TPMS Receiver
Read tyre pressure sensors
What it does
SimpleModern cars have a tiny sensor inside each tyre that measures how much air is in it and how warm it is, then radios that info to the dashboard so a warning light can pop on if a tyre goes flat. This app can listen near cars and show those readings.
Stand near a car park and you'll discover just how much invisible radio traffic surrounds cars — each wheel quietly announcing its pressure to the world.
How it works
SimpleWhen the wheel spins, the sensor wakes up and sends a quick radio blip with its ID, the pressure, and the temperature. Different car brands wrap this up in slightly different ways, so the app knows several 'languages' and picks the right one to read the blip.
How to use it, step by step
Simple- Open the 'TPMS' app.
- Pick the frequency for your region — 315 in the US, 433 in Europe.
- Stand safely near a road or car park.
- Watch tyre readings pop up as cars roll by.
- Notice each reading has its own sensor ID.
Examples
Count how many unique tyre-sensor IDs you can decode in a busy car park in five minutes.
Follow one vehicle's four sensor IDs and compare the pressure each wheel reports.
Switch between 315 and 433 MHz to see which band the cars around you actually use.
Tips & things to try
- Activity is bursty — you'll catch far more near moving traffic than a still car park.
- The same car shows up as four IDs (one per wheel); some also have a spare.
- Warm tyres after driving report higher temperatures — a neat real-world physics demo.