Serious warnings 3 confirmed warnings, and users report 1 more thing. Checked: 415 reviews, the Android app’s code, the store listing and the privacy label.
From our automated analysis, 30 Oct 2026. Every label links to its evidence in the full report below.
This analysis describes version 10.1.0 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-30 .
The store currently lists version 10.1.0, updated 2026-10-09.
Store screenshots supplied by the developer.
Carista lets you diagnose warning lights, read and reset fault codes, monitor live vehicle data, customize your car, and perform DIY service procedures - all from your phone. Save hours and thousands of dollars in unnecessary workshop visits, and take control of your car's maintenance, diagnostics, and personalization.
Trusted by 3+ million users worldwide, Carista supports 30+ car brands, offers SFD & SFD2 compatibility, and brings 10+ years of leadership in the OBD2 industry.
CUSTOMIZE YOUR CAR (PRO)
Unlock hidden features and personalize how your car behaves.
• Gauge needle sweep at startup
• Start screen logo
• Virtual instrument cluster themes
• Daytime running lights
• Coming-home and leaving-home lights
• Throttle response behavior
And many more
ADVANCED DIAGNOSTICS (PRO)
Go beyond the Check Engine Light.…
From the developer’s store description.
For developers and the curious
The evidence, sources, measurements and versions behind every label above.
Findings that met the published evidence standard.
Bundles 4 distinct ad networks / mediation SDKs: AppLovin MAX, Chartboost, ironSource / Unity LevelPlay, Unity Ads
The package embeds several distinct advertising or mediation SDKs — a stack built for ad volume, not for a single house ad.
Package artefact
Appworthy
sha256:fbec85b846ff6bb83bf86d9b38b30d5c90d1a82346ee2f2e7714fdc83d4bad3aPaywall is server-configured and A/B tested via Adapty — the offer shown can differ per user
The app ships a remote paywall-experimentation SDK, so the offer shown is configured server-side and may differ per user — including from anything we or a reviewer saw.
Package artefact
sha256:fbec85b846ff6bb83bf86d9b38b30d5c90d1a82346ee2f2e7714fdc83d4bad3aPaywall blocks the basics: raised by 5 distinct reviewers (about 1 in 83 reviews we read)
The core of the app — not extras — sits behind payment, or previously-free function moved behind a paywall.
Specific evidence of a useful property, within the stated scope.
Offers a one-time or lifetime purchase: "Lifetime access"
The app's own text offers a one-time or lifetime purchase, or reviewers report that the price is stated clearly.
Package artefact
sha256:fbec85b846ff6bb83bf86d9b38b30d5c90d1a82346ee2f2e7714fdc83d4bad3aThe developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
Open observations that have not cleared the evidence bar.
The app's own text says: "Save BIG — upgrade to the annual Pro subscription!"
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
Cancelling the subscription is blocked, hidden, multi-step, or simply does not take effect.
Package artefact
sha256:fbec85b846ff6bb83bf86d9b38b30d5c90d1a82346ee2f2e7714fdc83d4bad3aMisleading advertising: raised by 6 distinct reviewers (about 1 in 69 reviews we read)
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
Reviewers repeatedly report that the app is not what its advertising showed. We never see the ad creative itself, so nothing we collect can corroborate or refute this — it is published as an attributed user report: what reviewers say, and how many of them said it.
The app's own text says: "12-month plan at a special price"
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
Advancement or competition is gated behind spending money rather than playing.
Package artefact
sha256:fbec85b846ff6bb83bf86d9b38b30d5c90d1a82346ee2f2e7714fdc83d4bad3aDeadline pressure in the app's own copy: "*limited-time offer!"
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
The app's own purchase copy attaches a deadline to buying — a countdown, 'offer ends in', 'limited time' — or ships a countdown view on a purchase-screen layout.
Package artefact
sha256:fbec85b846ff6bb83bf86d9b38b30d5c90d1a82346ee2f2e7714fdc83d4bad3aThe app's own text says: "Continue as %1$s"
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
The app's own screens offer a way past sign-up — guest access, skipping, or browsing before registering — rather than gating the product behind an account. The store's privacy disclosure is checked alongside it: that disclosure is self-reported, so it corroborates this credit rather than establishing it.
