TL;DR
- One Redditor has transformed his Galaxy Watch 4 into a custom motorcycle sat nav.
- The project uses a 3D printed case to house the Watch 4 and its charger.
- While it looks great, there are still some software issues that need to be resolved.
If you are not the type of smartphone user who always trade in your old phone To get credit on a new one, you’ve probably thought more than once what to do with your old phone. Maybe it will be passed down to a younger family member or kept as a backup device, but there’s a lot of cool stuff too. DIY projects you can do with old hardwareHow to reuse it as a security camera. What about wearables? We just saw how a smartwatch user turned an old model into a stylish gear shift for your carand today we have another vehicle related smartwatch project to share.
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Cars can feature wide dashboards that are perfect for large screen-based systems like Android Autobut that situation couldn’t be more different than when it comes to motorcycles. You’re often lucky if you have more than just a speedometer and tachometer, and adding aftermarket screens can mean a lot of accessories that are awkwardly attached to crowded handlebars. However, on Reddit’s Galaxy Watch sub, the user someone427 shows the clever way they have repurposed a Galaxy Watch 4 to add a mini sat nav screen to your bike.
As for the hardware, we’re not really looking at much here: just some 3D printed cases to add a bit of protection and stability. To get it to stick to the bike, someone427 says they are using the magnetic base of the charger, which you can see at the beginning of the video.
Having the charger there is important for keeping the Galaxy Watch’s screen active, not to mention making sure it doesn’t turn off before the trip is over. But even with that bit resolved, there are apparently still some lingering issues with this build, such as an unexpected lag causing the Watch 4’s map display to be out of sync with the connected phone. There are also issues with auto-rotation which causes the image on the screen to rotate at inopportune times.
We’re hoping someone can solve some of those remaining headaches (readers have already contributed some suggestions of their own) and get this working really stably, because it’s a good idea that looks pretty good on this bike, and we imagine it would look just as stylish on many others, too. The discreet size and round shape are perfect to match the aesthetics of many motorcycle instrument panels.
What else can you think of using a smartwatch for once you’re done using it as a wristwatch? Share your ideas in the comments.
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