Night Driving Mode? -another crusade

[BottledHate]

Last time I brought up the lacking of bluetooth functionality and voice dialing capabilities... Today I'm asking you to bring notice to 'Night Mode' for maps or navigation.

I've owned 2 gps's for my car over the last 4 years. Both have had intuitive night modes... In that they turn to an inverted color scheme, or dark color scheme to ease night viewing and reduce hindrance while driving.

Currently while using google map navigation at night there is no night mode. It just blasts you in the face!..... There is an ISSUE on Google Code I'd like to ask you to 'star' up. This is basic functionality that shouldn't have been overlooked and hinders driving. There is are also mentions on Google Product Ideas. Be sure to add a 'check' there!

Issue 4787 - android - Navigation - night mode - Project Hosting on Google Code

Google Product Ideas - Night Mode search

As always I like to bring more people to google code issues on Androind and increase the user feedback directly to the source!

___________
Been playing a little bit and for a short term work around for maps driving:
-log into google maps web. go to mymaps and create one called dark. create a big box
around your city/region. fill it black, set opacity to your liking. Then you can load
it as a layer on andriod gmaps.

-!!doesn't work for navigation mode... only for normal map mode.

-!!causes initial zoom out to the entire boxed area, but you can zoom back in and enjoy
a much dimmer gmaps for night driving.
___________


Any ideas?

Thanks for you time!

 

[DR0ID]

this is something that really needs to be added as a feature

star it, takes not even two seconds.

 

[kmfdmk]

I agree. This has also been bugging me as well. I travel a lot and love the features of the Droid, but a night mode for navigation would be awesome

 

[cb2000a]

This is a must....also the multimedia docking mode clock is too bright at night even on dim settings. I have contacted Motorola about this.

 

[BottledHate]

This is a must....also the multimedia docking mode clock is too bright at night even on dim settings. I have contacted Motorola about this.

i've been bugging the makers of 'locale' (Locale for Android) to add in 'Car Dock' and 'Media Dock' conditions. If you use 'Locale' then please bug them as well at: Locale Feedback to add in conditions for 'Car Dock' and 'Media Dock'.

This would allow you to dim the screen when docked during certain time spans, or not, with a few other variables (ie: late at night while sleeping, and not other times.)..... 'Locale' is sweet. I wish alot of apps i have were locale plugin compatible.

 

[BottledHate]

This is a must....also the multimedia docking mode clock is too bright at night even on dim settings. I have contacted Motorola about this.

i should have mentioned this more... but with 'locale' you can set the screen to be very dim during the night hours no matter what...... that issue can be met now. this thread is more regarding google maps and google navigation and night driving... hope this helps!

 

[BottledHate]

This is a must....also the multimedia docking mode clock is too bright at night even on dim settings. I have contacted Motorola about this.

i am the king of posting before thinking of all options............... so here's my third reply to the off topic qtion!


i use 'Kaloer Clock' at night. It has options to turn on during charge and dim settings as well. The red skin included is perfect at night.

 

[Crude]

Agreed! Star added!

 

[Wakey]

I've been using this donut18 – Android and Me

 

[BottledHate]

I've been using this donut18

 

[DR0ID]

could you point out where this has relevance to the thread? i'm not seeing it.

my wild guess is going to be he means he uses the power control widget to adjust his screens brightness.

but didn't know how to put it in words because of his lack of descriptiveness

 

[Wakey]

Guilty as charged LOL (I'm supposed to be sleeping )

Yeah, I toggle the brightness with that app.

 

[BottledHate]

that widget is handy i use it for bluetooth and wifi the most.....

is it really handy though to have to toggle that on and off for night driving? i'm jsut saying such functionality should be built into the navigation at the least, if not maps.... not just dimming either. a whole inverted/dark theme for the map.

 

[Wakey]

Oh I agree, it should be in there, just like the speedometer

 

[BottledHate]

Oh I agree, it should be in there, just like the speedometer

agreed. speedometer is essential!

 

[may2700]

i feel like a dummy but how do i star it?

 

[may2700]

never mind, found it

 

[BottledHate]

never mind, found it

sweeeeet... already jumped up 20 stars since this thread was posted...

 

[rawness]

So am I the only one who DOESN'T have this problem???

I have my screen set to auto brightness, and at night the screen is dim enough to not bother me. And my eyes have been pretty light sensitive since I got Lasik.

 

[BottledHate]

So am I the only one who DOESN'T have this problem???

I have my screen set to auto brightness, and at night the screen is dim enough to not bother me. And my eyes have been pretty light sensitive since I got Lasik.

i'll have to play with that option... wouldn't you still like to have an option for an inverted or darker color scheme on google maps like every other gps does?

 

[BiGMERF]

this is something that should be implemented for safety purposes! great idea!

 

[colnago]

i'll have to play with that option... wouldn't you still like to have an option for an inverted or darker color scheme on google maps like every other gps does?

You do realize that the NAV is a free "beta" version right?

 

[DR0ID]

You do realize that the NAV is a free "beta" version right?

which means that feedback is something they need to improve it before they release a final version

 

[BottledHate]

which means that feedback is something they need to improve it before they release a final version

indeed.





please star! (on google code)

 

[kmfdmk]

You do realize that the NAV is a free "beta" version right?

I don't give two shits if it's in Beta or not. How many years was Gmail in "Beta" Google has MANY many tools/utilities that are in Beta. FWIW if Verizon wasn't confident in Google's Beta capabilities they should have included a different nav system (though I love it).

Moving on, This is something that has ALWAYS bugged me about GPS manufacturers.

Sunrise and Sunset timetables are a KNOWN dataset. Why is it so difficult for manfacturers to do on the very least a timer with a start/stop that:
a) dims the screen to its dimmest setting, which on my TomTom wasn't dim enough for me
b) toggles a map view that's night vision friendly w/ muted colors.

On the high end it wouldn't take that much work to have the phone use its location to lookup sunrise/sunset, and switch to a night view based on so much time past sunset, and switch to daylight view so many minutes prior to sunrise. Hell even a crude lookup table stating "between x & y longitude" then switch on/off @ this time.

I was really disappointed in my TomTom for not having an auto-switch to night-view based on a timer. Glad to know I can do auto-dim w/ Locale!