Package artefact
sha256:fbec85b846ff6bb83bf86d9b38b30d5c90d1a82346ee2f2e7714fdc83d4bad3aThe app's own text says: "*Interrupting the update by unplugging the Scanner or losing Bluetooth connection can permanently damage the device. The provider isn’t liable for damage caused by an interrupted update."
This observation has not cleared the required evidence standard.
The app's own copy describes working without a connection — offline mode, downloading for offline use, or content saved for later. Shown because readers filter on it; it is a feature, not a fairness property, and never counts for or against an app.
Package artefact
sha256:fbec85b846ff6bb83bf86d9b38b30d5c90d1a82346ee2f2e7714fdc83d4bad3a415 reviews read for this analysis. Each observation keeps the sample and store it was based on.
every single piece of information is behind a paywall. paying as much as you do for the device only to be hit by more subscriptions, ongoing costs is unacceptable
bait and switch. purchased the hardware, then to actually use it I have to pay a lot of money for an app subscription. looking to return my carista device, but they refuse. legitimately stole my money among many others. I expect a class…
None of the "hidden" features are working on my VW PASSAT 2019 2.0 DIESEL, just false advertising it looks like. I refunded the app and got my money back
A sampled review illustrates one person’s experience. It does not establish a finding on its own.
“Not assessed” means we could not measure it. It is never a zero and never a pass.
Android package 10.1.0, scanned 21 Oct 2026. These describe that package, not the current store version.
Supporting measurements: not a complete list of possible harms or positives. Measurement vocabulary 1.4 · how these are measured
This analysis describes version 10.1.0 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-30 .
The store currently lists version 10.1.0, updated 2026-10-09.
Each store’s release notes, as the developer wrote them. They are the developer’s words, not ours.
Check out our latest release (v10.1) with new features. Hybrid and EV battery health for Toyota & Lexus! Run the check to get your battery health score and cell/block data, with an AI summary of what it means. Find it in Service. Meet Car Diary: your car’s service history in one place Log every repair and maintenance with costs, and get reminders before the next service is due. Free, in your Garage.
No release notes were provided for this version.
No release notes were provided for this version.
carista-obd2Assessed 2026-10-30 from 415 user reviews, the app's package, the store listing and its privacy label.
What the stores publish. Store ratings are the stores’ numbers, not Appworthy’s, and are never averaged across stores.
From the store listing. Billing terms are read from each purchase’s name — the stores don’t publish them — so treat them as a strong hint, not a disclosure.
These are really on sale; we just can’t tell from the name whether they recur.
This assessment is produced automatically. Six independent signals are read — user reviews, SDKs in the app package, the app's own on-screen text, the app manifest, the store listing and the store privacy disclosure — and each candidate finding is filed under the sources that support it.
No charge stands on one kind of evidence — with one published exception. A finding is either a measured fact that anyone can reproduce (an ad SDK is in the package; every recurring plan the store lists is named as weekly, the term read from the purchase names, with a list cut off at the store’s 10-item maximum not assessed; the privacy label omits a tracker we can see), or it is an interpretation — and an interpretation needs independent sources to agree before it reaches the catch list. The exception is a harm only users can see: a charge may publish from reviews alone, as “Reported by N users”, once enough reviewers raise it to clear that charge’s own published bar. That agreement rule is what replaced the human reviewer, not a model’s confidence.
There is no overall score, on purpose. A 0–99 number was published here until 2026-09-15. It was withdrawn because it discriminated too weakly to be the instrument — 44.7% of every pair of apps tied — and because a single number is a verdict where a count is an observation. What publishes instead is a row of measurements, each of which says what was counted and, where we could not look, says that instead.
Findings under One source only are real reports we do not stand behind as findings. They are shown because withholding them entirely would hide a genuine complaint, and labelled because publishing them as charges would be an accusation off a single source.
Write to [email protected], or use the form. Name the finding, the app version and the evidence that needs correcting. Factual corrections are free and never depend on buying anything.