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Android Auto: right on your phone screen
- thekevan 10y agoTitle: "...now available in every car" Last sentence of the article: "Sign up on the Android Auto website to receive an email when the update is available for your phone."
- jmartinpetersen 10y agoAnd the sentence before that explains that Android Auto is only available in 30 countries. I don't get this kind of region/country lock-in.
- digi_owl 10y agoLikely to avoid legal/regulatory issues...
- ucaetano 10y agoI'd guess that's probably due to regulations around in-car hardware and user interfaces. Compliance is hell.
- izacus 10y agoEU uses same car software across the board (with same synchronized regulations) and Auto still isn't available in all those countries. Apple CarPlay (as usual) is. I always hear this same tired out argument... and then see Apple somehow managing to handle it while Google region locks even their free apps like Google+ or podcast feature in Google Play Music.
- ucaetano 10y agoMaybe Apple dedicates more lawyers to figuring out regulation and compliance. And lawyer time is far, far more expensive than engineering time.
- untog 10y ago...which, if that is the case, is something Google could certainly afford, but choose not to.
- digi_owl 10y agoMore like Apple don't give a flying damn until poked about it. Just watch how they ignored the mandatory 2 year warranty on computers in italy, while pushing Applecare. Frankly when it comes to Apple they basically behave as if the whole world is like USA until told otherwise.
- reitanqild 10y agoHappens to non-car updates as well I think.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- wlk 10y ago"In every car" but not necessarily "in every phone" :)
- shitgoose 10y agothis is more accurate headline: "Android Auto: now available not in every car"
- Animats 10y agoFrom the name, it sounds like it drives the car. But no.
- mynameisvlad 10y ago"Android Auto" is an existing system by Google, and was announced over 2 years ago. There really shouldn't be any ambiguity regarding the name anymore.
- currywurst 10y agoFor those interested, Windows Mobile has had this since 8.1 :)
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoFWIW, my Moto Droid did this in 2009 on Android 2.0. But Google has to make a big ordeal about reinventing the wheel to keep the news cycle focused on them.
- Grazester 10y agoThe big deal is that this is potentially available to everyone(who has a compatible phone) and not just a feature available from a specific manufacturer. Why not advertise it if it's Google wants people to know now exist and want them to use?
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoAvailable to everyone? Not manufacturer specific? Like... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.carhome https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and... Google just announced they reinvented the wheel again.
- Grazester 10y agoSeems like they killed this off. I forgot it existed
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoSure, but as you can see, at least five years ago, they had an app that was basically Android Auto running on your phone, and now they have it again, with more distracting colors and animations.
- insightful 10y agoThat's cool. Android had it in 2010, and the Car Home was a big push for a while. This is a rebirth / reconsideration of Car Home.
- croon 10y ago> Android Auto: now available in every car > The latest version (2.0) with the phone screen experience will be rolling out in the coming days to more than 30 countries where Android Auto is currently available. Thanks again Google for completely ignoring millions/billions of people in your phrasing of "every[one]". Available in Germany, France, Spain, etc. Not available in mine and many other EU countries with shared regulations. Same thing with every Google device in the Play Store that isn't Chromecast.
- NicoJuicy 10y ago? Not available in my country, so I downloaded the app Works.. :)
- neves 10y agoNo option to use other softwares? I don't want Google Maps for directions, but (Google Owned) Waze for better traffic information, or Here for when I have poor connectivity. Bring on some competition.
- kuschku 10y agoWrite an email to the EU Antitrust Committee ;)
- neves 10y agoJust Bluetooth connection? I connect my phone to my car radio using an USB cable and the Android Open Accessory Protocol (AOAP). It charges and gives me better sound. Won't it be supported?
- Frank2312 10y agoThe app itself doesn't need Bluetooth. From what I understood, Bluetooth is necessary only to have the app automatically launch when connecting to whatever Bluetooth device/infosystem unit you have in your car.
