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View Full Version : Android Auto/CarPlay (split)



schocker
09-03-2019, 03:26 PM
Yeah my other comment is where the shit is my updated android auto. I feel as if I will be the last person in the world to have my account enabled for the new version.

Xtrema
09-03-2019, 03:27 PM
I wish Google would decide what the hell they want to do for a music player. Google play music is getting antiquated to say the least and Youtube Music app sucks.

I know there's 3rd party music players out there but still...

As a paid customer of this service, I really hate that they have not ported everything over to Youtube Music and call it a day. Now I have something I like on either service but I still prefer Play Music's simplicity.


Yeah my other comment is where the shit is my updated android auto. I feel as if I will be the last person in the world to have my account enabled for the new version.

There was a toggle if you wanted it early on the release cycle.
https://www.androidcentral.com/sites/androidcentral.com/files/styles/xlarge/public/article_images/2019/07/enable-new-android-auto-4.jpg

Mitsu3000gt
09-03-2019, 03:32 PM
Yeah my other comment is where the shit is my updated android auto. I feel as if I will be the last person in the world to have my account enabled for the new version.

Android Auto got a huge update a couple weeks ago. I've been using it twice a day since and it's quite good. It was automatic for me.

Just a note for anyone who may not know, Google Maps shows you intersection cameras and user-reported photo radar/speed traps but you need to have an active route to see them, not just be on the maps screen.

KrisYYC
09-03-2019, 04:47 PM
I WISH I had Android Auto in my car. My car is a 2014 and wasn't an option at the time. I suppose I could get an aftermarket head unit with Android Auto. We'll see. I'm way too cheap to buy a new car as nice as it would be to have one.

Anybody on Rogers use wifi calling? I just noticed this in my settings menu. Not sure if I want to turn it on if it's shitty.

87379

Swank
09-04-2019, 09:58 AM
I don't get what Android Auto brings to the table, maybe it's just not suited to my usage. My head unit natively has navigation, bluetooth music from any source on my phone, text messaging and handsfree calling. I know a lot of people prefer Waze or Google Maps for nav as it has traffic and speed trap info, those features I could take or leave. When I first heard of Android Auto I thought it would be full phone screen mirroring and control which would be awesome but nope, not even close, d'oh. Anyhow, what am I missing?

rage2
09-04-2019, 10:05 AM
I don't get what Android Auto brings to the table, maybe it's just not suited to my usage. My head unit natively has navigation, bluetooth music from any source on my phone, text messaging and handsfree calling. I know a lot of people prefer Waze or Google Maps for nav as it has traffic and speed trap info, those features I could take or leave. When I first heard of Android Auto I thought it would be full phone screen mirroring and control which would be awesome but nope, not even close, d'oh. Anyhow, what am I missing?
Head Unit Nav mostly doesn't have live traffic. Some do, but it's not as live as crowdsourced Google/Waze data.

Bluetooth music, very few units allow browsing libraries over BT. Even if they do, you run into compatibility with whatever you're listening to (Apple Music, Google Music, Spotify, etc).

Text messages, what about all the other messaging platforms? WhatsApp? Nobody but Apple Assholes like me use only 1 chat platform.

Handsfree calling, browsing contacts over BT doesn't exist (I don't believe).

Huge gaps between Bluetooth pairing vs Android Auto/CarPlay.

Mitsu3000gt
09-04-2019, 10:20 AM
I don't get what Android Auto brings to the table, maybe it's just not suited to my usage. My head unit natively has navigation, bluetooth music from any source on my phone, text messaging and handsfree calling. I know a lot of people prefer Waze or Google Maps for nav as it has traffic and speed trap info, those features I could take or leave. When I first heard of Android Auto I thought it would be full phone screen mirroring and control which would be awesome but nope, not even close, d'oh. Anyhow, what am I missing?

The maps with live traffic and real-time best route switching as well as accident and speed trap tracking is unbelievably valuable. It has without a doubt saved me hours and hours in the car. I use it 100% of the time, even if I am driving 2 minutes away. If you have an appointment in your calendar, it automatically cues up the address when you get in your car to go there, etc. It knows where you often go at various times of day, for example when I get in my car in the morning it cues up the address to my parkade. When I leave work it cues up my home address. When I leave the house after dinner, it cues up the address to my gym, etc. It reads texts to you and you can respond very quickly with voice to text, and it even works for WhatsApp group chats.

Also Android Auto does in fact show most or all of your apps on the home screen, so maybe you just have an old version of it?

