Product Reviews
Money at 30: Nexit App Review
Spoiler alert: Nexit is the road trip app I’ve waited for all my life. Okay, the “all my life” part may be slightly hyperbolic since apps weren’t really a thing in 1986 when I was born — but it’s been a long time. While map apps allow you to look up how far you are from a given business and other services like GasBuddy aim you toward cheap gas stations, the frustration for me is that it was never really clear how out of the way these stops would be until you took a closer look. But, finally, Nexit provides me with exactly what I want while on a road trip.
With that major tease out of the way, let’s take a closer look at what Nexit has to offer and why I’ve come to love it so much.
What is Nexit and How Does it Work?
What is Nexit and How Does it Work?
About Nexit
Nexit sums its premise up best on its website: “All navigation apps tell you where to drive. Only Nexit tells you where to stop.” When you use the app while on the road, it will allow you to browse and search locations that are on the way. This allows you to find what you need along the highway without venturing too far out of your way and can also help you find the best gas prices.
Exit info
The first thing you’ll see when you open Nexit is a map of the road accompanied by the upcoming exits. Next to each exit, you’ll also see a set of icons/logos depicting what businesses are at said exit. By tapping those icons, you’ll be able to take a better look at everything available. For gas stations, this also includes the current price for unleaded while hotels will display current booking prices. Also, although logos for plenty of big brands are included, you may encounter more generic icons that you can then tap for more info.
Searching locations
With Nexit, you can search specific restaurants, gas stations, hotels, or other locations you want to stop at and it will show you where the nearest one is. Even better, though, you can search multiple locations at once in an attempt to economize your trip. For example, say we want to stop at a Pilot for gas but also want Wendy’s — well, we can search for both and see if any nearby exit offers both of these locations. Meanwhile, you can also just search “Wendy’s + gas” if you’re not picky about what station you want to stop at.
If you don’t have a specific location in mind, you can search upcoming options by amenities as well. Such specifications include places with WiFi, pet-friendly locations, and more. While some of these amenities apply to restaurant locations, they’re probably a bit more useful for hotels. Either way, this could be a good route (no pun intended) if you’re looking to find something but you don’t quite know what it is.
Cheapest gas alerts
Another useful feature in Nexit is the ability to see what upcoming location has the cheapest gas. Unlike GasBuddy, which uses crowdsourced pricing data, I’m not exactly sure where Nexit pulls its prices from. Nevertheless, they’ve been accurate in my experience.
Upcoming features
When I look in the current Nexit app, I see teases for a couple of upcoming features. The first is something called “Trip History,” which I’d imagine shows some of the places you’ve stopped before — but that’s just a guess. As for the other, it’s called “Vehicle Settings.” Again, this is just a total assumption, but this name makes me think that you’ll be able to provide details about your car in order for Nexit to better understand your fuel range etc. If that’s the case, that sounds incredibly useful. Alas, I guess we’ll need to wait and see for sure.
iOS Only
Now for the bad news. Currently, Nexit is only available for iOS devices. However, on their website, they do have a waitlist for an upcoming Android version. Hopefully that Android edition comes soon as I think this is a beneficial app to have.
My Experience with Nexit
My Experience with Nexit
Even though I’ve had Nexit installed on my phone for a while now, I finally got the chance to try the app out for myself on a recent trip to Florida. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed with the results. First, I found that the search function made it easy to figure out whether we should stop for our desired restaurant despite non-ideal timing or whether we could wait a bit. Meanwhile, I also give Nexit partial credit for guiding me to the amazing Buc-ee’s as, when I booted up the app, it informed me that the epic store also had the lowest priced gas in the area.
As for downsides, I will note that Nexit is best used for highway driving. Although the app does have food, hotel, and gas info for elsewhere, it’s most effective for finding locations right off the road. Thus, while I might use it from time to time at home, it’s definitely more of a road trip companion in my book.
Final Thoughts on Nexit
Final Thoughts on Nexit
Despite standard navigation apps like Google Maps getting better over the years by supporting more food and fuel searches, in my experience, they still don’t compare to what Nexit offers. Using Nexit, I can finally figure out the absolute best stops on the road so we can get what we want and get on our way. Therefore, if you’re a road trip warrior like I am, I’d definitely recommend giving the app a try.
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