How to use Crossbuck

Crossbuck tells you when a railroad crossing ahead may be blocked by a train, says it out loud while you drive, and points you to the nearest bridge or underpass. Here's how to use it, on Android and iPhone.

Watch it step by step

Two short walkthroughs show every tap, from installing Crossbuck to your first heads-up, with captions. Pause at any step. The live warnings in them are a simulated demo.

1. Set it up once: let it watch every drive

The first time you open Crossbuck, allow your location "While using the app". The next step, Watch on every drive, lets Crossbuck watch without a tap: on iPhone, choose "Change to Always Allow" when your phone asks; on Android, choose "Allow all the time" on the next screen, then allow physical activity, which tells Crossbuck when you're driving. Then allow notifications. From then on, Crossbuck starts watching on its own when you drive ("Watching this drive") and stops once you've parked. Riding as a passenger? Tap Stop for that ride. You can turn this on or off anytime in Settings → Watch automatically.

Rather not allow location all the time? Keep "While using the app" and tap Start watching on the map before you drive. It keeps watching while you use your maps app or lock the phone, and stops by itself after 10 minutes without moving, or when you tap Stop. On Android you can also long-press the Crossbuck icon and pick Start watching.

2. While you drive: listen for the heads-up

When other drivers using Crossbuck are stopped at a crossing you're heading toward, Crossbuck says so out loud: "the railroad crossing ahead on Eastwood Street appears blocked, for 10 minutes so far", and the nearest way around. If another app is on screen, it's a notification too. "May be blocked" means one driver is waiting; "appears blocked" means two or more. Crossbuck also warns about the next crossings on the same line, which the same train often blocks.

The warning is spoken like navigation directions: music gets quieter while it plays, and silent mode doesn't mute it. If your phone's volume is all the way down, Crossbuck shows a notification instead and tells you the volume is off.

3. Take the way around

Tap a crossing on the map, or in the list, to see its card: whether it's blocked and since when, which crossings the same train often blocks too, and the way around, the nearest bridge or underpass across the same line. Directions opens Google Maps or Apple Maps with the route. When parked, Share sends the way around to another app, a message, or your car's app (Tesla's app can send it to the car).

4. If you're the one stopped at a train

You don't need to tap anything. If Crossbuck is watching and you've been stopped at a crossing for 5 minutes, it lets other drivers know it may be blocked. When you drive on through, it tells them traffic is moving again. It reports only which crossing and when, never your route.

5. At home: save the crossings you use

Find any crossing with the search button beside Settings: type a street and city, or the crossing number on the blue sign. Tap Save on a crossing's card to get a notification when it appears blocked, and again when traffic is moving, even when you're not driving. Your saved crossings are listed in Settings, where you can turn these alerts off. Each card also shows when the crossing is usually blocked, from reports to the Federal Railroad Administration, and during those hours says it's "often reported blocked around this time" when no one is reporting it live.

6. When parked: tell the railroad

Gates down with no train, or a train stopped a long time? Each crossing's card has the railroad's emergency number, from the blue sign at the crossing, and the crossing's ID. Call and Report to the FRA show only when you're not moving. In an emergency, call 911. Something wrong on a card, like a way around that's closed? Tap Tell Crossbuck.

7. Settings and privacy

In Settings you can turn Watch automatically, spoken alerts and saved-crossing alerts on or off, choose the language (English or Spanish), sign in with Google (or Apple on iPhone) to keep your account when you change phones, and delete your data. No account is needed. Your GPS trail stays on your phone, including when Crossbuck watches on its own: Crossbuck's servers only learn which crossings you stopped at or were warned about, and when. See the Privacy Policy.

More help

Not getting warnings? See Support. Where the numbers come from: How we count. Always follow the signals at the crossing: a crossing only shows as blocked when drivers using Crossbuck are waiting there.