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Just FYI - you can replace your head unit even on newer cars. There's a bustling aftermarket industry for this kind of stuff: https://www.belsee.com/android-c

by RajT88 3y ago

Just FYI - you can replace your head unit even on newer cars. There's a bustling aftermarket industry for this kind of stuff: https://www.belsee.com/android-car-radio/hyundai-radio.html https://www.belsee.com/android-car-radio/hyundai-radio.html This way - your data gets abused by the Chinese government instead of Hyundai! (I kid, sort of, but these head units let you exert more control over your car, as they often ship rooted, or can be rooted) If you DIY install the head unit, you can often completely pay for the head unit and have cash left over by selling your old head unit to someone who needs one. (Lots of people need a stock head unit, because theirs got stolen, or they bought a salvage title without a head unit, or whatever).

tomxor 3y ago
I'd pay to just not have one, but I'm not even sure that's possible any more. I'm really not looking forward to when I'm forced to buy a new car - few things make me more mad than smartphone tech with universally slow and terrible UX, duck-taped onto machines, let alone dangerous machines.
- LAC-Tech 3y ago
  Seriously. I have zero use for a touch screen in a car. Maps? When I drive I look at... the road. If I need directions, google maps can tell me to turn left etc by voice commands.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    I don't think I could live without it anymore, but I have a really tight parking situation at home and the parking sensors that are exposed through the head unit are really useful. Not to mention navigation and all that stuff. These features are really considered standard now by most (but definitely not all) people.
    - LAC-Tech 3y ago
      I had that in a car from 2008 or so. Camera feed switched on when you were reversing, but no touch screen.
      - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
        Radar parking sensor are very useful. Not sure if you had that in 2008. In my car, this all comes in via the head unit. Critical driving stuff isn't allowed to be in the head unit (wisely), parking display doesn't come up as critical although the sensors are technically available even if the head unit is fried, which I found out when my head unit failed (car was still drivable, but many nice things gone).
        LAC-Tech 3y ago
        It wasn't radar, it was just a camera feed that activated when I put it in reverse.
  - mnahkies 3y ago
    Eh I'm anti touch screen controls, but as a motorcyclist driving in a foreign country relying on voice directions I need the visual input too. There's a big difference between audio only directions for a spaghetti junction and being able to glance at the visual and combine that with the audio. You take your eyes off the road all the time doing head checks (blind spot checks), so long as you're not staring at the map I think the benefit of being sure about where you're going is safer
    - dizhn 3y ago
      Sounds like google maps, am i right? Almost any other navigation product will do a combination of zooming in and displaying actual road signs with clearly marked intersections etc. Maps is useless without also turning on voice.
    - geoelectric 3y ago
      My Ioniq 5 (ironically, a Hyundai...) puts turn by turn directions on the HUD, if you want--eyes stay on the road, but you get full visual feedback. To me that's the best of both worlds. Downside is it only works with the on-board nav and not CarPlay/AA.
  - gambiting 3y ago
    ...people actually use voice commands? I've not used them in any GPS for like 10+ years nor do I know anyone who has audible navigation enabled.
    - LAC-Tech 3y ago
      what's the alternative - looking at a screen? I want to concentrate on driving.
      - gambiting 3y ago
        I personally find that having to pay attention to visual prompts(turn right in 1km) makes me far more focused on the road than listening to the prompts, which can come without any warning and don't allow you to appreciate what is going to happen with enough warning. I usually glance and see that in 10km I'm taking the 3rd exit at the roundabout, then I know for next 10km I can focus entirely at the road, take 3rd exit at the roundabout and then will glance for next instruction again.
- RajT88 3y ago
