Android Auto first impressions thread (and ask us anything!)

[Insp_Gadget]

When you sit in a supercharged performance rocket (sorry, I meant "car") with manual transmission in Neutral and engine running, believe me that the parking brake is ON, tight! The problem was a stupid software one. The Android Auto app had the "Only connect to known cars" thing checked! But until the Pioneer and the cell phone have paired, there IS NO KNOWN CAR !!! So the thing refuses to get paired, because the head unit trying to pair up is as yet unknown.

It's all up and running now.

Great!

 

[godawgs]

Is anyone out there using the tunein radio app? I still can't get local stations. Wondering if it's the app or on my end.

I've been trying to get this figured out since day one. I launch TuneIn Radio and can get it to show the lower end of the dial for my local channels, say 88.9 thru 90.9, but not anything past that. Frustrating to say the least, so I just Bluetooth the phone and listen that way.

 

[Fleury14]

I've been trying to get this figured out since day one. I launch TuneIn Radio and can get it to show the lower end of the dial for my local channels, say 88.9 thru 90.9, but not anything past that. Frustrating to say the least, so I just Bluetooth the phone and listen that way.

Seems like you are further along than me. The main reason I want it to work is so that I don't have to leave the AA ecosystem to change either the terrestrial radio or the station on the app on the phone.
Tune in would be an awesome solution to this if it worked correctly as iheartradio doesn't have all the stations that I want.

 

[PqP]

New Question: Now that AA works for me, all I can access is Maps (which is the reason I wanted AA in the first place) and Play Music.
My favorite music-playing app is Rocket Player. My 32GB Nexus 5 is stuffed full of music, and has lots of carefully-constructed playlists.
How do I get to be able to select and play one of these playlists on the AVIC-8100NEX ???

More generally, how do I manage to run other apps on the head unit?

 

[Covert_Death]

I am having troubles connecting my Galaxy S6 Edge to my NEX-4100. I get the "android auto cannot connect right now....." message. I have made sure to disable the "only connect to known devices" thing and even factory reset both my radio and phone... nothing works. The radio works just fine if I use my Nexus 5.

I've made my BT connection "device 1" for my s6, that doesn't make a difference either. I'm at a loss here, any thoughts?

 

[Cant Miss]

In the Android Auto view, what does the button to the right of the audio playback button do? I have not seen it mentioned anywhere other than 'car apps' or 'car stuff'.

 

[Insp_Gadget]

In the Android Auto view, what does the button to the right of the audio playback button do? I have not seen it mentioned anywhere other than 'car apps' or 'car stuff'.

That's exactly what it is: Car Apps. It's for any apps written for Android Auto that aren't audio/music apps. So things like OBD readers, etc. would appear there. If you don't have any such apps installed, the button simply puts up a "Return to Pioneer" button.

So far, I haven't seen any "car apps" that have been updated to work with Android Auto; but it's still early, and I think developers are still trying to figure out how Android Auto works.

 

[Cant Miss]

That's exactly what it is: Car Apps. It's for any apps written for Android Auto that aren't audio/music apps. So things like OBD readers, etc. would appear there. If you don't have any such apps installed, the button simply puts up a "Return to Pioneer" button.

So far, I haven't seen any "car apps" that have been updated to work with Android Auto; but it's still early, and I think developers are still trying to figure out how Android Auto works.

A brief look at Google's developer documentation only indicates available API's for messaging and audio playback. Seems Auto is currently less baked than the initial Wear platform.

Probably a good time to 'wait and see' what future API's will offer.

Thanks.

 

[Insp_Gadget]

New Question: Now that AA works for me, all I can access is Maps (which is the reason I wanted AA in the first place) and Play Music.
My favorite music-playing app is Rocket Player. My 32GB Nexus 5 is stuffed full of music, and has lots of carefully-constructed playlists.
How do I get to be able to select and play one of these playlists on the AVIC-8100NEX ???

More generally, how do I manage to run other apps on the head unit?

