Honda hacking your head unit the pros and cons explained.

remc86007

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Just to clarify: I'm not manually moving my Spotify library to the headunit. The car automatically connects to my wifi when I get near my house and downloads any new songs I've added to my library in seconds; it's completely hands-off.
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Just to clarify: I'm not manually moving my Spotify library to the headunit. The car automatically connects to my wifi when I get near my house and downloads any new songs I've added to my library in seconds; it's completely hands-off.
Ah.. neet. Anyone know the head units storage capacity?
 
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Harlaquin

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Just to clarify: I'm not manually moving my Spotify library to the headunit. The car automatically connects to my wifi when I get near my house and downloads any new songs I've added to my library in seconds; it's completely hands-off.
So im curious after this transfer you can play songs on Spotify with no wifi or cell phone internet to car? IM curious as I wouldn't think Honda would put that much storage into the car as it wasn't meant to do that and its why you need a usb pen for music. if it is cool if not and still requires internet from cell hone or wifi I would think its only transferring the playlist and still pulls songs from the net when connected to Spotify. Just curious.
 

remc86007

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So im curious after this transfer you can play songs on Spotify with no wifi or cell phone internet to car? IM curious as I wouldn't think Honda would put that much storage into the car as it wasn't meant to do that and its why you need a usb pen for music. if it is cool if not and still requires internet from cell hone or wifi I would think its only transferring the playlist and still pulls songs from the net when connected to Spotify. Just curious.
Once the songs are downloaded on the headunit (by the headunit; there is no transferring involved), they play offline just fine. I think mine had 12GB of free storage, and my music library at the medium quality fit with 6GB left. You can theoretically add storage by using USB, but I found the app had trouble staying connected when the headunit came out of standby.
 


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Once the songs are downloaded on the headunit (by the headunit; there is no transferring involved), they play offline just fine. I think mine had 12GB of free storage, and my music library at the medium quality fit with 6GB left. You can theoretically add storage by using USB, but I found the app had trouble staying connected when the headunit came out of standby.
Cool. Humm. 12 gig.. I might put some tunes on mine. Thanks for info.
 

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whats the code for 2018s cant remember?

Also i have owned hondata several months and still havent used the app lol, also downloading spotify and being able to browse through your own music is much better. Can one access a thumb drive vs having to put music on the headunit?
 
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I just cant get on the spotify bandwagon. Everyone seems to just love it but ive downloaded it twice now and both times i couldn't get it to play anything i liked. The menuing isnt real straight forward. And if i gotta add my own music then its just a media played i can do that for free and just play from a usb thumb drive. Pandora easy to use, plays what i want. And auto launch and plays blue tooth from pocket. I dont have to touch or do anything except get in car and drive. For free. If i want a specific play list i got my pen drive playing 320kb music from my 1000s of songs on it. Not gonna pay a subscription to have a app do it. Im glad people like it i just dont get the hype. I feel its like iphones. I know people who have iphones just to have i phones. They really dont like them all that much but they "got an i phone" the power of trendy. Lol
 

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If you have a tuning solution on your car, Honda hack is a must have.

With ktuner v1.2 I can flash new tunes, data log, and monitor all critical data points right from the head unit.

Based on the above I strongly disagree with the statement that for everyday owners It really is not useful (I daily drive the car).
 
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If you have a tuning solution on your car, Honda hack is a must have.

With ktuner v1.2 I can flash new tunes, data log, and monitor all critical data points right from the head unit.

Based on the above I strongly disagree with the statement that for everyday owners It really is not useful (I daily drive the car).
I think i stated for tuners several times it was a must. By everyday users i mean people just want to play videos or music. A tuner is not a everyday user.
 


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Everyone have their own feelings, some very strong, about whether to go the Honda hack Root or not,

Rather than trying to convince other of what YOU want, maybe this topic could better serve those considering Honda Hack, by discussing the positive thing that can be done, once it is installed, and the penalties,

Not everyone is up to speed with how all this works, and some are under serious comprehensions, that are falsely leading them to inaccurate conclusions.

Example: Spotify -- Storing Music.
If you are Honda hacked, you can BOTH Install Spotify on the HU, as well as enable USB write, so you can store music you download from spotify, on a Head Unit USB drive.
ie No need to take up valuable HU storage space with large quantities of music,

Will Honda Hack slow down you already slow Honda Head Unit ?

Depends on what you install ..

If you install apps that are constantly trying to, and able to connect to the Internet, and maybe even Update apps automatically, then YES, it will slow down, just as your phone does under similar circumstances.

If you do NOT install Google Services , and turn off Auto Update, and limit (Control) apps that run in the Background, your Honda Head Unit will not run any slower than it did BEFORE Honda Hacked,

Honda hack does NOT slow down the Head Unit .. only what you run on the head Unit can slow it down.

Playing Video is one of the most Processor & memory extensive apps you can run.
The Honda Hacked unit will be able to do this (If you really NEED it to), but will slow down, not no so much that it effects the Video playback, just other thing running as well, or the User Interface.

Its all relative... there is no Free Lunch, but you can still eat for a modest cost.
 
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Interesting. I've had some passing thoughts about hacking the head unit, but it just doesn't seem worth it for me. Literally the only reason I would do it is for Gasbuddy, since it's not currently compatible with Android Auto. Oh well, definitely enjoyed reading about your experience though.
 

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Does Android Auto from a phone stil work after the hack? Can I still plug my phone in and run AA off my phone?
 

SCOPESYS

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Does Android Auto from a phone stil work after the hack? Can I still plug my phone in and run AA off my phone?
Yes .. Honda hack does not stop anything existing on your head unit from working as normal.

Normally, you CANNOT INSTALL any additional Apps on the head Unit, because the Honda SYSTEM software is preventing Andriod from installing any new Apps.

Basically what HONDA HACK does, is get around this Honda Limitation, and install a program that then allows you to install additional apps, by giving them the correct credentials to the Honda Protection software (whitelist) so that the Honda Unit allows them to run.

Think of it as a Powerful APP Installer and App enabler for the RESTRICTED Honda Head Unit.

It does a few other neat things as well, but basically, it just allow you to to install APPS, like you do normally on other Android devices, like your Smartphone or Tablet (Neither of which have the Honda "You cannot install other Apps" restrictions.)

You only run into slow down issues, if you install apps that need a lot of memory, or require a lot of CPU power .. ie Video Players, and some audio decompression codecs etc etc.
It can also slow down you Honda Unit if you run apps that need to use the Wifi a lot, and they tend to gobble up CPU time & Memory.

For Example, if you tried to run a complex Video Editing & Rendering App on the Honda unit, it would crawl to a HALT, while you modern Smartphone might just be able to struggle and slowly perform the rendering tasks.

WARNING: The Biggest RISK in using Honda hack, is that it has "ROOTED" your Head Unit .. ie given access to the deep bowels of the Operating system. This means that a "BAD" Program (and by BAD I meant one that is designed to, or unintentionally, can mess with the Android Operating system, can, damage or brick you Unit.

In the PC world, it like running a batch file that someone gave you called "GET FREE MONEY.bat", but when you run it, instead of what you might expect, it formats your C drive, and wipes out your PC !!!

But if you get your apps from Play Store, you should be reasonably safe, as Google does a reasonable job in scanning all those apps for such damaging actions.

Its IS A CALCULATED RISK, but then, so are so many FUN things in Life !!!
You risk your life every time you drive your Civic on the Road with so many others around you doing stupid things..
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