---
title: "Plan a multi-stop group road trip in DriveStream"
description: "DriveStream lets a convoy share one live map, a destination with multiple stops, and each car's fuel level — so your group arrives together."
date: "2026-10-09"
app: drivestream
readingTime: "5 min read"
image: "/img/build/drivestream/convoy-map.jpg"
imageAlt: "DriveStream's convoy map in a low-poly style, with speed above each car, a running order, and ETA to destination"
---

Multi-stop group road trips are where convoy coordination breaks down fastest. DriveStream handles the shared route, the stops along the way, and the live picture that keeps every car in sync across all of it.

The typical setup for a group drive involves a destination dropped into a group chat, a rough plan for where to stop, and then a series of messages as the convoy stretches apart and drivers try to check their phones at junctions. It works, after a fashion. The problems show up when plans change mid-drive, when a car misses a turn and the others keep going, and when nobody is quite sure how much fuel the last car has left.

DriveStream is an iPhone app that puts every car in the convoy on one live map and handles the coordination in real time.

## Adding stops before you leave

When you start a trip, you set a destination. You can also add intermediate stops before anyone leaves — a petrol station along the way, a rest area, a restaurant for lunch. Each stop appears on every driver's phone the moment you add it.

This matters most for trips with a shape. A three-car convoy driving to a mountain cabin might have four points: a petrol stop, a rest at a viewpoint, a lunch spot and the cabin itself. In DriveStream, those four points go into the itinerary once, and every driver gets them at the same time. Nobody needs to track a screenshot of the plan or watch for an update in the thread.

If you add a stop mid-drive — the original plan had one fuel stop, but it makes sense to move it earlier — the change appears on every phone immediately. The shared destination also drives navigation: turn-by-turn guidance follows the same route for every car, so the convoy doesn't fragment onto different paths to the same place.

## The live map and convoy list

The map shows every car's position, speed and heading continuously. The gap to the car directly ahead appears in the convoy list alongside each car's fuel level and phone battery.

![DriveStream's convoy list showing each car's gap to the one ahead, speed ring, fuel and battery](/img/build/drivestream/convoy-list.jpg)
*The convoy list: gap to the car ahead, speed ring, fuel level and battery for every car.*

The gap figure is the one that changes the feel of a group drive. On a motorway, gaps open without anyone intending them to. One car sits in a slower lane a few seconds longer. Another accelerates harder out of a junction. The lead car doesn't notice because the person ahead of them is doing the same thing. Without a shared view, the rearmost car falls back and the front car doesn't know until someone picks up the phone to ask.

With a shared view, every driver sees the gap at the same time. The lead car can ease off. The car that fell back can say something without waiting for a message to land.

## Press-to-talk for quick updates

DriveStream includes a live walkie-talkie. Hold the button to talk; everyone in the convoy hears you. Release to listen. Audio is live only — nothing is recorded, stored or replayable.

![DriveStream's convoy map with the walkie-talkie active and "You talking" on screen](/img/build/drivestream/convoy-map-talking.jpg)
*The walkie-talkie on the convoy map: hold to talk, release to listen.*

Quick voice fits the kind of information that never makes it into a group chat while driving. A fuel stop coming up in two junctions. A speed camera ahead. Someone flagging that they need to pull over. Typing these is impractical from behind the wheel; a one-second voice message is not.

## Fuel level for every car

Each driver's tank level and remaining range are visible to the whole convoy. On a long stretch with few stations, this changes when the group decides to stop. Instead of waiting for someone to say they're running low — which tends to happen later than it should — the numbers are on screen for everyone.

Drivers enter their starting fuel level and remaining range when they set up their car in the app, then update after each fill-up. There's no extra hardware needed.

## After the convoy arrives

When the trip ends, DriveStream saves a summary: the route at 1 Hz, total distance, moving time and top speed. Moving time strips out stationary periods — the lunch break, the petrol stop, the photo at the viewpoint — and gives the actual driving time for the day. There's an animated replay you can scrub through on your phone, and a web companion for a larger screen.

![DriveStream's drive summary with the route map, distance, moving time and top speed](/img/build/drivestream/drive-summary.jpg)
*The drive summary: route map, distance, moving time and top speed at the end of the trip.*

On trips with multiple stops, the summary makes the shape of the day legible. How long each stop actually ran. Where the convoy compressed on a two-lane stretch. Whether the group made better time on the second half of the drive.

## What to know before you go

DriveStream requires an iPhone running iOS 26 or later and a data connection. It works with CarPlay, so the convoy map and turn-by-turn appear on the head unit if your car has it. Android isn't supported.

The app has no advertising and no analytics SDK. Location is shared with your convoy only, and only while a trip is active.

DriveStream is available on the App Store. More at [drivestream.app](https://drivestream.app).