Release notesMarch 1, 2026

Pelican 4.0

Redesigned Settings, and unlimited document scanning

Dear community,

This release marks a major milestone, not just in features, but in an evolution of the brand: Sidecar is now called Pelican.

I feel like when naming things, "if I fits I sits", and Pelican is a name that has felt like a perfect fit. PeliCAN speaks to the Controller Area Network powering many cars, and the pelican is a creature that carries far more than seems possible, effectively filtering out the signal from the noise.

This is the product I'm building. A product that sits at the intersection of your entire driving experience, filtering out the important parts, so that you can focus on the road.

To many miles ahead,

Jeff

Document scanner

Keep track of insurance cards, licenses and receipts, organized by car.

Learn moreUpdated

Digitized records

Digitize your receipts and keep a timeline of fill-ups, charging top-ups, and notes.

Learn moreNew

Automatic trip logging

The best kind of trip logger is the one you never think about.

Learn more

Pelican+

Updated

Pelican OBD

Your car generates millions of datapoints on every drive. Pelican helps you capture this data over time with an OBD scanner.

Learn moreUpdated

Redesigned settings

New

Settings has been completely reorganized into a clear, hierarchical layout. Finding what you need is now faster and more intuitive.

More quick destinations

New

Pin up to four frequent places on the logbook and CarPlay dashboard, up from two.

1Home

2Work

3Gym

4Coffee

Smarter car identification

Improved

Pelican now optimizes its handshake sequence based on the cars you drive most frequently, getting you scanning faster.

Scanner connectivity

Bugfix

Fixed bug where BTLE scanners at the edge of Bluetooth range would rapidly connect and disconnect in a loop. The scanner now stops automatic reconnection when a connection ends before any successful commands.
Fixed bug where the scanner status showed "Disconnected" even though the device had never been connected. It now correctly shows "Ready to connect".

Deletable scan sessions

New

You can now delete scan sessions from the Logbook tab.

Background database optimizations

Improved

When a database migration is needed after updating, the app now shows a progress indicator instead of appearing frozen. The main thread stays responsive throughout.

Upgrading

iCloud sync