Any oppo's use Android Auto?

"blacktruck18" (blacktruck14) 02/25/2019 at 19:45 • Filed to: None

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I f so do you like it?

My truck has it and I don’t use it. Should I?

My only real complaint using the built in na v and Bluetooth is the nav will talk over whatever I am listening to through Bluetooth and a couple of times the n av hasn’t been able to find addresses that Google maps could .

Squirrel helping me change a light bulb for your time.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 19:53

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My oppopinion of Android Auto is a solid “meh”. If the apps you are using play nice with it you can have a much greater degree of control over the playback experience from your phone than without it. B ut the podcasting app I use is flakey under Android Auto and I sometimes have to unlock the phone, manually start the app and then s witch back into Adroid Auto ... Which semi-defeats the purpose. Google Maps works great, and reading and replying to texts works a little bit more smoothly than it did under Ford Sync with My WP10 Lumia 950xl, which is to say very well, but considering what I was used to, not mind blowing or anything... Spotify works nicely, but that's really all I've used on it. The Google maps functionality is pretty much worth it if you are a nav user, but I still miss the better voice prompts from WP10/Bing maps.

blacktruck18 > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 02/25/2019 at 19:56

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Thank you. 

His Stigness > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 19:57

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I use it all the time and it’s fantastic. Since Maps stays up to date it’s better than any built-in navigation. And you won’t screw up the music. Plus you have the Assistant readily available so you can have it do all the work.

dogisbadob > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 20:01

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So this is a factory radio you’re dealing with, right?

Google Maps is continuously updated for free while OEM nav CD’s/DVD’s/SD cards need periodic updating, and they are immediately outdated before you can even install them. Google Maps will always be better than ANY OEM nav

Android Auto may also depend on how your phone i s set up a bit. You may be able to turn off the navigation speaking over your music, or you could pause your music while you ge t directions.

facw > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 20:05

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I use the Android Auto app on my phone, and my feeling is that it should be good, but isn’t. Complaints:

Extremely sluggish. Slow to start, slow to do anything.

Finicky touch recognition

Finicky voice recognition

Android A uto GPS sometimes never finds position, even though normal Google Maps finds it right away

Android Auto Maps turn by turn directions sometimes timed weirdly (on and off, feels like they are breaking and fixing stuff in the background)

Also, possibly not Google’s fault, but:

When using it, I get near constant modal charging status warnings on hot days because the phone doesn’t want to charge wirelessly due to overheating. I don’t care! Charge if you can, otherwise, don’t beep at me and block my display over something minor! I often have to just unplug the charger to keep from getting distracted and dying.

That said, the potential is clearly there. If it worked smoothly it would be great. As it is, I’m not sure it’s an upgrade over just using the phone’s normal interface.

Turn by turn directions don’t talk over my audio though, it pauses my stuff for the turn-by-turn. This is fine for single instructions, but it gets weird for interchanges where you have a string of instructions close together, because it cuts back and forth between my audio and the GPS, which is pretty jarring. It would be nice if it kept the GPS audio up if it knew you had another instruction coming soon.

bobbe17 > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 20:08

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I love it, bought a Sony head unit to have it in my car after using it in my wife’s car.

I use Google play music for music that I have saved locally so it’s great for that. Maps obviously is the best feature though. I usually search the pace I’m going ahead of time just to familiarize myself with the route. Then when I connect to my car, it’s at the top of the list for recent searches.

bob and john > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 20:11

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have it on my moms car, I dont like it. But thats because I got used to just bluetoothing the phone and not using andriod auto, so that might be on me

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 20:12

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I used Android Auto for Navigation, Pandora, Google Music, Spotify

Sometimes slow to startup but Google maps is great and “OK Google” Voice recognition is pretty good.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 20:12

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I’ve used Windows phone and Cortana, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay in various vehicles over several years. My current GTI supports both AA and CarPlay.

I gave up using an Android phone and went back to an iPhone specifically because Android Auto is an inconsistent hot mess. Google Maps works great. But as an interface Android Auto is total garbage. I had issues after every single update to the app where I had to delete it and install it again in order to get the required app permissions for it work properly so I could send and reply to texts; which is basically the main point of using the damn app in the first place. For fucks sake Google, you write the OS for the phone I’m using and this app- make them work together. I also had to be sure that I started my music playing before I used the voice commands - which is the only way to interact with the app while moving- to ask for directions. Otherwise my car volume controls would only control the voice volume not my music. So I would not hear music even though I could see that it was playing on the screen.

So I gave up fighting all these insipid, idiotic, and infuriatingly specific errors with my car and my phone and switched to an iPhone and haven’t looked back.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 02/25/2019 at 20:16

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I loved when I had my Lumia phones that Cortana would automatically announce a new text, read it if I said to do so, then ask if I wanted to reply, let me dictate a reply and then send it for me. And all over BT without any fancy software pass-through required. 

blacktruck18 > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 02/25/2019 at 20:21

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Which podcast app do you use?

