Android radio users; what apps do you find useful or necessary?

WestCoastDan

WestCoastDan

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I upgraded to an Android radio a couple of years ago, and I really appreciate the Carplay interface for navigation, audio options, etc. but I feel like I'm not taking full advantage of this radio's capabilities.
While I have the standard apps on my phone, the Carplay function isn't much help if I don't have a cellular signal.
(The wife & I are both using an Apple phone)
I've downloaded a few GPS apps onto the radio that include offline maps for most of the western US areas I expect to ever need, but there must be additional functions that I'm not really using.

A good example is the front camera.
The radio I chose has both front and rear camera inputs.
I installed a forward-facing camera on the underside of the bumper w/ the expectation to use it as a "digital spotter" to show obstacles, etc. while running trails, but it strikes me that it should work nearly as well as a dash-cam, if I could enable it and record without too much hassle.

Right now, the only way that I can seem to make it work is if I start the camera, than record the screen, and even then, it doesn't work like a dashcam creating short files. It makes a single file until I stop the recording.

What apps or functions have you used to take your Android radio use up to expert level?
 
I've had an android head unit of one type or another for about 8 years now. The whole point of getting full android was to use any app I wanted, not just the ones available via car play/android auto. I eventually settled on a custom rom which got rid of the ability to have Android Auto (I'm an android phone user). I eventually bought the dashcam that went along with my current head unit and can record all I want with that. The nice thing about the dashcam is it's always recording. I've done a few trips where I stitch together the snippets I want to share/keep. My experience with playing with a camera attached to the "front camera" connection is that it acts as you descried with the DVR function. I've contemplated adding a couple of spotter cameras as I think that could be extremely useful, but I don't know that it's needed. In fact, it could be a distraction in certain situations. Still, might do it though.

As far as apps, the apps I like to have installed are Spotify, iHeartRadio (for terrestrial and podcasts), Torque Pro, a few different mapping programs (Waze, Gaia, Google Maps, Sygic, BackCountry Navigator, Ramblr, What3Words), a few different launchers (AGAMA, CarWebGuru, Nova Launcher), Power Amp, MyRadar, Radar Scope, Gas Buddy, some Ham Radio apps, Red Cross apps (First Aid and Severe Wx App). Bolded are most frequently used. The launchers I change between just to mix things up. If there's a paid version, I'll generally pony up for that if I find it useful.

I use a dashboard in Torque Pro as extra gauges. Side note, everyone in the interwebs & in the Social Club, er Jeep Club I'm in gets all giddy over OnX maps. I don't like subscription based models, so I don't have that one.

My current HU is getting a little long in the tooth, so some apps (as they get updates) aren't working as well as they used to. Which one do you have installed? I have a Daisata 10" restyle unit. I'm considering a Seicane since I have previous experience with them. It seems a lot of the ones on Amazon are the "floating" screen variety. I'd prefer the type I have but at a better resolution. I have jScan installed, but the lower resolution of mine makes seeing certain settings a pain. In fact, there's an app I installed (Drive Weather) that I can't use since I can't click Accept for the EULA. C'est la vie...
 
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At the end of the day, it's as functional as your phone is/as functional as you want it to be. I use my phone as a hotspot to stream spotify/iheart, maps, etc. I like having the ability to bring up web info (parked only, thankyouverymuch) for destinations - especially when out of my home area. To make things like that easier, I have a small bluetooth keyboard I keep in the glovebox. (similar to this one)
 
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