The other thing I love is you can still use any feature/app on your phone while AA continues to run perfectly and independently on your car's screen - something you can't do with Apple Car Play (at least in the versions I have used) and is a complete deal breaker for my personal usage.

Access to google assistant is also very useful with how powerful it is.

Rage covered the rest - browsing in particular is a million times better with AA rather than a basic bluetooth connection. If you use podcast apps like Pocket Casts, it has an extremely polished and easy to navigate AA interface. If you prefer Waze, it also has a proper AA interface.

I would never buy a car now that didn't have AA, it is one of the very few things I use literally every single day and every time I am in my car. It's just such a time saver. It's also the reason I have never charged my phone during a normal work week - the 25mins of slow charging or so to/from work combined with the ridiculous battery life of the pixel means I never even have to think about my phone's battery, I always know it has plenty. I have only ever used a wall charger on vacation.

schocker
09-04-2019, 10:44 AM
Yeah, I wouldn't buy another car (within reason) without android auto/carplay. Having waze/google maps is awesome and a timesaver when it re-routes due to crap traffic. I use pocket casts and spotify every day so being able to control them on the giant screen is excellent as opposed to when I used to use bluetooth. Calls and texts with voice also work well. My phone is still connected to bluetooth if I really want to use it that way. Having it constantly charged and out of the way in a cubby is also a plus for me. I believe you still can sue mirror link, which I think mirrors the phone itself? I prefer the giant screen with simple and easy to find/press buttons while I am driving. My only gripe is nothing from android auto can display in my digital cluster and when you use google maps to route, it takes away my cluster nav screen but not with waze.

The other big bonus is that as the car gets older, android auto will remain as fast as the phone you are using.

Mitsu3000gt
09-04-2019, 10:51 AM
My only gripe is nothing from android auto can display in my digital cluster and when you use google maps to route, it takes away my cluster nav screen but not with waze.



That part is vehicle dependent, not a feature lacking from AA - I have a LCD display on my digital cluster and it shows navigation information with a countdown bar for each upcoming turn when using Google Maps, PocketCast or google play music information, XM radio info, etc. It even shows colored album art.

Swank
09-04-2019, 11:03 AM
Thanks for the info gents, that helps put it in perspective, and I did suspect that if I was in my car more I would get better use out of AA. My commute is only 5-7 minutes so only enough time for 2 songs to play, not enough time to make a phone call, and I can wait to get to my destination to find out who in my chat group is hungover or getting drunk again haha.

Oh just thought of something else, rage2 king of automation might know best, are you able to use AA/CP apps to access any home automation stuff? It would be handy to use my AA on the head unit to open my garage door, shut off the security system, and adjust the T-stat as I approach the house but I don't see a way to do it.

Xtrema
09-04-2019, 12:22 PM
Oh just thought of something else, rage2 king of automation might know best, are you able to use AA/CP apps to access any home automation stuff? It would be handy to use my AA on the head unit to open my garage door, shut off the security system, and adjust the T-stat as I approach the house but I don't see a way to do it.


AA/CP are basically screen mirroring tech. Whatever you can do yelling at your Google Assistant, same will apply to AA.

The only time I find AA/CP useful is when I'm out of town or I'm going to new places. And until AA can be activated wirelessly, I think it's pretty cumbersome too.

Live traffic is nice but routing base on live traffic is erratic.

jwslam
09-04-2019, 12:34 PM
Oh just thought of something else, @rage2 (https://forums.beyond.ca/member.php?u=1) king of automation might know best, are you able to use AA/CP apps to access any home automation stuff? It would be handy to use my AA on the head unit to open my garage door, shut off the security system, and adjust the T-stat as I approach the house but I don't see a way to do it.
I don't know of any screen apps that would be able to do that, but plugging into AA would allow you to voice command those things no different than a Google Home.

schocker
09-04-2019, 01:10 PM
That part is vehicle dependent, not a feature lacking from AA - I have a LCD display on my digital cluster and it shows navigation information with a countdown bar for each upcoming turn when using Google Maps, PocketCast or google play music information, XM radio info, etc. It even shows colored album art.

Ah well that sucks for VW then, I thought it would always be solely on the head unit. Having the cluster be actually useful for that would make life easier.

rage2
09-04-2019, 01:25 PM
Oh just thought of something else, rage2 king of automation might know best, are you able to use AA/CP apps to access any home automation stuff? It would be handy to use my AA on the head unit to open my garage door, shut off the security system, and adjust the T-stat as I approach the house but I don't see a way to do it.
Don't know about AA, but CP can ask Siri to set whatever scenes. Unfortunately, with iOS 12, it asks you to unlock your phone to do any secure items such as unlocking doors or opening garage. iOS 13 fixes that, in fact the new one pops up recommended HomeKit actions, so when you're near your house, open garage door would pop up.

