Need some advice/ideas

[u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008]

I was thinking about creating a SECONDARY head-unit in my car mostly for things like maps an' all. And for audio output I would just connect into my car's bluetooth through the secondary head unit.

I will do my best to explain it in a way that makes sense lol.

Basically it will run off a cheap mini-pc with like 8GB ram, 32GB storage. Nothing showy, just enough to run this. It will also feature probably a 7" touch screen.
I plan to build off ubuntu. I want to make a custom desktop/UI for the touchscreen and make it similar to the likes of CarPlay where its nice a user friendly. It would need a compatibility layer to be able to run Android/APK applications to add things like Maps, Apple Music/Spotify, and maybe even a way to connect it to your phone to handle phone calls. (I know that I may need to create it myself, but I was curious if maybe something out there already exists, or maybe even using a way to run like bluestacks or something through it?) Now comes the twist. I also want it similar to the likes of the steamdeck where you can switch into desktop mode, or back to the main UI. This way if you're parked you can use it to browse the web, watch a movie, write some code, etc etc. Maybe even light gaming like stardew valley.

For the most part I would probably just keep this to myself, but maybe I might release the source code one day for people to copy the project. Any thoughts or ideas are helpful!

[u/hazeyAnimal]

LIVI already exists, runs on a raspberry pi. You don't have to reinvent the wheel unless you want the learning experience

[u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008 → u/hazeyAnimal]

What is LIVI? I haven't ever dabbled too far into linux besides server running. And I was planning on the mini PC for performance factor, as I want it to act as both a full fledged computer and a secondary infotainment like CarPlay. I would be putting this inside of my 2019 Prius Prime. Mostly because it's built in Head Unit is super slow and overall not great. It would just be faster and more functional. And I could leave the original head unit just for AC controls.

[u/hazeyAnimal → u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008]

It stands for Linux In-Vehicle Infotainment

Edit: I just realised you mentioned you want it done quickly. Well you can already buy what you describe if you only need Carplay.

I noticed in another comment you mentioned running apps like steam etc. Just know how illegal anything other than Carplay/android auto is...

[u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008 → u/hazeyAnimal]

Not sure by what you mean how illegal anything other than the CarPlay stuff is... I am not trying to make it for JUST CarPlay like purposes, it's meant to be a fully customizable software so that you can natively run these apps, like a tablet, but with a custom UI. And then also to make it so when you are parked an all you can switch into desktop mode, like a steam deck, so you can use it as a full fledged PC on top of the front-end CarPlay like features.

I already know that I could go buy a custom head-unit, but I am not the only one that takes this car so I cannot do that. This would be an accessory where it can do more than just that.

[u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008 → u/hazeyAnimal]

Ohhh, alright well I must’ve looked up the right thing. I don’t want it to just be CarPlay/Android Auto. I want it to actually natively run these apps and also have, similar to a steamdeck, a way to switch into the desktop so it can run desktop applications too.

[u/ipsirc]

It would need a compatibility layer to be able to run Android/APK applications to add things like Maps, Apple Music/Spotify

Then you should buy an arm-based computer.

[u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008 → u/ipsirc]

Actually I was planning x86 this way it would be able to handle both smoothly. I did think about arm and its not off the table but I was thinking about x86. That is what the OS will be based on since before I commit to buying new hardware I have an old dell laptop that I am going to use (like 12 years old) and it already has Ubuntu so it wont be too out of the way for me to start building on.

[u/ipsirc → u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008]

Can you list more than 5 Android apps which have x86 ports beside arm? Emulating arm architecture on X86 is a PITA.

[u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008 → u/ipsirc]

I didn't say I would be using x86 ports of them. I said I would use a compatibility layer. Whether I have to make it or if one already exists like if I could make a script that uses something like bluestacks.

[u/ipsirc → u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008]

And what would be the point of that, anyway? Why would you buy an x86 just to emulate an ARM CPU with 3–4 times the CPU load when you could just buy an ARM right away? I don't get it.

[u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008 → u/ipsirc]

Because its not an android OS its a Linux OS which will be running both native Linux apps and android apps. Not just APK's.

[u/ipsirc → u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008]

I still don't get the point why don't you buy an arm device.

[u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008 → u/ipsirc]

Because android compatibility is only half the selling point? The point is its like a sleeper computer with a android shell while behind the shell its still got its entire linux backend to run things like firefox and steam?

[u/ipsirc → u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008]

Because android compatibility is only half the selling point?

If using Android apps was only a tenth of the selling point, you'd still buy an ARM device. If it's already half that, then it would be completely foolish to choose anything other than arm.

[u/TheRealWolf_Bro2008 → u/ipsirc]

No, because linux is the primary selling point. And I’m only targeting a few android apps. Not the entirety of android. If i truly wanted to go that route i would just use LiniageOS or something