- izacus 10y agoIf you have an Android Auto compatible head unit, it'll stream display, audio and other data over USB. This is a fallback for units that don't support the protocol.
- ape4 10y agoThis sounds useful. Is it just an app that takes over the full screen?
- alistairSH 10y agoYes. Basically, running Android Auto on the phone itself, instead of pushing the app to an external display in the dashboard.
- rhizome 10y agoWhich is the direction this stuff should be going: dash display is a simple mirror or GUI client of the app on the phone/device.
- maxfurman 10y agoThey seem to have confused "every car" with "any car"
- Spivak 10y ago> Whether your phone is connected to a compatible car display, or placed in a car mount on the dashboard, Android Auto brings your favorite apps and services into one place, making them accessible in safer and seamless ways. This announcement really boils down to "you can have have your phone... in your car. Pretty amazing right?"
- sk5t 10y agoDunno, does "available" connote "present"?
- rhizome 10y agoIt does, but "available" also implies two terms. By itself, we don't know if it's every available car, or every car available within the app.
- hughes 10y agoWas planning to buy an Android Auto-based head unit next month. Guess I'll give this a try first! The one other thing I need is integration with a backup camera...
- exhilaration 10y agoCan you suggest a good replacement head unit?
- hughes 10y agoI have a double din mount and was looking at the Pioneer AVH-4200NEX. Apparently some time in the next month or two the Sony XAV-AX100 should be released, which is also appealing. Is either one worth the $500+ price tag? Still not sure.
- phamilton 10y agoWas hoping for OBD-II compatibility. AutoMate with Torque provide a wonderful little dashboard for engine information.
- crispyambulance 10y agoWhile it is nice to be able to use your phone directly, still much better to make your phone talk to an in-dash display and for that you need a compatible in-dash system. The good news is that there's plenty of aftermarket in-dash displays. The bad news is that you have to muck around their awful websites for too long to filter out all the junk and then pay for something that has way more than you need. For whatever reason "android-auto" capability is always a premium option that automatically includes a long list of frilly bauble features.
- mdorazio 10y agoI'm almost certain Google (and Apple) is charging hardware manufacturers a large amount of money for access to the SDK to make a unit Android Auto compatible.
- hx87 10y ago> The good news is that there's plenty of aftermarket in-dash displays. Only if your existing display is in DIN format, which is extraordinarily rare these days. Of course you could rip the whole thing out, but then you'd have to do something about basic car and AC controls.
- crispyambulance 10y agoThere are many in-dash displays available that don't require DIN. Pioneer and Kenwood are well known but there's also a bunch of Chinese manufacturer's like www.seicane.com . Basically any popular make/model in the last 8-10 years can be accommodated. It is a little more involved than DIN installation in that you have to remove panels, but its not so bad. The openings for the AC controls are part of the panel that you install. It all snaps together.
- hx87 10y agoTrue, but today many cars have A/C and car feature controls integrated with the entertainment system, so unless the aftermarket system can replace that somehow, replacing the factory system will be troublesome.
- mdorazio 10y agoAnd yet I still can't use a cheap Android tablet as a head unit because Google won't open their protocols to anyone outside their partner network. I either have to use my phone with a tiny screen, get an Android 5.0 compatible tablet with a SIM card (and corresponding data plan), or pony up a stupid amount of money for a "compatible" head unit.
- dogma1138 10y agoCheck DX or alidirect you'll be surprised just how many cheap android 5+ w/ GSM tablets are out there.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- mdorazio 10y agoI already bought one. Trouble is now I have to pay an additional $20 a month for the data plan unless I turn on internet sharing from my phone every time I hop in the car.
- headmelted 10y agoThis really sucks for AutoMate. They've been offering exactly this for years now. Never nice to have a bigger company eat your lunch, but it was always going to be a victim of it's own success plugging that hole. Hope they can keep going, but it looks like the writings on the wall here.
