When I use Car Home, it doesn't ever lock the phone. I've used it for at least 10-15 minutes without touching the thing and it stays on.

 

I've had very mixed results with it turning off and on in the car dock while NOT charging... I have a 'locale' setting to keep the screen on if charging, so i usually just plug it in a lot. supposed to be good for the battery i think?

 

locale is an app for many things... Locale v0.695 beta Application for Android | Productivity

 

First: if you're in nav mode (not jus in maps, but actually navigating to a destination) the screen should NOT turn off until you've exited navigation. If your screen is shutting off, it is a bug.

Second: you can set your screen to remain always on when plugged in without any third party apps. Go to "Settings">"Applications">"Development">"Stay Awake". It's an odd place to put that option so most don't know about it, but it's there.

 

It shouldn't hurt your screen. Plus, it's not on all the time, it just won't shut off automatically when it's plugged in. You'll still be ABLE to shut the screen off while it's plugged, if you choose to, it just won't do it automatically. Also, your regular screen timeout is in effect when it isn't plugged in.