Android Auto and MIB II

[gh172]

What's the deal with the Google now cards? My cards show one destination that I went to months ago and another destination of no relevance. They never change. I don't get the location and weather cards either. Bit of a let down really!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[mattaus]

What's the deal with the Google now cards? My cards show one destination that I went to months ago and another destination of no relevance. They never change. I don't get the location and weather cards either. Bit of a let down really!

Mine do change, but quite often they display destinations I've already been to. Sometimes I do get a destination I was looking at recently which has been helpful. I do get weather cards as well. The whole card thing is inconsistent at best and not as useful as it should be. As I've said all along, AA is a very buggy beta. It's just taking them a long time to get it right...

[gh172]

I was wondering if maybe there was a setting in my phone that I hadn't activated.

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[mattaus]

I was wondering if maybe there was a setting in my phone that I hadn't activated.

That's the other problem with AA - bugger all configuration options. I get they don't want you ****ing around with the phone while driving, but we should be able to set a few things in the app before use, surely?

[EspadaV8]

I've been having the same issues with Android Auto with both a Nexus 5 and a One Plus One. Completely random when it will connect to the point that it's not even worth trying any more which is annoying because it was nice selling point.

The car is in the service centre at the moment to see if there are any updates for it but they've got back to me saying it's all up to date. Really hope VW release a fix for it soon.

[mattaus]

If you look at the first post I put a little guide explaining the best way to connect the phone. It worked a treat for a while but my 5X seems to be falling back into old habits lately. It might be worth my time to go through the process again (it's not hard). I will note that yesterday my car completely failed to see my phone as an app connect device. It would connect blue tooth but fail to see my phone at all as a device capable of Android Auto connection. I had to completely turn my car off and wait a few minutes for it to see the phone properly.

I'm convinced most of the issues lie on VW's side, not Google's. I'd also not hold your breath for any fixes. There are documented cases of software bugs 'bricking' MIB II units and VW have been painfully slow addressing them. So a bug related to inconsistent AA connection speeds is unlikely to be resolved with any haste. The best we can hope for is that they fix the latter with the former :/

[fatredwombat1]

The only way to get my phone to reliably connect on start up is to start the car, wait twenty or so seconds, unlock the phone (I have finger print locking, this appears to be important) and make sure the phone screen stays on and unlocked. THEN connect to the car. If the car was already on, you don't need to wait 20 seconds.

This usually works first time. I think (from playing around with it quite a bit with a HTC one m8 and Samsung gs6) that having the phone unlocked and screen on is important. The unlocked part especially. This is the same whether you use a fingerprint or pattern or pin to lock your phone, or even just a swipe.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

[mattaus]

The only way to get my phone to reliably connect on start up is to start the car, wait twenty or so seconds, unlock the phone (I have finger print locking, this appears to be important) and make sure the phone screen stays on and unlocked. THEN connect to the car. If the car was already on, you don't need to wait 20 seconds.

This usually works first time. I think (from playing around with it quite a bit with a HTC one m8 and Samsung gs6) that having the phone unlocked and screen on is important. The unlocked part especially. This is the same whether you use a fingerprint or pattern or pin to lock your phone, or even just a swipe.

Will give this a try. Not hard to do but it shouldn't be this finicky

Maybe I can use Tasker in conjunction with some NFC tags to trigger certain events when I connect my phone in order to increase my success rate. Bit over the top though!

[fatredwombat1]

Will give this a try. Not hard to do but it shouldn't be this finicky

Maybe I can use Tasker in conjunction with some NFC tags to trigger certain events when I connect my phone in order to increase my success rate. Bit over the top though!

Definitely shouldn't be this finicky. And if it is a requirement then they should let people know.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

[Jebus99]

I noticed with my Nexus 6P, the only way to guarantee connection was to reduce the number of running tasks/apps. I think it's related to RAM issues as Android Auto requires a large RAM footprint (virtual display adapter, running maps/navigation, music, phone and the required background services simultaneously) and if there is already a significant number of running tasks, Android can take a number of "attempts" to acquire the RAM required to run AA successfully. If there's no running apps, I noticed my connection rate was close to 100%. It will be interesting to see how people with the S7 Edge+ might fare with the increased RAM (which might be offset by Touchwiz though).

[mattaus]

I noticed with my Nexus 6P, the only way to guarantee connection was to reduce the number of running tasks/apps. I think it's related to RAM issues as Android Auto requires a large RAM footprint (virtual display adapter, running maps/navigation, music, phone and the required background services simultaneously) and if there is already a significant number of running tasks, Android can take a number of "attempts" to acquire the RAM required to run AA successfully. If there's no running apps, I noticed my connection rate was close to 100%. It will be interesting to see how people with the S7 Edge+ might fare with the increased RAM (which might be offset by Touchwiz though).

You're definitely onto something there. I've noticed recently that if I have lots of apps open it struggles. Close them all and it connects very quickly. This is a bug bear of mine with Android. They tell us stock Android doesn't need a 'close all' button because of how Android handles background tasks. Android's resource management is good, but not that good!

[Ralfi]

How's Google Maps, Androids? Does it work identically to the phone version (suggests new routes if traffic builds on your current one/can you add POI in the middle of your trip etc.)?

What doesn't the Android-Auto version not do that the mobile phone version does?

It's the one thing CarPlay's missing.

[mattaus]

How's Google Maps, Androids? Does it work identically to the phone version (suggests new routes if traffic builds on your current one/can you add POI in the middle of your trip etc.)?

What doesn't the Android-Auto version not do that the mobile phone version does?

It's the one thing CarPlay's missing.

Well I'm not sure about adding a point of interest as you are driving, but it does re-route based on traffic conditions. Considering it works fairly well via voice commands it's pretty flexible. You could ask to go to your POI and then simply continue on your way with a new voice command once you are done at that location. If you ask it for the nearest bottle shop, it'll present a list and simply selecting an option will start the guidance. You can turn traffic on and off. No earth view is available.

[Jebus99]

You're definitely onto something there. I've noticed recently that if I have lots of apps open it struggles. Close them all and it connects very quickly. This is a bug bear of mine with Android. They tell us stock Android doesn't need a 'close all' button because of how Android handles background tasks. Android's resource management is good, but not that good!

For anyone keen, try the new Android Auto 1.6 APK here. I don't have to close all my apps now and the connection has improved to working on the first attempt for the last 2 days for me. There was an XDA article which does support the suggestion that poor memory management affects the multitasking requirements of Android Auto and that non-stock/Nexus phones do worse because of the way manufacturers like Samsung alter the memory management profiles of their phones (for the worse).

[mattaus]

For anyone keen, try the new Android Auto 1.6 APK here. I don't have to close all my apps now and the connection has improved to working on the first attempt for the last 2 days for me. There was an XDA article which does support the suggestion that poor memory management affects the multitasking requirements of Android Auto and that non-stock/Nexus phones do worse because of the way manufacturers like Samsung alter the memory management profiles of their phones (for the worse).

Installed this morning. First connect was almost instant, although I'll be skeptical and put that down to the fact I essentially did a fresh install of AA. Everything runs better after a clean install. I'll use it for a few days and report back.