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Accessories Car mode?

S

st230

Member
Hi. I still haven't bought my first Android phone so I've got a question regarding car mode - does it exist on Android? If so can it be activated by just plugging in a special cable? I don't want a special holder for the phone in the car, just want to be able to for example automatically switch on bluetooth when it's plugged in to the car, I guess using one of the available "profiles" applications. Any thoughts?
 
Yes, it exists. Believe the idea is that when it pairs with a suitable bluetooth device designated as part of the car, that it switches automatically.
 
OK thanks, but as I mentioned I want the reverse to happen - when I connect it to the car via a cable it should automatically turn on bluetooth so it can connect to the car's internal hands-free system. I always keep bluetooth switched off when not charging, to save battery. This worked great with my old Sony Ericsson P900 and (surprisingly) also with my current iPhone 3G with jailbrake.
 
You can do this with Tasker. I have programmed my phone to switch on bt, gps, and start CarPort when I connect to my car charger. Sorted.
 
Thanks, that sounds just like the solution I'm looking for. When you say "car charger", what do you mean by that? Is it a car holder type hands-free or is it just a special cable (USB?) My requirement would be the latter, that triggers car mode when inserted.
 
It is just a standard HTC car charger (that plugs into the cigar lighter socket). The phone sees it as an AC charger. Tasker is set so that it displays a menu when it sees an AC charger, where you can select car or home. Selecting car behaves as described above, while selecting home returns to the home screen. Hope that helps.
 
That sounds great. Is it possible to set up Tasker to automatically select car mode? That would emulate exactly what I have in place right now.
 
Yes, that would be possible (and even simpler). It just means you would go into car mode whenever you attach to an AC outlet.
 
Actually, there is a better/simple way for this.
Some car chargers (like the official EXPENSIVE one - CU-S420) triggers the car mode directly (you don't need to select the type of charger you plugged in, while using tasker). I think you still need tasker to automatically activate BT, although, if you ask me, this option should be the first thing developers should integrate in the carhome/navipanel applications. Just like you (and like so many others), I only use BT while driving (for BT headset).

Olso, read this if you want to build "a special cable" to automatically trigger "car mode".
 
If you download the latest version of Google CarHome from the Market it actually has Bluetooth integration built in now.

I have tasker installed and configured to switch BT on/off for my commute and with the updated Carhome app it now automatically launches Carhome as soon as i swithc my Car stereo on.
 
Thanks for the tip. I'm actually still just in the decision phase whether or not to get an Android phone at all, but the feedback I have received here is quite convincing. My current iPhone needs a jailbreak to achieve these things, and once you've done that you are at the mercy of Apple's ability or lack of ability to plug the holes that allow jailbreakers to succeed. It simply has no future. I'm very close to take a decision to get the new Desire HD when it comes out soon, thanks to you all.
 
I agree with the idea that when it is paired with a compatible bluetooth device as part of the car, it switches automatically.
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cheap car accessory
 
Just to let the thread contributors know what decisions I took in the end: I bought the HTC Desire HD (and have never looked back, it's great!). I also bought a car holder CU-S440, which does NOT trigger car mode automatically. I also invested in Tasker (5 star app) and programmed it as follows:

- When connected to AC power, start bluetooth and unlock if locked (see below)
- When connected to my car's bluetooth, set variable %CARDOCK
- When variable %CARDOCK is set, load app HTC Car Panel, which triggers car mode and starts Car Dock Home v3 in my case. It waits a few seconds and then starts any other apps that I want running when in the car.
- When power is disconnected, variable %PARKPLACE is set to %LOC, letting me use Navigator to find the car if necessary. Bluetooth is turned off. Variable %CARDOCK is cleared. App Car Mode from the same developer as Car Dock Home v3 is loaded, which reverts what Car Panel did, i.e. it turns off car mode. Car Dock Home v3 is set to terminate when car mode is turned off. Here one can also kill any application no longer needed. Finally I set the display timeout to the desired value, as this seems to be affected by the above for some reason.

To determine the screen's current lock status I set a variable accordingly for the locked/unlocked events. This requires the Widgetlocker app to work.

I played with a number of variations of the above before settling for this solution. The main advantage here is that car mode is only triggered by bluetooth; car mode is not terminated by the loss of bluetooth connection, as this might happen while driving, in my case. This provides for a stable car mode status as long as the engine is running.

I hope this can be of use to someone.
 
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