California Road Report Reviews

I finally opened Cali for the first time this season to check chain control and was surprised to discover the subscription model had been implemented for things that were usually free. I initially balked, for about five minutes... then remembered that I had been using Cali for years for free, so the small yearly fee didn’t seem unreasonable and I signed up.

I live in the mountains, so I normally use Cali for chain control notifications and CHP incidents along the long mtn highways to prevent me from driving to the bottom of the mountain, only to discover a crash and closed road at the bottom. It works great, especially in driving mode when it reads the incidents out to you. Cali does other things too, but I’ve never used those features so I don’t know how well they work. But if you live or travel in snowy conditions, this is the easiest way to find chain conditions, and is well worth the yearly fee for this feature alone.

I’ve had Cali on my phone for many years. Prior to downloading it I had the CHP site bookmarked to a screen, but had to deal with full site info on a small screen. Over the years this thing just keeps getting better. Traffic incidents (including response times and actions), rest stop locations (and whether opened or closed), chain requirements, traffic cameras (many of them live streaming), and road closures. If an incident isn’t showing on Cali it is also absent on the CHP incident page. All this information is available on various sites if one takes the trouble to hunt for it, but it’s all here in an easy to use app.

Cali has had some ups and downs, but the developer responds to questions and suggestions in a timely manner and puts effort into its improvement. Personally, I end up wasting short stretches of time looking at the various traffic cams...especially during snow events.

Update: Nice to get a response from the developer indicating he’s working on updating Cali. The highway camera feature has been restored. Thanks! . . . .

WHERE ARE THE HIGHWAY CAMERAS?!?! Cali WAS great until I installed the latest update yesterday. Now when I select highway cameras, there’s nothing there (says “0”) I really relied on the visual especially of those highways in the high country.
Such a bummer not to have them. Please bring them back!

I downloaded Cali the other day as we were planning a trip over Donner Summit and I wanted to stay on top of the road conditions. Each time I checked, the info was current with the requirement for chains/snow tires and the storm conditions. Cali is easy to navigate. You choose from the list of either interstate highways, state highways or other roads. You then get up to the minute conditions. Perfect! I also like that you can link to the highway cameras that are available for that highway to get a visual of conditions. Also, information is provided for rest stops and what amenities are available. Thanks for a great, reliable app!!

I’d give Cali 10 stars if I could.
I drive throughout California for business and road conditions sometimes make the difference between making it one time or even making it at all. I’ve used it for six months and has helped me spot traffic jams before I get to them, calls out hazards, rest stops, and construction before I even depart. Can activate when I’m driving.
ONLY COMPLAINT: When driving, the map doesn’t track my location. I must swipe the screen to keep up with myself, if not, I drive offscreen. Am I missing a setting to enable that or is the tracking function a bug itself?
Anyway, great app maybe an App Store mvp.

I love Cali, i have been using Cali for 5 or so years. I travel a lot over Donner Pass on I-80 and it is important to know what the weather conditions are, what road hazards there are, and specifically where the chain check points are. Not only could you read what’s going on they have cameras all around California that allow you to see live what’s happening in that spot. The updates of information have always been quick and close to real time.

This is the best app to use if you travel in California or over the mountain!

So many problems with this update! Nothing makes sense with the new UI. Clicking on some incidences only makes the map zoom, but won’t open the details of the incidence. Cali also apparently thinks I’m currently in LA, but I can’t find any settings or options. There are no helpful instructions. Sorting by distance only shows me things 324 miles away and turns on driving mode, which activates an immediate loud voice (very uncool).
I used to use Cali to check for accidents and road conditions because it was easy to see a list and map of any potential issues. Now I guess I’ll just have to use Waze for that too. Will delete Cali in a few days if it’s not updated again, but I am not feeling too optimistic. Sadly, it’s really, really bad.

I love Cali! I’m a truck driver and I use it all the time to see if there is chain control over Donner Pass!

I was so disappointed when there was an update and you got rid of the ability to check each highway by its route number, such as I-5 or I-80, thank you for bringing that back with the highway button/icon!

The only thing that seems to be missing is the location arrow that let’s you zoom in or highlight the areas that you are currently in. I really liked that feature as I can’t use my fingers to find myself on the map while I’m I’m driving. If you could add that back I’ll give you 5 Stars!

(Update) Thank you for adding the location arrow back, loving your app and appreciate that you actually care about the users of your app! Great job! Also, there should be more 5 star ratings, Cali does what it’s supposed to!

We live in a small rural village in the High Sierra at 7600’ surrounded by 8000’ passes. Weather and driving conditions are always tricky. Just going to the doctor or hardware store can take over an hour and that’s to get to a town only 20 miles down the road. I use CRR in bad weather any time I go somewhere. Maps are fine but California Road Report actually lets me know what’s going on and what the road conditions are. Checking Carr is just as important as carrying an emergency road kit and extra water.

Pleasantly surprised to find Cali has been upgraded to work on current Apple devices.

