🇮🇹 Leggi in Italiano | 🇬🇧 Reading in English
Turn your smartphone and a tablet into a professional in-car infotainment system — no hardware modifications required.
Digital speedometer, active radio, app shortcuts and parking save — everything at a glance.
The tablet uses the phone's GPS to run Google Maps or Waze — even without hardware GPS. The floating sidebar stays always accessible.
Thousands of Italian and worldwide stations, favorites and play/pause controls — without leaving the dashboard.
Dialpad and contacts synced directly from the phone, optimized for driving.
The system shows real-time GPS accuracy and warns you if the signal is weak before saving.
| Main Panel | Save Parking | Compass Guide |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
The Compass Guide shows the direction and exact distance to your parked car.
- TCP/UDP Gateway — streams GPS, speed and notifications to the tablet in real time
- Notification mirroring — WhatsApp, Maps and other apps appear on the dashboard
- Call management — initiate calls even over the lock screen
- Parking Tracker — saves your position with metric precision and guides you back to your car via compass
- Digital speedometer — speed in km/h with GPS and server connection status
- Mock GPS — injects the phone's GPS signal into the tablet, enabling Google Maps and Waze even without hardware GPS
- Web Radio — thousands of stations via Radio-Browser API with favorites management
- Floating Sidebar — always-visible sidebar with quick controls
- Auto-discovery — connects to the phone as soon as it detects the Wi-Fi hotspot
- Smart Auto-Save Parking — intelligent algorithm that detects the end of a journey (speed 0 km/h for 15s after exceeding 15 km/h) or disconnection and automatically sends the save command to the Server with visual feedback
| Video | Youtube link |
|---|---|
| 📱 Server Installation | Watch on YouTube |
| 🖥️ Client Installation | Watch on YouTube |
| 🖥️ Client Usage | Watch on YouTube |
- An Android smartphone (minSdk 21 / Android 5.0+) with SIM card
- An Android tablet (or Android head unit) mounted in the car
- A Wi-Fi connection shared from the smartphone (hotspot)
1. Download the apps
| App | Device | Link |
|---|---|---|
CarDash Server |
📱 Smartphone | ⬇ Download APK |
CarDash Bridge |
🖥️ Tablet | ⬇ Download APK |
2. Grant permissions
Both apps guide the user through an interactive flow for the required permissions (overlay, notifications, location, calls). Each permission is explained with the reason it is needed.
3. Connect
Enable Wi-Fi hotspot on the smartphone → launch CarDash Server → launch CarDash Bridge on the tablet. The connection happens automatically.
The apps are free to download. Use the links above to get the APKs directly from GitHub.
The system includes a free 7-day trial with all features enabled. No credit card required.
After the trial, purchase your license key at:
No reinstallation needed. After purchase you will receive an email containing your license key in the format XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX. Enter it in the Server app under "Activate License" — it will be automatically synced to the tablet as well.
⚠️ Anti-reset: the trial protection system is designed to resist date resets or reinstallations.
Does the tablet need GPS? No. CarDash injects the phone's GPS signal into the tablet's Android system, enabling Google Maps and Waze even on tablets without hardware GPS.
Does it work with any Android tablet? Yes, from Android 5.0 onwards. Optimized for landscape use.
Why are so many permissions required? Each permission has a specific purpose: overlay is needed for the floating sidebar over Maps, notifications for mirroring, location for GPS and the parking tracker, calls for the dialpad. No data is sent to external servers.
Does it work without an internet connection? The dashboard, speedometer, calls and parking tracker work completely offline. Web radio and update checks require internet.
How do I receive updates? The app automatically checks for new versions on GitHub at startup and displays a notification with the changelog if one is available.
| Port | Protocol | Usage |
|---|---|---|
8080 |
TCP | Commands, contacts, notifications, license |
8888 |
UDP | Discovery beacon, GPS telemetry |
The project is a multi-module Gradle system:
:app-server— Foreground Service with UDP beacon, TCP server, GPS telemetry and notification listener:app-bridge— Driving-optimized UI with mock GPS, Media3/ExoPlayer radio and floating sidebar:common— Shared library withLicenseManagerand communication constants
Tech stack: Kotlin · Android SDK 36 · Media3/ExoPlayer · Radio-Browser API · Lemon Squeezy
- Android Studio Hedgehog or higher
- Android SDK minSdk 21, targetSdk 36
- Foreground Service Types declared:
connectedDevice,location,mediaPlayback
Developed by Marino Lab · CarDash System v1.1 · Last updated: March 28, 2026