Hello
So I recently discovered that the official GTA V app 'ifruit' is not simple a cosmetic or 'fun' addon for GTA V. The app allows you to upgrade your vehicle. It hooks into your game and updates as you go through missions.

I put this discovery out on twitter and the response was both some hesitancy whilst acknowledging there is a precedent for such addons being used in other speed runs. It can be used on windows 10, or any apple or android product.

I am starting to route how it can be used, it will not be game changing but it will save time. For example, you get one free upgrade on a new game. Therefore, during the prologue cutscene you can upgrade Franlin's engine, brakes, suspension, armour and turbo. This still does not make the car better than the car you take from Simeon's but you do drive Franklin's care for a small part.

I do not believe that we should use the 500k that some people get at the start of their game, so I am routing where the upgrades unlock and when we have money to do the upgrades.

Is there anyone who can think of a reason why this should not be used, bar that it makes it more complicated to use the fastest hardware? There are other runs that exist that require niche and non-english hardware/game cartridge as well as niche devices such as the 'tingle tuner'. As a final point, if anyone ever wants to see this game run at a GDQ, stuff like this will be somewhat appealing to viewers as many will not know this is possible and this will further reduce the length of the run. Doubtful if it would ever be run but this sort of thing is required. In routing this I will likely find more strats (I think I have already found 2 unrelated to the ifruit app despite only being 1/7th of the way through routing).

Anyone have any thoughts?

¤Edit: Here is a rough guide of what a person would do with the phone/tablet app.

Prologue – During Cut scene – Franklin - Upgrade Engine, Brakes, Wheels (Rims), Exhaust, Suspension, Turbo
End of Complications – During Drive to Michaels – Michael - Upgrade Engine, Brakes, Exhaust, Turbo, wheels (Rims).
End of Friend Request - Next engine unlocks - Insufficient Funds
End of Long Stretch – Next engine unlocks - Insufficient Funds
End of Mr Phillips – Gain Access to Trevors Car – Do Nothing
End of Crystal Maze – Next engine unlocks – Do Nothing
During Friends Reunited – During Drive To Bikers Place – Trevor – Upgrade Engine, Brakes, Turbo, Wheels. Michael – Upgrade Engine.
End of Three’s Company (With Franklin) – Gain Access to Bike Upgrades – Do Nothing
Inside Hood Safari – Any Time During Mission – Franklin - Upgrade Exhaust
End I fought the Law – Last engine unlocks – Do Nothing
Eye In The Sky – Upgrade all characters engines and finish any upgrades during helicopter flight.

¤Do not upgrade armour and or tires. Both simply increase weight and thus reduce speed. Upgrading wheel rims reduces weight.

Then we are back to square one with 500k, it wasnt allowed for some time but some mods didnt bother including it in rules so it never got added. Its just all a mess with pr order money tools that are not in the games like ifruit app. sketchy ;/

Against its usage for now.

The 500k is a little bit different. If every single released copy of GTA V gave the players 500k, then it would have allowed. It was restricted because it can not be obtained anymore. A person can not obtain that 500k (to the best of my knowledge). It was not even released with all the different versions of the game. It was not a feature designed in the game but a bonus obtained for doing something in real life during a specific time frame. The app on the other hand was designed specifically to be used with the game, by any player who wished to use it, and can be obtained by anyone even now. As people commented to me when I brought it up, other speed runs utilize such features and it is an intentionally designed aspect of the game. We can't even argue it is too hard to use or obtain because many runs utilize difficult to obtain or even expensive hardware.

I did half a run with it, it is not life changing. It would be a rare occurrence that a run would be made or broken based on whether the cars were upgraded but it does shave off some time here and there.