Android Auto

[dieldrin]

My '17 Sport is on the way, I was interested in feedback on Android Auto.
Anyone care to share pros and cons, favorite apps, etc.?
Does android auto work when connected via bluetooth?

Thanks,

 

[supr squirrel]

I have as of yet been able to get Android Auto to function via bluetooth. Might just be me, though. Don't really use it for music (have Amazon Prime and use it, instead...which does stream via bluetooth, but not via Android Auto.) However, the two apps I have tried (Google Maps and Domino's Pizza app) both work flawlessly.

My only 'issue' with Android Auto is when it's activated I can't use the Nav with the car and have to use Google Maps. Just a small frustration. I know this isn't much information so hopefully someone else will chime in.

 

[jeeden]

The bluetooth connection can't handle the data stream needed I believe and the only way to use android auto is to have your phones plugged in via usb.

I'm shocked to hear you would rather use the stock nav and not google maps. I have been waiting YEARS to have google maps integrated into my car complete with the traffic, etc. The voice recognition of google now is so much better than anything else out there for nav, phone, dialing, texting, etc. If I had my way I would throw a switch that would permanently allow android and google to assimilate the computer in the car.

 

[supr squirrel]

The bluetooth connection can't handle the data stream needed I believe and the only way to use android auto is to have your phones plugged in via usb.

I'm shocked to hear you would rather use the stock nav and not google maps. I have been waiting YEARS to have google maps integrated into my car complete with the traffic, etc. The voice recognition of google now is so much better than anything else out there for nav, phone, dialing, texting, etc. If I had my way I would throw a switch that would permanently allow android and google to assimilate the computer in the car.

Perhaps I should have clarified a bit. On longer trips or to cities I don't know like the back of my hand I will use Google maps for the reasons you listed. A couple of months ago I was taking my wife to the airport in St. Louis and there was a pretty substantial wreck about 10 miles before the Missouri line (I'm in Illinois) and Google maps alerted us to it well before we got there. So for traffic and weather delays it's a must on those type of trips.

However, for 'local' stuff...where you don't really need the nav but it makes it easier to find things you don't go by every day...I prefer to use the built-in nav. Don't use data that way, etc. Plus it's not really needed in those situations, either.

My father-in-law and I were just discussing the other day that in the next few years the automakers might very well abandon built-in nav and go to having you use your phone's map system for nav. Seems like it would save money for all involved.

 

[jdmac27]

I'm happy to see this thread as I was wondering the same before I picked up my Platinum... Sync3 / Android Auto was one of the big reasons I held out for a 2017. I've had it a couple weeks now so I'll share for those of you that are waiting patiently for your orders to be delivered... Bottom line.. I'm glad I waited for the 2017!!! Sorry to all of you with a brand new 2016, but the rebates on the 16s should help you feel a little better!

I can confirm Android Auto only works when plugged into USB, not over bluetooth connection. AA will disable your nav & phone screens when running, so this actually makes it simpler to choose when you're using AA or Sync, otherwise you would have to disable AA if you didn't want to use it every time you get in the car. I agree with the previous posts that Google maps is a must for long haul trips and is superior to the built in nav for traffic alerts and rerouting. I had the Gen 1 Sync with built in Nav in my 09 Explorer and I would often use my phone when traveling for traffic/routing as navigation around construction and traffic is superior with Google - even with Sirius Travel Link. Just driving around town though, I've been happy to not fuss with plugging in my phone and just use Sync as Sync 3 is pretty solid on its own.

Pandora works great both with AA, or over bluetooth with Sync. Pandora applink works great through Sync giving you all information, including album art, on the screen. You also get the same with AA, but the screens do look different including color, contrast, design layout etc..

