Make an in-car magnetic phone mount
Before
After
1. Attached magnets to the dashboard, behind the wheel, using Sugru. I used 2 side-by-side series of thin magnets to increase holding power and to reduce rotation risk of the phone when attached. I sticked only 3 magnets per row. The advantage with this approach is that you can add extra magnets easily to increase holding power even more and to adjust the angle of the phone, without making them permanently fixed.
2. Sticked 2 thin magnets using double-sided adhesive tape on the interior of the TPU case, carefully aligned with their fixed counterparts on the dashboard (this is not the final position of the case, it's just to show a detail). They are so thin (1 mm) that they don't increase the bulge of the case, but they make it wobble when rested on a flat surface. See improvement suggestion below.
3. Phone can now be easily attached magnetically. Best part is that my car does not have the usual dashboard arrangement, so there's practically just the auto gearbox shift lever behind the steering wheel (no tachometer etc.). So I studied the location to find a position in which I can control my phone and in which the steering wheel can turn without touching the phone case. But I guess there are more cars that have such arangement.
Anyway, the magnet attachment principle should hold for other brands, in other locations on the dashboard.
4. Improvement suggestions:
- put some distance between the magnets, for better stability;
- add some extra magnets inside the case, not for holding reasons, but so that the phone does not wobble when resting on its back;
- get a right angle micro-usb connector;
- improve workmanship on the Sugru attachment.
Silviu from Munich, Germany
