New Android Auto interface coming this summer

[gillyallan]

Quite like the new look.
Just one question. Does the app on phone actually update the AA on my car (focus) or is it pushing the screen I see on car from my phone each time?

 

[foxbat121]

My guess is that it's much more like Mira Cast or Screen Mirroring. So. the phone composes all the UI elements and the headunit displays it. The fact that it requires the bandwidth of either USB wire or WiFi is a hint towards this direction.

My Pixel 3 and my son's Pixel 3a both got the server side permission to have the new UI this morning (not sure why Google even need to do that). did a test drive this morning. Hit a few issues with those Assistant shortcuts (slow and sometime unresponsive). Not sure I like the new UI that much.

 

[gillyallan]

Thanks. I quite like it

 

[foxbat121]

As another reviewer pointed out, the new home screen lost the brain compared to the original home screen. In old home screen, you get weather card for current location, event reminders, message notifications and AI picked Map Navigation shortcuts. These are now all gone. You have to hit notification icon to pull up the notifications. You have to open maps app to see the navigation entries.

 

[eric002]

I love the fact of multitasking whether you're in Google Play music/Google maps or any other Android auto compatible application. Makes it intimate so much better!

 

[gillyallan]

A thing I find odd though maybe I'm doing it wrong. If I have Spotify and waze running but decide I want the radio. I have to go to exit of android auto which brings me back to my standard Ford sync screen. I switch it to radio then click back on maps again to get me back to waze.
It feels odd having to essentially quit AA just to get the radio.

 

[eric002]

A thing I find odd though maybe I'm doing it wrong. If I have Spotify and waze running but decide I want the radio. I have to go to exit of android auto which brings me back to my standard Ford sync screen. I switch it to radio then click back on maps again to get me back to waze.
It feels odd having to essentially quit AA just to get the radio.

That's not weird because I have to do the same thing in my Accord sport 2.0t with Honda link and my Sirius XM radio. If I want to listen to XM radio versus Google Play music have to exit Android auto environment, enable Sirius XM satellite radio, hit the menu button for home, then go back to Android Auto and go back into Google maps. It's basically two different environments.

 

[gillyallan]

Fair enough if that's how it works then.

 

[eric002]

yep yep for sure! Two different computing environments. Android auto versus whatever your car offers for infotainment.