Dashboard Slots Guide
The OBD NINJA dashboard displays values from your vehicle and sensors in configurable "slots." You can freely lay out 14 different widgets — OBD-II values like RPM, vehicle speed, and coolant temperature, plus GPS speed, the G-meter, fuel cost, and even a camera feed. This article covers how slots work, what widgets you can assign, the available display styles, and common pitfalls.
1.What is a slot?
Each slot holds exactly one widget. Slot size and placement are predefined — currently you can choose from two layouts. Both portrait and landscape orientations are supported.
| Layout | Slots | Composition |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 7 | Large × 1 / Medium × 2 / Small × 4 |
| Three Column | 5 | Three-column horizontal arrangement |
On a fresh install, the layout frame is created but each slot is empty. You assign widgets manually based on what you want to see.
2.Assignable widgets
There are 14 widgets in total. They fall into a few groups: values read directly from OBD-II PIDs, values calculated from those, and data sourced from GPS or your phone's sensors.
OBD-II PID
Available only on vehicles that support the corresponding PIDs. A few PIDs are not implemented on every vehicle.
Calculated
ELM327 Command
GPS / Sensor
Other
3.Display styles
Several widgets can be displayed in more than one style. Some styles have size constraints.
| Style | Widgets | Size constraint |
|---|---|---|
| Text (default) | All widgets | None |
| Gauge | RPM / Speed ECU / Speed GPS / Coolant / Boost | Medium and Large only |
| Gauge Simple | RPM / Speed ECU / Speed GPS | Medium and Large only |
| Bar | Throttle / Boost | Wide and Tall only |
Gauge styles are not selectable on Small slots. To use a gauge, place the widget in a Medium-or-larger slot position.
4.How to assign
Tap any empty slot on the dashboard to open the slot setting screen. Each change is saved automatically as you make it — there is no separate save action.
- Tap an empty slot (the "+" icon) on the dashboard
- Pick a widget from the "Select Item" tab
- Adjust unit, max value, warning threshold, and display style under "Detail Settings"
- Tap the "<" in the top-left to return to the dashboard
5.Common pitfalls
If something isn't behaving as expected, check the table below first. Most issues come down to either a setting or vehicle-side PID support.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Shows "-" with engine off | OBD PIDs are only valid while the engine is running | Check after starting the engine |
| Desired widget not in the picker | Vehicle does not support the underlying PID — only supported widgets are shown automatically | Use a substitute widget, or check whether a calculated widget (e.g. Boost) is available |
| Gauge style is greyed out | Small slot size constraint | Move to a Medium-or-larger slot |
| Boost pressure does not move | Vehicle does not support MAP PID (0x0B) | Unavailable on this vehicle |
| Fuel economy is inaccurate | No MAF sensor support | Falls back to Speed-Density estimate |
| Cannot change slots while recording | Intentional — preserves recording integrity | Configure slots before starting a recording |
| G-meter readings look off | Calibration not performed | Long-press the G-meter while stopped to calibrate |
If your issue isn't covered above, or if you can reproduce a problem with a specific slot or widget, please contact us with your vehicle make / year and a description of the symptom.
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