The screen is very responsive on this one. I haven't even removed the protective film from the screen yet and it has zero problems. There are a number of deep settings you have to change since it was made in China and it's configured for there radio wise, time zone wise, etc.
Some software (from Google Play) has bugs related to the unit's custom ROM, never letting you override landscape mode, even with a screen orientation override app installed and activated. HERE maps settings won't show up when you enter them from "maps" mode. I found a way around it though. If you go to "driving" mode where it looks all dark blue (instead of white like maps) and swipe up the screen from the bottom, you get another place to enter a different settings interface, and that one works fine in landscape mode. It's a matter of bad programming of HERE maps, and not the unit itself. (I reported the bug to HERE maps tech support replied just saying they don't support the head unit. Gee, thanks. They don't care their software is bugged for people who may use it the most) A few other programs have had similar issues, where the coder wrote it for portrait mode of phones only. The same bug happens on my phone and tablet when I use an app to force HERE maps into landscape mode, so it's HERE maps, not the head unit itself.
I ended up winning an auction for a Sprint 4G coverage hotspot I kind of didn't want, but it WAS a good price. Plus the data never expires. Yeah, you don't have to routinely add more data. 1GB costs $25, but if it lasts me 5 months? It might be handy for road trips and it can be stashed in the glove box with a USB charging cable led to it. I might just resell it on ebay though. As "buy it now" with an actual photo of it, instead of a stock photo, they tend to sell for quite a bit more in new condition than I paid for it.
I put a hotspot app on my Android Tracfone for "emergencies" too. I doubt they'd be able to tell since the software accessing the internet from the head unit would be tell user-agent sniffing tracking that it's Android software, and the type of data flow would be identical. I disabled automatic app updates, since it would be "WIFI" to the head unit and it would want to download gobs of stuff without caring about the phone's data bucket. I honestly doubt I'll ever need that but you never know.
I'm glad I bothered to go pay $3 for this 12V/4A AC/DC adapter considering how much time I have spent setting it up and finding software for it. I rarely buy Android software but I did buy this one last night ($3.06). It looks good and lets you add any apps to the home screen. Plus it can be set as your default launchet, so when you hit the physical "Home" button, it takes you to it. Maybe there is something better for free but this one was cheap and looks good.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... r.motorcar
Sadly it lacks universal music controls on it though. The option it does give for controls is ONLY for "PowerAmp", a non-free mp3 player. I find the build in mp3 player is best due to the fact that it knows to resume playing the next time you turn the unit on (start the car). It seems to last actual playlist ability loading/saving though and only goes by folder play, which is kind of crappy, but folder play is OK by me.
I did find that you MUST insert an SD card into it's GPS slot **BEFORE** you put data on it, or it'll do a quick format and place 2 relatively empty folders on it, if it don't see them. I spent a lot of time putting mp3s on a 32GB MicroSD card (that turns out to be bad, through no fault of the head unit, I suspected the card was bad before the unit arrived) only to have it quick format it. If I have those folders ("/Android/Data" and "LOST.DIR"), it doesn't do it when I insert it. Sadly, I have *TWO* generic (no-name) 32GB MIcroSD cards that are bad now. Thankfully I have a 4GB SanDisk one that is good. I'll use that for a small collection of MP3s until I can spare another $10 for another name brand MicroSD card like I have in my phone (GSkill) and dash cam (SanDisk). The price on them will only continue to drop so no big hurry unless I want my entire MP3 collection with me.
There is a front mini-USB input (comes with an OTG cable) for using a flash drive. There are two rear USB inputs as well, so you can add twoi extra 32GB Flash Drives to the rear of the unit for even more media storage, if you wanted to.
One nice thing about the custom ROM is that it DOES let you "move to SD" without rooting/workarounds. The "Device" storage is 1GB but it's easy to keep it around 50% usage when using "Move to SD", which seems to move it to the "Internal Storage", which is approximately 12GB NAND flash (of the 16GB total in the unit). Then it also has a front access MicroSD card slot (32GB Max) labeled as "GPS", both on the unit itself and in the software, bt you can put any sort of media on the card (mp3, video, photos, etc) but again, make sure you insert it into the unit first and have the mandatory folders, or it'll wipe the card instantly to place the folders. Attaching USB flash drives doesn't have this problem, but unmounting a USB flash drive may make the unit crash/reboot itself, then hang at the loading screen (in my case, the Pontiac logo). Then you have to use a paperclip to press and relase the "RST" button, then press and release the volume control to manually turn it on again. Then it'll be fine, no harm done. It's little buggy yes, but it's also dirt cheap vs name brand ones. One would assume you wont be constantly attaching and removing USB drives anyway. The biggest issue I have is if you soft "reset" it with the paper clip/button, it goes back to 24hr clock mode. For some reason, it doesn't save that setting in NAND flash. But hopefully I won't have to do that much once I get everything how I want it and switch from testing various apps to using stable apps, and not testing plugging in and unmounting things from the rear USB ports that I won't have easy access to anyway, unless I add USB extension cables ... which I may,. for flash drive music storage!
Plus it seems to dislike you unmounting the card even if no apps are on it. It acts like it breaks some of the apps moved to SD. A soft reset is needed. I have actually yet to try the reset button it has (requires a paper clip) since I have it on an AC/DC adapter set up where both power leads (constant/ignition) are tied together, so I just turn it off (which is more like standby) then unplug it. But you won't want to constantly unhook your car battery, so reset would be better. I'll try that next time I guess if I need to.
The back light color of the physical buttons can be changed to any color with the "Elements" app it comes with, so you can match it up with the Vibe's red gauges.
There is a non-free launcher I got has reddish theme too:
HERE Maps in map mode, set to offline (gives full navigation if you download the required maps (by state/region) and guidance/voices):
The blue settings area in HERE maps that works in landscape mode:
The radio app it comes with:
The "Music" app it comes with (note how it says "GPS", due to using the GPS microSD slot)
I put it on PayPal credit with 6 months no interest. Seeing as how I'm currently making higher payments than that on a new PC I built a few months ago (financed the same way), it'll take one month to pay that off, before the 6 months is up and the compiled interest of 6 months kicks in.
