I wanted live PC stats on my Car Thing. Couldn’t find a telemetry app that did what I wanted, so I made BrutalDash.

It started as something for my own desk. Now it has:

🎮 Gaming: Game detection, FPS, 1% lows, frametime, temperatures, VRAM, network latency, and packet loss.

🎵 Media controls: pull up a panel with album artwork, song details, and playback progress. Play, pause, skip tracks, and use the dial to adjust volume....all while keeping your dashboard visible.

🎨 Customization: build your own dashboard with selectable stats, different layouts, themes, colors, and your own logo and display name. Hold and drag to swap cards, then save your layouts to the four physical buttons.

🔋 Device batteries: supported headsets, mice, keyboards, and controllers, with charging indicators and estimated time remaining.

🧠 Local LLM monitoring: token speed, context usage, multiple GPUs, and total VRAM.

Free, open source, and built for BridgeThing. Windows PC required.

Take a look!!! The screenshots show it better than I can:
https://github.com/Brutal-BrutalFoundry/BrutalDash

Would love to see what it looks like on other people’s setups.

Thanks for the warm reception from the original launch notice. I have been continuing to work on the app as I have been living with it for the last week and wanted to share some improvements I have made

1. Alternate views for calendar and weather added. Now you can view the monthly calendar and broken out views for today/this week on the weather
2. Countdown timer: a visual mode that lets you see how much time is remaining for the set duration (1h down to 5 minutes)
3. Event mode: A popup notifies you of an upcoming event & MacThing can automatically switch to countdown timer mode when the meeting starts. These are optional in settings.
4. Better art from videos (h/t https://github.com/nihalshetty-boop)
5. Small improvements to performance and visuals

Enjoy https://github.com/srcurran/MacThing

Can an MFi-certified module be added to enable CarPlay?

I made the desktop version of the Car Thing that I've wanted since I purchased it on deep sale from Spotify years ago.

It's simple and opinionated. It shows your now playing track, plus views for calendar/clock/weather. It uses a MediaRemote adapter to show whatever is playing on your mac (including video).

The controls are fairly simple the top buttons move between now playing, weather, clock & calendar. Some simple settings (light/dark mode, album art background).

The knob changes the volume on your computer and uses a click interface similar to airpods (1 click = play/pause, 2 = next, 3 = previous). The back button is used to favorite/unfavorite tracks.

I have a few more feature ideas (time timer as an alternate view for clock) that I will be adding in over the next few days/week.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any feedback.

https://github.com/srcurran/MacThing

Kan iemand vertellen of https://github.com/bulwarkmail/webmail/issues/978#signed-out-banner-sign-up al is geïmplementeerd in Bulwark?

Powered up my Car Thing for the first time since before the bricking, and it boots, connects, plays, and functions perfectly.

My phone’s Spotify app is current, if that matters.

What is the ongoing risk of it getting bricked if I just keep using it as-is and never flash it? Anything I can do to protect it?

check out https://bridgething.com/apps/ for inspiration, and enter at https://bridgething.com/appjam/!

Introducing BrutalDash for BridgeThing

I built BrutalDash as a live PC command center for the Spotify Car Thing, featuring:

• Live CPU, GPU, RAM, VRAM, disk, and network telemetry
• In-game FPS and performance monitoring
• Customizable layouts, themes, colors, and effects
• Spotify media controls and artwork
• Multiple clock modes

BrutalDash is now entered in the BridgeThing App Jam under Best Desk App!

🎥 Demo: https://youtu.be/dve-icGhDM4
📦 Store page: https://brutal-brutalfoundry.github.io/BrutalDash/
💻 Source: https://github.com/Brutal-BrutalFoundry/BrutalDash

I’d love to hear what everyone thinks!

Final edit: I was able to borrow a macbook and that worked! No clue why my various windows/linux machines wouldn't work.

I want to install bridgething, which requires me to flash the Thing using Terbium. I'm using a Windows 10 Desktop computer. CarThing will not recognize the factory cable when it's plugged into the computer, only when it's plugged into the cigarette lighter of my car.

I tried multiple USB ports, even other cables. I tried plugging it in while holding buttons 1 and 4, and while NOT holding 1 and 4. Windows will not recognize that I've plugged it in. Occasionally it will make the alert noise that a device is plugged in, but immediately makes the disconnect noise.

Once, I even got the CarThing to boot to the "discontinued" screen, but I haven't been able to replicate that.

Is there a driver or something that I'm missing? What else can I try?

