Car Dash Screen Mirror/Android Auto Alternative

starsoccer

New here but Ive seen mentioned many times/places that android auto is not supported and no immediate plans to add support for it. My car does not have GPS built in natively and so I am used to using android auto any time I need to go somewhere.

I am curious what other people use while driving with grapheneOS. Ive seen people mention just hooking up a mount in the car which I suppose would work but feels like a waste when I have a cars built in screen right in front of me. Is there any way to mirror my devices screen to my car and then just pull up maps? Or is there some other not android auto app that can be used to accomplish something similar?

W1zardK1ng

starsoccer I use a mount to hook my phone, its the best cheap way i found.
I have seen others mentioning about replacing or adding screens with built in android os and then just using hotspot to give it internet access, some others mention about a cheap/old phone being used only in the car for android auto.
I never saw any other ways for this issue, there is a unoffical/less secure option to make android auto working but its not recommended.
Read Is there a way to get android auto to work?

newbie24689

starsoccer I have the same interest; haven't done anything yet.
Maybe a wired connection? Something like this:

https://red-dot-geek.com/connect-android-external-monitor/

to:

https://www.amazon.com/Monitor-Raspberry-Speakers-Display-Computer/dp/B0BQRRJ8YN/ref=sr_1_68?keywords=small%2Bmonitor&sr=8-68&th=1
If you (or any one else) gets something like this to work, please post here.

Kottonballs

Would be interesting to see what others are doing here. I now run Sygic on my phone for mapping and use the phone only for navigation. I have a console screen that now just shows the current music I'm playing via Bluetooth.

starsoccer

Yeah I really do not want to go the mount way, and replacing the screen isnt really an option for me as my car is a lease. A cheap/old phone would likely work but seems kind of ridiculous to me that this is the best option. Kind of shocked to be honest that no one is working on this especially since more and more cars are now not offering GPS, this will just continue to become a bigger and bigger issue.

So it looks like Ill be either sticking with stock or trying the other custom build.

de0u

starsoccer Kind of shocked to be honest that no one is working on this [...]

The GrapheneOS developers are pretty busy without external car displays as a project. If there were more GrapheneOS developers it might become feasible. Perhaps you are in a position to join in, or to recruit.

Panda-na

starsoccer and replacing the screen isnt really an option for me as my car is a lease.

Since you are leasing, it shouldn't be a problem to switch to a different car? Android Automotive (not the same as Android Auto) is running natively in the car (there is no need for a phone). So can you consider buying or leasing a car that has Android Automotive? Then Android Auto implementation in GrapheneOS is not an issue anymore.

List of cars with Android Auto
Note that the list is from 2021. A lot of cars already have Automotive and Google expects the number to nearly double by the end of the year: https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2023/05/whats-new-with-android-for-cars.html?m=1

TranceSeven

starsoccer Kind of shocked to be honest that no one is working on this especially since more and more cars are now not offering GPS, this will just continue to become a bigger and bigger issue.

My thoughts on this are that I've spent a lot of time and effort making my mobile life as secure and private as practical. The last thing I want is my car tracking my every movement regardless. I'll keep using/buying non-connected vehicles for as long as possible and after that, perhaps some after-market modifications (until that's outlawed too).

For SatNav, the GOS device with OSMAnd works well for me. I also get to keep the maps up to date without spending a fortune each year. Something that turned me off dedicated SatNavs back before phone apps did just as good a job.

starsoccer

de0u

I am not trying to suggest they arent busy, it just seems like a big feature to be missing IMO since a lot of cars do not even include a GPS anymore and expect your phone to act as one.

I am also not suggesting they need to build a custom app or anything along those lines just providing a way to support cars with the existing app even with a big disclaimer saying while in use privacy may be compromised, etc.. would be acceptable IMO.

Panda-na

To your point, assuming android automotive is going to be taking over I agree this is a moot and temporary issue, but Id assume even with android automotive there is going to be a desire to sync information from ones phone to their car such as text messages, contacts possibly, etc.. So I think it may just cause other issues to appear but generally should be a better experience I hope.

vcmj

If you're up for custom builds, there is an unofficial patch set here: https://github.com/sn-00-x/android-auto
Boilerplate warning about making sure you disable the updater app to not spam the official update servers apply.
I'll admit this is not practical at all for most people, but it's possible.
EDIT: Also probably important to mention, you can't take your data with you from an official build

Personally, I just use the revision of the above repo with the stub still, and enroll my own fsverity key. I keep AA disabled in the owner profile, and have a special driving profile which is the only one with it enabled, that I keep turned off most of the time. With Play Services stripped of it's rootkit abilities I'm fairly sure its not possible to re-enable on its own. I think this is probably the least likely to break and is secure enough for me at least.

starsoccer

newbie24689

I think the goal here really is to get the indash screen to work with graphene OS and not need to install some sort of custom made screen, etc.. Into the car. Id personally be fine with screen mirror honestly if that was possible instead of android auto. Really just some way to make use of the screen for directions.

chock-a-block

maybe with the Pixel 8 rumored desktop mode will open up the ability to plug in to some sort of car device, even if its just a screen connected to your car's sound system.

rambleon

@starsoccer Are Android Auto and Apple Carplay the only interfaces offered by the head unit? If so then you'll have to use or emulate one of those apps. I have that same issue in one of my cars so I have to run Magic Earth on my phone.