Setup guide

CarFlow brings video, radio, IPTV and other tools to your car screen. Only watch while the car is parked somewhere safe.

What you need

• An Android 9 or newer phone with a data connection.
• A car with Android Auto (cable or wireless), or an Android device mounted in the car for Box mode.
• A CarFlow key.

First three steps

1. Open CarFlow on the phone, enter your key and tap Activate.
2. Read and accept the safety rules.
3. Choose where the car screen is: Android Auto (the screen on the dashboard) or Box (this device is the car screen).

On the first launch a short tour introduces the five tabs: Control, Watch, Stats, Find car and Settings. Tap Skip if you already know them; to see it again, go to Settings › Replay the tour.

If something goes wrong

Open Settings to check your key, or read the other chapters of this help centre. Where a chapter has no video yet, the text here is the main guide.

CarFlow runs in one of two ways. You choose on the first launch and can change it in Settings › General.

Android Auto

The phone connects to the car through Android Auto. The car screen has two entries:

• CarFlow: the full screen with the left bar, the home page and the video sources.
• CarFlow Control: Android Auto's compact media controls, handy while another app such as Google Maps is open.

On the phone, the Control tab shows whether the car is connected and what is playing.

Box

For an Android device fixed in the car (an Android box or Android head unit). That device shows the car interface and you touch its screen directly. Box mode can open by itself when the device starts.

Ask every time

With Ask every time, the app shows a chooser on launch; if you pick nothing, it goes to Android Auto after a few seconds.

The bar on the left of the car screen holds the Home button, the sources (YouTube, TikTok, VTVgo, FPT Play, IPTV, Radio, Phone, Browser) and tool cells (Launcher, Cara, Settings).

Four ways to show the bar

• Fixed: always on the left.
• Auto: hides while a video plays; tap the left edge to bring it back.
• Floating: hidden behind a round button that opens it.
• Swipe: swipe from the left edge to open it.

Change it in Settings › Car screen look on the phone, or in the Settings panel on the car.

Choosing the cells

• Choose apps shown on the car hides sources you do not use; at least one source always stays.
• The Games and Stats cells are off by default. Stats only appears while trip recording is on.
• Show labels on the left bar: on, every home layout shows a name under each icon. Off, only Continue watching and Stage have labels.

The car home page has 9 layouts in two groups.

Without a map

• Continue watching: a row of half-watched videos in the middle, back in one tap.
• Frosted glass: frosted cards for the clock, weather and music.
• Stage: one large card in the middle for what is playing.
• Clock: a large clock, good for long stops.

With a map

Map, Chevron, Light lane, Curve and Fade into map have a real map behind them that turns with the car, with the speed, a destination box and music on top.

Changing and hiding layouts

Go to Settings › Car screen look › Home layout. Tap × to hide a layout from the picker, + Add to bring it back.

Widgets

Depending on the layout, the home page shows weather, air quality, fuel prices, phone battery and a rotating notification card. Your car photo appears on Frosted glass, Stage and Clock; set its size and position under Photo on the car screen.

Playing video

Pick a source on the left bar. YouTube, TikTok, VTVgo, FPT Play and the Browser open in the car screen; IPTV, Radio and files on the phone use CarFlow's own player.

Videos can switch to full screen when they start. The full-screen control bar has three styles, chosen in Car screen look.

Continue a half-watched video

Turn on Resume the last video when the car connects: when you reconnect within 6 hours, the video you were watching opens again where you left it.

Sound

• A 10-band EQ with 7 presets, adjustable by hand on the phone.
• Volume leveler keeps loud and quiet videos close to the same level.
• Volume by speed raises the volume with speed, up to +6 dB.

Saving data

YouTube data saver drops YouTube to 144p. Turn it off and turn on high quality when you have Wi‑Fi or a large data plan.

While the car is moving, touch the screen as little as possible. CarFlow has less distracting ways to control it.

Steering-wheel buttons

The previous and next buttons on the steering wheel can do several things. Assign a single press, a double press and a long press separately, for example: previous track, back 10 seconds, next track. Set them under Steering-wheel buttons in Settings.

Voice

Tap the mic on the car to search videos by voice. The app can play the first result straight away.

From the phone

The Control tab on the phone has play, pause, next and seek. The Watch tab lets you pick a video and send it to the car. It is safer when a passenger does this rather than the driver.

Passengers

Turn on passenger mode to show a QR code on the car. A passenger scans it, enters the 4-digit password and sends YouTube links to the car's queue. No shared Wi‑Fi needed.

CarFlow shows your current speed and the speed limit of the road, and warns you when you go over.

Speed sources

• Speed from: the car's speedometer (when the car provides it) or the phone's GPS. Adjust the calibration if GPS speed differs from the speedometer.
• Speed limit source: data from a running navigation app (VIETMAP LIVE, Waze) or CarFlow's speed-limit map.

Speed bubble

Show the speed bubble puts a small bubble on the car screen, even while a video plays. Set its size, opacity and position in the car panel.

Cameras and residential zones

When the source has the data, the bubble also shows speed cameras and residential-zone entry and exit signs with their distance.

Speed limits are for reference only. Always follow the road signs.

