by "The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
Published 01/31/2017 at 13:36
by "The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
Published 01/31/2017 at 13:36
Tags: Gripes
; Android Auto
; Apple Carplay
; Sync 3
; Sensus
STARS: 3
My FiST just got the Sync 2.2 update which includes some Sync 3 updates and the long awaited Carplay and Android auto updates. As someone with a personal iPhone and a work android, I figured every day for a week or two I’d try each and see which was better. Verdict? Sync 3 is better.
This isn’t even a Sync 3 compliment, The XC90 and S90 have sensus and now getting to use those for a few months it’s also much better than AA/CP. It’s simple really, a few years ago when they announced AA/CP most infotainment systems did suck. But they’ve learned and now they’re logically placed and make a ton of sense.
Two major gripes:
1) You can only see one piece of information on the screen at a time. Call me crazy but sometimes I want to change the radio or see what song is playing from my phone AND also get the next bit of navigation information.
Both Sync 3 and Sensus do this without issue
Android auto SOMETIMES does this if you’re in the right screen and phone (I’ll get to this). But Carplay flat out refuses.
2) Both systems mimic the screen and change the dash based on what’s on your phone. Again, call me crazy but I’m human. I’m going to look at my phone from time to time. So when I press the home button on my phone MUST you take me back to the home screen on the dash too? Why can’t I keep the navigation up on the dash and press the home key and quickly check an email or text or something on my phone. Isn’t it MORE DANGEROUS to remove instructions from the screen along with me looking at the screen than it is to allow that behavior? At least AA has a useful home screen with information unlike CP’s absolutely useless grid, but both need major overhauls. Smartphones are different than cars infotainment screens, I know a lot of people try and say that they just want they’re phone screen on the dash, but this isn’t the best way to do it.
So overall Android Auto is a bit better than Apple Carplay, but both of them pale in insignificance to some of the better designed infotainment systems, but are a big step up from some of the older systems.
Thanks for letting me rant.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
01/31/2017 at 13:39, STARS: 4
well for starters, I really dont think you should be checking your emails or anything int he car...put the friggen phone down and DRIVE.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 13:40, STARS: 0
You’ve never checked your phone at a red light before? Or in bumper to bumper traffic?
I believe that, yes I do mister you sure do yes you do! /s
"carzcarzcarz" (carzcarzcarz)
01/31/2017 at 13:41, STARS: 0
Good rant, I’m having trouble getting used to trying to use AA. Currently I’m not seeing much advantage compared to just having my phone in a holder, but I honestly haven’t given it too many chances
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
01/31/2017 at 13:41, STARS: 1
I really like CarPlay on my wife’s 2015 Sedona. The only gripe I really have is that it doesn’t connect over Bluetooth. I have to plug it in.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
01/31/2017 at 13:41, STARS: 3
no i dont. kinda hard to.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 13:42, STARS: 0
I don’t use my phone while I drive, and I drive stick for the most part so I can’t really. But there’s nothing either does that the regular infotainment system doesn’t and usually more logically.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 13:44, STARS: 0
I had an RSV4 until recently (city move) and obviously didn’t on the bike. But don’t act all sanctimonious when you clearly know I’m talking about cars.
And if you some how don’t drive a car, then clearly this rant is not for you.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 13:44, STARS: 0
Some day it will, but it’d drain the battery a lot and you’d end up plugging it in anyways.
"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
01/31/2017 at 13:47, STARS: 2
You can actually get ticketed around here for checking your phone at a light.
"404 - User No Longer Available" (toni-cipriani)
01/31/2017 at 13:47, STARS: 1
I was going to factor Android Auto support into the decision back then when I bought Valka, but gave up. Instead I went with this solution instead.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.drivemode.android
Just connect Bluetooth and it automatically launches a car interface, more refined than phone-only Android Auto. Navigate with swipes only.
"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
01/31/2017 at 13:49, STARS: 0
even when I (rarely) drive, phones sits in door pocket. radio and thats about it. I dont pair it or anything. the most I’ll do is connect my ipod and call it a day.
"facw" (facw)
01/31/2017 at 13:50, STARS: 1
I think the big issue is that in a few years, Sync 3 will be unsupported, but you should still be able to have the newest Android Auto (unless Google kills it, which also wouldn’t be shocking), or whatever. Android phone makers aren’t great about updates, but car makers are really not in the mindset of needing to support their software for the amount of time cars are kept around.
