Raspberry Pi - Enclosure & Case, Can Android be installed?

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

I don't know much about the hardware side of things and also the recent popularity of the Raspberry Pi and similar devices/solutions. I have an idea I want to test/get proof of concept of and wondering if it's possible to install Android onto a cheap all in one Raspberry Pi that's been fitted into a small enclosure and with a 3.5 inch touchscreen ?

There's numerous ones on Ebay UK for around £15/22 or so, a quick search for '3.5 inch TFT'

I'd like to know if/how Android could be installed on one of these? The reason is I've seen a specific App I wish to buy and use which is Android only.

I may also remove the TFT panel and mount the computer part elsewhere and have the display put into a specific location.

Any recommendations on any specialists/companies who could install Android to the device please ? also any places that could modify to 'split' the Display and connect to a longer (30 -45cm) lead?

Cheers, Dennis!

[ARHarh]

Easy to install android on a rpi. https://magpi.raspberrypi.org/articles/android-ras... Most 3.5 inch displays run from the gpio pins so just gat an old IDE cable to extend the display.

Last time I tried running Android on a pi it was a poor experience, maybe better running android on a PC from a usb stick.

[Corso Marche]

Would it not be simpler to mount a small screen android phone where you want it, and hide the power cable like you plan to for the Pi and you're done? Add a timer to the charger powering the phone and you're done.

[eltawater]

You'd be better off just using a cheap android tablet. I have a 4inch version of one of these screens and it's a pretty mediocre experience. The resistive touch is quite clumsy and doesn't work towards the edges of the screen. My version is an 800x480 screen and is difficult to use for most user interfaces, I expect a 320*480 to be even worse.


Ambassador's special for scale.

Edited by eltawater on Monday 4th January 09:11

[paulrockliffe]

I bought a RPi 4 over Christmas and spotted there are 1080p touch screens at 7 or 8" for not much money now.

Is the Android experience a bit crap because of the screen or because of other stuff?

If it's just for running one app then it might be less of an issue?

I was tempted to build a Pi and screen to run Android so I can run the Tado app on it, so proper wall mounted control for the Central Heating, rather than the little boxes that come with it.

I can think of a few other use cases for running a single app on a wall mounted screen. Eventually I have a dash tro make for a car I'm building, if I can run Android on a Pi that opens up a few options for that too.

[ARHarh]

paulrockliffe said:

I bought a RPi 4 over Christmas and spotted there are 1080p touch screens at 7 or 8" for not much money now.

Is the Android experience a bit crap because of the screen or because of other stuff?

If it's just for running one app then it might be less of an issue?

I was tempted to build a Pi and screen to run Android so I can run the Tado app on it, so proper wall mounted control for the Central Heating, rather than the little boxes that come with it.

I can think of a few other use cases for running a single app on a wall mounted screen. Eventually I have a dash tro make for a car I'm building, if I can run Android on a Pi that opens up a few options for that too.

It will still work out cheaper and easier to buy an amazon fire tablet thingy.

[Monsterlime]

paulrockliffe said:

I bought a RPi 4 over Christmas and spotted there are 1080p touch screens at 7 or 8" for not much money now.

Is the Android experience a bit crap because of the screen or because of other stuff?

If it's just for running one app then it might be less of an issue?

I was tempted to build a Pi and screen to run Android so I can run the Tado app on it, so proper wall mounted control for the Central Heating, rather than the little boxes that come with it.

I can think of a few other use cases for running a single app on a wall mounted screen. Eventually I have a dash tro make for a car I'm building, if I can run Android on a Pi that opens up a few options for that too.

You probably want to look into Home Assistant. I'd stick with a cheap Android tablet as above for the interface, but a Pi can be used to host HA - https://www.home-assistant.io/getting-started/ FYI, there is a fairly steep learning curve with this, but it does work with tado out of the box with minimal effort. If you are even vaguely Linux competent, this should be reasonably easy.

[C2Red]

A raspberry Pi 4 and 7” screen can be had for less than £40 on AliExpress; and that would be the version with heat sink case.
Loads of kits on there..

[ARHarh]

C2Red said:

A raspberry Pi 4 and 7” screen can be had for less than £40 on AliExpress; and that would be the version with heat sink case.
Loads of kits on there..

can't find anything that cheap can you post a link?

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

Thanks for the responses !

I have a specific idea and concept in mind, so using a mobile phone or 6/7" or larger tablet won't be possible due to physical location constraints. The single specific app I wish to use I may have the developer of make a customization to to make the plain text and digits appear proportionally 'larger' on a 3.5" display - there's zero requirement to display anything else (perhaps some boundary boxes/a few plain icons only, but can be omitted) so there's no concern for an 'android' experience - there'd be 100% zero need to run anything else.