87388


AA/CP are basically screen mirroring tech. Whatever you can do yelling at your Google Assistant, same will apply to AA.

The only time I find AA/CP useful is when I'm out of town or I'm going to new places. And until AA can be activated wirelessly, I think it's pretty cumbersome too.
AA/CP isn't screen mirroring tech. Each app has it's own AA/CP interface, and has to fall within AA/CP guidelines for safe use on the road before it's even allowed to show up in the AA/CP interface.

CP has wireless but it drains battery like a mofu. I like that it's wired so that I have a full charge at my destination.

Swank
09-04-2019, 01:43 PM
I don't know of any screen apps that would be able to do that, but plugging into AA would allow you to voice command those things no different than a Google Home.

All of the apps on my phone can do those things, it would be great to have them on the head unit. Looks like the integration with Google Assistant requires a different subscription for each one. The myQ one is free for a limited time, Honeywell is paid, and I don't see any integration yet with the security system, curses! Still interesting though, thanks for the direction :thumbsup:


Don't know about AA, but CP can ask Siri to set whatever scenes. Unfortunately, with iOS 12, it asks you to unlock your phone to do any secure items such as unlocking doors or opening garage. iOS 13 fixes that, in fact the new one pops up recommended HomeKit actions, so when you're near your house, open garage door would pop up.
That's definitely slick and what I want from AA. Just gotta be patient it seems.

Mitsu3000gt
09-04-2019, 01:49 PM
Ah well that sucks for VW then, I thought it would always be solely on the head unit. Having the cluster be actually useful for that would make life easier.

I like having it, but I find I am still looking at the center console screen most of the time. For a quick check of what podcast episode or whatever I am on, it's nice to be able to just glance down by the speedo though. Or if I don't have navigation on the main center console screen, I can still view my navigation directions on the digital cluster display so I can do 2 things at once - 3 actually if I also use the phone itself haha.

rage2
09-04-2019, 02:31 PM
That part is vehicle dependent, not a feature lacking from AA - I have a LCD display on my digital cluster and it shows navigation information with a countdown bar for each upcoming turn when using Google Maps, PocketCast or google play music information, XM radio info, etc. It even shows colored album art.
Mercedes has this too on my E's as well, but it replaces my drive and performance data (oil/transmission temps, horsepower/tq and g peaks, fuel economy/range etc) so I never use it.

Mitsu3000gt
09-04-2019, 02:34 PM
Mercedes has this too on my E's as well, but it replaces my drive and performance data (oil/transmission temps, horsepower/tq and g peaks, fuel economy/range etc) so I never use it.

Haha, got to keep an eye on those G's! I probably would too if I could afford an E :cry:

heavyD
09-05-2019, 05:36 PM
Don't know about AA, but CP can ask Siri to set whatever scenes. Unfortunately, with iOS 12, it asks you to unlock your phone to do any secure items such as unlocking doors or opening garage. iOS 13 fixes that, in fact the new one pops up recommended HomeKit actions, so when you're near your house, open garage door would pop up.

87388


AA/CP isn't screen mirroring tech. Each app has it's own AA/CP interface, and has to fall within AA/CP guidelines for safe use on the road before it's even allowed to show up in the AA/CP interface.

CP has wireless but it drains battery like a mofu. I like that it's wired so that I have a full charge at my destination.

I don't get major battery drain from my iphone out via iDrive wireless. It drains but not as much as if I was using it myself. Phone does get a little hot though. After having wireless CarPlay I could never go back to USB. I get in the car and my phone just syncs right up whether it's in my pocket or a bag.

killramos
09-05-2019, 06:22 PM
I feel like the magic combo is wireless charging and wireless carplay. Toss the phone down on the pad when you get in the car and just drive, with no issues on dead battery.

Wired doesn’t bother me that much though.

heavyD
09-06-2019, 08:37 AM
I feel like the magic combo is wireless charging and wireless carplay. Toss the phone down on the pad when you get in the car and just drive, with no issues on dead battery.

Wired doesn’t bother me that much though.

My car has both but I'm still rocking a 6S Plus (no wireless charging) which still performs very adequately for what I need out of a cell phone. I'm thinking about upgrading to one of the new XS models when they come out.

C4S
09-06-2019, 09:59 AM
I have those CarPlay/ Android auto for 2 year, don't really like it .. nor use it ..

I guess a 40 some year old Asian dude is too old for those shit .. lol