Way to dim screen when in car dock?

[Djnardu]

I love my car dock for its GPS and Pandora, only issue is on really sunny days the screen seems to go to 100% brightness along with the data usage and GPS it begins to drain the battery.

I know I can dim the screen myself but I love the auto function because I really do feel it gives the best brightness for the amount of light. Is there a way to keep auto brightness on but dim when in car dock to stop the huge battery drain when bright outside.

The only other option I have it turning off the screen or having to manually turn off auto and change the brightness myself.

 

[tehpriest]

I think the idea is that you plug in a car charger at these times :-s

 

[Djnardu]

I do have a car charger plugged in, the amount of energy being used still drains the battery as the screen battery usage is at like 95%

 

[tehpriest]

There is a problem with some non OEM car chargers as they are not set up properly pin wise to provide the full charge. Is yours a non OEM or original ?

 

[Djnardu]

Ive tried a bunch of different car chargers. The current one im using is a usb charger that I have running with a 6 foot long usb cable. I know its not a charging issue because at night or partly/cloudy days its a non issue its only when its really bright outside.

The unit is getting a charge its just the usage is outperforming the charge. For example if I turn off the screen and turn it on 15 min later the unit will have charged or be fully charged because the screen wasnt sucking up all the juice.

 

[MotoCache1]

I love my car dock for its GPS and Pandora, only issue is on really sunny days the screen seems to go to 100% brightness along with the data usage and GPS it begins to drain the battery.

I know I can dim the screen myself but I love the auto function because I really do feel it gives the best brightness for the amount of light. Is there a way to keep auto brightness on but dim when in car dock to stop the huge battery drain when bright outside.

The only other option I have it turning off the screen or having to manually turn off auto and change the brightness myself.

If you add the Power Control widget to your home page it makes it pretty easy to change from dim to normal to bright to auto (in Froyo). You'd still be dealing with it manually, but it wouldn't be as much of a pain as going into settings, etc.

I know there is a "Dock" plugin for Locale that lets you take various actions automatically when the phone goes into or comes out of dock. I haven't checked it out, but that might be an avenue to pursue.

 

[harrellj]

Or even use Tasker as well, if you don't want to go Locale.

 

[Djnardu]

So drove home tonight with screen on with auto, gps going, and pandora streaming the entire time. My phone went from 70% charge to 90% by the time I got home. It probably helps the screen was at around 25% because it was dark out.

The locale app seems exactly what I was looking for.

Question is, is it worth 10 bucks to have my phone auto dim in the car dock or spend 5 second clicking a brightness toggle widget to 50% when its sunny outside. =P

 

[MotoCache1]

The locale app seems exactly what I was looking for.

Question is, is it worth 10 bucks to have my phone auto dim in the car dock or spend 5 second clicking a brightness toggle widget to 50% when its sunny outside. =P

Once you've got it on the phone anyway, I think you'll find enough uses for Locale to make it worth it.

 

[rjax]

If you want a free solution, Setting Profiles Lite will let you set up one rule -- which works out very nicely for car dock stuff. If you decide you want to do more, the full Setting Profiles is cheaper than Locale, though Locale does have the advantage of plugins.

 

[Djnardu]

If you want a free solution, Setting Profiles Lite will let you set up one rule -- which works out very nicely for car dock stuff. If you decide you want to do more, the full Setting Profiles is cheaper than Locale, though Locale does have the advantage of plugins.

Wow tried this out and it worked like exactly was I was looking for!

Only problem is I set it up as 50% brightness and tested it in my dark car, wow that was bright lol. Im going to try 25-40% tomorrow out in the sun to see how well I can see the screen. If it looks fine I thank you very much. If not then Ill prob stick with a brightness toggle as I only really need to change the brightness on sunny days, 75% of the time I would have it as auto.

Thanks alot I will update you on how the brightness in the day looks tomorrow.