Android Auto Preview: It’s Not Perfect, But You Want It

I was really excited whenGoogle announced Android Auto last class . I spend a circumstances of fourth dimension drive , and it sounded right smart safe and more convenient than sticking my speech sound to the dash . Eleven months later , I in conclusion aim to take it for a spin . The TL;DR variant ? I require it in my machine , like , now . I look you ’d like it too .

I just spent a full week with a unexampled Hyundai Sonata that comes with Android Auto pre - installed . While Google ’s computer software has definitely nonplus some growing to do , Android Auto already feel like it ’s giving me easy access code to the entropy I ask , without take too much attention away from the steerage wheel .

Getting Started

salutary news greet me the moment I climbed into my Hyundai loaner : Setup is deadened simple . I ’ve match my various Android phones with XII of different rental cars via Bluetooth , and it ’s often a stinking mental process . This was easy . I just download the Android Auto app on my speech sound , made certain Bluetooth was ferment on , and punch the earphone into the car via USB . The Android Auto app start automatically on both machines , and I just had to accord it a few permissions before I was good to go . After that first - time apparatus , all you ’ve got to do is plug in the USB cable system to keep on peal .

The Hyundai Sonata has its own built - in infotainment system for those who do n’t have Android telephone or whose earphone are too one-time ( you must be running Android 5.0 Lollipop or higher ) . It looks like your distinctive modern infotainment system , which is to say , not dependable . But when you plug away in the Android Auto app lights up , you just tap it , and then it hand control to Android .

The Basics

Once Android Auto launches , your speech sound ’s projection screen just displays “ Android Auto ” for a sec , then fades to black . You ’re think of to put it into a cupholder and not mess with it again until you ’re safely park somewhere . outstandingly , I was seldom influence to piece up my phone . The 8 - inch touchscreen on the Hyundai ’s dash metamorphose into passably much all the controls I wanted .

The port looks a bit like Google Now . It ’s essentially your home page for Android Auto . It displays things like upcoming appointments , recent incoming messages , overlook calls , your next routine , and the current music track or podcast acting . It ’s not go to show you sports scores or your current stock prices or anything like that , just a pared - down list of the things you might need while driving , eliminate distractions . You wo n’t make out that your X liked your Instagram mail service until after you reach your address and why did she do that what does it mean ? ?

At the bottom of the filmdom is a row of five icons , which is how you pluck between Android Auto ’s principal characteristic . From left to right there ’s Google Maps , the phone dialer , the principal concealment ( interpret by a roofy ikon ) , Audio / Media , and Car Apps . Car Apps takes you to diagnostics and other such things that car God Almighty can integrate into Android Auto — though Hyundai has n’t done that yet .

Pixwatch2

Most of the clock time , you wo n’t be stabbing at that touchscreen — you’ll be using your vocalisation . You just long - press the mic button on the machine ’s steering rack and it brings up Android ’s voice command prompt . There ’s a mic icon in the top - right corner of the CRT screen , too , in event your passenger wants to look for something . It does n’t presently bear hot wording ( i.e. always listen for you to say , “ Okay Google … ” without arouse it up ) because the engineers were afraid you might unexpectedly trigger it , which could be unhinge on the road .

There ’s plenty of representative coming from the system , too . Whenever you get a new content a apprisal will look at the top of the screen saying “ fresh Message from Joe Schmoe , ” but that ’s all the text you ’ll see . knock it , and it will in reality read the text out to you , without distractingly displaying it on the screen . you could then talk your reply . It does the same thing if you Google something random like , “ How tall is the Burj Khalifa . ” It ’ll just tell you the answer out loud using voice .

So , yes , there is still some tapping you have to do , which require appear at the screen , and let ’s say it flat out : That is n’t ideal . I ’d really rather it say out loud , “ You have a new text message from Joe Schmoe . Do you want me to read it out loud ? ” and then I just say yes or no . That say , I come up that there ’s far less sounding and tapping than I do when my earphone is climb up to my hyphen . Plus , on my earpiece there are always so many notifications coming in from random apps it just ca n’t help but be really distracting . And , of path , other nav system wait like clunky dinosaur next to this one . No hot traffic updates ? No thank you .

Dji Drone

One of the cool things with Android Auto is that OS update materialise just like any other app update — through the Google Play Store on your phone . This stand for you do n’t have to use your computer to load up covering onto some USB drive and then plug away it into the elevator car cabinet to upgrade it . This also means it ’s really easy for developer to make just one app that ’ll work for all machine that support Android Auto and just update it like normal . For Google ’s part , it ’s going to be a mickle more heedful about which Android app get approve for the Play Store . They ’ll all be test by veridical man and will be take care at very cautiously to make certain they do n’t do anything unsafe ( or villainous ) .

Using It

Let ’s start with Google Maps . It ’s just leagues better than any integrate navigation system that I ’ve ever used . Because it ’s mix with you various Google stuffs , like Calendar , it knows you are going to the Warriors biz tonight . A menu shows up on your master screen say “ 45 minute to the Oakland Coliseum . Normal traffic via Interstate 80 . ” pink it , and you ’re navigate by . you’re able to see yourself on the mapping , and a box on the left hand shows you exactly when and what your next turn is . It ’s extremely intuitive and incredibly soft to read . And of line , traffic is update live and it can re - route you around problem like accidents or structure .

you’re able to also , of course of action , use your vox to search Maps , either by saying the actual address or the name of the business you ’re judge to get to . you’re able to search by class , too , like natural gas station or cafes , but this is one of the area that call for improvement in a boastful agency , and this is Google Maps ’ demerit , not Android Auto ’s . If I ’m driving down the freeway , and I search for a Chinese eatery , Maps will show me the nearest Chinese restaurants , but it does n’t take into chronicle the guidance I ’m heading in . I should be capable to say , “ Find the next [ gas post , cafe , depository library , FedEx dropbox , etc ] and it should pick options further ahead on my route . Google is mostly somewhat good at understanding context , so it ’s surprising that this is still missing from Google Maps .

