Keeping it charged
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I'm trying to get Mrs. George to understand how to use the various features of Apple's CarPlay. To make things simpler for her, her phone now automagically connects to CarPlay when she drives.
However, I'd love to have another phone in the car that is permanently there. Problem is, the battery on any smartphone is probably only good for about 18 hours of standby, and there are frequent times when the car doesn't get driven for that long, or even longer.
So, the question is how to keep the phone charged up. Keeping it plugged into USB is, I think, not an option, because when the car is powered down, power to the USB is cut.
I'm thinking of a couple of solutions:
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Get a large power bank that will keep the phone charged over a couple of days. Keep the phone plugged into the power bank, and keep the power bank plugged into the car so that it charges up when the car is running.
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Solar charger? They're relatively cheap, and I could put one on the back deck, running the cable to the center-rear console where the phone would be hidden.
Any other ideas?
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@mark said in Keeping it charged:
Large power bank sounds like the way to go.
Agree.
Guy I know takes really amazing photographs of the American southwest. He goes out into BLM land for days, sometimes weeks at a time on his own.
He used to throw his camping crap into coolers, but now he does exactly what you're proposing with his mini-fridge, water pump and a handful of other things. Because like you said, when the car's running, it recharges his battery, which powers everything else. No solar panels needed.
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Would this be a good alternative to keep the phone charged?
Wireless Portable Charger 30,800mAh 15W Wireless Charging 25W PD QC4.0 Fast Charging Smart LED Display USB-C Power Bank, 4 Output & 2 Input External Battery Pack Compatible with iPhone, Samsung, iPad
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Update.
D2 got a new phone, so her old iPhone 8 became available.
I commandeered the phone for my personal use and did the following.
After wiping it and getting a cheapo ($15/month 3 gig) cell plan, I added it to my Apple ID. Then, I cloned my current phone to it, so apps, data, contacts, etc are the same on both phones.
I had a spare battery pack lying around, so here's the setup.
The battery pack is plugged into the USB of the car (USB power is disabled if the car is off, but when we drive, the car charges the battery back). The battery pack is plugged into the phone to keep it charged.
I did this 7 days ago, and by yesterday, the phone was still at more than 80% charge. That's a good thing, so we ALWAYS have a phone in the car, and it's ALWAYS charged up.
But...that's not why I did it.
Mrs. George wanted to have the GPS showing traffic, etc pop up when she drives (Audi's MMI will do a nice GPS, but traffic conditions are a paid extra - assholes). So, I used a wireless CarPlay adapter to make the car THINK it's connected to a phone. In fact, however, the iPhone connects (via bluetooth) to the wireless CarPlay adapter, and the adapter makes the car think that it's connected to a phone.
Works great. As soon as the car is turned on, we have wireless CarPlay, with phone, GPS, messages, music, etc.
I'm pleased so far.
I've seen some solar powered chargers as well. Another alternative would be to put it on the back deck of the car, and run a discreet wire to the compartment in the back armrest to the phone. Since the connection is wireless to the CarPlay adapter, that might work. However, the car sits in a garage most of the time, so I wonder if the solar thing would work.
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It usually isn't hard to convert a power socket in the car to deliver power even when the engine/ignition is off.
I don't know what these things are called in English, but one of these cables would probably do the job. The idea is to "steal" power from an "always on" place and redirect it to a power socket.