Now the issue - though SFO is a reality nice place - the default opening of Cali to the SFO area is annoying. There are other communities / geographic areas of interest / concern to Users. As I attempt to move the map to the area of interest - the map disappears. All that is shown are the incident reference points. The map may reappear….. or I may need to re-start Cali .

Suggestion - consider a way to “tag” location(s) / geographic area(s) of regular interest or concern, thus allowing for a more rapid acquisition of related and relevant information.

Bought a new iPhone, loaded Cali and the color bars are not on Cali for traffic flow conditions. I use Cali exclusively for knowing driving conditions and the color bars were a great help in knowing what was ahead for traffic conditions, but now they’re not there. Is it just a glitch on my phone, or is it something that was changed??? Either way, Cali is still 5 Stars to Me.

I originally switched to Cali years ago because the other app stopped working. Are used this out in the field and it was working great… Nice and brainless. You turn it on, you get your info, you turn it off.
However, the developer redesign Cali and it seems like it takes forever to load and only 1/4 of the time it actually works the way it supposed to. I had to download another app just so I could have something at work. And after several updates over several months, seems to be the same. Cali is now officially deleted off my phone.

I’m all about planning ahead, especially when it comes to road travel. I needed an app that will give me reliable information when I need it and Cali lives up to it. I love that it includes road cameras along the route I intend going and driving in snow for the first time has name a little weary. So I need some type of reassurance that my trips with my family will be safe and enjoyable. Highly recommend to all fellow travelers

Literally was told by chain control guys to download it as the highway was closed in the Tahoe area. As I pulled over downloaded and opened Cali I read the highway was just opened and was able to turn around and hop right back on. I otherwise would have driven back on the highway & waited in the traffic again. Worth the download!!!

Also bring the chain control dudes pizza.

Loved Cali until a few weeks ago when we (husband has it too) stopped getting notifications about CHP incidents. Looking at the update info, it seems this has now been moved to a “paid recurring subscription” option.

Since I’m not big on opening an app every 20 mins to see what’s new (as opposed to getting a Lock Screen notification), Cali is no longer useful to me. I’d pay a one time fee but not a monthly/yearly subscription fee just to get notifications.

Prior to Cali change, I was able to access the road cameras easily. This was something I appreciated as I travel over the Sierra often. Since the change, it is hit or miss whether or not the cameras show up. This has always been a good App that I relied on, but now it’s not as reliable as in the past.

I have reviewed Cali before. I do not understand anyone who give it less than 5 stars. ItThis a great app for those of us on the road here in California. Adam continues to add features and make improvements. He is also responsive to the extreme to suggestions. works better than the few alternatives and is invaluable where I live. Adam keep up the good work,

Love that Cali sends sound and lockscreen notifications when chain control goes into affect and when it is lifted. Also extremely handy that you can see the chain control level (R1-R2-R3) displayed with the icon without having to click on the icon to find out. Thanks to the developer for fast responses to my suggestions.

Response to developer response: Not only was I “centered” on the highway, I was working and attempting to inform customers of the chain control conditions. Cali is up to date with chain controls tonight but a night such as last night (11/29) with the chain control dynamic and moving, your app is slow to catch up. I can’t recommend it to travelers again until I see marked improvement.
Cali is great for viewing hwy cameras but it is severely lacking in up to date locations of chain controls. For that use, it’s pretty useless and I’ll be searching for a better app.

I use this use this in the course of my dispatching as I am a tow truck dispatcher. It provided great updates for my drivers during the course of their calls. Now I can’t even find an incident that is actually IN our area. The stupid map circle doesn’t work. I do not need to know what in the world is occurring in South Lake Tahoe. I need to know my immediate area like I use too. Please spare me the cookie cutter reply I’ve seen on every review. You broke something that didn’t even require fixing. A lot of people relied on Cali. I’ll be looking for a different app. -a disappointed dispatcher

This is hands down the best app out there for looking at Chp incidents. I have used it for years. Thank you for it!!!
Only thing I would change is where you double tap and hold down and swipe up or down for zoom in or to zoom out. Just like on the Apple maps app or the google maps app. If it had that ... it would be even more epic

What happened to the glossary? The incident details made more sense when I could look at what they were talking about. Example - what is 1124?

The rest is different, nice looking, but navigable. I agree with another review about driving mode... the voice is loud, even when I have the volume down.

Revision - I heard from the developer who said “The glossary button will always show up when you tap a CHP incident.” So I opened Cali to try that.

If you tap on the icon of an incident, there is not a glossary button. When you tap the 3 parallel lines (top right corner edge of the map) the map switches to list mode. In the top right corner is the glossary button.

I do recall having to tap out of the incident to look at the glossary before these changes.

This a great app, I use it almost daily. It’s been fun to watch Cali improve over the years. While not all updates have been stellar user experience improvements, and sometimes a bit backwards, all the setbacks have been temporary and I’m happy to use it almost daily. Congrats on a great app and keep it up, I’m a fan!