The phone and text messaging also both work great with both AA or Sync. AA is definitely designed to be controlled by voice as it gives you far less information and menu options on the screen. For example, you can send and receive text messages all through voice control including the ability to send customized messages. With Sync, you can view message information on the screen (who it is from) and a button to "hear" messages received while car is in motion, but you can not send messages until you have stopped moving. Messages you send with Sync have to come from a list of preselected statements such as "Be there in 10 minutes", "Yes", "Thank you", etc. If you try to use Sync voice to send a message, it responds "I'm not able to send messages yet." (I have a Galaxy S7, so this may be different with another phone...?) Using the voice menus to call in both Sync and AA are very similar. Again, the phone screen has much less functionality than the phone screen on Sync. For example, you cannot browse your contact list, just recent calls. The same is true with music, as you only have access to your audio listening choices on your phone, not the radio/CD/Sat. You have to exit to Sync if you want to control the AM/FM/Sat stations (however you do retain some control through the steering wheel controls and secondary display in the instrument cluster).

With Android Auto, the menu options along the bottom of the screen change to Nav, Phone, Home, Music, Exit to Sync. One minor irritation is when you click the exit AA on the menu, it brings up a second screen that spells out "Exit to Sync" that you have to click a second time. I suppose this prevents an unintended exit but if you just want to jump to the radio or climate controls, it adds an extra step.

When you have your phone with AA connected USB, the system will automatically jump to the AA home screen which is the Google Now cards trimmed down to travel, music and calendar info etc. I'm not sure what would display if you don't have Google Now, that may be something Google forces you to activate to use AA?? If you exit to sync and your phone is still connected USB, the phone, nav and Apps menu buttons will all take you back into AA. (The apps menu button actually changes to an Android Auto button.)

There are a lot more apps compatible with AA than with Sync, but most of them are music and messaging apps. I did try Glympse which integrates with Sync. It works pretty well and lets you share your location with others. When they view your location, Sync announces it to you and you can monitor on the screen who is "watching" you. Kinda creepy, and cool at the same time.

That's a long winded run down on what I've tried so far. Since I tend to keep my vehicles for several years, it is nice to know that I'm a little more future proof with Sync 3 and AA/Car Play going forward. Who knew when we were kids that one day we really would be talking to our cars, and they'd be talking back to us... Kit.

 

[Sudbury78]

jdmac, are you still enjoying the AA? I have been using apple car play for the last week with my vehicle but now am trying AA and it pales considerably to the car play function. Not that i am entirely surprised because despite being an apple hater and samsung fan boy, they just make things better, etc.

 

[jdmac27]

Most of the time, I'm just using Sync 3 and not AA. I'll plug in my phone for AA if I'm traveling more than around town for Google maps and the text by voice function. From what I have seen, Car Play offers a lot more interaction through the touch screen, whereas AA is primarily controlled by voice.

 

[Explorer XLT 17]

I'm happy to see this thread as I was wondering the same before I picked up my Platinum... Sync3 / Android Auto was one of the big reasons I held out for a 2017. I've had it a couple weeks now so I'll share for those of you that are waiting patiently for your orders to be delivered... Bottom line.. I'm glad I waited for the 2017!!! Sorry to all of you with a brand new 2016, but the rebates on the 16s should help you feel a little better!

I can confirm Android Auto only works when plugged into USB, not over bluetooth connection. AA will disable your nav & phone screens when running, so this actually makes it simpler to choose when you're using AA or Sync, otherwise you would have to disable AA if you didn't want to use it every time you get in the car. I agree with the previous posts that Google maps is a must for long haul trips and is superior to the built in nav for traffic alerts and rerouting. I had the Gen 1 Sync with built in Nav in my 09 Explorer and I would often use my phone when traveling for traffic/routing as navigation around construction and traffic is superior with Google - even with Sirius Travel Link. Just driving around town though, I've been happy to not fuss with plugging in my phone and just use Sync as Sync 3 is pretty solid on its own.

Pandora works great both with AA, or over bluetooth with Sync. Pandora applink works great through Sync giving you all information, including album art, on the screen. You also get the same with AA, but the screens do look different including color, contrast, design layout etc..

