After all I've got rid of aftermarket unit. despite I've tried hard it was still eyesore. so original (well, not exactly original, mine unit was dead) unit is back. the only mod - a little device buried inside dash, which emulates cd-changer and add Bluetooth as well.
But I am always after ghetto mods, so added another eyesore to the car.
I am fed up wit irrelevant and glitchy satnav on my windows phone, so tried different options, namely pretty expensive standalone satnavs, about £200 each, garmin and tom-tom. they are not bad, but has common faults: terrible screen quality and slow traffic updates. sent them both back to amazon.
So I've got cheap android phone, moto g4 play. it isn't a powerhouse, but capable enough to run a satnav app, and availability of different satnav apps for android is huge. Snapped a used phone in like new conditions from amazon for just £80 delivered. I brutally drilled holes in back cover and attached to air vent frame with cable ties. added some flock strip to prevent phone rubbing on aluminium trim. it sits flush, no vibrations unlike on windscreen mount. Power cable is routed inside dash and released at corner. i had free usb power socket inside which come live on ignition on.
Then to software bits. First of all I installed a launcher app called car launcher. about £3 and well worth the money. next one - igo primo satnav. little more expensive, about £30 for lifetime uk map, but i've used this software before and it is excellent.
The last one task - is to get phone to deepsleep on ignition off and back to business on ignition on.
This has been done with help of app called Tasker. It allow to run scripts on events, so I created a power up script, which runs on ignition on and power down script on ignition off. second one turn off all networks, and as phone has no sim in it there was no need to set airplane mode though perfectly doable too. also it set screen timeout to 7 sec (min allowed value). so on ignition off screen turns off after 7 sec and all networks like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth - down. On power on - everything back and screen timeout set to 24 days or so (max android value) to prevent it sleeping while driving.
So far it works perfectly well, as bonus I can listen internet radio or YouTube or anything else while not using satnav. sound goes to headunit via Bluetooth. I've got a massive dataplan on my main phone, so I share it with car phone via Wi-Fi.
I think it looks pretty clean, no screen mounts and satnav within reach of my left hand so i can change route or track while driving. Also everything is revertable to stock in no time. all i need is to cut few cable ties and release charging wire if I ever need. No damage to vents or dash, no ugly mounts. And the phone frame luckily same colour as car trim parts, so imho looks alright.
The only thing I need to finish this off is to find a flat usb cable with small connector, so I can route it behind phone. Will ebay for it, but for now standard cable will do.
But I am always after ghetto mods, so added another eyesore to the car.
I am fed up wit irrelevant and glitchy satnav on my windows phone, so tried different options, namely pretty expensive standalone satnavs, about £200 each, garmin and tom-tom. they are not bad, but has common faults: terrible screen quality and slow traffic updates. sent them both back to amazon.
So I've got cheap android phone, moto g4 play. it isn't a powerhouse, but capable enough to run a satnav app, and availability of different satnav apps for android is huge. Snapped a used phone in like new conditions from amazon for just £80 delivered. I brutally drilled holes in back cover and attached to air vent frame with cable ties. added some flock strip to prevent phone rubbing on aluminium trim. it sits flush, no vibrations unlike on windscreen mount. Power cable is routed inside dash and released at corner. i had free usb power socket inside which come live on ignition on.
Then to software bits. First of all I installed a launcher app called car launcher. about £3 and well worth the money. next one - igo primo satnav. little more expensive, about £30 for lifetime uk map, but i've used this software before and it is excellent.
The last one task - is to get phone to deepsleep on ignition off and back to business on ignition on.
This has been done with help of app called Tasker. It allow to run scripts on events, so I created a power up script, which runs on ignition on and power down script on ignition off. second one turn off all networks, and as phone has no sim in it there was no need to set airplane mode though perfectly doable too. also it set screen timeout to 7 sec (min allowed value). so on ignition off screen turns off after 7 sec and all networks like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth - down. On power on - everything back and screen timeout set to 24 days or so (max android value) to prevent it sleeping while driving.
So far it works perfectly well, as bonus I can listen internet radio or YouTube or anything else while not using satnav. sound goes to headunit via Bluetooth. I've got a massive dataplan on my main phone, so I share it with car phone via Wi-Fi.
I think it looks pretty clean, no screen mounts and satnav within reach of my left hand so i can change route or track while driving. Also everything is revertable to stock in no time. all i need is to cut few cable ties and release charging wire if I ever need. No damage to vents or dash, no ugly mounts. And the phone frame luckily same colour as car trim parts, so imho looks alright.
The only thing I need to finish this off is to find a flat usb cable with small connector, so I can route it behind phone. Will ebay for it, but for now standard cable will do.