I use podcast addict, if I had to switch that my be enough to make me not use Android Auto.

jvirgs drives a Subaru > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 20:44

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I use it periodically. I’ve used it with a Samsung S8+ and a Google Pixel 3XL. My Pixel integrates way better than the Samsung did. The voice to text works quite well for the times I’ve used it (its hilarious when it reads out emojis).

So with my Subaru, when the nav speaks, it plays the directions out of the front speakers and keeps the music playing out of the rear. Well sometimes, when I have the radio on and Android Auto for google maps, the system will sometimes think nav is still speaking and the radio audio gets stuck in the back of the car. I have a feeling its more the Subaru Starlink than anything since I used it quite a bit in some GM rentals I had and didn’t seem to have that issue. 

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 20:55

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No Android Auto for me!

I’m old school and just load up my MP3 player on shuffle with MP3s off my computer and plug it into the aux jack on my stereo head unit, and if I need directions I look them up on Google Maps before I leave and sit my phone in my gauge cluster blocking my tacho (as I don’t really need that) and then it’s right there in front of me telling me where to go as I need it. :P

Vimto > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 20:55

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I have a Hyundai + Galaxy S9 combo and it disconnects constantly. My Moto X4 did too. I’m not sure if its my phone or the car. USB just stops responding...its so frustrating.

jimz > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 21:12

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I’ve used both Android Auto and CarPlay.  CarPlay is ok, Android Auto is shit.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 21:42

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Depends on too many factors. Is your phone a Google Pixel? No? Well then quoth Google, “FUCK YOU.” No wireless Android Auto for you. (Yes, Google really does this. Deliberately. For no reason other than to prove they are scum.) If you don’t have an actual Android Auto USB port, you’re just fucked.

Does your manufacturer actually UPDATE their firmware? If not, well, what works today probably won’t work after your next phone update. Because of Google. They deliberately break shit so they can ram things down the throats of “partners” all the time.

The app itself is buggy as fuck, too. I have things set up exactly the way Google says to, including the secret knobs, and it STILL doesn’t work 25% of the time. It still randomly crashes. Navigation loves to accept the destination, and then send me home anyway.

Do you value your privacy at all? If the answer to this is even a qualified “yes,” then no, you do not want anything to do with Android Auto period. Google is collecting far more data than they are telling you, and selling it. To everyone. They are straight up LYING about what data they collect and what they do with it.

If you can live with all of that and you can actually get it to stay working for more than a few weeks, it’s okay I guess. Since I use a different launcher, it’s not any more convenient for me.

blacktruck18 > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks 02/25/2019 at 21:54

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I have a P ixel, so I am good there.

Honestly , the privacy thing is why I have been hesitant to use it.

I currently have Google assistant “o ff ” on my phone and I kind of don't want to have to use it. I don't trust GM with my data more than anyone else, but I feel a little better about at least making it difficult for companies to gather every last detail about me.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > blacktruck18 02/25/2019 at 23:11

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I use Pocket Casts

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Vimto 02/25/2019 at 23:20

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I had this problem initially with my One+5t and our 2019 Kona, but I tried a different USB cable... Perfect. I don't know what it was, because the cable I took out of the car works fine for charging and seems to work fine for connection to the computer too, but Android Auto hated it.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 02/26/2019 at 00:41

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Does apple car play work the same on all cars? I was extremely bothered by how it functioned when I tried it recently in the Yukon I rented. The issue was I couldn't pinch to zoom out on the screen, making the map useless to me. I enjoy zooming out to look at traffic and see the route ahead. Also, the phone no longer displayed anything of value and couldn't be used to do what I wanted for the passenger. I'm just wondering if it was a native problem with car play or just that car. Haven't gotten a chance to try Android auto yet. 

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 02/26/2019 at 08:33

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There should have been +/- buttons on the map to adjust the scale, but I agree that Apple has the default scale too close when highway driving.

If you unlock you phone then it can be used like normal, but CarPlay is a software pass-through powered by the phone so you cannot expect that it should act like a factory Nav system and also allow the phone to run as normal simultaneously.

Android Auto won’t work that way either.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 02/26/2019 at 10:13

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Yeah, this just made the concept seem like a half baked idea. Where I'm still far better off just syncing with Bluetooth and mounting the phone in front of me. I already have a high resolution and highly effective touch screen attached to my phone, why have a crappier screen that reduces my functionality? Of course if it simply worked as a mirror of the phone, then I could see some convenience and value. Maybe some day it will get there. Either way, as is it is leagues better than standard car infotainment and at least Bluetooth is still there for the manual way.