I’d like to suggest an option, that will place bigger and adjustable GUI elements on the screen while driving in a car without the support of “Android Auto” and a big screen in front of the driver. The fundamental operating elements (play / start / stop / playlist) are much too small to be used safely while driving.
I’m thinking of a customizable screen, where only these elements are placed scaled up. This screen could also be set to only appear when a certain system profile is activated. Meaning:
You enter your car.
Your phone connects to your car’s radio via bluetooth.
Your phone changes to a special system profile, activated by this connection.
When AP is started, it will check either the connection status or the profile status and depending on this result it will present the normal screen or the special “car screen”.
Does not your car / radio allow you to Play / Pause / Skip either on the radio controls or with steering wheel controls? I see these as well as volume adjustments as the basic essentials to use while on the move. Anything else including playing with the playlist is something to be done while parked up.
I absolutely agree to that! But there are still vehicles out in the roads that don’t offer the luxury of steering wheel buttons, and even if there are such buttons, you can not use them to switch from FM radio to AntennaPod’s playlist or vice versa. You will have to reach towards your radio and / or your phone to do these switches. (Which is to be in its holding, of cause!)
And even if you do these switches at a stop, it is very difficult to call the play list to the foreground and hit the tiny play button.