Settings
Settings let you customise how the app works. Some settings only change the appearance of the user interface, while others significantly affect the algorithms used for generating reports. You can also view information about your subscription and licences here. Settings can be reset to their default values. When a setting offers multiple choices, the default value is marked with a *.
Subscription, licences
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Google account | This is the Google account you used to log in when first launching the app. Your subscription and the simultaneously usable devices are tied to this Google account. The button on the right lets you log out of the app. Your previously downloaded data is not lost when you log out. You will be able to see it again after logging back in with either a new or a previously used Google account. |
| Subscription | The status of your subscription or trial period. Press the button on the right for more detailed information and to manage your subscription (subscribe, cancel). |
| Licences | The number of devices currently in use. Press the button on the right to manage the devices you want to use. |
| UUID | The unique identifier of the app. This is different on every device and also changes when the app is reinstalled on the same device. The UUID lets you uniquely identify your licences. |
Driver
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Language | The app is translated into 27 languages. The device language is used by default. If the device language is not in our list of supported languages, English will be the default. |
| Base country | To correctly apply the rules on rest and driving times, we need to know which country you consider your home country — where you habitually reside and return to for rest each month. Special compensation rules apply when multiple consecutive reduced weekly rest periods are taken outside this country. Until this is set, the app will continuously remind you to configure it. |
| Bus driver | Special rules apply to the rest and working time of drivers engaged in passenger transport. Here you can activate consideration of these rules for detecting violations and planning future rest periods. |
Downloading
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| File name format | Data downloaded from a driver card or tachograph must be stored in binary files with standardised content. However, the file name and extension are not specified in the standard. Various methods are used for naming the file. Here you can choose which one you prefer. We emphasise that this has no effect on the content of the downloaded files — it only affects the file naming. |
| Card compatibility level | Some outdated tachograph data analysis programs do not recognise the files created when downloading newer types of driver cards, and incorrectly flag them as corrupt. If you lower the compatibility level, we create files whose content is also recognised by outdated programs. Of course, this means that the files created this way will be missing the new types of data found on newer cards. |
| Card timestamp | If you disable this option, the download timestamp will not be written back to the card when downloading via USB card reader. As a consequence, the next time the card is downloaded, it will not be visible that the current download took place. If you download driver card data via a Bluetooth-enabled tachograph, this setting has no effect, because the tachograph always writes the download timestamp back to the card. We recommend only disabling this option if you are fully aware of the consequences! |
| Fast card reading | Most card readers fully comply with the CCID standard. For these types of readers, maximum reading speed can be used. However, for a few card readers this is not the case — they may require a reduced reading speed. (This feature activates automatically if an error occurs during card reading! If the error was caused only by a random USB connection drop, you can re-enable fast card reading.) |
| Starting if card reader detectable | If you enable this feature, the app starts automatically when you connect a card reader to your phone. If the driver card is already in the reader, downloading also starts automatically. On phones with newer Android versions, you will first receive a notification that you need to tap. If multiple apps capable of downloading the card are installed, it depends on the system which app's permission request appears first. Since only one app can use the card reader at a time, downloading may fail. |
Regulations
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Working time frame | Drivers' working time is subject to various rules. One rule states that weekly working time must not exceed 48 hours averaged over 4 months. However, a collective agreement may deviate from this rule and set the reference period at between 1 and 6 months. |
| Daily working time | Not every driver works full time (8 hours a day). Here you can specify how many hours constitute a working day in your case. In the working time summary report, the system counts this number of hours as working time for days off as well. |
| Night period | In the case of night work, daily working time must not exceed 10 hours. Here you can set which period counts as night in your case. This varies by country (in most countries it is the period between 00:00 and 04:00). According to the rule, it must be at least 4 hours long and must fall within the 00:00–07:00 time interval. Attention! This period must not be confused with the period during which employers pay higher wages to employees. That is not configured here, but under the Higher wage period setting. |
| Night work does not limit daily working time | Under general rules, night work limits daily working time (maximum 10 hours). However, a collective agreement may deviate from this rule. We recommend only enabling this feature if you are fully aware of the consequences! |
| Inserting the card does not affect the start of working time | Working time begins when the driver inserts the card into the tachograph (Recital (8) of the preamble to Regulation (EU) 165/2014). However, in some places this is not taken into account and working time only begins with the first activity (driving, other work, availability). This makes the rest period a few minutes longer and the working time the same amount shorter. We recommend only enabling this feature if you are fully aware of the consequences! |
| Availability can be considered as a break | In principle, availability time does not count as a break. However, many users have stated that the authorities accept the interruption of continuous work by availability time. This is indeed the case for multi-manned operations — and we account for this — but not in other cases. We recommend only enabling this feature if you are fully aware of the consequences! |
| Short breaks (<15 min) are not counted as work | In our view, short breaks qualify as other work. However, many users have stated that the authorities do not count short breaks towards working time (when checking weekly working time or continuous work). We recommend only enabling this feature if you are fully aware of the consequences! |
| Duration of vehicle inspection | Regulations require drivers to inspect their vehicle before departure. The authorities typically check whether there is a sufficiently long period of other work before driving in the activity records. Here you can set what length of inspection period the authorities accept. |
Working time summary
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| First day of the week | For historical reasons, some places do not consider Monday to be the first day of the week but Sunday, and align wage payment periods accordingly. We take this into account in the working time summary report when generating weekly summaries. |
| First day of the month | Some companies align wage payment periods not to calendar months but to specific calendar days. We take this into account in the working time summary report when generating weekly summaries. |
| Higher wage period | During certain periods, employers pay higher wages for work performed at night than during the day. Here you can set which period applies to you. Once you have set the period applicable to you, the working time summary report will separately collect work falling within this period and display those rows in a different colour. Attention! This period must not be confused with the night period during which work limits daily working time (maximum 10 hours). |
| Paid availability | Here you can set whether availability time should be counted towards your working time. This setting is taken into account in the working time summary report. |
| Paid break | Drivers are required to take breaks during work. Some employers count these breaks as working time, others do not. It is also common for only a portion of breaks to be counted. We have tried to provide a general setting that covers most working time calculation methods. This setting is taken into account in the working time summary report.
