What Car Is That?

What Car Is That?

OS : android Size : 9.77 MBVersion : 11.0.2

Updated : January 27, 2026

appIntroduction

Launching Your What Car Is That? Experience

What Car Is That? is a mobile utility application available on iOS and Android. Its primary purpose is to demystify vehicles by providing users with instant access to a wealth of non-personal, technical data. Simply by scanning a license plate or manually entering a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), users can unlock details about a car’s make, model, engine type, and more. This practical approach differentiates it from more generic car enthusiast apps, positioning itself as a focused informational tool for the curious, the professional, or the prospective buyer.

What Car Is That?

Exploring the Core Mechanics of Vehicle Identification

The app’s functionality is built upon two robust technological pillars: ALPR and VIN decoding. The experience is designed for simplicity. You are presented with a camera interface; point it at a vehicle’s license plate, and the app’s ALPR system (also known as LAPI) automatically captures the number. It then cross-references this number against its extensive international database to pull the relevant vehicle specifications. Alternatively, if you have physical access to a car, you can locate its 17-character VIN—typically found on the dashboard or driver’s side door jamb—and type it in manually for an even more detailed report.

What Car Is That?

The Creator and Platform for What Car Is That?

The developer behind What Car Is That? maintains a focused portfolio on utility applications, with this app being a standout tool for automotive identification. The company has consistently updated the app to improve its scanning accuracy and expand its database coverage, reflecting a commitment to its user base. The app is widely accessible, available for free download on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, making it compatible with the vast majority of modern smartphones.

What Car Is That?

A Deep Dive into the App's Functional Systems

What Car Is That?

Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR/LAPI)

This is the app's most impressive feature. The system uses your phone’s camera to instantly scan and recognize license plates from a photo. It doesn’t just read the characters; it also performs a check to detect invalid or unregistered plates. Once a valid plate is identified, the app serves up the corresponding vehicle data in seconds. This is invaluable for quickly identifying cars on the street, in a parking lot, or at a car meet, solving the problem of visual recognition with technological efficiency.

Comprehensive VIN Decoder

For a deeper analysis, the VIN decoder is indispensable. The standardized VIN acts as a vehicle's unique fingerprint, containing encoded information about its manufacturer, model year, plant of assembly, and engine type. The app deciphers this code, providing a detailed breakdown that is incredibly useful for mechanics sourcing parts, used car buyers verifying a vehicle's history, or simply for learners who want to understand what each character in a VIN represents.

International Database Coverage

A key strength of What Car Is That? is its wide-ranging support for vehicles from numerous countries, including France, Portugal, Italy, Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, Scandinavian nations, and the United States, with beta support for Russia. This broad coverage makes it a useful tool for travelers, expatriates, or anyone dealing with imported vehicles, although the developers are transparent that not every single vehicle may be present in their database.

User Feedback and Practical Highlights

  Intuitive and Fast Interface: Users frequently praise the clean, updated interface that makes scanning a license plate as simple as taking a photo. The process from scan to result is remarkably quick.

  Focus on Privacy and Accuracy: A major highlight is the app’s strict adherence to vehicle data only. It explicitly does not access, show, or store any personal owner information (name, address, registration details), which addresses significant privacy concerns.

  Practical Utility: The provided information, especially the MOTOR CODE details, is highlighted as being particularly useful for practical tasks like locating correct spare parts.

  Variable Database Completeness: As noted by the developer, the database does not include every vehicle. Users occasionally report missing data for older, rare, or very new models, though updates continually improve this.

Why What Car Is That? Is Worth Trying

What Car Is That? is an essential download for car enthusiasts, automotive students, mechanics, and used car shoppers. Its primary strength lies in its dual-approach functionality, marrying instant visual recognition with deep VIN analysis, all while maintaining a strong stance on user privacy. The app delivers significant practical value by putting a comprehensive vehicle database in your pocket, making the task of identifying and learning about cars not just easy, but genuinely fascinating. For a free tool, it offers a professional-grade service that satisfies curiosity and provides genuine utility.

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appInformation
  • Owner : GLiApps
  • System : android
  • Category : Auto & Vehicles
  • Update Time : January 27, 2026
  • Version : 11.0.2
  • Package ID : ro.gliapps.quellevoiture
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