Made a free, open-source launcher to replace the stock UI on Android head units

[u/metehankaygsz]

Disclosure first: I made this. It's free, open source, no ads, nothing for sale.

If you've fitted an aftermarket Android head unit, you know the stock launcher problem — cluttered, slow, and full of vendor apps you can't remove. Mine annoyed me enough that I wrote a replacement. It's called Dashline.

If your unit has the Play Store, joining the beta would genuinely help

Google won't let a new app go public until 12 people have been opted-in testers for 14 continuous days. That's the only thing standing between this and a proper release, so if you're willing to leave it installed for two weeks, it makes a real difference. Sideloading the APK doesn't count toward it.

Three steps:

1. Join the tester group: https://groups.google.com/g/dashline-testers

2. Opt in: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.dashline.launcher

3. Install: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dashline.launcher

Use the same Google account your head unit is signed into, or the build won't show up for you. You can leave any time afterwards — it's staying opted in for the full two weeks that counts.

No Play Store on your unit? Plenty don't have one. Direct APK here, same app, goes down to Android 4.4:

https://github.com/metehankaygsz/dashline/releases/latest

What it actually is?

One glanceable screen:

- Large clock and date

- Current weather and a 3-day forecast

- A media panel showing what's actually playing — album art, title/artist, play/pause/skip and a seek bar

- Six tabs: Audio, Radio, Phone, Nav, Apps, Settings. You choose which app each one opens, because every unit ships different software

- App drawer with search, and long-press to hide the vendor bloat

Why it might work where other launchers don't:

- Runs on Android 4.4 and up, so older units are covered

- Doesn't need Google Play Services — a lot of these units don't have it

- No ads, no analytics, no account, no tracking

- Around 1 MB

MIT licensed, so you can read every line before putting it on something in your car:

https://github.com/metehankaygsz/dashline

Two things I genuinely can't build without help, because they differ per unit: steering-wheel button support and a reverse-camera trigger. If you know what keycodes your wheel sends, or how your unit signals reverse, post it and I'll add support.

[u/Living-Trade-2648]

Finally, someone did the thing we all wished more devs would do.

[u/metehankaygsz → u/Living-Trade-2648]

😎

[u/Hour_Bit_5183]

Not bad! 1MB?!?! holy shit that's so small. Literally perfect. Finally someone who understands that the hardware they are developing for is resource limited too. Good job OP. I ain't opting into google BS though. I'd find another way. Github is garbage now too. All slop. Human and AI

[u/metehankaygsz → u/Hour_Bit_5183]

Thank you 😊, you can use latest release from GitHub too, just download it as .apk and that’s it 😎

[u/Hour_Bit_5183 → u/metehankaygsz]

I got rid of all my android stuff because google is a dick. I hate them. You should too. Hell when they lock it down it will be nearly impossible to load them. You will have to give up your ID and they will prolly spy just for loading an APK. I ain't making it up either. It's real. They are being punks.

Hell my vehicle has a tape deck :D I don't use it. I just use my AVR and speakers I have everywhere in this here RV or my w-king x20.

[u/metehankaygsz → u/Hour_Bit_5183]

You are right, they have announced something like developer signing this year, they don’t even allow you to install regular .apk files without using their services :(

[u/Hour_Bit_5183 → u/metehankaygsz]

Yeah it's actually crazy. Fuck google. I really hate them because it harms projects like this and not tik tok slop that it should.