Car Penguin: Server vVARY

Car Penguin Server lets you share text, links, and media from your Android phone to your car head unit over local Wi‑Fi. Add items from any app using Android’s Share menu, then Car Penguin takes care of delivery—no cables, accounts, or cloud required.

How it works
- Share from any app: text, web links, and supported media (audio/video).
- Queue on phone, auto‑transfer to head unit when connected.
- Local network only: the phone runs a lightweight HTTP server on your LAN.
- Connection status is visible in a persistent notification.

Key features
- Fast sharing from the Android Share sheet.
- Audio/video support (e.g., mp3/mp4 via content URIs).
- Automatic transfer on connect with retry handling.
- Auto‑completion for transfers that finish on the head unit.
- Stuck‑transfer detection with clear status (Pending, Transferring, Completed, Failed).
- Head‑unit discovery over the local network.
- Android 13+ granular media permissions and legacy support.

Privacy and security
- No accounts, no cloud—everything stays on your phone and local network.
- Uses local Wi‑Fi only; intended for trusted home/vehicle networks.
- Minimal data: basic device info for connectivity and item metadata for the queue.

Notes
- Make sure your phone and head unit are on the same Wi‑Fi network.
- Some media apps may require granting read access when sharing files.
- Remote control features are not available in this version.

Compatibility
- Android 5.0 (Lollipop) and up.
- Optimized for modern Android versions (target SDK 36).

Support
If you run into issues, check that the head unit can reach your phone’s IP and port on the LAN, and that no firewall blocks local PUT/POST requests. You can also review in‑app status and item details to diagnose connectivity and transfer results.

Privacy highlights
- Local-only operation: the app runs a lightweight HTTP server on your phone; data stays on your device and local network.
- No accounts or cloud sync: the app does not collect or upload personal data to external servers.
- Minimal device info: basic device and connection details are used to discover and communicate with your head unit on LAN.
- Storage access: when sharing media, the app requests read access to the selected file(s) to deliver them to the head unit.
- Permissions transparency:
- Android 13+: READ_MEDIA_AUDIO/VIDEO/IMAGES used for sharing media you select.
- Android 12L and below: READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE (legacy) used for the same purpose.
- Foreground service permissions used to run the local server reliably.
- Security note: use on trusted local networks; avoid exposing the phone server to the public internet.