"CB" (jrcb)
01/31/2017 at 13:50, STARS: 0
I never have. It’s against the law (friends have been ticketed for it), and like Pete said, you should focus on driving. The phone stays in the pocket or the centre console.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
01/31/2017 at 13:51, STARS: 1
The main area where in-car infotainment really is destroyed by smartphones is navigation. The mapping software in both my BMW and my wife’s Subaru is way stupid compared to Google Maps.
Their interfaces are both kinda crap in their own way. I generally don’t mind my car although it has some quirks, and it’s map routing is not always good. But the Subaru UI is amateur hour, and its maps are awful both in terms of UI and routing.
I really don’t care about having my infotainment UI mirroring my phone in some supposedly-car-friendly way. But what I do want is the ability to override the built-in maps with Google Maps, and have the in-car nav as a fall back if I’m in an area with no data signal and I didn’t download the Google Map data for said area ahead of time.
If I had a car with Android Auto, I’d probably only use Android Auto for navigation, and otherwise use the built-in UI and bluetooth to interact with basic phone functions like calls and music.
I’m actually thinking about at some point adding this interface to my BMW where you can screen mirror what’s on your phone. I’d use it for Google Maps, and probably music since the bluetooth audio UI on my car is very basic.
"MrH4242" (mrh4242)
01/31/2017 at 13:52, STARS: 0
I still use Waze everywhere I go, so I think I’m stuck with sticking my phone on the dash even if I had Carplay. Since it’s a Google owned app too, it’s probably never coming to Carplay sadly.
For now, I’m ok with Waze on a phone mount and bluetooth audio to the infotainment.
"Sweet Trav" (thespunbearing)
01/31/2017 at 13:58, STARS: 0
Unfortunately my Taurus does not get this update...
"garagemonkee" (monke)
01/31/2017 at 14:00, STARS: 2
Except that as motorcyclists, the rant is about us, cause we’re more likely to get hit and killed by someone on their phone. Even at a stop light. So yeah, we’re gonna get sanctimonious.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 14:00, STARS: 0
technology evolves so much faster than cars do, so we’ll always have that impasse. I have hope that the new AA/CP will work better in the future that’s for sure.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 14:03, STARS: 0
cool story. I would believe you if experience hadn’t taught me otherwise though. And again, just because we want it be so, automakers and phone manufacturers have to come to grips with the fact that people are going to do it, so priority #1 for apple and google should be making better AA/CP updates that make that impetus less and less. I don’t use it much (I drive stick so I’m usually pretty busy) but the toils of life and my profession still get to me at times and I would like for safer ways to get around that.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 14:05, STARS: 0
so then you should want even better UI systems for cars
"BKosher84" (bkosher84)
01/31/2017 at 14:07, STARS: 4
Counterpoint: No they don’t.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 14:12, STARS: 0
cool story bro
"fourvalleys" (fourvalleys)
01/31/2017 at 14:54, STARS: 0
Party ST with Android Auto. It’s awesome.
First and foremost - voice messaging. It reads SMS/Facebook messages reliably and clearly, and responding is a breeze. Sync 3 didn’t even let me send a message unless I was stopped - and even then only from a pre-set list of 10. To be fair: the Google app on my phone did allow me to dictate and send messages completely handsfree before I used Android Auto - but that’s not Sync 3!
(Side note: the Android Auto text-to-speech chokes on URLs a bit, but otherwise it does a very good job.)
I do not have factory GPS navigation, and Android Auto now allows me to use Google Maps on my phone, shown on the car’s screen. Pretty slick, and it saved me ~$800 off of the car’s MSRP.
Streaming is brilliant. I tend to use a lot of data, but I use a mix of Google Play, Spotify, and TuneIn, but it’s pretty much seamless, and searchable by voice. I wish it was easier to play music from my USB drive in Android Auto, but that’s no biggie.
I do have two complaints: My biggest complaint right now is that it requires connection via the low-powered USB plug in the armrest. I get it... but it’s still a pain when I could charge my phone much more quickly using my own 12V plug. When I want to use Waze and have the screen on, I actually lose battery life. Actually, on that note - my S7 absolutely chokes when Android Auto is running.
The other complaint is that Waze still hasn’t updated their support for Android Auto. If I want to navigate using Waze, I’m stuck doing it on my phone screen only. That requires some trickery, but it’s not THAT bad.
