Custom Car Home

[BigFwoosh]

Hey all, I just uploaded my new app, Custom Car Home, to the market. It's a replacement for the Car Home app. Features are:

• Android 2.0+ devices only
• Up to 8 apps of your choosing on the screen
• Auto-enable speakerphone and bluetooth (in settings)
• Opens automatically when the phone is inserted in the car dock, just like Car Home
• Should be compatible with the Nexus One and Droid Incredible, though I have only tested in the emulator

Give it a shot if you're tired of Car Home. It's free, and I'll have a donate version up within the next day or so in case anyone wants to donate.

market://search?q=pname:com.bigfwoosh.customcarhome

[icculusX]

Good idea man. Ill check it out later. On a pc now so obviously that link went nowhere...

[REMilk]

I installed CCH. I like that you can choose in settings to independently and automatically turn on/off bluetooth and speakerphone. CCH is easy to use and with ease of maintenance for adding and removing app icons. The large icons are easy to see.

There are several improvements that I would like to see in future releases.
1. The ability to easily move app icons around on the screen.
2. Support for shortcuts and widgets, not just apps.
3. A built-in app that can be used to invoke the navigation feature. Right now, you need to either install a 3rd-party app or have the Car Home app (which this replaces) as an icon.
4. Support for multiple screens; This will not be my wish, but many others with want multiple screens and it will not matter how many, someone will always desire more than you provide.

Please understand I am not being critical. Having been in IT for 40 years, I appreciate the effort you have expended in the development of this app.

Thank you for your wonderful effort and idea.

[BigFwoosh]

Thanks very much for the feedback, REMilk. All of those features you mentioned have been floating around in my head as potentially being in a future release, especially shortcut and widget support and the ability to drag and drop apps.

I've been really grinding my gears on this app for the last couple of weeks (had no prior Android experience really), so after a short break I'm going to start working on more features.

[dahctor]

I have two issues:
One: Is it supposed to load when the Droid is in the Car Dock? Mine does not... If its not, then it works great, but I think that that would be awesome if it did.

Two: I agree on the widgets thing. Either build a couple of your own into it (Music, Maps/Traffic, and Weather would be the ones I think would be most useful), or allow it to load normal home Widgets.

One other really useful thing would be to be able to put folders or the favorites list on the care home.

Otherwise this is something I've been looking for for a LONG time. Great Job!

[REMilk]

I have two issues:
One: Is it supposed to load when the Droid is in the Car Dock? Mine does not... If its not, then it works great, but I think that that would be awesome if it did.

!

It starts as expected for me.

When I put it in the car dock, a selection screen appears that gives me the option to start CCH or the standard car dock.

Bob

[BigFwoosh]

I have two issues:
One: Is it supposed to load when the Droid is in the Car Dock? Mine does not... If its not, then it works great, but I think that that would be awesome if it did.

Two: I agree on the widgets thing. Either build a couple of your own into it (Music, Maps/Traffic, and Weather would be the ones I think would be most useful), or allow it to load normal home Widgets.

One other really useful thing would be to be able to put folders or the favorites list on the care home.

Otherwise this is something I've been looking for for a LONG time. Great Job!

It should definitely launch when you put the phone in the dock, just like the normal Car Home. Are you using the official dock from Motorola? As for widgets, I definitely want to add support for that in the not-too-distant future.

[BigFwoosh]

For anyone interested, v1.0.1 is on the Market. It has added support for Google Navigation. Works exactly like the button in Car Home.

[REMilk]

With this latest version, Bluetooth does not shut off when you remove from the car cradle. It turns on automatically, but does not turn off automatically.

[BigFwoosh]

With this latest version, Bluetooth does not shut off when you remove from the car cradle. It turns on automatically, but does not turn off automatically.

That's weird since I didn't change anything involving bluetooth settings in this build. Can you reproduce it? I tried to but it's working fine for me.