  > I'd pay to just not have one, but I'm not even sure that's possible any more. Yeah, some stuff makes you go through the head unit on some machines. Any replacement head unit would have to implement the same controls somehow. Wealthy will be the person who makes a generic 2 DIN head unit, where you have physical buttons which you can map to various CANBus messages.
  - dotancohen 3y ago
    I'm working on a generic device that sends canbus messages, that can have inputs such as potentiometer, push buttons, toggle switches, and rotary encoders. My end goal is to have real hvac controls on my Tesla, but I'd like to abstract the device as much as possible. Fun project, and most of the hardware necessary is already out there.
    - Scoundreller 3y ago
      The dream: https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-CT87N1001-Round-Manual-Thermostat/dp/B000FCCZ5Q https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-CT87N1001-Round-Manual-Therm...
    - djbusby 3y ago
      Awesome! I demand links! Give me a GitHub I can watch and contribute too. My soldering iron is already hot! LFG!
    - freedomben 3y ago
      That is super badass and I'd love to have something like that. Does the factory display/controls use the canbus to do their work? How much stuff can you reasonably do through that? Do you know if it varies between manufacturers?
      - CamperBob2 3y ago
        The problem is, there's not just one "CAN/LIN bus." There are probably a dozen different segments. One device attached to one segment can only talk to the upstream gateway and whatever peripherals are on that bus segment. Of course this isn't a problem per se, it's good design -- but it has the side effect of making it harder to hack your own car through a single point of entry other than the main OBD2 port, which is connected to the top-level gateway.
- plagiarist 3y ago
  In previous discussions about how shitty touchscreen car interfaces are, people have been mentioning that new cars must provide a backup camera. I'd like to have just the camera, but why would manufacturers stop there when they can ship spyware as well? The screen is the expensive part.
  - tomxor 3y ago
    Touch screens are actually incredibly cheap off the shelf components compared to all of the bespoke physical buttons and dials required to kit out a car.
gnicholas 3y ago
In some cars this means you are unable to hear the beeping of the proximity sensors. I would guess that you'd also lose any 360° camera views as well.
tyingq 3y ago
It's tricky for some cars. Things like non-standard sizes for the opening. Important functionality baked into the head unit (Volvo, for example, has paths to configure some safety options, trip/mpg display, etc). Integration for steering wheel controls, rear displays, backup cameras. And more that I'm missing off the top of my head. For some vehicles, some of the above have options to tie in with a 3rd party setup, others don't.
- RajT88 3y ago
  My current head unit for (admittedly a 10 year old VW) does all of those things. Backup camera, steering wheel buttons, MPG, fuel level, low tire warnings... It's actually really impressive for for $190 I spent on it. The only thing which it disabled when I replaced the head unit was the built-in handsfree bluetooth stuff. It all goes through the stereo now (and doesn't work that great). YMMV on these aftermarket head units. A lot of the stock head units look like weird sizes, but it's really just trim on the front of it looking highly custom. Aftermarket units sometimes (often?) come with matching trim pieces to make it look OEM.
  - tyingq 3y ago
    Sure. Just saying there are some setups that either don't work, or don't work completely. Steering wheel controls is a good example. You can go to the product site for one of those expensive integration units, and their "product fit guide" will show you it works with some cars and not others. And, yes, some cars can fit a head unit even though the opening looks odd. Others can't, at all. Volvo has several cars in that category.
ToucanLoucan 3y ago
Both of my older vehicles have aftermarket head units and I absolutely love them. It's definitely a lot of faff to get them in and working, but a few hundred dollars and some frustrating weekends beats buying an entire new car loaded to the gills with spyware that wants a subscription fee for it's heated seats. And you don't need to worry about the chinese government if you just never connect the things to the internet, which I never do. They are a conveyance for CarPlay access and nothing more.
1970-01-01 3y ago
It's worth mentioning these screens are not crash tested and can become shards of glass in an accident.