On that note - mine definitely does not mirror my car’s screen. In fact, pressing the home button on my phone doesn’t take me home on either screen - it just shows the “Android Auto” screen on my phone. I have to bring up the task manager thing and then I can press the home button.
So, for my money, Android Auto is awesome.
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
01/31/2017 at 15:02, STARS: 0
You may be right, and on long trips that would matter. But boy would I like the opportunity to find out for myself.
"KeedyT" (traviskeedy)
01/31/2017 at 15:30, STARS: 0
But the USB port doesn’t charge the phone nearly as well as the quickcharge plug sitting next to it and if one is getting in and out a lot it’s a tiny hassle. I agree, I’d like to see it do it’s great thing over BT
"StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8" (stndibnz1)
01/31/2017 at 15:40, STARS: 1
I’ve been using CarPlay on an aftermarket Pioneer for a few years now and love it. On an older car where the nav / radio screen was terrible, they are great. On a new car, I can see the issues. UConnect is as good or better than both, but the option is nice.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 15:44, STARS: 0
bt is def more convenient i agree
"Rico" (ricorich)
01/31/2017 at 15:57, STARS: 0
Download HERE Maps, used to be owned by Nokia. You can download entire countries if you want for offline driving, walking and transit directions. It’s a great backup app and one that I use when traveling abroad even on a phone with no active data connection.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
01/31/2017 at 16:20, STARS: 1
Good to know. I’m not much of a world traveler, most of my travels without data service are like, rural Wisconsin, because I’m on AT&T and only U.S. Cellular and Verizon cover those places.
"Rico" (ricorich)
01/31/2017 at 16:31, STARS: 0
So I just looked at the app it’s now called Here WeGo. You can just download Wisconsin it’s 228 MB and will definitely work offline with no data connection just using your phones built in GPS receiver to determine your location (it’s REALLY accurate surprisingly).
I suggest downloading Wisconsin and then turning your wifi and cellular data off and see how it works to test it. Also does POI’s offline as well forgot to mention that. Helped a lot in France.
"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
01/31/2017 at 16:43, STARS: 1
AA/CP have the same issues that smartwatches do. They just try to do too much and as such they never do anything as well as a dedicated system.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
01/31/2017 at 16:50, STARS: 1
Google Maps also has offline maps storage , although I know that Here maps are generally supposed to be good as well. I suppose it’s easy enough to have the offline stuff taken care of ahead of time but sometimes you’re a little caught by surprise.
I forgot about the whole rural WI no coverage chunk when we took a road trip up to Minnesota last fall. We used the built-in nav in my wife’s Impreza which got us around fine but we both were surprised when our Pandora cut out and we had a good maybe 30+ minutes of no cell service.
Which is surprising if you believe AT&T’s coverage map:
We were on I-90/94 from Madison up to Minneapolis, which in theory is all covered. But that smaller white blob of no coverage above LaCrosse, we easily had no coverage for all that part of I-90/94 and probably more than that.
I can also tell you that there’s plenty of other random parts of the state that aren’t nearly as thoroughly suggested here.
Stupid map.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 16:58, STARS: 1
but if you just use a smartwatch as a timepiece and to receive the occasional notification it makes life so much better. I am a watch nerd, but I bought a stainless steel apple watch and the others have been in the watch chest ever since
"Rico" (ricorich)
01/31/2017 at 17:00, STARS: 0
I’m glad Google changed the way you download offline maps, before it was a much more hidden convulated process and you still didn’t get your whole State, only the particular area you were viewing. Also coverage maps are hard to take seriously ever! Sprint used to say my house was completely covered and it wasn’t.
"jdrgoat - Ponticrack?" (jdrgoat)
01/31/2017 at 21:10, STARS: 0
I have a “notifier” watch, and I agree with you fully. I got sick of pulling my phone out of my pocket three times to check time time, and then realizing I hadn’t bothered to check the time on it. And the bonus if that the watch I have has a separate “watch” section (and battery), and “notifier” section (bluetooth and battery), so it doesn’t matter as much if I forget to charge it for a couple days after the BT dies.
"The World of Vee" (theworldofvee)
01/31/2017 at 21:59, STARS: 0
Yep! And when you don’t use a million apps on your watch it actually last three or four days on a charge too