A launcher built for driving
Dark-themed Android launcher for car head units. Media, weather, speed, trips, and embedded apps in one clean interface.
Help keep Mini AA alive
Mini AA is built by a solo developer in Nairobi, Kenya. No company behind it, no ads, no data collection — just one person building the launcher they wished existed for their car. Every feature, every bug fix, every late night testing on different head units.
Your support — even a single coffee — directly funds development time, testing devices, and keeps this project free for the entire community. It also tells me someone out there is actually using this thing.
What's New — v0.3.0
Show/hide status bar — toggle in settings to hide the bottom bar and maximize screen space, with time and app drawer on the nav rail
M3 Expressive UI — accent color themes (Orange, Lime, Tomato, Butter, Wasabi, Amber, Tangerine) with dynamic theming across all components
In-app update checker — automatically checks GitHub for new releases, shows update card in settings with one-tap download
12/24 hour time format — configurable clock format for both status bar and nav rail
Deep sleep recovery — auto-reconnects media sessions and recreates embedded views after overnight park
Network type labels — WiFi, 4G, H+, 5G indicators on the nav rail with dimmed state when disconnected
GPS fix indicator — pulsing accent-colored dots while acquiring satellites
Fullscreen app grid — apps launched from the grid now open fullscreen on the main display
Firebase Analytics + Crashlytics — anonymous usage stats and automatic crash reporting
Bug fixes — volume indicator ghost trigger, bluetooth detection fallback, location icon update, media auto-launch after sleep, coroutine scope leaks, reflection caching for faster PIP switching
v0.2.0
Android 10–12 verified — system build tested and confirmed on Android 10, 11, and 12 head units
Trip history calendar — collapsible calendar header, swipe-to-delete trips, date grouping
Compact weather mode — weather strip overlaid on the media card for more screen space
Independent units — separate speed (km/h or mph) and temperature (°C or °F) settings
Default PIP app — set your preferred PIP app in settings, persists across restarts
Responsive nav rail — compact mode for smaller head unit screens (7", BMW narrow)
Custom backgrounds — set a background image with adjustable opacity
Bug fixes — trip history crash fix, stale PIP state after fullscreen, media auto-launch reliability
v0.1.0 — Initial Release
Media Player — auto-detects any music app, album art with color extraction
Weather — current conditions, high/low, OpenWeatherMap powered
Speedometer — GPS rolling odometer with glow bar and idle animations
Trip Recording — auto trip detection with distance and duration tracking
App Embedding — run Maps, Waze, YouTube inside the launcher (System only)
App Drawer — grid layout with configurable rows and columns
Nav Rail — pinned app shortcuts on the sidebar
Status Bar — clock, location, speed summary, app/settings shortcuts
Settings — panel ratio, grid size, weather API key, geocoder, debug logs
Setup Wizard — guided first-run for launcher, notification access, and location permissions
Dark Theme — full dark UI with orange accents, designed for driving
Setup
1
Install the APK and set as default launcher
2
Grant Notification Access for media controls
3
Grant Location for speed, weather, and geocoding
4
Drive and customize from Settings
Troubleshooting
INSTALL_FAILED_SHARED_USER_INCOMPATIBLEUse the Standard version — your device has custom keys
INSTALL_FAILED_UID_CHANGEDUninstall existing version first
No media controlsEnable Mini AA in Settings → Notification Access
Speed when stationaryIncrease threshold in Settings → Speed Filter
