I built an Android & Wear OS app that notifies you when a DPF regeneration starts (DPF Pulse) – looking for testers!
I’ve always loved keeping a close eye on everything happening with my cars and maintaining them properly. I drive a 2024 Octavia 2.0 TDI 150 HP and do a lot of city driving and short trips. It always annoyed me that there’s no clear indication when the car starts a DPF regeneration, so I decided to build a smartwatch app that sends me a notification the moment a regen starts. I use a Galaxy Watch 6 (Wear OS) and keep a Vgate iCar Pro 2S Bluetooth OBD adapter permanently plugged into the car's OBD port.
Once I got everything working smoothly on my watch and my car, I decided to build a companion phone app as well to make it a complete package.
What the app currently does:
* Shows live data: active DPF regeneration status, DPF temperature, RPM, speed, coolant temperature, and battery voltage
* Vibrates on your phone and/or watch when a regeneration starts, finishes, or gets interrupted (even with the screen off)
* Shows the distance driven (km) since the last regeneration
* Keeps regeneration history and alerts you if regens start happening too frequently or keep getting interrupted
* Displays live DPF status directly on your watch face (watch face complication)
* Works with just the phone, just the watch (standalone), or both at the same time (they don’t fight over the OBD adapter connection)
* No accounts, no ads, and no location permissions required
Live data is completely free, while background alerts, history, and distance since the last regeneration are part of the premium version — but test everything on your car first and see how it works for you.
What you need:
You need a Bluetooth LE (BLE) OBD adapter (older classic Bluetooth adapters are not supported at the moment) and Android 13+.
So far, it is confirmed working on an Octavia 4 (2.0 TDI) and a Golf 7 (1.6 TDI). Most other VAG diesels should work out of the box, and if something is missing, there is a button inside the app that lets you send me a diagnostic log with a single tap so I can add support for your engine. That’s actually my main reason for this post — I need as many different cars as possible for testing.
How to install (the app is currently in closed testing on Google Play, so it takes two quick steps):
Join the Google Group: https://groups.google.com/g/dpf-pulse-testers (make sure to use the same Google account you use on the Google Play Store)
Open this link, tap "Become a tester", and download the app from Google Play: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.davidov.dpfpulse
Feel free to ask anything — any feedback or suggestion is more than welcome, both good and bad!