[Test] autoscout24.de – germanys workshop portal no. 1

"the car is the german’s favorite child," as the saying goes. In this respect, the market for used cars in germany is not exactly small, and to get an overview of it you need specialized portals. Like autoscout24, which in the latest update for their app introduced a pleasant new feature.

App idea

There is no need to say anything more about autoscout24 itself, because everyone who was looking for a new used car has already visited the online portal for vehicle search. it’s not for nothing that autoscout24 boasts the largest database in europe, so you don’t have to be limited to the german-speaking world to search for a vehicle. With the app, the leading portal is also expanding its offering for mobile devices, and we would like to take a closer look at the app.

Installation

Autoscout24 can be installed as usual free of charge from the google play store, whereby the app itself weighs in at 9.3 MB and after downloading some data at 15 MB. So if you don’t have several hundred MB of free space in your data plan, it’s better to install the app in a WLAN network. Once the installation has been successfully completed, the user is greeted by a pleasantly tidy interface with large buttons for the individual functions.

Also in dealing with the system permissions of the app autoscout24 is very transparent, a condition that is sorely missed in some other android software.
[EXPAND permissions]

# "your accounts" – creation and use of your autoscout24 account, storage of your login data in the account manager

# "hardware controls" – use the feature "visualsearch": take a photo in the app to search for similar cars on autoscout24

# "location" – circle search of cars, motorcycles and garages at your current location

# "net communication" – search for cars, motorcycles and garages, and synchronize your data with your autoscout24 account

# "phone calls" – at the touch of a button, contact vehicle providers, garages, and third-party providers such as insurance and financing service providers by phone

# "save" – save your favorites on the notepad including the vehicle images for offline use

# system tools" – after logging in, the data on the notepad can be synchronized with your autoscout24 account

Usability

Immediately after starting the app, the main menu appears pleasantly tidy and with large buttons for the individual core functions of the app. you can start the search for cars or motorcycles directly via "vehicle search" with the parameters brand, model, final price, first registration, mileage, location and accident vehicles. Or you want to know which vehicle you have in front of you, then you can also start a visual search with the app. This means that you simply take a picture of the vehicle you want on the street and receive offers from the autoscout24 vehicle market according to the type and model. If a hit is found, the owner can be called directly from the app or contacted by e-mail, provided the seller has entered the relevant data. this button is quite helpful and also finds its use, however, an additional display of the phone number and e-mail address in plain text would be desirable.
in times of google glass a real time function based on augmented reality would be the icing on the cake of the visual search function, but who knows, this might already be in the works?

If one is still undecided, results can also be sorted into a watch list for later comparison, which can be synchronized with one’s own profile on the website. The scope of information is identical to that of the website, so there is no need to worry about any limitations in this area. Only visually better prepared could be called this, after all, a smartphone is only conditionally website-suitable on the road.

A new feature is the online portal’s workshop search function, which can be used to display workshops in the immediate vicinity according to adjustable criteria such as the user’s own vehicle or specific performance levels. The search is pleasantly fast and reliable. In addition to contract workshops, independent workshops are also displayed, including address, call function and everything else you need to know about the workshop in question.

Apart from these core functions of the website, the app offers access to the autoscout24 magazine. How could it be otherwise, these articles are all about the car. Stop the german favorite child. In addition to reports on specific models, test reports or simply advice, everything to do with cars appears in the autoscout24 magazine. Here, the web front end is used instead of a display adapted for mobile devices. This makes it difficult to avoid frequent scrolling to the left and right, not to mention the potential data hunger caused by large images.

Design

As already mentioned, the design of the app is pleasantly uncluttered and anything but cluttered. The important data are immediately visible. When developing the app, autoscout24 also thought about tablet users, as the app offers an adapted interface for the display format on the one hand and the higher resolution on the other hand. This makes it easy to browse through the autoscout24 range from the comfort of your sofa. However, the developers could have made the icons a bit bigger.