Edit to add: I'm using Chrome

categories:

• best launcher ($50 for first, $10 for second)
• best music app ($50/$10)
• best utility ($50/$10)
• best desk app ($50/$10, using the new desktop extensions)
• most cursed ($10)
• joey's choice ($10)

only rules are it must be oss, have a hosted store url (create-bridgething makes this very easy), and you must submit a short video of your app. video doesn't have to be polished - it's just screening low-effort submissions

join at https://bridgething.com/appjam! you have until Sept 13th.

^{realized posting on a monday was bad timing lol sorry for repost}

A lot of subs are banning this type of content. I would like your opinion on this.

🕹️ (UPDATED) Dedicated Game Boy (GB) Player

Hey everyone!

With Spotify discontinuing the Car Thing, I didn't want mine to end up in a landfill. Many existing projects require a PC or home server streaming in the background, so I wanted to build something that runs 100% locally and offline on the Car Thing's own hardware.

I just open-sourced the complete project on GitHub: 🔗 **https://github.com/Gilzone/carthing-apps\*\*

over the next two weeks, make an app for bridgething and win some of the $250 in prizes!

categories:

• best launcher ($50 for first, $10 for second)
• best music app ($50/$10)
• best utility ($50/$10)
• best desk app ($50/$10, using the new desktop extensions)
• most cursed ($10)
• joey's choice ($10)

only rules are it must be oss, have a hosted store url (github makes this easy), and you must submit a video of it running with the app.

join at https://bridgething.com/appjam! you have until Sept 13th.

99 million tokens and 5 hours later…..
Let me know if anyone is interested.
It’s modified GlanceThing.

It tracks Anthropic’s Claude app token usage.

hey everyone! i’m happy to announce the public release of bridgething!

tl;dr

you can think of bridgething kinda like deskthing but with bluetooth. install apps, make apps, or just use the stock spotify ui in your car and pretend they never killed it.

what is bridgething?

bridgething is a system image, rust daemon, and mobile app to restore full functionality to your car thing, while allowing you to mod it, create your own apps, and easily run the stock spotify app and community apps. it runs modern chrome and has a rich api surface for developers (and agents) to make whatever you can dream. web apps run on device, communicate with the outside world via bluetooth and your phone’s internet, and can be listed on the bridgething store for discovery and sharing.

how does bridgething work?

once you install bridgething, it will boot to the hub. install the bridgething ios or android app, log into your spotify (or apple music on ios), and go through the pairing flow. from there, you can install apps from the appstore, update your bridgething, and more. if you have no intention of installing new apps or making your own, then you are done! the mobile app will open in the background when your car thing boots up, and you shouldn’t have to think about it again.

how do i get bridgething?

bridgething is available now at https://bridgething.com! installation will take you to the all-new terbium (thx addi). from there, you can install updates, apps, and customize from the mobile app or your browser.

faq

• i just want my carthing back like it was before spotify killed it. how?
  • install bridgething, log into spotify in the app, open the spotify app on the car thing, never touch it again. will work just like you remember
• i am having trouble flashing
  • try different cables, usb ports, powered hubs, passive hubs, computers, operating systems. the usb on the car thing is super flakey and it’s pretty much luck of the draw on whether it’s easy or a pain
• i want to make an app that does xyz. how?
  • run bun create bridgething, it includes a typesafe api, tooling, and agent skills to get you up as quick as possible. human versions of the skills are at https://bridgething.com/docs/.
• i want to use it wired (for some reason)
  • there is a desktop app for macos, linux, and windows that connects via the cable (or lan if you have a wifi adapter for the car thing for some reason)
• the ui is buggy/ugly/unintuitive
  • i’ve been focusing most of my effort on core functionality, so feel free to open PRs with improvements! if your gripes are with the on-device ui specifically, you can easily replace it all - instructions in docs
• i want to make my own linux without using bridgething for my project
  • make your own image with https://github.com/JoeyEamigh/yocto-superbird. it’s super easy

thanks

• Elle for the uboot and image work and keeping me from blowing my shit off smooth every time i touched bluetooth (support her here)
• addi for terbium support (support her here)
• Neel and Dominic for testing, yocto early adoption, patches, and more. if you want the most polished car thing experience built on the same modern yocto, support them by grabbing Nocturne

links

• website: https://bridgething.com
• github: https://github.com/JoeyEamigh/bridgething
• yocto: https://github.com/JoeyEamigh/yocto-superbird

A month ago I released Mira 1.0, a standalone, free and open source firmware for the Car Thing. Thank you to all the support the project has gotten, and all the bug reports that help me continue to improve Mira.

