Thanks for your patience and I hope to have this approved very shortly.
- David
Great App, however three small issues that are related to Canada.
1. the $ in the price is incorrect as the prices are in cents, unless you want to move the decimal place. The normal gas buddy site just avoids putting the symbol there.
2. Also an issue in Canada, we measure in cents/L so we have prices as high as 100.0 cents and higher. The app seems to treat prices as alfa characters instead of doing a numeric sort so when prices are high 100.0 will be the first and lowest price followed by 96.4, 98.5 and so on. This really is annoying as I live in an area were prices keep going over that 99.9 cent mark.
3. Another minor one is that there is no logo for Petro-Canada as it is are rather common gas station here.
David, thanks for the feedback.
Version 2.01 is in now App Store Review… and as soon as we get word from Apple that it is approved and ready for sale, we’ll take a look and see what we can do to make the experience better for our Canadian users.
- David
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David,
I have version 2.02 and the original iPhone. For some reason, when I start it up, I just get the spinning circle and it never finds my location. It does work if I search by zip. Thanks. Great app. I miss it.
Doug,
We haven’t changed the location logic since 1.91, so I’m not sure why it worked for you on 2.01 but not 2.02. It might simply be coincidental.
Since you have an original iPhone, please remember that you don’t have true GPS, but your location services are dependent upon the network you are connected to (WiFi, etc.).
I’ve sent you an email as well. Sorry you are having issues with 2.02… please send me as much detail as you can and I’ll see what we can do to get you back to 100%.
David
Very frustrating to find out from this site that the iPod Touch REALLY isn’t supported by this app even tho iTunes says it is supported. This could be why your ratings suck on iTunes for this app. I suggest you have Apple remove iPod Touch compatibility till it actually is compatible
… I would like to see this item added to your great App:
1), After selecting a gas station of your choice and then selecting “Map” to get address and visual location from the built in Apple Map application …… would also be nice to go all the way with the actual gas station’s Name showing on the Map and matching Phone number, as it would be listed if I conducted a search directly on the Maps app myself.
thanks,
A-
Thanks again,
Anthony
Hi David,
I’m using Cheap Gas! V2.02 on my Gen1 Touch, which I recently upgraded to Ver 3.0 and the app seems to close eventually after the cog spins for a minute, or so. Before the upgrade it worked OK. Is there a new version coming that works with 3.0?
Thanks, ken
I’m using version 2.03 on an iPhone 3gs. I noticed that after pushing the blue “Map” button, the map that is opened is always the station at the top of the list, not the station that had been chosen.
For example, suppose the first station listed is the “Texaco on Main Street” but I decide to choose the “Chevron on 3rd Avenue” which is the fourth station on the list. When I push “Map” for the Chevron, the map opens to the Texaco’s location. It does that no matter which station I choose on the list. It always opens the map of the station that is listed first.
Oops. Will submit a fix right away to Apple.
A fix (2.031) has been submitted to Apple and we have asked that the fix be expedited. Sorry for the inconvenience.
David, I just upgraded my iPhone 3G to OS 3.0. I now get an error message when I open Cheap Gas that it is operational only in the U.S. and Canada. I’m in Atlanta, GA surrounded by gas stations. (It worked fine under 2.2.1.) What do you suggest?
John,
Check to make sure that the phone is not in airplane mode and that a network connection exists (E, 3G, or WiFi). There shouldn’t be a reason you’re seeing this message if you have a network connection.
David
David – Been using your app for a while now and LOVE it. Two quick questions though. First, when I am posting a gas station I’m not sure it gets posted. How long does it normally take to show up in CheapGas? I just posted one and it does not show on CheapGas but does on GasBuddy, however, GasBuddy says “Visitor” posted it not me.
Second question is, have you thought about adding a way to save “Favorite Stations”? As it is REAL hard to post as I am driving and may not know the exact address.
Brent,
If you go into Settings for Cheap Gas! (Using the Apple Settings.app), you can enter your GasBuddy.com credentials so that your prices get credited to your GasBuddy.com account. Credentialed prices seem to get preferential treatment wrt posting prices.
Will definitely look into adding station favorites… and thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated.
- David
Love the app in principle, but I’m one of those weirdos that doesn’t use 87 octane – I’ve got both premium and diesel vehicles. Are there any plans in the works to allow sorting by fuel type as with the website, so I can find the cheapest relevant-to-me fuel?
Please allow an option to “Show Stale Prices” so that we can update them!
Hi David,
I love the look & feel as well as the features of your Cheap Gas app. The other titles from David J. Hinson list is also impressive to me.
If it’s possible, please let me know which map service provider that you are using for driving mileage/distance from the current location to the gas station.
For example, I saw 0.3349 Mi.
Are you using googlemap or yahoo or mapquest?
I am interested to develop an application which could tell the distance like yours.
Thanks, Hai
Hai,
The actual distances are provided by the back-end service provider – in this case, GasBuddy.com – based upon the lat / long pairs I submit when requesting station data.
David
Thanks David. It’s clear to me now. Wish you will have more new cool features to the app for us all.
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Please add ability to sort by price of a specific grade, like mid-grade or premium
Love the app, have one small display issue, stations with a ‘&’ in there name on Gas Buddy get displayed in your app with ‘&’.
