Frequently Asked Questions:

How does Co-Park know parking spots without manual reporting from users?

The core innovation of Co-Park lies in its ability to autonomously identify available parking spots. By periodically operating in the background, the app analyzes the most recent locations from your device. Through sophisticated calculations, it precisely pinpoints the location where a user has likely started their car and vacated a parking spot.

This process enables Co-Park to accurately detect and share the availability of parking spaces without requiring manual reporting from users.

How often does Co-Park conduct these calculations in the background?

The frequency of background calculations by Co-Park varies and is adaptive, primarily influenced by your phone's operating system and current usage patterns. This means the app might perform these calculations at intervals ranging from a few minutes to several days apart.

Based on our testing, we've observed that, on average, Co-Park conducts background calculations about 20 times a day. However, this number can decrease to as few as 5 times or increase to 60 times or more, depending on the specific conditions and requirements of your phone’s system.

Does Co-Park drain a lot of battery?

No, that is one of the best things about Co-Park. As mentioned previously, testing showed that Co-Park runs roughly 20 times in a day. The algorithm is so fast and efficient, that even on higher frequencies of 60 or more, battery usage rarely goes above 2%, and typically stays at 1%.

Does Co-Park require location permissions?

Yes, Co-Park requires always-on location permissions. Some users have expressed concerns regarding the always-on location permissions required by Co-Park, and we want to clarify how and why we use this feature, ensuring your comfort and trust in our approach. Here is why Co-Park request always-on location permissions:

Minimal Effort, Maximum Benefit: The always-on permission enables Co-Park to seamlessly identify when a parking spot becomes available, without any manual input from you. This automation ensures you can contribute to and benefit from the community effortlessly.
Sporadic and Secure Tracking: Despite the 'always-on' label, our app checks your location very infrequently – sometimes a few times a minute when actively searching for a spot, other times it might be hours or even days before the next check, depending on your activity.
Community Impact: The strength of Co-Park lies in our community. The more members who participate fully, the richer the pool of parking spots becomes, directly benefiting everyone.

We understand the importance of privacy and trust, especially in today’s digital age. By choosing always-on location permissions, you’re not just finding and sharing parking spots; you’re participating in a community effort to make urban parking easier, while we ensure your data's integrity and confidentiality.

Does Co-Park use my data?

No, Co-Park only uses your location data to identify when a parking spot becomes available. This process involves transmitting only the coordinates of the vacant spot, without any personal identifiers or additional data from your phone.

This literally means the only information that leaves your phone are the pair of coordinates for the vacated parking spot. All other data stays on your phone, are used by the algorithm and deleted shortly after.

If Co-Park doesn’t collect data, how does it intend to make money?

Short answer, subscriptions.

Eventually, when Co-Park is used by enough people, and we feel we bring enough value to our users to justify a price tag, we intend to introduce premium features for a $5-$10 per month fee.

Since Co-Park is so early in development, we still haven’t ironed out the details of what will be premium and what will be free. It is possible we may allow 2 months free, followed by monthly fees. Or we may reduce the number of spots one sees in the free version, while premium uses have a more desirable selection of spots.