Apps must be updated to work with Android Auto... just like apps have to be updated to work with Android Wear (for smart watches and other wearables). So the developer of Rocket Player needs to update their app. If the app's original interface isn't too complicated then it shouldn't be too hard to adapt a view for Android Auto; but more complicated apps that have specialized interfaces (like DJ Studio) probably won't be adapted to Android Auto.

Keep in mind, Android Auto isn't just a dumb passthrough to mirror whatever's on your phone. Developers must use the APIs and templates for the Android Auto interface. The apps must then be specially approved by Google (for driving safety compliance) before they will be released on the Google Play store. It's not a free-for-all (anything goes) like with other app categories. So don't expect a YouTube clone or any video-playing apps. Don't expect games or anything that requires a lot of fingering/touching, close examination, focus or concentration to use. The point of Android Auto is to provide a safe interface for the types of apps that aid a driver, without compromising safety or creating distraction.

 

[PqP]

As I posted above, with the same problem, the Android Auto app running on my phone had the "Only connect to known cars" thing checked, which precludes the phone from being able to make that first connection. So you want to open the AA app in the phone and do two things: (1) make sure that the "Only connect to known cars" check box is UN-checked, and (2) click on the "Forget all cars" link.

That should reset the 'phone-side of AA.
Now try again to mate the two.

 

[PqP]

As I posted above, with the same problem, the Android Auto app running on my phone had the "Only connect to known cars" thing checked, which precludes the phone from being able to make that first connection. So you want to open the AA app in the phone and do two things: (1) make sure that the "Only connect to known cars" check box is UN-checked, and (2) click on the "Forget all cars" link.

That should reset the 'phone-side of AA.
Now try again to mate the two.

 

[PqP]

Apps must be updated to work with Android Auto... just like apps have to be updated to work with Android Wear (for smart watches and other wearables). So the developer of Rocket Player needs to update their app. If the app's original interface isn't too complicated then it shouldn't be too hard to adapt a view for Android Auto; but more complicated apps that have specialized interfaces (like DJ Studio) probably won't be adapted to Android Auto.

Keep in mind, Android Auto isn't just a dumb passthrough to mirror whatever's on your phone. Developers must use the APIs and templates for the Android Auto interface. The apps must then be specially approved by Google (for driving safety compliance) before they will be released on the Google Play store. It's not a free-for-all (anything goes) like with other app categories. So don't expect a YouTube clone or any video-playing apps. Don't expect games or anything that requires a lot of fingering/touching, close examination, focus or concentration to use. The point of Android Auto is to provide a safe interface for the types of apps that aid a driver, without compromising safety or creating distraction.

MORE QUESTION: This still doesn't answer how I can play my playlists on the car sound system. The playlists are NOT a Rocked Player peculiarity. They are imported Android-native playlists -- I make them on my computer using Windows Media Player, then connect the phone via USB and let Media Player download them (and the music files they refer to) into the phone. These then get stored by Android in its memory under "Playlists". Rocket player simply plays them. So playing them is totally unrelated to Rocket Player, and my question still is, how I can play them on the Pioneer unit. All that Google lets me have on my dashboard is Google Play Music, and the playlists are Google-native, so where do we go from here???

 

[PqP]

I am having troubles connecting my Galaxy S6 Edge to my NEX-4100. I get the "android auto cannot connect right now....." message. I have made sure to disable the "only connect to known devices" thing and even factory reset both my radio and phone... nothing works. The radio works just fine if I use my Nexus 5.

I've made my BT connection "device 1" for my s6, that doesn't make a difference either. I'm at a loss here, any thoughts?

As I posted above, with the same problem, the Android Auto app running on my phone had the "Only connect to known cars" thing checked, which precludes the phone from being able to make that first connection. So you want to open the AA app in the phone and do two things: (1) make sure that the "Only connect to known cars" check box is UN-checked, and (2) click on the "Forget all cars" link.

That should reset the 'phone-side of AA.
Now try again to mate the two.