Good to know Android can be installed, I'll take a look at the link above, I suspect most of it i'll not understand but I'll get the gist - been a long time since I did any coding stuff etc

Ideally, I'd have a custom sized display, for which I have some contacts already but for now, a normal display will do

Cheers, Dennis!

[C2Red]

ARHarh said:

C2Red said:

A raspberry Pi 4 and 7” screen can be had for less than £40 on AliExpress; and that would be the version with heat sink case.
Loads of kits on there..

can't find anything that cheap can you post a link?

The stuff I bought at the end of last year has marginally increased; but if you search in USD it’s generally cheaper. imho, it’s a ball ache searching, as prices do fluctuate, and adding the choice of shipping from destination adds another variable I agree. the 4Gb and 7” touchscreen with fan heats sinks was £64 at todays rates looking at my history.

[stevoknevo]

C2Red said:

ARHarh said:

C2Red said:

A raspberry Pi 4 and 7” screen can be had for less than £40 on AliExpress; and that would be the version with heat sink case.
Loads of kits on there..

can't find anything that cheap can you post a link?

The stuff I bought at the end of last year has marginally increased; but if you search in USD it’s generally cheaper. imho, it’s a ball ache searching, as prices do fluctuate, and adding the choice of shipping from destination adds another variable I agree. the 4Gb and 7” touchscreen with fan heats sinks was £64 at todays rates looking at my history.

AliExpress and other Chinese retailers are now adding VAT on purchases as the VAT rules changed on 1st January -

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-rev...

“For imports of goods from outside the UK in consignments not exceeding £135 in value (which aligns with the threshold for customs duty liability), we will be moving the point at which VAT is collected from the point of importation to the point of sale. This will mean that UK supply VAT, rather than import VAT, will be due on these consignments.

The new arrangements will also involve the abolition of Low Value Consignment Relief, which relieves import VAT on consignments of goods valued at £15 or less.

Online marketplaces (OMPs), where they are involved in facilitating the sale, will be responsible for collecting and accounting for the VAT.

For goods sent from overseas and sold directly to UK consumers without OMP involvement, the overseas seller will be required to register and account for the VAT to HMRC.”

[C2Red]

stevoknevo said:

C2Red said:

ARHarh said:

C2Red said:

A raspberry Pi 4 and 7” screen can be had for less than £40 on AliExpress; and that would be the version with heat sink case.
Loads of kits on there..

can't find anything that cheap can you post a link?

The stuff I bought at the end of last year has marginally increased; but if you search in USD it’s generally cheaper. imho, it’s a ball ache searching, as prices do fluctuate, and adding the choice of shipping from destination adds another variable I agree. the 4Gb and 7” touchscreen with fan heats sinks was £64 at todays rates looking at my history.

AliExpress and other Chinese retailers are now adding VAT on purchases as the VAT rules changed on 1st January -

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-rev...

“For imports of goods from outside the UK in consignments not exceeding £135 in value (which aligns with the threshold for customs duty liability), we will be moving the point at which VAT is collected from the point of importation to the point of sale. This will mean that UK supply VAT, rather than import VAT, will be due on these consignments.

The new arrangements will also involve the abolition of Low Value Consignment Relief, which relieves import VAT on consignments of goods valued at £15 or less.

Online marketplaces (OMPs), where they are involved in facilitating the sale, will be responsible for collecting and accounting for the VAT.

For goods sent from overseas and sold directly to UK consumers without OMP involvement, the overseas seller will be required to register and account for the VAT to HMRC.”

Thats bloody annoying, if it works.

Think I might try a small sample sale on some stuff I'm looking at.

[DennisCooper]

ARHarh said:

Easy to install android on a rpi. https://magpi.raspberrypi.org/articles/android-ras... Most 3.5 inch displays run from the gpio pins so just gat an old IDE cable to extend the display.

Last time I tried running Android on a pi it was a poor experience, maybe better running android on a PC from a usb stick.

Hi,

The link doesn't work for me, however I'll have a hunt around on the site if there's an article that explains the overview on downloading/installing Android on a Raspberry Pi

Cheers, Dennis!

[ARHarh]

DennisCooper said:

Hi,

The link doesn't work for me, however I'll have a hunt around on the site if there's an article that explains the overview on downloading/installing Android on a Raspberry Pi

Cheers, Dennis!

Had another look https://magpi.raspberrypi.org/articles/android-ras...

[stevoknevo]

C2Red said:

Thats bloody annoying, if it works.

Think I might try a small sample sale on some stuff I'm looking at.

It's in place and working all right! I'm on a vape forum and it was highlighted on there as many users order from AliExpress, Fasttech et al due to much lower prices/fakes of quality kit.