For those whose mini-aa is working on their headunits, I am currently testing v0.3.0 which brings many requested features, fixes stability issues and it's now has a Material M3 Expressive redesign. More updates to follow. ✌️

Hey everyone, following up on my earlier post — Mini AA is now ready for download.

For those who missed it: it's a dark-themed Android launcher I built from scratch for my Chinese head unit. Clean split-panel layout — media + weather on the left, embedded apps on the right.

Two versions:

System Build — full PIP/app embedding. AOSP-signed for Chinese head units with default keys (Unisoc/Spreadtrum). Run Maps, Waze, YouTube inside the launcher. This is the most ideal option and offers the whole experience.

For devices without PIP support, you can try the standard version below, but it will be less ideal, perhaps we could have maps (google) on the PIP window but that would require paid API.

Standard Build — works on any Android 10+ device. All features except PIP.

Not sure? Start with Standard. Download: https://zhuwubx-blip.github.io/mini-aa/

Setup: Install → set as default launcher → grant Notification Access + Location.

Bug reports welcome — Settings → Debug → Share logs. Drop your head unit model and Android version.

Discord: https://discord.gg/wGV7KyABu

See the original post here

Building an open Android launcher for car head units — test build coming soon

Got tired of ugly stock launchers on Chinese head units. Built my own from scratch with Kotlin/Compose.

What it does:

• Media controls with auto-detection (Spotify, YT Music, etc.), album art, steering wheel support
• Weather with Google-style icons via OpenWeather API
• GPS speedometer with rolling odometer animation and glowing speed bar
• Trip tracking — distance, avg/max speed, daily total
• Live location via OpenStreetMap Nominatim geocoder
• App Embedding (PIP) — Apps open inside the launcher (See next) via ActivityView (system-signed builds)
• Nav Rail — Pin apps eg maps,music - Opens by default on PIP window, GPS signal dots, network type, Bluetooth indicator
• Paged app drawer, pinnable nav rail, configurable everything

Built with: Kotlin + Compose + Material 3. No Google Maps SDK dependency. AOSP testkey signing for Chinese HUs.

Tested on: sprd ums512_1h10 (Android 10)

Mini AA v1.0.0 is out — download links inside.

Two versions: System Build — full PIP/app embedding. AOSP-signed for Chinese head units with default keys (Unisoc/Spreadtrum). Run Maps, Waze, YouTube inside the launcher. This is the most ideal option and offers the whole experience.

For devices without PIP support, you can try the standard version below, but it will be less ideal, perhaps we could have maps (google) on the PIP window but that would require paid API.

Standard Build — works on any Android 10+ device. All features except PIP.

Not sure? Start with Standard.

Download: https://zhuwubx-blip.github.io/mini-aa/

Setup: Install → set as default launcher → grant Notification Access + Location.

Bug reports welcome — Settings → Debug → Share logs. Drop your head unit model and Android version.

Discord: https://discord.gg/wGV7KyABu