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While 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-da

While 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 ago
I'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 ago
  There 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 ago
    True, 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.
Nursie 10y ago
Well this sounds like MirrorLink will be good enough as AA can now run on the phone rather than needing to be on the head unit too.

mdorazio 10y ago

I'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 ago
There 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 ago
  True, 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.

Nursie 10y ago

Well this sounds like MirrorLink will be good enough as AA can now run on the phone rather than needing to be on the head unit too.