I went from iPhone to the Nexus 5. I like the Now launcher, but the only thing I couldn't get over was the ugly default icons. I started using Zooper widgets and I have played with Themer. What I have ended up using is Nova. I'm able to change system icons and even the app drawer icon whilst using my Zooper…

I use GearTies. They're cheap and clean and durable. I think the headphone/charger cable length is about $3 for a four pack. You can also bent the longer ones into phone/pad stands.

I spent many hours trying on my old car stereo. Finally gave up and found out about "Mechless" car stereos. They have various manufactures and prices. I picked up one on Amazon for $25. It is a solid state radio, Aux in, SD card and USB input. I filled an old 8 GB SD card with music and leave it in the radio.

You could cut out some felt to go in between the clip and the desk.