Android Entertainment

[chiefnerd]

Thought I would start this thread off because a few people have android devices but don't seem to be using their in car capabilities properly or don't know they are there. As you may have gathered, I'm a bit of nerd when it comes to all stuff like this so feel free to ask me anything, I'm always happy to help.

What I consider the essentials for your phone:

1) Car Dashboard Pro- there's also a free version of this app but for the money I recommend just buying it- invaluable, gives you GPS speed and also has a nice large dock area where you can place apps you might use when driving. It's also handy in that it will fire up Bluetooth when you start the app and turn it off when you close it- https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...Ym9hcmRwcm8iXQ..

2) Satnav- There's a few out there and please, please do not think google maps is anything like the satnavs available to buy- a satnav on your phone is afaster than a standalone one, they are live and stay updated on their own and you can have live traffic updates etc on them- your phone is connected to the internet- these satnavs take full advantage of that. My weapon of choice- Copilot Live Professional. Unlike the old one it stores all maps on your phone or tablet so no need for an internet connection while driving if you don't have one. It scales up perfectly on 10.1 tablet and is just as good on smaller phones like my Defy- https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...aXVtZXVtYWoiXQ..

3) Audio Manager- If you're streaming music from your phone and using a satnav at the same time you may find the volume levels are a bit quiet for the satnav and notification alarms- with this you can tweek levels of everything- https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...iowidget&hl=en

Now these 2 are my personal suggestions- there's plenty of others that have a similar function, I just find these 2 do the job best.

Hope these help you out.

[Jimbob]

Thanks Chief

You have already answered a couple of questions I was going to ask! Like is satnav permanently connected to t'interweb? Thought that might cost a bit!

Jimbob the Luddite

[chiefnerd]

The only time a large amount of data will be transferred will be when they download new maps- that is setup so it's only done via a wifi connection. I tend not to even notice it's using data TBH, it really only checks for traffic updates and when I do a search for points of interest (uses Bing and Wikipedia inside the app)

[Heaton]

Nice post ***** Shame I am an Iphone user (don't say it, I know your opinion lol). JUst to confirm for fellow Iphone users, the CoPilot Live Premium is also available on ITunes for £19 and also get s a great review there. Installing it now as off for a we road trip today me thinks so will test it out. :cool:

I can't find Car Dashboard Pro there and didn't look for the media manager as I am using a USB for my tunes now.

[chiefnerd]

Thats not a medi amanager- it just controls volume levels for different apps. There's a few dahboard apps on iPhone ;-)

[mix]

Some good suggestions there. I currently use Google maps for navigation and it is perfectly usable as a free solution, but as the chief says it's not as feature rich as a dedicated sat nav application. I installed the free version of CoPilot and am initially not that impressed, but I haven't used it properly (just had it running on the drive home from work), and there are features missing, so maybe I should just bite the bullet and spend £19 on the full version.

I use the basic Google Car Home app at the moment for app launching when my phone is docked. All it is is an app launcher and that is all it does. I would say a dedicated app launcher is an essential app if you are using your phone in your car.

I use an app called Llama which automatically changes settings based on location. As an example, mine is set to enable GPS and bluetooth when I put my phone in my car dock and disable them when I remove it.

[chiefnerd]

Mixin- Dash Pro is a launcher and speedo in one. The free version of Copilot uses live maps so not very good, the paid stores them on your device and has tons of features including customising the main display, 12 or 14 stock voices to choose from, not 1 but 3 point of interest searches, ties into Facebook (if you want it to) and some other stuff- well worth 19 quid.

Another one I forgot is Google Tracks- it records your GPS path and can be quite amusing if it's turned on and you;ve ever gottn lost trying to find somewhere and you look at it afterwards. Great thing is it's just as good on foot for recording any hikes you do

[mix]

As I use my phone for music (I don't have USB in my DS3) I would have a music app up the majority of the time when in the car. I use the car launcher purely to launch apps, so having a speedo on there isn't much use as I rarely have the launcher visible. Will take a look at Dash Pro though, no harm in trying something different and there are times when I don't use my phone for music.

You're slowly convincing me that CoPilot is a sound investment. There was a hefty 128mb download in the free version which I presumed was downloading UK maps, but I wasn't really paying attention when I was clicking around the app. There have been times when visiting Wales and Scotland where I've lost phone signal and cursed not having a proper sat nav app installed.

Tracks is good, but there is also Latitude (activate it in Google maps) which tracks you using cell towers and is always on. It's not as accurate but can give a good overview of where you've been.

[fatmcgav]

Another good one to manage settings etc similar to Llama is Toggle Settings. Can use it to trigger a car profile when connecting to any Bluetooth devices, or a specific bluetooth device. Can then turn up the volume, turn on GPS, etc...
Has additional benefits such as timed profiles, e.g. Night mode, location awareness, etc...

[Bigfeet]

Best app on Android?

Has to be Abduction!

[chiefnerd]

Mixin- Car Dashboard Pro-

Looks a bit small in the pic but that's how I use it, saves me looking down at the speedo

Best Android game- need for speed hot pursuit ;-)

[mix]

I've installed the free version, will have a play on the way home tonight. Looks like the free version just replaces street name with adverts which isn't too bad.

[Dave Clarke]

Best car app for me is Drivesafe.ly as it reads out incoming texts and their sender

[chiefnerd]

ICS and jellybean do that as part of the OS ;-)

[cyclone]

why do they give operating systems such stupid names?