
Android Auto: right on your phone screen - edmorley
https://blog.google/products/android/android-auto-available-in-every-car/
======
croon
> Android Auto: now available in every car

> The latest version (2.0) with the phone screen experience will be rolling
> out in the coming days to more than 30 countries where Android Auto is
> currently available.

Thanks again Google for completely ignoring millions/billions of people in
your phrasing of "every[one]".

Available in Germany, France, Spain, etc. Not available in mine and many other
EU countries with shared regulations. Same thing with every Google device in
the Play Store that isn't Chromecast.

~~~
NicoJuicy
? Not available in my country, so I downloaded the app

Works.. :)

~~~
szimek
Does everything really work? I've got a car with Android Auto, but I need to
pay a small fee to actually enable it (because why not :/) and I'm not sure if
it makes sense to pay for it if it's not officially available in my country.

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thekevan
Title: "...now available in every car"

Last sentence of the article: "Sign up on the Android Auto website to receive
an email when the update is available for your phone."

~~~
jmartinpetersen
And the sentence before that explains that Android Auto is only available in
30 countries. I don't get this kind of region/country lock-in.

~~~
ucaetano
I'd guess that's probably due to regulations around in-car hardware and user
interfaces. Compliance is hell.

~~~
izacus
EU uses same car software across the board (with same synchronized
regulations) and Auto still isn't available in all those countries. Apple
CarPlay (as usual) is.

I always hear this same tired out argument... and then see Apple somehow
managing to handle it while Google region locks even their free apps like
Google+ or podcast feature in Google Play Music.

~~~
ucaetano
Maybe Apple dedicates more lawyers to figuring out regulation and compliance.
And lawyer time is far, far more expensive than engineering time.

~~~
digi_owl
More like Apple don't give a flying damn until poked about it.

Just watch how they ignored the mandatory 2 year warranty on computers in
italy, while pushing Applecare.

Frankly when it comes to Apple they basically behave as if the whole world is
like USA until told otherwise.

------
mdorazio
And yet I still can't use a cheap Android tablet as a head unit because Google
won't open their protocols to anyone outside their partner network. I either
have to use my phone with a tiny screen, get an Android 5.0 compatible tablet
with a SIM card (and corresponding data plan), or pony up a stupid amount of
money for a "compatible" head unit.

~~~
dogma1138
Check DX or alidirect you'll be surprised just how many cheap android 5+ w/
GSM tablets are out there.

~~~
mdorazio
I already bought one. Trouble is now I have to pay an additional $20 a month
for the data plan unless I turn on internet sharing from my phone every time I
hop in the car.

------
neves
No option to use other softwares? I don't want Google Maps for directions, but
(Google Owned) Waze for better traffic information, or Here for when I have
poor connectivity. Bring on some competition.

~~~
kuschku
Write an email to the EU Antitrust Committee ;)

------
phamilton
Was hoping for OBD-II compatibility. AutoMate with Torque provide a wonderful
little dashboard for engine information.

------
crispyambulance
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.

~~~
hx87
> 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
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
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.

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ape4
This sounds useful. Is it just an app that takes over the full screen?

~~~
alistairSH
Yes. Basically, running Android Auto on the phone itself, instead of pushing
the app to an external display in the dashboard.

~~~
rhizome
Which is the direction this stuff should be going: dash display is a simple
mirror or GUI client of the app on the phone/device.

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currywurst
For those interested, Windows Mobile has had this since 8.1 :)

~~~
ocdtrekkie
FWIW, my Moto Droid did this in 2009 on Android 2.0. But Google has to make a
big ordeal about reinventing the wheel to keep the news cycle focused on them.

~~~
Grazester
The big deal is that this is potentially available to everyone(who has a
compatible phone) and not just a feature available from a specific
manufacturer.

Why not advertise it if it's Google wants people to know now exist and want
them to use?

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Available to everyone? Not manufacturer specific? Like...
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.carhome)

Google just announced they reinvented the wheel again.

~~~
Grazester
Seems like they killed this off. I forgot it existed

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Sure, but as you can see, at least five years ago, they had an app that was
basically Android Auto running on your phone, and now they have it again, with
more distracting colors and animations.

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maxfurman
They seem to have confused "every car" with "any car"

~~~
sk5t
Dunno, does "available" connote "present"?

~~~
rhizome
It does, but "available" also implies two terms. By itself, we don't know if
it's every available car, or every car available _within the app_.

