PlatePark transforms Android phones into license plate scanners for small parking lots: vehicles enter once, and upon exit, the license plate is verified before payment is collected.
ENTRY: Open the camera, take a picture of the vehicle, and the app suggests the license plate number using character recognition. Staff must always check and verify the license plate before allowing the vehicle in. The app does not automatically allow vehicles in based solely on the scan result. If the license plate cannot be read, it must be manually entered, and a photo is still taken as proof. Each vehicle in the parking lot records the license plate number, vehicle type, entry time, and entry photo.
EXIT — NOT AUTOMATICALLY ALLOWED BY SCAN ONLY: Scan the license plate upon exit, tap the NFC card, or select the vehicle from the list of parked vehicles. Before calculating the payment, the app displays a confirmation screen showing the matching license plate, entry time, and entry photo. Staff verify the information against the vehicle in front before proceeding to the payment screen. The payment screen displays the entry and exit photos side-by-side, along with detailed pricing (per hour/trip, initial free, overnight, monthly pass). Only when the staff confirms "Received" will the vehicle be removed from the list and entered into the history. Parking fees are collected in cash or via bank transfer outside the app; the app only records the collection, it does not process the payment.
PAPER TICKET REPLACEMENT CARDS: Plastic numbered cards: Enter the card number upon entry and provide it to the customer; upon exit, verify the card number, license plate, and photo. Card numbers already occupied by vehicles cannot be duplicated. NFC cards: Touch the NFC card to your phone to assign the card code to the vehicle; touch the card again upon exit to locate the correct vehicle. The app only reads the pre-printed code on the card; it does not write anything on the card and cannot use bank cards or personal cards as parking cards.
FLEXIBLE FEE CALCULATION: Per entry or per hour, free hours at the beginning of the shift, rounded according to settings, overnight surcharge, monthly pass (monthly pass is free). Detailed history of each exited vehicle includes license plate, card, entry/exit time, fee, calculation method, and entry/exit photos for manual verification in case of questions. Click "Save photos to device" to save the pair of photos to the PlatePark album on your phone.
OFFLINE OPERATION, 1 DEVICE, 1 PARKING LOT: No internet connection, no account, no dedicated server required. All data is stored only on that phone. Export the list of vehicles being sent to a backup file for easy recovery when needed (photos can only be recovered on the same phone). This version does not synchronize multiple devices or manage multiple parking lots. It does not look up or display owner information. The app does not have that feature.
IMPORTANT LIMITATIONS BEFORE USE: Scan results are only suggestions. Staff must compare license plates and photos before allowing vehicles out; skipping this comparison is an operational error. The app is a recording tool and does not replace the parking lot owner's responsibility if the wrong vehicle is delivered due to missed confirmation. Free version limitations: maximum 50 vehicles parked simultaneously, 1 price list, maximum 20 monthly motorcycle parking passes, CSV file export.
Turn your phone into a license plate scanner for small parking lots, running offline.