Android Auto

[Dareos]

Not sure if this should be here or in the Android forum but as I reckon its got more appeal to gearhead techies rather than pure techies I thought I would pop it here.

I've been having a bit of a look round at this, but as it appears to be fairly new there's not a lot out there, other than a bunch of manufacturers stating that they will be implementing either this or the Apple version.

Some 3rd party ICE suppliers such as Pioneer are stating that they will support both, but the price of the head units appear to be astronomical when you consider what they actually appear to do. Far more than your average car stereo to be fair, but when you compare them to an Android tablet cost it seems excessive.

I do like the premise though. I remember seeing Funkstar's rather fetching Golf GTi a few years back which he had been installing a dash PC in, and this does appear to be the next evolution, but im wondering if a phone dock in the dash instead of a stereo wouldnt be a better solution. Clip in the phone, it goes into car more, gets charged and provides sat nav etc,

Thoughts?

[DanceswithUnix]

No need to clip the phone in anywhere. It can stream music over bluetooth from my pocket, all it needs is a remote display and it could do navigation etc as well.

[Dareos]

I get that, and I use it that way for hands free etc just now, but it means setting up a playlist before you leave the house and changing settings on the fly is far from easy.

A landscape dash insert (like where your stereo sits at the moment) with a micro usb connection would provide a better connection all round and then you could have a driving app loaded to control gps (possibly roof mounted rather than internal), reversing camera, and of course hands free phone/dictation etc.

[DanceswithUnix]

My old HTC One-X had a dash mount that the phone sensed and went into a car mode on insertion. It was very handy, replacing the normal home screen with one with a few massive icons so you could just thump them without taking your eyes off the road.

The Moto G I have now senses that you are in a car and automatically goes into its own car mode which is all voice activated, offering to read text messages out to you.

Alternatively, my wife uses an old Ipod in her car. If she wants to change playlist she has to fish the thing out from the dashboard and take it indoors to plug it in. My current satnav annoys me as despite beign bluetooth enabled it can't go to the internet and download updates itself. I think having one device handle everything makes life much simpler.

[KeyboardDemon]

My ideal solution would be a dash mount that will allow my to slide my phone in and have it connected to the stereo when I want it to be or to run off my bluetooth ear pieice so that sat nav directions will play into my ear without disturbing the audio from my stereo and my phone will charge on a Qi charger. I use a cradle for this at the moment but would prefer something where cables are concealed from view and I don't have to have anything stuck to the windscreen.

[shaithis]

I use a Pioneer AppRadio and have USB cables run behind the dash to a small compartment that isn't used for anything, I also have an iPod cable running to the glove box.

It allows me to play anything on the iPod in the glove box, plus it uses Bluetooth to send/receive/handsfree, it has a GPS receiver for apps and if you plug the phone into the USB cable your phone "hijacks" the headunit display (using ARunchained app).

The problem with all these things though is that everyone has a specific need (or needs), this one was perfect for me but YMMV.

[DanceswithUnix]

My ideal solution would be a dash mount that will allow my to slide my phone in and have it connected to the stereo when I want it to be or to run off my bluetooth ear pieice so that sat nav directions will play into my ear without disturbing the audio from my stereo and my phone will charge on a Qi charger. I use a cradle for this at the moment but would prefer something where cables are concealed from view and I don't have to have anything stuck to the windscreen.

I like the way the music goes quiet for a second when navigation is saying directions. Just wish it could mute the kids the same way.

[Knoxville]

What would get me interested is if I could dock the phone somehow on the dash and have it automatically change the layout of the o/s to suit - bigger buttons etc. and then have it set up with several different "pages" of information that I could swipe through. Definitely one for music and one for navigation as I've pretty much set my HTC one up to do that already. I'd love to see a set up that could also link with an aftermarket efi system like the Holley Dominator though, so that phone essentially becomes a gauge pod that displays coolant temp/oil temp and whatever else you want, could upload a custom fuel map or change transmission settings to suit the user and upload the data logged by the ECU (actually I bet somebody is probably developing this already as I type).

Warn and I think also Superwinch have both put out winches that can be controlled via iPhone and Android apps so to be able to swipe across to another page and control my winch and auxiliary lighting would be a bonus. Basically I'd like to see smart devices in cars used as a little more than just ICE or a TomTom, sure my way current way of using my phone as such in my vehicle is rudimentary at best but for me to invest any more time, effort and money integrating the two or to really get enthusiastic about it I want to see the processing power do more than just play me some tunes

[Dareos]

I like the sound of that Knox.
My last Kenwood stereo had a USB connection in the glove box. Stuck a 32Gb stick on it and I had mp3 control of content via head unit. My current VW unit cannot control the content via the aux port, hence my interest in a new system.
I like the idea of full control via a head unit tho and with an android head unit you have access to WiFi, Bluetooth ,apps, phone mirroring, audio you can pre configure as well as change on the fly, digital radio and a fully configurable interface.

Just not liking the quotred prices atm. The most expensive tablets on the market Max out about £400 yet decent car options can come in at twice that plus fitting.