Where is everybody placing their cell phone in this vehicle... I've been looking at air vent mounts, but I'm not sure I want to go that route, especially when it is AC weather.
Let me apologize in advance because I don't have any pictures right now, and even if I did I'm not 100% ready to show it off, but I 3D printed an (almost) exact fit tray for the center armrest console that incorporates a dock for my android phone, the dock connects to the rear USB port for Android Auto use.
So basically, if the trip is going to be short (ie, 8 minutes to work or back) I probably don't even take my phone out of my pocket and I just let it connect via bluetooth in case someone calls me, I'll listen to one or two songs off satellite radio.
Any other trip, I get in, pull my phone out of my pocket, open the center console and drop my phone on the dock, and close it up. Android Auto connects, which if you haven't used it means the screen of the phone does nothing its only on the radio/screen from that point forward, and then I use the radio screen to interact with my phone for spotify and navigation for the rest of that trip.
I was going to design and 3D print a phone dock for that tiny tray in front of the shifter and use the front USB port, but I abandoned that when I realized
1) it did me no good to get the phone up there (where I can see it) if the phone screen is going to be blank during android auto use anyways, and
2) my phone (like many) is fairly big making it hard to make a dock there that doesn't block controls or things you might want. The 12v port/cigarette lighter would be blocked, if you build it as a portrait-mode dock it blocks the bottom part of some climate controls, if you build it as a landscape-mode dock it blocks the active drive/4x4 knob/buttons.... so ...
into the center console it went.
I have been meaning to improve on my center console tray/dock contraption, fix some minor flaws and maybe expand the design to have a somewhat universal/adjustable fit for phones so that it could be used by others. The part about turning it into a docking station with USB support is a little tricky, you have to be willing to do a little DIY work with a hot glue gun to get the proper connector for your phone locked into the right place so that as the phone slides in it lines up with the connector. This varies a lot from phone to phone, and even a phone with a case vs a phone with no case (my dock is designed around the dimensions of the case I have on my phone). Its really nice once its done though.
I admit sometimes having to open the center console lid to put my phone in is more work than I feel like doing (first world problems). I've been considering some kind of front dock that would use the front USB port and hang the phone on the side of the console on the passenger side, kinda near where that passenger-side pocket with the stretch webbing is but closer and easier for driver-side reach. Haven't decided yet, but my criteria is no blocked buttons/controls, no blocked air vents, no lost use of cupholders, no cords hanging all over. I prefer not to have a step involving having to grab a cord and plug it into my phone (dock). If anyone has some good ideas and some CAD skill let me know. I'm a beginner so my design skills are pretty low but I have the 3D printer to bring ideas to life.
I plug my USB flash drive with podcasts into the rear USB port and they play just fine. If you have a phone plugged into the front, and the flash drive in the back, then two sources show up in the Media app.The one in the back is for charging only (from what I have heard).