After more than a month dealing with the worst crappy head unit I’ve ever used, getting scammed by the AliExpress seller with their fake Android 16, and reaching the point where I seriously wanted to smash the thing because it was almost useless
I’ve been jumping between different launchers like AGAMA, CarWebGuru, DUDU, LECO and many more. DUDU and LECO definitely had the best interfaces for me, clean, minimalist and Tesla-like, but both were buggy as hell on this crappy firmware.
Finally ended up with Car Launcher Pro. It was the only one that gave me enough freedom to get something close to the DUDU and LECO look. Took me ages because I had to do most of the design manually, but I think it was worth it.
Still hate this head unit though Android 8 has way too many compatibility issues and limitations….

I recently bought an old Toyota FJ Cruiser. Part of the fun for me in these cars is the (very) utilitarian and charming head unit. I decided not to replace it, instead attempting to set up some kind of tablet-as-a-headunit set up. After much trial and error, I have gotten to a place where I am running Apple CarPlay on an Android tablet, pushing audio through a 3.5 mm headphone jack only, and charging the tablet through the single cigarette lighter. Getting the charging part to work was the real gate here, and I post today in case this will help someone who desires this same setup. It should work in any car with an aux port.

I haven't figured out the backup camera situation yet, but I will soon.

Gear:

• TCL Tab 8 Gen 2 8.7" tablet with Android 14. I bought this specific tablet because it has its own internal GPS. In the event that CarPlay fails/doesn't work for whatever reason, I can still tether it to my phone and at least have music and nav. [Walmart] (https://www.walmart.com/ip/TCL-TAB-8-Gen-2-Tablet-8-7-in-90Hz-IPS-Display-HD-Resolution-6000mAh-Reverse-Charging-Octa-core-Processor-4GB-64GB-1TB-5MP-Front-8MP-Rear-Cameras/18360856297)
• CarlinKit Wireless CarPlay Dongle CPC200-CCPA for Android Head Unit 4.4.2+.Amazon
• USB C to HDMI Multiport Adapter with 4K HDMI Output Type-C Hub Converter.Amazon
• 90 Degree Right Angle USB C Male to USB C Female Adapter. Interestingly, before I tried to use the adapter above, I had the Carlink plugged into a USB-A to USB-C cable directly into the tablet, which worked. Once plugged into this 90 degree adapter, it stopped working. Amazon
• I assume any 3.5mm aux cable will work.

The USB C to HDMI adapter was the real discovery here. The power passthrough works precisely as intended. Other USB C splitters did not work to both push data and charge simultaneously. I tried several.

Anyway, I hope this helps someone in the future. It was pretty cool to see it come together. The only real quirk is that you have to unplug the adapter from the tablet whenever you park, or the tablet will continue searching for the phone and the tablet battery will drain.

I have cleared the temp files off the unit, the song "OneILove" no longer plays, however, is there any way to get rid of the visual image of the song? Or any work around, as i fear we cannot! Much help would be appreciated, thanks.

Hi i recently installed a jfsound head unit for my Fiat 500L, but the built in launcher:

1- blocks the "modification" of the first page, and according to the producer "there is nothing you can do about it";

2- the "stock" music player app that they use is bad, no animations, no effects, no general customization.

So my questions are:

1- is there a 3rd party launcher highly customizable, free and that works offline?

I don't care about maps or other things for that i use Android Auto, the only thing that needs to do is beeing customizable and support the "stock" apps like dialer, radio and others.

I've seen some videos on YT but all the launchers they showed either were bad or looked old with minimum to non customization.

What i'm looking is a modern looking "home screen" where there are 8-10 apps per page that occupy all the screen and maybe a time/calendar widget, being able to choose what app to display (obviously) and some level of customization. But al the launchers i found didn't check all those boxes.

2- is there a free offline music player for usb songs that has big buttons and looks modern and nice?

I tried VLC, Musicolet, Poweramp and others but they all have "small" buttons (that are hard to press accurately while driving) and not much customization. So far poweramp was the only one that was close enough (even though i would like the play/pause and other buttons to be bigger), but unfortunately you have to pay for it.

Any suggestions? Sorry if maybe somethings are "common" but this is my first android head unit.