Question Car android optimizing apps

[martin_1989]

Hi Android community,

I need your help.
I bought a car android device 4 years ago and installed it and it had been working well until a few days ago it started optimizing apps and it never finished (Photo1 attached). It is in this loop, when it finishes, it restarts and it starts optimizing the same over and over again. I tried a few ideas: As there is a hole with a button inside called RST, of course I tried to reset it and it started optimizing again... I saw a video where a guy held the button for 10 seconds, then he pressed it twice and held for 5 more seconds... that didn't work either. Connected a USB keyboard (I was sure this one was gonna work), tried ALT + Print Screen + I, did it 3 times and instead of Recovery menu I got a picture of a dead android and it says something like Out of order (Photo2 attached)... then a few seconds later it restarts and it starts optimizing again... If it were Windows I would just reinstall it... but I have no idea how/if I can do this in this case. I would appreciate your ideas. Thank you

 

[Mooncatt]

Those Android based radios are often more trouble than they are worth for reasons like this. They are prone to problems and support will be zilch from the random letter brands.

My general recommendation for these is to cut your losses and replace it with a traditional name brand radio.

 

[martin_1989]

Those Android based radios are often more trouble than they are worth for reasons like this. They are prone to problems and support will be zilch from the random letter brands.

My general recommendation for these is to cut your losses and replace it with a traditional name brand radio.

Hi Mooncatt, I appreciate your opinion, but honestly I was more than content with this device for 4 years. It feels amazing to have online google maps, spotify, youtube etc in an old car... and it is ridiculously cheap. So if it can't be fixed, I'll probably buy the same device again. I will wait for some more opinions though. Let's see if someone has a solution. Thank you

 

[Mooncatt]

It feels amazing to have online google maps, spotify, youtube etc in an old car...

You can get all that in a traditional radio. Not sure what your budget would be, but something to chew on here.

JVC KW-M590BT

Digital multimedia receiver (does not play discs)

www.crutchfield.com

That would give you everything you just mentioned, plus better sound quality with a better built in amp, better signal, and most likely a better EQ, for $270. The last JVC radio I had lasted over 10 years and was still working when I sold it to someone else. I will say I just filtered for Android Auto (which isn't the same as an Android radio) and navigation app compatible. There were some secondary brands like Jensen and Boss that are even cheaper, but quality and features will go down accordingly. I picked the cheapest from a brand I trust (I also really like Pioneer). You will want to put your vehicle info in to make sure you find one that fits if you go that route, and their filtering options are best in the business.

I can understand wanting to go back to a dirt cheap Android radio, but I hope you understand that those are always sold by fly by night companies on places like Amazon or eBay, with no customer service to speak of. There's a reason they are so cheap, and no one that knows anything about car audio will recommend them.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! I strongly agree with Mooncatt. It's the same issue with dirt-cheap off-brand phones, tablets, and Android TV boxes you might find on Ali Express or Wish. They seem to have good specs and features (although these companies often blatantly lie about specs and are able to tweak the system software to show false information), but when it comes down to it, quality control is nil, thus leading to more risk of glitches or outright failure. And as mentioned before, support is also nil, so even though it seems like a bargain, it will often end up being more trouble than it's worth.