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Mobile mechanic apps

The Best Apps for Mobile Mechanics, From a Mobile Shop

A mobile mechanic's phone is the counter, the filing cabinet and the shop phone. Here is what needs to be on it, what can be one app instead of six, and what we use ourselves.

Start free. No card.See it workTalk to us first

Free plan, not a trial. No card. We look at every new shop ourselves and switch it on, usually the same day.

A mechanic's gloved hands working in an engine bay
A Shop Desk job card on a phone
The phone is in the pocket while the hands do this.
The jobs on your phone

Six Jobs Your Phone Has to Do

  • Quote and approval

    A written price the customer approves and signs on their own phone.

  • Invoice and payment

    Built from the approved quote and paid from a link.

  • The phone

    Texting customers, and a text back for the calls you miss.

  • Directions

    The address, and a way to get there in one tap.

  • Look ups

    VIN decode, recalls, manuals and a labor time.

  • Photos

    Arrival photos and the work, filed on the job so you can find them later.

One app or six

Why One App Beats Six for a One Van Shop

Six apps means six places a job can get lost. The quote is in one, the photos in your camera roll, the texts in your messages and the invoice somewhere else. When the car comes back in three months, you are scrolling.

Shop Desk puts the quote, the yes, the photos, the job, the invoice and the texts on the same job. It runs in the browser and installs to your home screen. There is no App Store version yet.

A red Mazda3 with the hood and door open in a parking lot
A lot in Riverside. One phone did the quote, the photos and the invoice.
What to keep

The Apps We Still Use Beside It

One app does not do everything, and we do not pretend it does.

  • Your maps app. Shop Desk's navigate link opens it with the job's address.
  • Your labor guide. ProDemand or ALLDATA, which Shop Desk opens from the job with your own login.
  • Your parts suppliers' own sites or a phone call. Shop Desk does not order parts yet.
  • Your scan tool's app, for the car itself.
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Questions

Questions About Mobile Mechanic Apps

What app do mobile mechanics use?
Usually a shop management app for quotes, invoices and customers, plus maps, a labor guide and the scan tool's own app. Shop Desk was built by mobile mechanics to cover the quote, approval, photos, invoice and texting in one place.
Is there a free app for mobile mechanics?
Shop Desk has a free plan with no card. It runs in the browser and installs to your home screen. Pro at $149 a month adds texting, the missed call text back, invoicing and payroll.
Is Shop Desk in the App Store?
Not yet. It installs to your home screen from the browser and works like an app. The store versions are waiting on the developer accounts.
Can I use my phone as a scan tool?
With an adapter and its app, for basic codes. Most mobile mechanics carry a dedicated scan tool for the work that pays.

More for Mobile Mechanics

Talk to us

Ask a Mechanic Who Uses It

Not ready to sign up? Tell us how your shop runs and what your software gets wrong today. One of us will call you back, and we will tell you straight if Shop Desk is not the right fit.

  • A person reads it, usually the same day
  • No sales sequence and no drip emails
  • We run our own shop on this software

Rather email? Write to hello@yourshopdesk.com