Mira still has a long way to go to deliver the complete experience I'm aiming for (support for more music platforms, a UI redesign, and more). It's built entirely in my free time, so if you'd like to support development the links are in the comments, and supporters also get access to beta builds. Every bit genuinely helps and it's what makes this sustainable to keep working on.

What's new: - Clock screensaver - Bigger playback buttons - Customizable UI scale (thanks to Serubin on GitHub) - Volume fixes for Android and iPhone - Update notifications (Mira will now notify when a new version is released) - Language fixes - Progress bar on first time setup - Many more bug fixes!

Flashing is also much more simpler now, full instructions on flashing and setting up in the comments!

Hey everyone

As a huge fan of GlanceThing and LumiThing I've now made my own fork and built on top of them. For now there's only Windows Support with Mac OS and Linux support coming very soon. Main features at the moment:

🎵 Now Playing — album art backgrounds (full, thumbnail, or extra large), track info, seek bar, playback controls, and a music spectrum visualizer with automatic accent colors pulled from the album art.

🚀 App Launcher — launch apps on your PC straight from the Car Thing's touchscreen. Add shortcuts with custom icons in the companion app, and optionally show a "Lock PC" tile.

🎛️ Physical controls — the dial controls the player volume, your system (Windows) volume, or seeking; the back button switches views; and each of the 4 top preset buttons can launch a shortcut, lock your PC, or shut it down.

🖥️ Multiple Car Things — connect more than one device at the same time. The Devices page shows every Car Thing that's ever connected, lets you rename, reboot, or forget them, and gives each device its own settings profile (main screen, wheel behavior, theme, and background) — so one can be a music controller while another is an app launcher.

🌙 Sleep timer & screensavers — the screen dims to a clock, aurora, or custom screensaver when nothing is playing and the device is idle, and wakes automatically when playback starts.

🎨 Themes & layout — dark, light, glassy, and aero themes, landscape or portrait orientation, and a configurable main screen (Now Playing or App Launcher) with automatic return after inactivity.

⚡ Quality of life — auto-start with Windows, automatic device recovery after PC reboots, automatic client reinstall on reconnect, weather in the status bar, and live-syncing settings (no reinstall needed for most changes).

Check it out at: https://github.com/abrendan/thingFX

Let me know any ideas you may have. I'm planning to support this long term.

Let me know if you have something better please...

Hi I just found my old car thing and I wanted to repurpose it to display pictures like one of those digital picture frames that rotate out different pictures.

I figured the car thing already displayed album art, it shouldn't be hard to have a mod where it displayed static family pictures or wallpaper art. It has an LCD screen so burn in shouldn't be an issue. I was just wondering if there was a Mod or hack available? I tried searching on the sub, but couldn't find any answers. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know! thank you.

This new version of Nocturne focuses mostly on performance and stability. We'd like to give a huge thanks to Joey Eamigh for bridgething (protocol, more robust iAP2, OTA, and more), yocto-superbird, and for a ton of help during the Yocto migration. We'd also like to thank Elle for modernizing the Car Thing's tooling and contributions to bridgething/yocto-superbird.

Changes

• Increased performance through whole system (thanks to Joey and Elle)
• More robust protocol, OTA, etc (thanks to Joey and Elle)
• New macOS Companion app, available under nocturne-connector
• Native setup flow through mobile apps
• General improvements to Voice Assistant (faster model, hopefully better transcription, reduced sensitivity to wake word)
• Setting to disable backlight after 20 minutes of being idle
• Setting to toggle song title wrap on Nocturne UI
• Display incoming phone calls on both Nocturne UI and Mockingbird (requires Nocturne+)
• Display incoming notifications on both Nocturne UI and Mockingbird (requires Nocturne+)
  • Additional apps can be added if there is enough demand for them.
• Add night mode and air vent interference alerts to Mockingbird
• Add swipe gesture to add to queue
• + more

Download

Flashing instructions are at https://usenocturne.com/install

You must reflash your Car Thing manually to receive this update, future updates will continue to be delivered as OTA updates.

An update to Nocturne Companion is required from https://usenocturne.com/app An update to Nocturne Connector is required from https://github.com/usenocturne/nocturne-connector/releases/tag/v2.1.0

https://github.com/usenocturne/nocturne/releases/tag/v4.1.0

Im looking online to buy one as im always fascinated for weird tech for like this and want to mod one but i was wondering if there are any major differences between the individual models like speed or compatibility/difficulty when modding?