The phone and text messaging also both work great with both AA or Sync. AA is definitely designed to be controlled by voice as it gives you far less information and menu options on the screen. For example, you can send and receive text messages all through voice control including the ability to send customized messages. With Sync, you can view message information on the screen (who it is from) and a button to "hear" messages received while car is in motion, but you can not send messages until you have stopped moving. Messages you send with Sync have to come from a list of preselected statements such as "Be there in 10 minutes", "Yes", "Thank you", etc. If you try to use Sync voice to send a message, it responds "I'm not able to send messages yet." (I have a Galaxy S7, so this may be different with another phone...?) Using the voice menus to call in both Sync and AA are very similar. Again, the phone screen has much less functionality than the phone screen on Sync. For example, you cannot browse your contact list, just recent calls. The same is true with music, as you only have access to your audio listening choices on your phone, not the radio/CD/Sat. You have to exit to Sync if you want to control the AM/FM/Sat stations (however you do retain some control through the steering wheel controls and secondary display in the instrument cluster).

With Android Auto, the menu options along the bottom of the screen change to Nav, Phone, Home, Music, Exit to Sync. One minor irritation is when you click the exit AA on the menu, it brings up a second screen that spells out "Exit to Sync" that you have to click a second time. I suppose this prevents an unintended exit but if you just want to jump to the radio or climate controls, it adds an extra step.

When you have your phone with AA connected USB, the system will automatically jump to the AA home screen which is the Google Now cards trimmed down to travel, music and calendar info etc. I'm not sure what would display if you don't have Google Now, that may be something Google forces you to activate to use AA?? If you exit to sync and your phone is still connected USB, the phone, nav and Apps menu buttons will all take you back into AA. (The apps menu button actually changes to an Android Auto button.)

There are a lot more apps compatible with AA than with Sync, but most of them are music and messaging apps. I did try Glympse which integrates with Sync. It works pretty well and lets you share your location with others. When they view your location, Sync announces it to you and you can monitor on the screen who is "watching" you. Kinda creepy, and cool at the same time.

That's a long winded run down on what I've tried so far. Since I tend to keep my vehicles for several years, it is nice to know that I'm a little more future proof with Sync 3 and AA/Car Play going forward. Who knew when we were kids that one day we really would be talking to our cars, and they'd be talking back to us... Kit.

 

[Explorer XLT 17]

Been loving our 17 Explorer XLT. I have a question about using Google maps. I have used both onboard nav map & Google map.

When looking at onboard map while driving, the vehicle icon continuously heads towards the top of the screen (which I prefer). While looking at the Google map, the vehicle icon can be going left on the screen, or to the right, or down as well.

Is there a setting I am not finding to make Google map show icon movement the same as on built in nav map?

In either case, I am not necessarily enroute to a set location.

 

[Chris-74]

Google maps always keeps the map orientation north. Your Sync 3 has a setting to either lock the vehicle orientation, like what you have now, or you can set it always orientated north like Google. Not sure if Google let's you switch the orientation.

 

[ckc123]

I've been using AA with my 2017 platinum for the last 3 weeks and I have to say the jury is still out.. there are some good features, but it's still quite buggy where I don't bother to use it for local trips.. here is a summary of what I've seen.

1) AA needs to also support waze as it's better (IMO) then google maps for alerts on traffic/accidents/cops etc.. AA has said they will support it but I'm still waiting

2) I've found that AA does not always start up properly if you do it too fast to when the vehicle starts.. it will instead stay on the built in apps and give me the MTA request on my phone. (you have to restart the vehicle and totally restart AA on the phone to get it to work again)

3) The texting is better (less annoying) with the built in app then AA

4) the spotify integration through AA only works about 30% of the time and is BUGGY as heck.. I use the bluetooth connection (Non USB) to connect to spotify either through native bluetooth speaker, or the "spotify" through bluetooth (but that one is also buggy).

5) it's a pain in the A$$ to get back to the built in apps for things like climate etc.. you can, but takes a few clicks..

overall it's "OK" but could be a lot better with bug fixes, better app integration (like waze,) and fixing the spotify problems..

 

[Explorer XLT 17]

I've been using AA with my 2017 platinum for the last 3 weeks and I have to say the jury is still out.. there are some good features, but it's still quite buggy where I don't bother to use it for local trips.. here is a summary of what I've seen.

