Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/10/24/get-this-air-vent-magnetic-pho.html
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Or just turn your phone off in the car. Seriously, any distraction gives safety a hit.
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Doesn’t that plate interfere with wireless charging? Maybe you’ll need to be careful where it’s placed on the back of the phone.
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Unless, like my old HTC M9, your phone has a special graphic mode it goes in to when certain cases are used and it uses magnets to detect this, so that any time you use a magnetic mount your phone gets confused. Then magnetic mounts are not so great.
Yeah, having a dash-mounted GPS in the vehicle is a serious threat to road safety.
You do realize that smartphones can do more than just make calls, right?
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I find getting lost to be highly distracting
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Interesting, I wonder why it would go into a special graphics mode if a magnet is near?
No such issue with my iPhone 8 or Samsung S9+. I love these magnetic phone mounts, I use them everywhere I need a phone stand.
Incidentally I use the version with the sticker mounted base, which can be put anywhere (including car dashboards):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XCRZZTW/
And interesting note: I first saw these advertised on my Instagram feed for $25 each. Then I went looking and there’s countless rebrandings available on Amazon (and elsewhere I’m sure), each with different prices and logos printed on the front. The version above is the cheapest I’ve found, though it uses the grey 3M double sided tape instead of VHB as on the $10+ versions. No biggie for my purposes but FYI.
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No. Way. Really? 
On a more serious note, there’s a really interesting analysis in Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt of how our brains react to distractions, even something as simple as listening to the radio, while driving. It’s amazing how much we literally do not see when our concentration is elsewhere.
Of course we can’t eliminate all distractions, and a GPS device/phone can be invaluable, especially to people like me who can get lost in a paper bag.
But when someone is texting on their phone, or playing a poker game app (seriously. I saw a driver in the car next to mine playing a poker game while driving) their distraction can result in accidents. ( And yes, I was driving distracted, too, watching her drive through an intersection oblivious to the traffic lights and people turning in front of her.)
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I find tuning the radio to get some decent music distracting.
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I did own a phone at one point that would switch over to “Car Mode” when placed near a carefully placed magnet.
Bottom line, investigate if your phone has this feature before buying.
I have a similar holder in my car, I can’t text on it anyway, I’d need to grab it to do that. It’s just a display and nothing more. So for me at least it’s less of a distraction here than if I was grabbing my phone to look at it.
If your car, like mine, still has a CD player, get the one that mounts to the CD slot. It’s much more stable than an air vent. I use both kinds, one of each in two different vehicles, and I much prefer the CD slot mount.
Besides, who uses CDs anymore, anyway?
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This seems like it might not be so great in a climate where heat is coming out of the vent. Anybody have any experience with this? (I believe Mark F lives in Southern California.)
It doesn’t look like safe thing…
Phone is responsible for throat-singing mantra of Drive. Later it moves into increasingly loud PacMan dot-eating noises in sync. with accelerometer and imaginary regularly-spaced dots. It shouts BAM! if I fall out of drift.
Focus BAE.
Also it reads any e-mail with a sort of due date in it, backwards sentence-wise. It immediately replies with the ephemerides of Saturn, Mars and Venus as date concordance.
I thought the people driving with no lights ever were political for a few moments. Definitely not broken-windows as in hypertonic remedy in inclination. https://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/6770497-neon-peacock-mantis-shrimp-by-discobiscuitdesigns That in mind, where can one get mantis or peacock shrimp car accessories? Asking for a speculative friend.
Offer seems to have expired. Price is now $9.99.
I’ve discovered that the pliable plastic, which covers the vent louvres clip, slides off after a period of usage. It needs to be glued back on if a person wants to continue utilizing this product.
Interesting, I wonder why it would go into a special graphics mode if a magnet is near?
They sold “dot view” cases, which had holes in the front of the case. When the case was closed, the phone would go into a special pixelated graphics mode which looked cool when in the case, but looked pretty dumb when it was mounted on your dashboard.
Don’t know if I trust a magnetic mount, but I love this $8 vent mount cradle. You can adjust the tension on the ball joint. The fact that it looks like Eva the Robot is just gravy.
You can actually use smartphones to make telephone calls?
I thought this was just another urban myth!