- ohstopitu 10y agoHopefully Google will acquire AutoMate and use the team to work on this as well (while adding more features) like OBD II support, backup camera support, 3rd party apps etc.
- ocdtrekkie 10y agoOr hopefully, independent companies will continue to do faster, better work independently from the Google monopoly, and their apps will be available in more countries than Google supports properly.
- tdkl 10y ago> This really sucks for AutoMate. Why ? This app can't launch anything except couple Google apps. While this might be godtier in the Google bubble, many of users would also like to use other navigation/media apps with it.
- AceJohnny2 10y agoTangential: huh, when did .google become a TLD? I'm too old for this sh
- SamBam 10y ago... about two years ago. (Though admittedly it's not used much.) If that surprises you, it sounds like you may be equally surprised at the list of TLDs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains#English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_dom...
- animex 10y ago.google, .apple, .microsoft, were all amongst the first new TLDs registered when things were opened up. You can see the full list of hundreds (thousands?) here: https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strings https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strin...
- tdkl 10y agoCan't set a shortcut for own apps ? Laughable. Seems more of a launcher for 3 Google apps + added value of Trojan horse for data collection while driving. I wished for Android Auto to get released in this form, but this isn't something I thought a multi billion corporation with talented software engineers would come up with. Here's some real usage info: Gavin • 4 hours ago I just finished driving to work with this (I navigate to work every day for the traffic information). Having not read the article (just the headline) before heading out, I was somewhat shocked that it didn't respond to "OK Google" commands. I also found the message overlay extremely annoying. My wife sent me a text message, and instead of the topside "heads-up" notification normally containing the message body, I got a gigantic "NEW MESSAGE" popup that covered my navigation (so if you were about to make a turn in an unfamiliar location, you might miss it). And it didn't even contain the message body - so instead of just reading the message hands-free, I had to tap the screen to "play" the message. And even that didn't actually work. [1] There are couple car apps way more powerful then that, like Automate[2], Car Dashdroid[3], Drivemode[4]. [1] http://disq.us/p/1dfwfl6 http://disq.us/p/1dfwfl6 [2] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitspice.automate https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitspice.a... [3] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nezdroid.cardashdroid https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nezdroid.c... [4] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.drivemode.android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.drivemode....
- bitmapbrother 10y agoI just installed Android Auto and it's pretty nice. Perhaps you should try it. Having shortcuts to the other apps would, however, be a joke.
- tdkl 10y agoI paid for offline GPS software which lets me download whole continents of data to my phone. Paying roaming charges to be able to navigate is a joke in my book. No, you can't save the whole country in Maps. You can't even save certain regions in certain countries (Austria being an example).
- codebook 10y agoI am eager to get the Waze for Android Auto. Google Maps navigation always takes around 15 min more than estimation in bay area at commute time.
- jff 10y agoI see some other commenters also remember 'Car Home', released in Android 2.0 way back in 2009 to very little fanfare, and eventually killed off: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/10/building-android-a-40000-word-history-of-googles-mobile-os/10/#2.0eclair http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/10/building-android-a-40...
- scalaris373 10y agoFor anyone considering Android Auto, there's an open source application for turning any Android tablet with USB OTG into an Android Auto head unit. http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/paid-software/android-4-1-headunit-android-auto-t3125252 http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/paid-software/androi... This is cool for a diy project to turn an old tablet into a car head unit. Google is not happy about this reverse-engineered version, but since the hardware and software on the cars will be very hard to update, the reverse-engineered protocol will be very hard for them to change. Even if you're not into DIY projects, it's still nice to be able to give it a try before taking the plunge for a new head unit. I was considering getting/building an Android Auto head unit sometime, but after trying it on the tablet, it was really disappointing for me. Only a handful of apps are supported, and none of the ones I'd like to use.
- Nursie 10y agoAwesome. So now basically any stereo where the phone can take over the screen is good, or any given phone mount and bluetooth stereo. Thus ends my year-long search for a single-DIN android auto head unit!