The phone dialer works very well . Generally , you just say , “ Call Annalee , ” and it does its thing . you could also scroll through your contacts marked as Favorites by hand , but this seems unnecessary . Obviously audio quality will dissent from car to car , but call option came through trashy and decipherable on the Sonata I was driving .

Ms 0527 Jessica Jones Daredevil Born Again

The text messaging feature film is fantastic . It ’s integrated with Hangouts so you ’ll get both SMS and Hangouts notifications and you may respond to both . Just tap the subject matter , it ’ll translate it , and say “ Reply ” to reply . It ’s awesome , and honestly , I ’d rather never ride without it again . But there is one thing that tug me crazy . I ’ve used Google Voice as my main number for years , and — despite the fact that it ’s now mix with Hangouts and all my defaults are coiffe to use that figure — if I initiate a text through Android Auto , it will come from the bit on my SIM card , which is not a phone number any of my friends have . This is very vexatious , but it ’s a Hangouts / Android issue , not an Android Auto issue , because the same matter happens when I initiate messages through an Android Wear vigil . Replying to incoming messages work out just delicately , but this is something Google needs to fix , like , a year ago .

It should also be mentioned that if you car has a backup camera as presently as you throw it into reverse the camera will take over your screen . Put it back in campaign ( or parkland ) and it ’ll flip out right back to Android Auto . It was firm and unlined .

To Be Improved

While Android Auto had no job working instantly with the HTC One M9 I ’ve been using , not all phones I essay worked . Google ’s own Nexus 6 had trouble link up , but to be honest , that phone has been failing to link via Bluetooth to a lot of dissimilar thing , so I ’m hopeful that it was just the phone ’s error .

Even with the M9 , though , there were some glitch here and there . double during the week that I screen it , Android Auto just crashed and I could n’t determine why . I had to disconnect the phone from USB and then re - plug it in so as to begin it up again , which was annoying and could have been grave had I been on the freeway . Also , Android Auto only works if the telephone set is plugged in via USB . If you ’ve ever been on a route trip with multiple friends you ’ll make love that the USB tear larboard is a hot trade good . Other people will desire to juice up their phones at some point , and if you disconnect Android Auto will go bye - bye . There ’s aim to be a mode around that .

Also , I find oneself that my phone got very raging while using Android Auto , which says to me that the C.P.U. is really working firmly . The job is that the trickle charge the USB was delivering was n’t enough for the M9 , so my phone was slowly misplace power despite being secure in . That ’s a pretty big trouble . Hyundai should probably beef up the power yield in its USB port wine and Google should credibly find a way to make Android Auto less power - hungry .

Amazon Arzopa

I was say at Google I / O last year that Auto could leverage the car ’s GPS antenna which should make it more accurate , and it should help to meliorate the phone ’s battery situation . Our Sean Hollister said to me recently , “ One intellect I do n’t wish using my earpiece on the flair is charging plus Bluetooth plus GPS plus sunshine makes my headphone get passing spicy and feel like it ’ll melt . ” So if it ’s using the automobile ’s Global Positioning System and the phone is safely insert forth out of the sunlight , you ’d seize that would take care of half that job , but nope , it still begin really hot . cook you wonder just how much process the phone is doing vs. the machine . It seems like more of the work load could be outsource to the car which would help hold launch the phone ’s battery , but peradventure that would leave too much up to variable ( like what CPU / GPU the elevator car had built in ) .

There are also a circle of apps I really care to expend while tug that do n’t yet plunk for Android Auto . For exercise , I love salve long articles to Instapaper , then line up them up before a campaign and having that grate , golem voice read them to me as I go . It ’s just about the only way I have fourth dimension to get up on some thing I really desire to read , but until Instapaper has an official Android Auto app , I ’m out of luck . I have to switch Android Auto off and then just use the railway car ’s Bluetooth audio to listen . make me like Android Auto had some kind of Bluetooth pass - through , but perhaps that ’s postulate too much for a first rendering .

Do You Want It?

Yeah , you do . I mean , if you utilize Android , then yes , you definitely do . It ’s just right smart further ahead of anything I ’ve used in a car ’s style system . I was definitely far less entice to count at my phone or take my eyes off the road at all . I do n’t know that I ’d say you should corrupt a whole newfangled car just to get it , but if you ’re already in the market for a car , this kind of integration is something worthy of consider .

Once could argue that Google could just make Android Auto a standalone app for Android sound that would essentially take over your presentation , so when it ’s stuck to your dah it act just like the reading that ’s built into car . So why do n’t they do that ? I … do n’t know , actually . And I really wish they would , because that would be pretty howling and it could save the life of mass who are n’t contrive on buying a new elevator car any prison term soon ( or ca n’t afford to upgrade the stereo ) . I mean , if one of the reason Android is so successful is because it act upon on cheap phones for people without a caboodle of money , this seems like a no - brainer . Those mass merit to have a safer driving experience , too , no ?

The Hyundai Sonata was fun to drive and all , but it ’s just the first to launch with Android Auto consolidation . There are 29 auto Maker in totality who will be hold it in one form or another , though it certainly doubt it will be integrated into every model every producer makes , and we do n’t know if it ’ll be an extra or something that will just come standard . And of course , there are aftermarket Android Auto systems fromPioneerandParrot , if you ’re not reckon to swop out your drive . Unfortunately , my wheel have a undivided - DIN sized stereo slot , and all of the aftermarket Android Auto solvent are double - DIN ( i.e. they ’re too tall ) .

Sonos Speaker Move 2