HOUSTON – Local 2 Investigates tested smartphone apps that estimate blood-alcohol content.
The apps we examined or close variations are each available on Android phones and iPhones. Each also carried a clear disclaimer that it is intended for 'novelty' use. We still wondered if they're accurate.
We assembled three people with smartphones -- two men and one woman. We told them we would pay their bar tab, pay their cab fare, and made no conditions regarding what they drank or how often they drank. All we asked is that over the course of the evening they record their drinks on the apps.
For both Android devices and iPhones, there is a long list of programs. "Drink Tracker," AlcoDroid" and "Can I Drive Yet," plus dozens of others, all appear to do basically the same thing, which is claim to estimate your blood alcohol content.
The programs ask users to input basic data, including gender and weight. Then it is the user's responsibility to input each drink when it is consumed.
Using a breathalyzer as a control for the experiment, what we found surprised us and our participants.
In each instance, after eight rounds of drinks in about two and half hours (high consumption), each of the smartphone apps reported significantly HIGHER blood-alcohol content (BAC) than the breathalyzer.
We should note that we also asked Precinct 6 Deputy Constable Jarrel Caldwell to watch the experiment with us. Caldwell has been trained by the state of Texas to identify inebriated people.
Caldwell called the apps unreliable and "junk science," but it is important to note that he was also unimpressed with our consumer grade breathalyzer.
"There are not portable breath test instruments that are certified by the State of Texas," Caldwell said.
By the end of the test, our tipsy trio agreed that they would not rely on any app to estimate their BAC.