Example:
Vienna Gas & Auto Care
410 Maple Ave E
Vienna, VA
Love the App, and I’ve added some stations that I frequent that weren’t in the database.
Any chance of getting icons for stations like Costco and QuikTrip instead of the generic gas can?
Sure. We’ll see what we can do in the release after the next one (which should happen any time now).
Since the recent update the location does not use the gps. How can I fix this?
As long as Location Based services are enabled on the phone, the app will use your GPS location.
hi David, can you please explain how this really works, and how you created Cheap Gas? It is so amazing… but I am curious as to how it works and how it was built.
Thank you,
Ken Engelman
Connecticut
Ken,
I’m glad you like the application.
Cheap Gas! gets its pricing data from GasBuddy.com, using SOAP web services provided by GasBuddy.com.
Maybe at some future point I’ll do a post on the workings of Cheap Gas!. But time and space just aren’t available now to describe how the app works here.
- David
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Two more features needed: I only by one type of gas. Entering this as a setting would make the interface far more efficient. (By the way, I only by Diesel.)
Also, it should show stations by current location. I don’t always know the zip of my surroundings.
Please add these features.
It does show stations by current location, if you have location services enabled, and are using an iPhone.
I don’t know if it is GasBuddy or Cheap Gas, but half the time when I fire up Cheap Gas Costco doesn’t show up (from the parking lot.) Really odd.
Cheap Gas! submits coordinate info to GasBuddy.com. GasBuddy.com reports prices that are less than 36 hours old. So, if no one has reported a particular station to GB, or if the prices that are posted are older than 36 hours, then the station won’t be reported to Cheap Gas!
Are you aware that recently your app is not updating prices at GasBuddy.com even though the app says the price update did complete. Began about 2 weeks ago. I have updated to the newest version of the app. Thanks for your work on this !!
My cheap gas app has started giving me stations in Tx ( I live in Wa), and when I put in my Z.C., I get an error window telling me that a “list of nearby stations could not be
determined. That the app is only operational in US and Canada and to try a different postal code.” the app was working fine last week when I used it, went to check prices today and now it’s all weird. I’ve gone into settings and turned the zip code setting off and on again. The gps is working fine for other things that require a current location. What should I do?
Hmm… are location services enabled? Turning off location services and having zip code disabled should do the trick. One other thing – try to Map one of the incorrect stations, and then go back into the app.
- D
I am able to post and update gas prices at the regular level. However, when i try to update Plus or Premium levels, i get points on GasBuddy.com but the prices do not post.
I think you should add the ability to filter out stale prices by a month or 2 or 3 or a year.
I just updated Cheap Gas and it no longer works. When I launch it, I get a error message saying “A list of nearby stations could not be determined. Cheap Gas! is operational only in the U.S. and Canada. Please try searching by another code.” I’m in Texas (which I think is still in the US. I am using an iPhone 3GS (32GB) with location services turned on. It will not determine my location, nor will it work when I put in my zip code in the settings. The previous version worked fine.
Can you help?
llk
Sorry for the inconvenience.
As ridiculous as it may sound, Apple required that we put in the wording that “Cheap Gas! is operational in the U.S. and Canada” for that message… even though the app is for sale ONLY in the U.S. and Canada.
Really, all that the message means is that GasBuddy.com did not return any station data. This can happen when all the stations in your area have “gone stale” (are older than 36 hours old) or if station data is unavailable for whatever reason.
Please let me know if this is still the case in the morning (12/1/2009). I just tried locally here in Central Florida and pricing data is readily available.
- David
Good app, I use it frequently. A nice feature would be to be able to display and sort by Plus or Premium on the front screen instead of having to display for each one separately.
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I have yet to be able to use this to find gas prices in winnipeg Manitoba Winnipeggasprices.com with postal code r3g2l7 I am using an Ipod touch version 3.2 operationg system not broken
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David,
Does version 3.03 really require OS 3.1.3? Just curious since I’m on 3.1.2 and can not upgrade since you changed the minimum software required. Can you re-submit with the actual OS requirement if it is less than 3.1.3?
Thanks, Dean
I have been using this for over 1 year it it worked great on my 32 3Gs and it always worked great. After the last update all I get for prices are $0.00. Why would you release an update for the iPhone 4 that would shaft all us 3Gs users? David J. Hinson shame on you!
Stephen,
The gas prices are all user supported and are supplied by GasBuddy.com. In fact, all the zero priced stations you are seeing in Cheap Gas! and displayed the same way in the official GasBuddy mobile apps. The app reports what the GasBuddy service – and ultimately, GasBuddy users – reports. They are reporting zero prices. We are displaying zero prices.
The app itself hasn’t been updated since June 30 2010, and works even on any phone running iOS 3.x. No one got shafted.
Shame is something that should be felt by someone who has committed some moral wrong. Providing a free software app that is used by over a million people and the occasional cry baby doesn’t quite fall under that category. So, I’m good. Thanks.
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Love the iPhone app, but it would help if searches could be made using “city, st.” instead of zip codes. I sometimes would like to find out if gas is cheaper in the next town when traveling, but unless you know the postal code you cannot search for prices. Just a suggestion. If I’m missing something, please let me know. Thanks!
Hello David, we are trying to the same concept of this app, in my country, we really would like to talk to you, do you have an email where we can contact you?
Thank you
Luis Cifuentes