------
hughes
Was planning to buy an Android Auto-based head unit next month. Guess I'll
give this a try first! The one other thing I need is integration with a backup
camera...

~~~
exhilaration
Can you suggest a good replacement head unit?

~~~
hughes
I have a double din mount and was looking at the Pioneer AVH-4200NEX.
Apparently some time in the next month or two the Sony XAV-AX100 should be
released, which is also appealing.

Is either one worth the $500+ price tag? Still not sure.

------
jff
I see some other commenters also remember 'Car Home', released in Android 2.0
way back in 2009 to very little fanfare, and eventually killed off:
[http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/10/building-
android-a-40...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/10/building-
android-a-40000-word-history-of-googles-mobile-os/10/#2.0eclair)

------
headmelted
This really sucks for AutoMate. They've been offering exactly this for years
now.

Never nice to have a bigger company eat your lunch, but it was always going to
be a victim of it's own success plugging that hole.

Hope they can keep going, but it looks like the writings on the wall here.

~~~
ohstopitu
Hopefully Google will acquire AutoMate and use the team to work on this as
well (while adding more features) like OBD II support, backup camera support,
3rd party apps etc.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Or hopefully, independent companies will continue to do faster, better work
independently from the Google monopoly, and their apps will be available in
more countries than Google supports properly.

------
Nursie
Awesome. So now basically any stereo where the phone can take over the screen
is good, or any given phone mount and bluetooth stereo.

Thus ends my year-long search for a single-DIN android auto head unit!

------
tdkl
Can't set a shortcut for own apps ? Laughable. Seems more of a launcher for 3
Google apps + added value of Trojan horse for data collection while driving.

I wished for Android Auto to get released in this form, but this isn't
something I thought a multi billion corporation with talented software
engineers would come up with.

Here's some real usage info:

 _Gavin • 4 hours ago I just finished driving to work with this (I navigate to
work every day for the traffic information). Having not read the article (just
the headline) before heading out, I was somewhat shocked that it didn 't
respond to "OK Google" commands._

 _I also found the message overlay extremely annoying. My wife sent me a text
message, and instead of the topside "heads-up" notification normally
containing the message body, I got a gigantic "NEW MESSAGE" popup that covered
my navigation (so if you were about to make a turn in an unfamiliar location,
you might miss it). And it didn't even contain the message body - so instead
of just reading the message hands-free, I had to tap the screen to "play" the
message. And even that didn't actually work._ [1]

There are couple car apps way more powerful then that, like Automate[2], Car
Dashdroid[3], Drivemode[4].

[1] [http://disq.us/p/1dfwfl6](http://disq.us/p/1dfwfl6)

[2]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitspice.a...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitspice.automate)

[3]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nezdroid.c...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nezdroid.cardashdroid)

[4]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.drivemode....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.drivemode.android)

~~~
bitmapbrother
I just installed Android Auto and it's pretty nice. Perhaps you should try it.
Having shortcuts to the other apps would, however, be a joke.

~~~
tdkl
I paid for offline GPS software which lets me download whole continents of
data to my phone. Paying roaming charges to be able to navigate is a joke in
my book.

No, you can't save the whole country in Maps. You can't even save certain
regions in certain countries (Austria being an example).

------
neves
Just Bluetooth connection? I connect my phone to my car radio using an USB
cable and the Android Open Accessory Protocol (AOAP). It charges and gives me
better sound. Won't it be supported?

~~~
Frank2312
The app itself doesn't need Bluetooth.

From what I understood, Bluetooth is necessary only to have the app
automatically launch when connecting to whatever Bluetooth device/infosystem
unit you have in your car.

~~~
neves
Sure, but it would be nice to automatically start when I plug my phone to my
car.

~~~
tdkl
Do you have an idea how to "sense" the connection ? The app Trigger might help
you writing a scenario to launch the Android Auto app on a certain trigger.

------
codebook
I am eager to get the Waze for Android Auto. Google Maps navigation always
takes around 15 min more than estimation in bay area at commute time.

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shitgoose
this is more accurate headline:

"Android Auto: now available _not_ in every car"

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Animats
From the name, it sounds like it drives the car. But no.

~~~
mynameisvlad
"Android Auto" is an existing system by Google, and was announced over 2 years
ago. There really shouldn't be any ambiguity regarding the name anymore.

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AceJohnny2
Tangential: huh, when did .google become a TLD?

I'm too old for this sh

~~~
animex
.google, .apple, .microsoft, were all amongst the first new TLDs registered
when things were opened up. You can see the full list of hundreds (thousands?)
here: [https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-
strin...](https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strings)

