Since posting my first screenshot of my Head Unit launcher screen I’ve received repeated questions on where it’s from, and how it’s configured so I figured I’d summarize…
First the Launcher is a great FREE app off the Google Play Store called CarWebGuru. By itself it’s a very powerful Launcher with some great built in features. In my first use of it I chose the built-in, free Media Box them and configured it as below:
The Media Box theme allowed me to control most of the features I wanted in my head unit from one screen allowing me to place Navigation, Phone/Bluetooth, Radio, Media, Internet and file links all on the root screen. I soon realized that I had a need to keep hitting the apps drawer to open up secondary media and navigation apps so I went in search of a launcher theme with additional configurable screen zones, icons and areas…
| Exploring the Theme options in CarWebGuru (CWG) I stumbled across the Curve theme under the Premium options which is what I’ll demonstrate below.
I imagine that the theme can be purchased out of the Launcher but I downloaded it directly from the Play Store. NOTE: Click on any of the images for a larger view |
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Once installed and enabled you’ll notice a much greater number of configurable elements in the Curve Theme. The 6 outer soft buttons don’t show App/Widget graphics so I utilized them for the default app in my ‘high level’ feature categories. Mine is configured as follows: “Phone” – Launches the built in Bluetooth application for paired phone utilization “Nav” – Launches the included iGo Navigation application “Vehicle” – Launches the Torque application for vehicle info “Music” – Launches my PowerAmp application which I chose as the default music player “Video” – Launches the default system video player application for movie file playback “Radio” – Launches the default system FM Radio Application |
| All the other green highlighted elements are configurable to System Widgets or Applications. To summarize my mapping: Top Icons (Left to Right):
Left Side:
Right Side:
Bottom Icons (Left to Right):
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| Unfortunately due to a bug between CWG and Android 8.0 I’ve found in my current builds that not all application icons render correctly in the Apps drawer and consequently when mapped to the Launcher screen.
By default CWG tries to use an applications default icon and with the bug if the icon doesn’t render in the apps drawer will also not render on the Launcher. Luckily as displayed to the right Icons for applications mapped to the Launcher screen can be overridden with custom PNG files. I won’t get into all the detail how to create an Icon file for your apps but short version is a JPG or PNG graphic works and should be sized 150×150 pixels or smaller. Once you’ve captured or created your icon files (I grabbed and created mine from Google Images) you need to upload them to a folder located in the CarWebGuru directory as illustrated below. There is an ICONS directory by default but you still need to create a sub-folder within that directory and place all custom files there. Then to map the custom icons you select ‘Edit widgets’ then select ‘Icon’ for the specific app or button you want to customize. The app names can be overridden too. |
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| Finally I’ve received some questions regarding the operation of the speed display in the Multi-Function center widget. To enable you may have to go in to System Settings, Apps then grant “Location” permissions to the CarWebGuru app to ensure it can see your GPS signal… |  |
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