My car has a problem. It has one of the smallest screens I've ever seen in a modern car. Before buying the car, I was like, "It's just a radio. It's going to be fine." Well, it turns out I couldn't be more wrong. When you are used to have a user interface that looks as good as this, and then you have to go back to something like this, it's painful. So, I had to find a solution. My goal was to add Apple CarPlay to the original head unit. And after a quick search online, I was happy to find out that that solution actually exists. But my happiness didn't last long as this solution only works with 7 in screens and the one I have is 5 in. So I kept searching and then I stumbled upon this video. Next level dashboard with iPad. By the end of that video, I decided to buy the iPad mini 6 with a cellular version. I went with the iPad mini because it's compact and really easy to carry around and it's the one that fits better in my car. So, with the iPad sorted, I had to find a way to mount it. The prototype was to use it in a way that it wouldn't block the original screen, but I ended up changing my mind because it looks much better the other way around. The car I'm using is the Volvo XC60. And lucky for me, I was able to create a custom holder which sits right on top of the dashboard. This solution is tool free and I can remove it whenever I want. And the best part, it uses magnetics, so I can easily attach and remove the iPad. So, with the hardware out of the way, it is time to improve the software on the iPad for the best driving experience. To do that, we need three things. a dedicated focus mode for driving, a dedicated home screen page, also for driving, and lastly, shortcuts. Let's start with the homepage. To create a new one, long press an empty space on the home screen page, and then swap left. Now you have a new and empty home screen page that you can customize just the way you want. To add a new widget, click the edit button on the top left corner, then click add widget. Now select the widget you want and then press add widget. Now we can start adding apps to the home screen page. To do that, go to the app library. Then touch and hold the first app you want to add to the home screen. But don't let it go. Now with your other hand, swipe left back to the app library and then tap all the apps you want to bring to the homepage. Now, with all the apps selected, swipe right to bring them back to the home screen. Now, before you let it go, make sure you select the home screen page that we just created, like so. This is how my home screen layout looks at the moment, and it works really well for me. I have a few shortcuts for navigation apps. This one opens the music app and Google Maps side by side, which is super handy. I also have shortcuts for brightness levels and I think it's a must if you want to use your iPad as a custom Apple CarPlay. There are a few more shortcuts that I use mostly automated and I will talk more about them later on the video. Now that we have our driving home screen page created, it is time to create the driving focus mode. To create a new focus mode, go to settings, focus, and then click on the plus button on the top right corner. Now select custom. Write the name you want to use and the icon and press next. To finalize, press customize focus. Now we have to link the driving home screen page that we created earlier on with the driving focus mode that we just created. To do that, click on the home screen option and select the driving home screen page that we created. Once that's done, every time you change your focus mode to driving, it should automatically change the home screen page. You also have the option to choose a dedicated lock screen for driving if you wish. In my case, I just left it empty. Now, let's take a look at all the shortcuts that I use. Let's start with driving focus shortcut. To create one, go to shortcuts app and on the top right side, press the plus icon to create a new shortcut. Now select set focus. Then select driving focus that we created and make sure it is on until turned off. Now we have to create a similar shortcut. But this time we want to turn off the focus mode. To do that, press the plus icon to create a new shortcut. Then search for get current focus. After that, we need to add an if statement. And once that's done, we need to change it from icon to focus. Now we need to add set focus. Make sure you move it right below the if current focus has any value. Now select turn current focus off. So what this shortcut will do is to check if there is any active focus mode and if that is the case then it will turn it off. Now make sure you give it a proper name and that's us done. Now let's move into the next shortcut which is the brightness. It's quite easy to create. Just press the plus icon for new shortcut then search for set brightness and select the percentage you want. Now, make sure you give it a proper name. And that's us done. The next one is split screen. Once again, press the plus icon for a new shortcut. Then, search for split screen and choose the two apps that you want to use side by side. Now let's create automations and we have four of them in total. The first one we need is the Bluetooth automation so that whenever the iPad connects to the car, it automatically activates the driving focus mode. But before we do that, if you never connected your iPad with your car radio before, you need to do that first. otherwise it won't show up on the iPad. So to create the automation, press the plus icon, then select Bluetooth. Now choose the Bluetooth device. In my case, it's my Volvo car and make sure you select is connected and run immediately. Now press next and search for the driving focus shortcut that we created earlier on. Now the second automation we need to create is the opposite so that whenever the iPad disconnects from the car it turns off the driving focus mode. Once again press the plus icon to create a new automation. Then select Bluetooth. Now choose the Bluetooth device and make sure this time you select is disconnected and run immediately. Now press next and search for the focus off shortcut that we created earlier on. The other automated shortcut I have is the text size. When the driving mode is on, the text size is set to extra large. And when the driving mode is off, the text is set back to default. I recommend using a bigger text because it's easier to see what's on the screen while driving. So to create one, press the plus icon and search for focus. Here select the driving focus and make sure when turning on and run immediately is selected. Now press next and select new blank automation. Now search for set text size. Then select extra large and press done. Now we have to create another one to set the text size back to default. To do that, press the plus icon and search for focus. Then select the driving focus. Make sure when turning off and run immediately is selected. Now press next and select new blank automation. Here search for set text size. Then select default and press done. So that's as done with shortcuts and automations. But there is one more setting that I recommend you to change and that is to use large icons on the home screen. To do that, go to settings, then select home screen and app library and make sure you turn use large icons on. Now I'm going to teach you how to add the shortcuts that we created to the home screen page. To start, press and hold an empty space on the home screen. Then click on the edit button on the top left corner and press add widget. Now search for shortcuts. Here you have different options but I prefer the first one. Then click on the widget that we just added and select the shortcut that you want to add to the home screen page. And that's it. That's all you need to do. If you made it this far, it means your iPad is now ready to be used as a custom Apple CarPlay. So, using the iPad as a custom Apple CarPlay has been great. However, I still have one problem. Sometimes I don't feel like taking my iPad with me. So, I decided to create a new custom holder. This one is more compact and functional. It can hold and charge my phone at the same time. And on top of that, it can also hold the iPad, which is exactly what I wanted. Now I don't have to worry about leaving the iPad at home because I can use my iPhone instead, which looks really clean. Now I'm not sure which one I prefer, the iPad setup or the iPhone setup. Let me know what do you think. Well, that's all for today. Thanks for watching and I will see you next time.