1) AA needs to also support waze as it's better (IMO) then google maps for alerts on traffic/accidents/cops etc.. AA has said they will support it but I'm still waiting

2) I've found that AA does not always start up properly if you do it too fast to when the vehicle starts.. it will instead stay on the built in apps and give me the MTA request on my phone. (you have to restart the vehicle and totally restart AA on the phone to get it to work again)

3) The texting is better (less annoying) with the built in app then AA

4) the spotify integration through AA only works about 30% of the time and is BUGGY as heck.. I use the bluetooth connection (Non USB) to connect to spotify either through native bluetooth speaker, or the "spotify" through bluetooth (but that one is also buggy).

5) it's a pain in the A$$ to get back to the built in apps for things like climate etc.. you can, but takes a few clicks..

overall it's "OK" but could be a lot better with bug fixes, better app integration (like waze,) and fixing the spotify problems..

I believe your synopsis to be spot on. I also have experienced the "too quick" connection problem with AA.

Returning to SYNC can be bothersome when wanting to utilize built-in apps.

As for WAZE, according to an article in Digital Trends, it is in BETA testing fir integration into AA.

I have the Pandora, Spotify & Iheart apps on my S7E. One thing that I notice that is bothersome upon disconnecting from AA is that either the Iheart or Spotify app is on the home scene & must be cleared even though I have not used either one.

As for Google maps itself, did you know that the only place in the USA that lists the speed limit on screen is San Francisco?
Now we haven't been on a trip yet, just staying local so far in Tampa Bay area, but the SYCN map has been spot on with the speed limits shown on screen.

 

[Zodiac]

I am a beta tester for Waze and it does make AA 100x more useful. Majority of my driving has been to/from work with relative traffic and I have not been able to take it on a road trip yet but prior to the Waze beta I did not use it at all. As far as directions go it seems like Sync 3 and Google Maps are pretty on par as far as recommendations.

 

[fletch8527]

I am a beta tester for Waze and it does make AA 100x more useful. Majority of my driving has been to/from work with relative traffic and I have not been able to take it on a road trip yet but prior to the Waze beta I did not use it at all. As far as directions go it seems like Sync 3 and Google Maps are pretty on par as far as recommendations.

How does one become a beta tester? I really only used Waze 2-3 times but thats just because I dont want to have my phone mounted to my window, I would rather it be on the dash so I just use Google Maps for now.

I really love AA. It was a must in both my cars ('17 Fusion Sport and '17 Explorer Sport). My wife has an iPhone and she much prefers the AA interface to Car Play. I will echo the buggyness of AA though. Im currently working on an issue with Spotify about not being able to play Radio Stations via AA and Spotify but it appears to be account related. Also at first I found it annoying but have gotten used to the fact that you basically cannot use your phone when its connected to AA. Its a safety feature (no distracted driving), but at times its annoying if an app on your phone isnt AA compatible you basically cannot check the notification. For instance I use Facebook Messenger as my default SMS client, if someone sends me a message (whether it be an SMS message or one through Facebook) I can tap on the screen and it will read the message and at the end ask me if I want to reply. I can reply no problem, but I cannot send a facebook message if its not a reply as Facebook Messenger is not supported by AA. I can only send a message via SMS (so I cant send one to a messenger group) or via Hangouts. But this isnt that big of a deal and the message usually isnt that important and can wait till I'm home or my wife is in the car and I can have her send a message to the group.

I think I use AA almost everytime I'm in the car, unless I'm only going like 5 minutes away.

 

[Zodiac]

How does one become a beta tester? I really only used Waze 2-3 times but thats just because I dont want to have my phone mounted to my window, I would rather it be on the dash so I just use Google Maps for now.

I really love AA. It was a must in both my cars ('17 Fusion Sport and '17 Explorer Sport). My wife has an iPhone and she much prefers the AA interface to Car Play. I will echo the buggyness of AA though. Im currently working on an issue with Spotify about not being able to play Radio Stations via AA and Spotify but it appears to be account related. Also at first I found it annoying but have gotten used to the fact that you basically cannot use your phone when its connected to AA. Its a safety feature (no distracted driving), but at times its annoying if an app on your phone isnt AA compatible you basically cannot check the notification. For instance I use Facebook Messenger as my default SMS client, if someone sends me a message (whether it be an SMS message or one through Facebook) I can tap on the screen and it will read the message and at the end ask me if I want to reply. I can reply no problem, but I cannot send a facebook message if its not a reply as Facebook Messenger is not supported by AA. I can only send a message via SMS (so I cant send one to a messenger group) or via Hangouts. But this isnt that big of a deal and the message usually isnt that important and can wait till I'm home or my wife is in the car and I can have her send a message to the group.

