Best Ways To Mount Your iPhone 12 in Your Car
Remember the days of printing out maps from Mapquest and stapling together pages of turn-by-turn directions (which we thought was amazing)? Today, navigating that way seems totally absurd. Another crazy thing to think about today is how we used to tote around huge binders of CDs into our cars so we could listen to our favorite music. For sure, the iPhone has changed our driving experience forever. There’s just far less stuff to haul around for the essentials like navigation, music, and snagging epic sunset shots.
But despite all that convenience and efficiency, there’s the very real risk of becoming distracted while driving, which happens to be the number one cause of traffic fatalities in the United States (yes, even before drunk driving). Fortunately, there are solutions for staying safe behind the wheel while benefiting from the abilities of these powerful devices.
When distracted driving causes accidents, it mostly boils down to not seeing potential crash hazards in our path or seeing it too late to react in time. This happens when we focus our eyes away from our driving path, blinding us to threats and reducing our ability to respond in time.
When phones cause distracted driving accidents, it’s usually because the driver was looking down at their phone while holding it in their hand. It’s this looking down and focusing attention on close-range objects that blinds us from potential threats ahead because our peripheral vision no longer reaches our driving path.
The way to stay safe while using a phone in your car is to mount it high enough on the dashboard to keep your eyes at road-level. That way, you can still see potential threats in your peripheral vision, reducing the chances of an accident. When a phone is mounted in your line of road sight, it’s far easier to view GPS directions and maps for upcoming sharp corners, intersections, and next turns, which helps keep you safer overall.
Another consideration is where on the dash you should mount your phone at eye-level – to the left, in the center, above the steering wheel? Mounting it far left might seem less distracting than in the middle, but this position can create huge blind-spots next to the car’s A-pillar (the column alongside the windshield), making it hard to see curbs, other vehicles, and pedestrians. If you’re looking far left at your phone, your vision is reduced for potential threats on the right side of the road, which consequently, is where they most often come from.
For example, pedestrians are much harder to see if they’re standing next to cars parked on the right side of the road than approaching you from the left side of the road where there’s the open space of the left lane, providing a clear view of them. Bicyclists are another accident threat that is usually found on the right shoulder of the road. There are also wildlife threats, which are closer to your driving path when coming out of wooded areas on the right side of the road, versus from the left side of the road where they have an entire lane to cross before they’re in your driving path.
The point being, keeping your phone mounted in the center of the dash is what will provide you the widest field of peripheral vision, affording you the most time to react to potential threats, reducing your chances of an accident. When your eyes are focused mostly in the center, your peripheral vision catches the highest number of potential threats, both in front as well as in your side and rear-view mirrors. Beyond helping see accident threats, it’s also much easier to tap the screen for navigation changes if the phone is mounted within easy reach in the center of the dash, rather than having it down in a cup holder or center console cubby that requires looking away from the road.
In some vehicles, there’s room on the dash above the steering wheel to mount a phone without blocking view of the road, but this usually requires using landscape-mode, which some users aren’t a fan of. Still, it’s a good option to try before totally ruling it out.
When it comes to how you mount your phone in the optimal position for safe use, there are a few different options: suction-cup windshield mounting, adhesive tape dash mounting, and slip-on or clip-on vent mounting. Each provides a different amount of required reach to touch the phone screen, along with a level of stability or movement when taking sharp turns or hard accelerations. There are also limitations in many cars for what type of mount will work. Some car vents don’t pair well with clip-on vent mounting systems, while other vehicles may have windshields that are too upright or sloped for placement within reach. Others might have dash surfaces that don’t bond well with adhesive mounting tape. To help you narrow down the perfect phone mount for your vehicle, here are some of the main considerations for choosing the best way to mount your iPhone 12 in your car.
Windshield Suction-Cup Mount
When mounting your iPhone 12 to your windshield with a suction-cup mount, one of the main considerations is if the mount’s adjustability can accommodate the angle of your windshield and distance from your seating position. If there isn’t sufficient adjustability, there’s a chance the mount won’t provide adequate accessibility or a proper viewing angle.
There’s also the suction cup to consider. Some mounts don’t securely lock the suction cup in place, allowing the mount to swivel around or come un-mounted from the windshield, leading to startling drops onto your dashboard while driving.
Here at Rokform, we took these considerations seriously when designing the Rokform Windshield Suction-Cup Mount. It uses our RokLock system to quickly attach to your Rokform case, providing a secure, movement-free mount for your iPhone 12. Three separate points of adjustment with locking screws provide 210 degrees of tilt and 360 degrees of rotation so you can get the angle just right. The mount has a super-strong suction pad allowing you to quickly and efficiently mount your iPhone to any flat, non-porous surface. And, with a 6-inch extension arm, your phone is brought within easy reach. There’s no more secure way to mount your iPhone to your windshield!
Rokform Windshield Suction-Cup Mount
Vent Mount
Sometimes, vent mounts can provide a better viewing position and reachability than a windshield mount, but how the mount attaches to the vent is a major consideration. For example, our SuperGrip Magnetic Vent Mount slides onto nearly any size vent louver for a secure grip that won’t jiggle around and make rattling noises as clip-on vent mounts can.
Keeping the phone stable and upright is vital, so a vent mount that holds the louvers in place, along with preventing rotation of the phone, is a must. The anti-slip, silicone-coated magnetic face on our vent mount firmly attaches your phone to the vent without having to line the phone up accurately – just get it close, and the super-strong, 15-pound pull magnets grab the phone for a rock-solid, movement-free fit.
Adhesive Dash Mount
If you prefer a minimalist, ultra-secure mounting option for your iPhone 12, a magnetic dash mount with adhesive mounting tape is the way to go. Because the adhesive attaches the magnetic mount directly to the dash surface, it’s important to be sure you have a non-porous dash surface for the adhesive tape to bond with properly. Before removing the adhesive tape backing, attach the mount to the phone and locate the proper spot on the dash. Be certain of placement, because a high-quality mounting tape is meant to be semi-permanent, making it less effective if removed to reposition the mount.
There are also varying styles of adhesive dash mounts, with some offering adjustability in the viewing angle, while others are simple flat-mounts with a fixed position. When considering the mounting location, it’s best to hold your phone up flush to the dash to get an idea if you’ll want it mounted totally flat or if you’ll need some adjustability in the viewing angle.
Rokform offers three styles of adhesive dash mounts:
- Adhesive Low Pro Magnetic Dash Mount
- Adhesive Swivel Magnetic Dash Mount
- Adhesive RokLock Dash Mount
The magnetic mounts work with our phone cases or with the included adhesive adapter. One provides an adjustment of the viewing angle using a sturdy swivel-base that holds your adjustment once fixed. For ultra-close and secure dash mounting, the Low Pro magnetic flat-mount is ideal. Each mounts to your dash using high-quality 3-M mounting tape.
If you prefer your phone to be locked in a fixed position, our RokLock system is unbeatable.
The RokLock adhesive dash mount combines high-quality adhesive tape for attachment to the dash with our RokLock system for locking your phone in a fixed position in your Rokform case, preventing any rotation or movement in rough driving conditions. It just stays put!
If you’ve been searching for the best way to mount your iPhone 12 in your car, you’re sure to find a mount that’s perfect for your car’s cockpit in our collection. Check out our entire lineup of mounts HERE.
This article was written for informational purposes only. Please review your federal, state, and local laws for phone use while driving before using any phone or mounting product in a motor vehicle. Please drive safely.
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Jessica Petyo
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