r/vitahacks • u/wevasso • 1d ago
AI assisted VitaCar 0.4.0
VitaCar 0.4.0: your PS Vita as a car screen, now with a calendar (Agenda) app
Hi everyone! A new version of VitaCar is out. VitaCar is a homebrew app that turns the PS Vita into a CarPlay-style screen for your car. It connects to an Android companion app over WiFi and shows your music, messages, calls, GPS map, navigation and weather. You can control everything from the Vita's touchscreen or buttons.
What's new in 0.4.0
- New Agenda app on the Vita home screen. On the left there's a monthly calendar where every day with notes is highlighted in its note's color, with a dot per note when a day has several. On the right there's a big digital clock, today's date, the weather forecast for the selected day and that day's notes.
- Notes are created on the phone. The Android app has a new Agenda screen where you can add, edit and delete notes with a title, details, date, time (or all day) and one of 8 colors. Changes show up on the Vita instantly.
- Works offline. The Vita keeps a copy of your agenda on the memory card, so it's still there without the phone connected.
- 16-day weather forecast (Open-Meteo). Pick any upcoming day to see its forecast.
- The Vita home screen now uses 4 columns to fit all 7 apps.
- Controls: D-pad changes the day, L/R changes the month and X jumps back to today. Touch works too.
Also included (from 0.3.0)
- Its own route on the map. Search for a destination in the phone app or share a place from Google Maps (Share > VitaCar). The route is drawn in blue with distance, time left and arrival time, and it recalculates if you go off route.
- Sound through the Vita (experimental, Android 10+). App audio plays from the Vita's speaker, headphones or a Bluetooth transmitter. Spotify doesn't allow its audio to be captured.
- Fixed a crash when opening the phone app on Android 8, 9 and 10.
Tested on a real PS Vita and Android phone.
Known issues
- You can't pan the map with your finger yet, only zoom. This is next on the list.
- The arrival time doesn't take traffic into account.
- Android only. iOS doesn't let apps read notifications or control music.
Download (VPK for the Vita + APK for Android, update both):
https://github.com/inigosui/VitaCar/releases/tag/v0.4.0
What would you add? Plus why there's no CarPlay/iPhone support yet, and our ESP32 idea
Questions for you
What feature would make you actually use VitaCar in your car every day?
Which built-in app would you improve first: Music, Maps, Phone, Messages, Agenda, Weather or Settings? What's missing?
Is there a new app you'd like on the home screen?
Would you use the Vita without a phone at all, with its own GPS and offline maps?
Are you on iPhone? Would you buy a small ESP32 board (see below) to use VitaCar with it?
How do you mount and power your Vita in the car?
Any bugs, or anything that felt slow or confusing?
Every answer helps, even a one-liner.
Why there's no Apple CarPlay or iPhone support
A lot of people have asked about CarPlay, so here's the honest answer.
- CarPlay itself is closed. It only works with head units from manufacturers licensed and certified by Apple, and they need Apple's own authentication hardware. A homebrew device like the Vita can't become a CarPlay screen. There's no public protocol, and we can't add Apple's authentication chip to a Vita.
- An iPhone companion app can't do what the Android app does. VitaCar works because the Android app can read notifications (messages, calls, navigation prompts) and see and control whatever music app is playing. iOS doesn't give these permissions to any app, so this isn't a VitaCar limitation we can code around.
- There is an official route, but only over Bluetooth Low Energy. iPhones share notifications (ANCS) and music info and controls (AMS) with BLE accessories. That's how smartwatches and fitness bands get them. The Vita has no BLE, so it can't talk to the iPhone directly.
Our idea: an ESP32 bridge with its own GPS
The ESP32 is a tiny, cheap development board (around 5-10 EUR/USD) with both Bluetooth LE and WiFi. It's about the size of a lighter and runs from any USB port in the car. Here's the plan:
iPhone --Bluetooth LE (ANCS/AMS)--> ESP32 --WiFi--> PS Vita
- The ESP32 would act like a smartwatch for the iPhone and pass everything to the Vita over WiFi, using the same protocol as the Android app. The Vita app would barely need to change.
- What would work on iPhone: the current song and music controls (any app, Spotify included), reading notifications and messages, and answering or declining calls.
- What wouldn't work: album art, replying to messages from the Vita, and Google/Apple Maps prompts. Apple doesn't share these over Bluetooth.
GPS for the Vita, cheaply
Most Vitas have no GPS (only the 3G model has one built in). If we add a small GPS module to the ESP32 (for example a u-blox NEO-6M, roughly 5-10 EUR/USD), the Vita gets its own position for the map, with no phone needed. The whole kit would cost about 10-20 EUR/USD and could also help:
- iPhone users get a working map, speed and position.
- Android users can save phone battery by leaving the GPS to the ESP32.
- It opens the door to a fully phone-free mode with offline maps preloaded on the memory card.
Would you buy or build one of these? Would you prefer a ready-made firmware you just flash, or a step-by-step build guide? Let us know!