If you’re looking for an Android phone for YaV1, here’s what you need to know.

First off, it’s pretty straightforward. Most any modern Android phone should work just fine with the app. What’s generally recommended to do is to get an inexpensive prepaid phone and simply never activate it. Your YaV1 phone does not need internet. You download the app at home over WiFi and when driving, the phone only needs GPS (free) to know where it is and Bluetooth (free) to communicate with the V1.

You will need to purchase the V1C (V1 bluetooth module) for Android to pair your V1 with YaV1 as well as have a new enough V1 (version 3.892 or newer). Note: There’s two versions of the V1C. There’s the Android-only V1C and the V1C LE which was originally designed just for the iPhone but now is compatible with Android as well. However, YaV1 is ONLY compatible with the Android-only V1C so you’ll still want to get the V1C and not the V1C LE.

Once you buy the phone, there’s no monthly costs after that. Here’s a list of prepaid phones you can buy from Amazon. Currently I’m using the LG Optimus Exceed 2. It is inexpensive and works perfectly. It has a standard 4.5″ screen which is just right for me plus it’s rootable which isn’t necessary for YaV1, but it allows me to control the phone a bit more for other things. Newer phones are always coming out though so really any modern phone should work fine, but this is what I’ve been using for a while.

If you want to use any apps on your phone that require internet service (ie. Waze, Google Maps, etc.), if you have another device that has data service and you can enable tethering on it, you can use that device to give your Android internet service via WiFi and now your Android can get internet access too.

(YaV1 does have some features that would require internet access such as viewing your logs on Google Maps, but these are all just secondary bonus features. The app itself is designed to run without needing internet.)

As far as cell phone mounts, most any universal mount should work fine. I’m using the RAM X-Grip mount and it works great as a nice strong mount. You’ll see the Exceed 2 featured in my cell phone mount review too.

Finally, once you get your phone, here’s the tutorial to help you get up and running quickly.

Enjoy! 🙂