Screen shut-off with vehicle dock...

[raceMpower95]

I am considering picking up the vehicle dock, but I had a few questions I was hoping someone could answer before I did. I checked around online and wasn't able to get anything useful.

1. I know that when the vehicle mount has the built-in magnet that activated the "Car Home" mode. Does this lock the phone into that mode, or does it still retain full functionality and you just have to hit the "Home" button or something...?

2. When I use the phone in the car right now for Nav, I notice that the screen will remain on until I exit Navigation. It seems as if the Navigation app has a way of over riding the power settings that tell the screen to power off after a minute. However, when using Google Maps, not Navigation, to just follow my progress on the map, rather than initiating a navigation, the screen still powers off after a minute, which is very inconvenient when driving. Does the vehicle mount, by any chance, disable the power settings and force the screen to remain on at all time while in the mount (while plugged in obviously)? If not, does anyone know of a way around this so that the screen stays on and I don't have to wake the phone up every 60 seconds?

Any help with either of these would be greatly appreciated. Thank in advance.

 

[raceMpower95]

Nothing? Really?

 

[DaveJustDave]

Does it do the same thing if you launch navigation from the "car mode" option when _not_ docked to the GPS mount?

 

[MInkyboi]

1. Im pretty sure you can still hit home just like the multimedia dock (not entirely sure though)

2. Home Menu > Settings > Applications > Development > Stay Awake while charging

Alternatively theres an app call KeepScreen that lets you choose what apps and stuff that keep the screen on.

 

[raceMpower95]

Does it do the same thing if you launch navigation from the "car mode" option when _not_ docked to the GPS mount?

If you launch Navigation from Car Mode, the screen will stay on. I am trying to get the screen to stay on and at full brightness while just viewing the map, rather than being in an active navigation with directions.

1. Im pretty sure you can still hit home just like the multimedia dock (not entirely sure though)

2. Home Menu > Settings > Applications > Development > Stay Awake while charging

Alternatively theres an app call KeepScreen that lets you choose what apps and stuff that keep the screen on.

Thank you. I'll give that a shot and I'll definitely look into KeepScreen.

 

[jerbroc]

1 there is a home icon and the phone will have all normal out of dock features.
2 this was annoying to me also, I like to have a map up but don't need navigation to everywhere I go. I had been looking for a solution to this and thanks to MInkyboi KeepScreen looks like the solution.

 

[romeov]

DockAwake is exactly what you are looking for. it's in the market and is written specifically for the Droid and it's docks with magnets. It recognizes when it is docked in either the home or car dock and will allow you to set no screen timeout on each. Simple, works great and I like that it's made specifically for the droid and it's docks rather than keepscreen which is more generic Android and doesn't use the built in magnometer as DockAwake does.

 

[raceMpower95]

Well I dl'ed KeepScreen and that seems to do exactly what I needed. I will also look into DockAwake once I get the actual mount.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[romeov]

Yeah, I hope you do. I love it because it's just like keepscreen, but completely droid/droid dock specific.

It's the only app I know of that uses the magnets in the two droid docks to change the settings.. meaning you never have to do a thing, it sets the screen to no timeout as soon as it hits the dock and detects the magnets and then goes back to your normal timeout when you remove it... so nice not having to hit a bunch of buttons everytime

 

[Deuel]

I have the MOTO charging dock...it keeps the display on by default (in fact you have to tap the power button if you want the screen to blank). I understand the car dock does the same. You can return to your home screen by pushing the back button or home icon on the display. DockAwake isn't needed to keep your phone from sleeping, but it does have some options that control BT & GPS that are useful (senses the magnet when docked). The MOTO car dock doesn't come with a car charger, so you'll need to get one seperately to keep it running. A half hour, running Nav, drained 20% of my battery.

 

[romeov]

I have the Moto dock as well, (there are very few other options at this stage of the game) and it doesn't keep the screen on by default. You have to enable it in the settings, and the option is to "keep screen on when charging". That's specifically why I got Dockawake, because the droid only stays on in the dock because it's charging, not because it senses the dock magnets. That's also why it won't stay on with the moto car dock, since it doesn't charge it as well.

I didn't like the idea of my droid screen staying on all night every night and just running for no reason while it's charging, but I did want it to stay on while it was docked at my desk in the moto dock, which is why I got Dockawake.

 

[Deuel]

Ahhh...I stand corrected. Your post jogged the old memory and I do now recall setting the charging option. DockAwake make perfect sense to me now. I use the dock as you do and will likely get DockAwake also. I don't use it as a clock, and just shut the screen off at night. With my memory this app is apparently just what I need. :huh:

 

[mboard182]

'Bright Dock' is free, accomplishes same thing

found this thread, I wasn't happy with KeepScreen as I didn't want my phone to stay lit when only plugged in, not in a dock.

DockAwake seemed like exactly what I was looking for, but I did happen upon a free app 'Bright Dock' that works well for me.

It disables the auto-off when in the dock, and optionally only disables it if you are in a 'charging' dock - eg if your dock is plugged into you pc, and you shut the pc down, you phone will still timeout & not kill the battery.

Nice

 

[DaveFromDenver]

Can someone tell me, does this "Bright Dock" solution work for Razr Maxx? And, anyone with corporate e-mail that has to put in a PIN after screen timeout, does it keep the screen on even with the mandatory corporate security applied? (Outlook Exchange or LotusLive)