I think I use AA almost everytime I'm in the car, unless I'm only going like 5 minutes away.

I don't recall exactly how I signed up for it but it was through email, I'm sure if you Google it someone might have posted instructions how to. I know it is a closed beta so it might not be available to sign up for it anymore.

 

[ckc123]

Waze for AA was just released TODAY! go update your apps to get it..

 

[Explorer XLT 17]

Wife & I visiting with son & family in Ft Lauderdale area this week. Had to make trip this morning eastward to City of Ft Lauderdale. I had him drive, traffic here is nightmarish. Plugged the Samsung in to use Google maps & to my surprise I was presented with the WAZE option. Never had that before.

Used WAZE for first time ever traveling I-595, Turnpike & also I-95. We were shocked when we heard, "watch for vehicle on shoulder ahead". Sure enough, it was there. Shortly thereafter, "police ahead." Sure enough, highway patrol on shoulder, just waiting for violators.

I'D say, GREAT ADDITION!!!

 

[craigb_MA]

I spent an hour last night trying to get AA to work, and was unsuccessful. Tried both BT and USB connection, and Sync just says "No apps found".

Even worse, every failed attempt using USB causes Sync3 to go into some funky state where non-AA functionality like simple BT streaming audio will not connect. So I have to turn the vehicle off, let it sit for 10 minutes to clear its memory, and then try again. The same thing happens often when Sync tries to index the music on my device over USB, it just kinda bombs out after some timeout. If I'm driving when this happens, I have to do the same pull over, shut the car off, and restart in order to restore basic BT features like phone/text.

 

[jdmac27]

I spent an hour last night trying to get AA to work, and was unsuccessful. Tried both BT and USB connection, and Sync just says "No apps found".

Even worse, every failed attempt using USB causes Sync3 to go into some funky state where non-AA functionality like simple BT streaming audio will not connect. So I have to turn the vehicle off, let it sit for 10 minutes to clear its memory, and then try again. The same thing happens often when Sync tries to index the music on my device over USB, it just kinda bombs out after some timeout. If I'm driving when this happens, I have to do the same pull over, shut the car off, and restart in order to restore basic BT features like phone/text.

Remember, Android Auto will only work via USB, not BT. You'll need to add the Android Auto app to your phone from the Google Play Store first, and enable Android Auto in Sync under the settings menu. Also make sure you give Sync permissions on your phone when you first connect the USB. (You may need to pull down from the top of the screen on your phone to open the status bar/USB permissions.)
Also, I read somewhere how to reboot Sync3 while the car is on by pressing and holding the SEEK >>| and Power button at the same time for about 7 seconds. I've tried it and it works while driving with no issues. Hope this helps...

 

[craigb_MA]

Remember, Android Auto will only work via USB, not BT. You'll need to add the Android Auto app to your phone from the Google Play Store first, and enable Android Auto in Sync under the settings menu. Also make sure you give Sync permissions on your phone when you first connect the USB. (You may need to pull down from the top of the screen on your phone to open the status bar/USB permissions.)
Also, I read somewhere how to reboot Sync3 while the car is on by pressing and holding the SEEK >>| and Power button at the same time for about 7 seconds. I've tried it and it works while driving with no issues. Hope this helps...

Thanks for that handy tip on how to reboot Sync via the console, SUPER HELPFUL!!!

Do you know which permission option needs to be set on the USB menu? When I plug into the console, I get ~4 different options. Obviously its not Charge-Only, but there are also Midi, Photo sharing, File Sharing, and Software Install. If I select File Sharing, it's the option that does cause Sync to index my android device for local media (music).

I did go into Sync settings and enable Android Auto. Still get the "No Apps Found" message though. I'll try the Sync reboot next time I'm in the vehicle.