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Android Auto “Frankenstein” Has a Cooler and Heatsinks, Does Its Job Perfectly

A typical Android phone is enough to run Android Auto in the car as long as the head unit supports it, and starting with Android 11, this also applies to the wireless experience, as you no longer have to own a Google Pixel or a Samsung device for the whole thing.
Android Auto build with a PC fan and heatsinks 3 photos
Photo: reddit user ringowu1234
Custom Android Auto buildCustom Android Auto build
On the other hand, there are people out there who are trying different approaches to further improve the way they use Android Auto, and some of them turn to a secondary phone that would stay in the car 24/7 for extra convenience.

The idea is as simple as it could be. If the phone stays in the car and remains connected to the USB port, it can launch Android Auto when turning on the engine, which sort of emulates the wireless experience without actually having a head unit that supports it. You don’t even need a secondary SIM for this phone, as you can just turn your daily driver into a hotspot and give it access to the Internet for things like Waze and Spotify.

Someone on reddit has decided to push things even further by creating a custom build that would guarantee the phone powering Android Auto never gets hot. So they turned to heatsinks and a PC cooler for the whole thing, eventually creating what’s being called “Frankenstein,” a weird-looking device that’s supposed to run Android Auto without any kind of input from the driver.

This is the phone that sits in my car as a dedicated Android Auto system. I rooted the phone to enable more functions, but it gets very hot as I use it. Initially, I stuck some heatsinks to the phone, but the wise guys on Reddit suggested that I need more airflow. So that's how this Frankenstein is born,” the redditor explains.

Needless to say, this idea does its job just perfectly, and the looks aren’t at all that important, especially if the phone stays in a place where you can barely see it. Since it’s connected to USB, the cooler works when the engine is running and Android Auto is enabled on the head unit.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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