Map on the home page

The five map layouts use a free map built from OpenStreetMap data. The map turns with the car and tilts differently per layout. 3D buildings turns raised buildings on or off. Without a connection the home page uses a decorative background for a while and shows the map again when the connection returns.

Navigation

CarFlow does not navigate by itself. The Where to? box opens Google Maps with the destination you type. Open Google Maps opens Google Maps directly. Places you opened are kept under RECENT.

In the full-screen CarFlow entry, if Android Auto does not switch to Google Maps, the app says "Open Google Maps on the car display to navigate". Then pick Google Maps on Android Auto's bottom bar.

Turn alerts while watching video

Turn on Turn alert when leaving the map and allow notification access. While Google Maps is navigating and you open a video, a small card on the car screen shows the next turn.

Traffic

There is no traffic data source yet. Check traffic in Google Maps.

The Launcher opens your phone's other apps right on the car screen. Its cell sits on the left bar and can be hidden in Settings › Launcher & projector.

Status

This feature is still being finished. Choosing the Launcher style (Classic or Frosted glass) is already in Settings. Starting the projector and the list of apps on the car come in a later version.

Related options

• Keep playing in the Launcher: CarFlow's video or music keeps playing while you open another app.
• Wheel keys control Launcher apps: the steering-wheel buttons control the open app instead of CarFlow.

This chapter will be updated when the feature is complete.

CarFlow shows Zalo and Messenger calls on the car screen so you can answer without holding the phone.

Turning it on

1. Go to Settings › Calls.
2. Allow notification access for CarFlow.
3. Turn on the call bar.

When a call comes in

A bar appears on the car screen with the caller's name and Answer and End buttons. During the call it shows the call time. The phone can ring at the same time.

Missed calls

Missed call alert shows a notice on the car with a Call back button. The round phone button on the home page opens the list of recent calls.

Regular phone calls are still handled by Android Auto as before.

CarFlow records each drive while the phone is connected to Android Auto. This is off by default.

Turning on trip recording

Go to Settings › Trips & find car and turn on Record trips. The app needs location access. A trip starts when the car connects and ends when you unplug.

Viewing the statistics

The Stats tab on the phone (and the Stats cell on the car, if turned on) shows:

• distance, driving time, average and top speed by day, week, month and year;
• a distance chart;
• the route of the selected trip on a map;
• fuel cost, from the consumption and fuel price you enter.

Deleting data

Delete trip data removes every recorded trip. Tap twice to confirm. Trip data stays on the phone and is not sent to the server.

Find car helps you get back to where you parked.

Saving the parking spot

• Automatically: turn on Save the parking spot in Settings › Trips & find car. When you unplug Android Auto, the location at that moment is saved.
• By hand: open the Find car tab and tap Save location while standing next to the car.

Add a note such as the floor or pillar number in a car park.

Finding it again

The Find car tab shows a map with My car and You pins, the distance and the walking time.

• Precise finder opens an arrow screen that points to the car using the phone's compass.
• The directions button opens Google Maps in walking mode.

The map needs a connection. Without one, the arrow screen still works.

Each key works on one phone at a time.

Activation

1. Open CarFlow and enter the key in Enter your key.
2. Tap Activate.
3. On success, the app shows the rules to accept and then the main app.

The device ID is shown under the input box. Send it when you ask for support.

Buying a key

Buy on the CarFlow website under Buy a key. Pick a plan, enter your phone number and pay by bank transfer with the QR code. The key appears as soon as the payment arrives.

Changing phones

Go to Settings › Activation on the old phone and deactivate, then activate on the new one. The number of phone changes per year is limited. If the old phone is lost, contact support.

Key refused

The app checks the key regularly when online. If the key is blocked or in use on another phone, the app says why and returns to the key screen.

Cara is CarFlow's assistant, with its own cell on the left bar. Pick a look for Cara: Robot, Orb or Cat-ear robot.

Status

Cara is still being finished. These parts come in a later version:

• reading answers aloud;
• listening through the car's microphone and waking with "Hey Cara";
• returning to CarFlow after opening Google Maps;
• an address book.

Hiding the Cara cell

If you do not use it yet, turn off the Cara cell in Settings › Cara assistant to keep the left bar tidy.

This chapter will be updated when Cara is complete.

Some cars have a rotary knob or touchpad to control Android Auto instead of a touch screen.

Status

CarFlow does not support rotary control yet. In a car with only a knob:

• use the steering-wheel buttons for previous, next and seek (see Controls while driving);
• use the Control and Watch tabs on the phone to pick and control videos;
• use CarFlow Control, Android Auto's media controls, which work with the knob.

Rotary support for the full CarFlow screen comes in a later version. This chapter will be updated then.

This chapter is for cars with only a rotary knob that still want to watch YouTube.

What works today

1. On the phone, open the Watch tab, find a video and tap Send to car. The car opens that video.
2. On the car, open CarFlow Control to play, pause and skip with the knob.
3. Use the steering-wheel buttons to seek back or forward.

Coming later

Moving through YouTube's video lists on the CarFlow screen with the knob is not available yet. This chapter will be updated when it is.