by RajT88 3y ago

tomxor 3y ago

I'd pay to just not have one, but I'm not even sure that's possible any more. I'm really not looking forward to when I'm forced to buy a new car - few things make me more mad than smartphone tech with universally slow and terrible UX, duck-taped onto machines, let alone dangerous machines.

LAC-Tech 3y ago
Seriously. I have zero use for a touch screen in a car. Maps? When I drive I look at... the road. If I need directions, google maps can tell me to turn left etc by voice commands.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  I don't think I could live without it anymore, but I have a really tight parking situation at home and the parking sensors that are exposed through the head unit are really useful. Not to mention navigation and all that stuff. These features are really considered standard now by most (but definitely not all) people.
  - LAC-Tech 3y ago
    I had that in a car from 2008 or so. Camera feed switched on when you were reversing, but no touch screen.
    - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
      Radar parking sensor are very useful. Not sure if you had that in 2008. In my car, this all comes in via the head unit. Critical driving stuff isn't allowed to be in the head unit (wisely), parking display doesn't come up as critical although the sensors are technically available even if the head unit is fried, which I found out when my head unit failed (car was still drivable, but many nice things gone).
      - LAC-Tech 3y ago
        It wasn't radar, it was just a camera feed that activated when I put it in reverse.
- mnahkies 3y ago
  Eh I'm anti touch screen controls, but as a motorcyclist driving in a foreign country relying on voice directions I need the visual input too. There's a big difference between audio only directions for a spaghetti junction and being able to glance at the visual and combine that with the audio. You take your eyes off the road all the time doing head checks (blind spot checks), so long as you're not staring at the map I think the benefit of being sure about where you're going is safer
  - dizhn 3y ago
    Sounds like google maps, am i right? Almost any other navigation product will do a combination of zooming in and displaying actual road signs with clearly marked intersections etc. Maps is useless without also turning on voice.
  - geoelectric 3y ago
    My Ioniq 5 (ironically, a Hyundai...) puts turn by turn directions on the HUD, if you want--eyes stay on the road, but you get full visual feedback. To me that's the best of both worlds. Downside is it only works with the on-board nav and not CarPlay/AA.
- gambiting 3y ago
  ...people actually use voice commands? I've not used them in any GPS for like 10+ years nor do I know anyone who has audible navigation enabled.
  - LAC-Tech 3y ago
    what's the alternative - looking at a screen? I want to concentrate on driving.
    - gambiting 3y ago
      I personally find that having to pay attention to visual prompts(turn right in 1km) makes me far more focused on the road than listening to the prompts, which can come without any warning and don't allow you to appreciate what is going to happen with enough warning. I usually glance and see that in 10km I'm taking the 3rd exit at the roundabout, then I know for next 10km I can focus entirely at the road, take 3rd exit at the roundabout and then will glance for next instruction again.
RajT88 3y ago
> I'd pay to just not have one, but I'm not even sure that's possible any more. Yeah, some stuff makes you go through the head unit on some machines. Any replacement head unit would have to implement the same controls somehow. Wealthy will be the person who makes a generic 2 DIN head unit, where you have physical buttons which you can map to various CANBus messages.
- dotancohen 3y ago
  I'm working on a generic device that sends canbus messages, that can have inputs such as potentiometer, push buttons, toggle switches, and rotary encoders. My end goal is to have real hvac controls on my Tesla, but I'd like to abstract the device as much as possible. Fun project, and most of the hardware necessary is already out there.
  - Scoundreller 3y ago
    The dream: https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-CT87N1001-Round-Manual-Thermostat/dp/B000FCCZ5Q https://www.amazon.ca/Honeywell-CT87N1001-Round-Manual-Therm...
  - djbusby 3y ago
    Awesome! I demand links! Give me a GitHub I can watch and contribute too. My soldering iron is already hot! LFG!
  - freedomben 3y ago
    That is super badass and I'd love to have something like that. Does the factory display/controls use the canbus to do their work? How much stuff can you reasonably do through that? Do you know if it varies between manufacturers?
    - CamperBob2 3y ago
      The problem is, there's not just one "CAN/LIN bus." There are probably a dozen different segments. One device attached to one segment can only talk to the upstream gateway and whatever peripherals are on that bus segment. Of course this isn't a problem per se, it's good design -- but it has the side effect of making it harder to hack your own car through a single point of entry other than the main OBD2 port, which is connected to the top-level gateway.
plagiarist 3y ago
In previous discussions about how shitty touchscreen car interfaces are, people have been mentioning that new cars must provide a backup camera. I'd like to have just the camera, but why would manufacturers stop there when they can ship spyware as well? The screen is the expensive part.
- tomxor 3y ago
  Touch screens are actually incredibly cheap off the shelf components compared to all of the bespoke physical buttons and dials required to kit out a car.

gnicholas 3y ago

In some cars this means you are unable to hear the beeping of the proximity sensors. I would guess that you'd also lose any 360° camera views as well.

tyingq 3y ago

It's tricky for some cars. Things like non-standard sizes for the opening. Important functionality baked into the head unit (Volvo, for example, has paths to configure some safety options, trip/mpg display, etc). Integration for steering wheel controls, rear displays, backup cameras. And more that I'm missing off the top of my head. For some vehicles, some of the above have options to tie in with a 3rd party setup, others don't.

RajT88 3y ago
My current head unit for (admittedly a 10 year old VW) does all of those things. Backup camera, steering wheel buttons, MPG, fuel level, low tire warnings... It's actually really impressive for for $190 I spent on it. The only thing which it disabled when I replaced the head unit was the built-in handsfree bluetooth stuff. It all goes through the stereo now (and doesn't work that great). YMMV on these aftermarket head units. A lot of the stock head units look like weird sizes, but it's really just trim on the front of it looking highly custom. Aftermarket units sometimes (often?) come with matching trim pieces to make it look OEM.
- tyingq 3y ago
  Sure. Just saying there are some setups that either don't work, or don't work completely. Steering wheel controls is a good example. You can go to the product site for one of those expensive integration units, and their "product fit guide" will show you it works with some cars and not others. And, yes, some cars can fit a head unit even though the opening looks odd. Others can't, at all. Volvo has several cars in that category.

ToucanLoucan 3y ago

Both of my older vehicles have aftermarket head units and I absolutely love them. It's definitely a lot of faff to get them in and working, but a few hundred dollars and some frustrating weekends beats buying an entire new car loaded to the gills with spyware that wants a subscription fee for it's heated seats. And you don't need to worry about the chinese government if you just never connect the things to the internet, which I never do. They are a conveyance for CarPlay access and nothing more.

1970-01-01 3y ago

It's worth mentioning these screens are not crash tested and can become shards of glass in an accident.