|
Devices (reading)
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Warning every 28 days | The driver card must be downloaded every 28 days. If you enable this feature, you will receive a notification about the deadline every 20 hours between the 25th and 35th day after the last download. This happens even if you have not launched the app since the last download. If you restart the phone, the 20-hour period restarts from 0 hours. Due to a regulatory change, your activity can be checked up to 56 days back during a roadside inspection. However, the obligation to download every 28 days is entirely independent of this and remains unchanged. To use this feature, you must allow the app to send you notifications. Therefore, when you enable the feature, a pop-up will ask for this permission. If you later revoke this permission, you will not receive the 28-day notification. On some phones, previously set timers do not restart automatically after a reboot or system update. In such cases, you need to restart the app to reactivate the timers. Without this, you will not receive the 28-day notifications. |
| Automatic backup | If you enable this feature, the app database and configuration settings are automatically backed up to our server weekly. Backups are retained for six months. The backup can be useful if you need to reinstall the app for any reason. When reinstalling the app, we will offer to restore the last backup. Weekly automatic backup does not guarantee that the very latest state is always available on our server. Therefore, if you know that a reinstall will be needed, start a backup manually. To protect your personal data, your downloaded data is primarily stored on your own phone. If you enable this feature, a copy of your personal data will be created on our servers. If you do not use this feature, you are responsible for backing up your data by manually starting the backup to file function. |
| Primary recipient of emails | You can share the files created during card downloading with others. If you generally send the downloaded files to the same email address, it is inconvenient to enter the same address over and over. If you enter an email address here, we will automatically fill it in the recipient field. After pressing the button in front of the email address, you can easily select the appropriate email address from the address book that appears. |
| Automatic send after reading | If you enable this feature, the file created after each successful download is automatically sent by email to the predefined recipient. The message is sent via our server, so the recipient will see that the email came from noreply@driver-card-reader.com. However, the message will contain your name and email address. You will not be notified of any reply the recipient may send, because the noreply@driver-card-reader.com email address does not accept incoming messages. A success message about the automatic email being sent after downloading does not guarantee that the recipient actually received the message. It only indicates that the downloaded file was successfully forwarded to our server. The email attachment is a standard binary file whose content is defined by regulations. This file must be retained for one year and handed over to the inspecting authority during an inspection. Windows (and other operating systems) do not natively recognise this file type. The recipient must have a program that understands this file type. To protect your personal data, your downloaded data is primarily stored on your own phone. If you enable this feature, the downloaded file is transmitted to our server. Our server then forwards it without storing it to an external service called Resend, which delivers the email to the recipient. |
User interface
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Time zone for reports | Timestamps shown in the various reports are displayed in the device's time zone by default. If you want to deviate from this (for example, you want to view the activity list in UTC), you can select a different time zone here. |
| Duration format | A duration can be displayed in two ways in reports. These are equivalent and differ only in how the duration is formatted: hh:mm (e.g. 04:30) or hh.hh (decimal, e.g. 4.50). |
| Distance unit | Tachographs record data in kilometres by default, but you can switch to miles if you prefer. We automatically convert the odometer reading, distance travelled, and speed. |
| Excel cell separator | When we convert reports to Excel format, we actually create a CSV file. This file type can be opened by Excel (and many other applications). However, some applications use a semicolon and others use a comma to separate data fields (and of course some applications can interpret both). |
| Light/Dark theme | You can set your phone to use a dark or light user interface, or have it adapt automatically to ambient conditions. The app also adapts to the system setting, but here you can override it. |
| Graph colors | In the graphical activity list, different colours are assigned to each activity type (driving, availability, other work, rest). Here you can choose from five colour schemes the one you find most appealing. |
| Using graph colors in the activity list | In the text-based activity list, different activity types are distinguished by familiar icons. If you enable this feature, the background colour of activities will take on the colours used in the graphical activity list. |
| Limiting the font size of tables | As the system font size increases, tables become progressively wider. Beyond a certain size they extend beyond the screen edge, requiring horizontal scrolling to view all columns. By enabling this feature you can prevent the app from following the system font size increase without limit, so no horizontal scrolling will be needed. |
Restoring default values
From the menu, the Default option resets all settings to their factory values (with confirmation).