 

[Insp_Gadget]

MORE QUESTION: This still doesn't answer how I can play my playlists on the car sound system. The playlists are NOT a Rocked Player peculiarity. They are imported Android-native playlists -- I make them on my computer using Windows Media Player, then connect the phone via USB and let Media Player download them (and the music files they refer to) into the phone. These then get stored by Android in its memory under "Playlists". Rocket player simply plays them. So playing them is totally unrelated to Rocket Player, and my question still is, how I can play them on the Pioneer unit. All that Google lets me have on my dashboard is Google Play Music, and the playlists are Google-native, so where do we go from here???

I don't think you understand (or you simply don't want to believe me). It doesn't matter how you created the playlists. (What's an Android-native playlist?) All that matters is that you need to use an app that has been updated to use Android Auto.

That Android Auto compatible app needs to be able to read the playlists you created. So you originally created the playlists on your PC and copied them to your phone. Whatever music app you use has to be able to read the playlists. Rocket Player happens to be able to do so, but Rocket Player isn't yet Android Auto capable.

Have you tried importing those playlists into Google Play Music? If they won't import, then you'll have to either recreate the playlists in Google Play Music or wait for Rocket Player to be updated to work on Android Auto.

The Pioneer head unit isn't going to just reach down into your phone's file system and find your imported playlists. Your phone's music app has to push the content to the Pioneer (through Android Auto). If the app on your phone that you're using to play music isn't aware of Android Auto, then it won't work. End of story.

 

[Covert_Death]

apparently it's a known issue with samsung s6 devices...... just great. the s5 works but without voice commands, the s6 just doesn't work at all. Google is apparently aware of the issue and working with sammy. so maybe in a year or two I can use android auto again.

I'll likely be returning my s6 due to this garbage.

 

[Insp_Gadget]

apparently it's a known issue with samsung s6 devices...... just great. the s5 works but without voice commands, the s6 just doesn't work at all. Google is apparently aware of the issue and working with sammy. so maybe in a year or two I can use android auto again.

I'll likely be returning my s6 due to this garbage.

*cough* Nexus *cough*

 

[Dr Claw]

*cough* Nexus *cough*

lol. I agree. If you're going to return an S6 (and don't mind what it lacks) then get a Nexus. it's a high quality phone (and it'll work with Android Auto!)

 

[Insp_Gadget]

lol. I agree. If you're going to return an S6 (and don't mind what it lacks) then get a Nexus. it's a high quality phone (and it'll work with Android Auto!)

Plus, for people that want to play with all of Google's latest Android-based toys, there's no substitute for owning a Nexus. That's what they build to support with the latest software. With any other phone you're taking a chance at running into a compatibility problem.

 

[Covert_Death]

I'm fully aware of the Nexus line. I am coming from a Nexus 5. The Nexus 6 is too big, i don't care what anyone says the thing is massive.

This is the same as android wear not working on the galaxy line, its ridiculous and the only reason its a problem is because AA is so new and the only people who have it are those who went as far as to buy a new Head Unit.

 

[Insp_Gadget]

I'm fully aware of the Nexus line. I am coming from a Nexus 5. The Nexus 6 is too big, i don't care what anyone says the thing is massive.

This is the same as android wear not working on the galaxy line, its ridiculous and the only reason its a problem is because AA is so new and the only people who have it are those who went as far as to buy a new Head Unit.

What's that got to do with the price of tea in South Korea? Yes, Android Auto is new, and relatively few people have units that support it, but Google gave the specs to the OEMs almost a year ago (if not longer). And Android Auto is baked into Android 5.0. Other than the customer-facing Android Auto app, the tools for OEMs to get their devices working with it had already been released. Phone OEMs like Samsung evidently did stuff that broke it (or didn't follow the specs or use the correct APIs).

As a former Nexus owner you should know that other OEMs (Samsung, in particular) screw with Android to the point of breaking new Google products/services. It shouldn't be a surprise to you that Samsung phones are having "issues" with Android Auto. Samsung likes to do their own thing. Now that you've let them know, my suggestion is to be patient and let them work it out. Eventually they'll fix it. Or you can go with a working solution (a Nexus).