Photo: reddit user JeFi2
Right now, most people use Android Auto with their primary devices, and that makes perfect sense given this is the most straightforward way to handle calls, take your favorite music with you wherever you go, and always be up-to-date with what’s happening on your phone.
But in some cases, turning to a secondary phone to power Android Auto makes a lot of sense, especially if you can equip it with a SIM card that shares the phone number and the data plan with your main device. So not only that you’re not losing anything, but you can also forget about plugging in your primary phone, with Android Auto just starting automatically when you get in the car.
Someone on reddit has managed to take the whole thing to a completely new level, as what they did was to convert an old OnePlus One into an Android Auto-powering device. Even without a battery, that is, as the unit on this phone was already dead.
How is it possible for Android Auto to launch on an Android phone without a battery? That isn’t a project for the Average Joe, but it requires only small tweaks to get it up and running at the end of the day.
“The USB port is directly soldered to the battery connector. Not pretty but it works. It can handle the 5V. The capacitor triggers the power button once power is connected. The phone is a OnePlus One,” redditor JeFi2 explains in a post.
Without a permanent source of power, Android simply loads every time the driver gets in the car. The process takes about 2 minutes, it seems, but given it starts the moment the door is opened, it’s not necessarily as painful as it sounds.
In theory, the same thing can be achieved by just using any phone with a battery in it, but on the other hand, this is something that you may want to avoid on hot summer days when overheating could be an issue.
If you want to try out the whole thing yourselves, you won’t need any schematics, so check out the photo in the article to see exactly how the Flat Flex was soldered to the mainboard. Of course, this doesn’t mean it’s that easy on all phones, but OnePlus has designed some of its models in a way that makes the whole thing a lot more convenient.
Someone on reddit has managed to take the whole thing to a completely new level, as what they did was to convert an old OnePlus One into an Android Auto-powering device. Even without a battery, that is, as the unit on this phone was already dead.
How is it possible for Android Auto to launch on an Android phone without a battery? That isn’t a project for the Average Joe, but it requires only small tweaks to get it up and running at the end of the day.
“The USB port is directly soldered to the battery connector. Not pretty but it works. It can handle the 5V. The capacitor triggers the power button once power is connected. The phone is a OnePlus One,” redditor JeFi2 explains in a post.
Without a permanent source of power, Android simply loads every time the driver gets in the car. The process takes about 2 minutes, it seems, but given it starts the moment the door is opened, it’s not necessarily as painful as it sounds.
In theory, the same thing can be achieved by just using any phone with a battery in it, but on the other hand, this is something that you may want to avoid on hot summer days when overheating could be an issue.
If you want to try out the whole thing yourselves, you won’t need any schematics, so check out the photo in the article to see exactly how the Flat Flex was soldered to the mainboard. Of course, this doesn’t mean it’s that easy on all phones, but OnePlus has designed some of its models in a way that makes the whole thing a lot more convenient.
Google News