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My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

imdanielkendall.com

111–120 of 217 posts

Re: My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

#111
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there are companies with amazing software experience I don't want an amazing software experience. I want an unsurprising experience, ideally the one I already have . The only thing better than Android Auto would be to just provide a standardized port (and perhaps a wireless standard) for a combination of video output, audio output, touchscreen input, and charging, with optional standardized sensor inputs. Then you…

you just stuck in this paradigm, this apple/auto surprised me so many times : - when you need to re-pair Bluetooth - when you forget the cable to charge and you need to drive - when you want to share your car to someone and they need to spend 5 minutes to accept every single ToS possible to simply put a GPS - several people with phones paired before, now you dealing with complete random you name it. - you listen musi…

The TLDR; answer to all your problems is: "Just use a freaking USB cable".

I rent tons of cars and my experience with the wired AndroidAuto is:

1. Plug it in.

2. That's it. It just works. No ToS or any other crap.

3. The same cable also supplies power!

Some cars _may_ need me to press something on the screen to switch to AA mode, but it's rare.

And it works perfectly with _everything_ on my phone. A navigator properly pauses my audiobook before announcing a turn, for example.

Re: My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

#112
You still did not learn the lesson? Once you take possession of a fixed-function appliance, NEVER EVER EVER take any updates, and do not connect it to the internet (CarPlay does not require internet connectivity in the car). Do not buy fixed-function appliances that require internet, that is what computers are for.

Re: My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be very simple to write out details but make them harder to access. Motivated users will find them.

To what end? Pleasing a few nerds? Nerds that are just as likely to have ripped out the OTA modem or not be using a car like that.

Why would they read the updates then?

Re: My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

#114
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't update any AOT code due to how code signing works in these OS. And Apple completely bans JIT on iOS and iPadOS.

no, i am not asking for AOT OTA update. AOT will be in base app and it will include JIT or Interpreted OTA updates. For Apple, JIT can simply be disabled and OTA update can run patched part in interpreter. But JIT works on Android (well), so this Hybrid system is capable of being much faster than React Native where your JS code only runs in Hermes VM which isn't JIT. In this system, all your crazy math and algorithms…

Apple does not allow running code from internet either (even if interpreted iirc)

That said shipping JIT / interpreter with your program to recompile updates / parts of it sounds silly to me.

Re: My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

#115

Auto manufacturers need to realize that one bad software experience means lost sales of entire cars. Fail to provide a good experience at the cost of your brand for years to come.

We just sold our 2025 Subaru Outback specifically because the software experience was bad. To exit a climate control modal on the screen you have to find and tap a tiny red "X" box in the furthest corner of the screen from the steering wheel.

I have a lot of trouble understanding how Subaru dashes turned into the modern monstrosity they are. They were very functional and well laid out for years. Now, geez, I’d need to be an octopus to drive a Subaru.

Re: My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

#116
post #96

Wasn't LLM tech supposed to fix this?

Most people with experience in the tech industry would say that LLMs will make it worse. They make more mistakes than a human, faster than a human, but get treated (by management) as preferred to a human. The end result was never going to be more reliable software.

Re: My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

#117

Once upon a time, physically shipping faulty software had real costs borne by the organization - production, redistribution and transportation of a physical disc. Today there’s no disc, no recall - that cost to shipping broken software is gone. We the users pay the price.

You act like there's no benefit to the user either, plenty of software gets better because of updates shipped after the fact.

The averaged-over-usage-lifetime software quality for things like cars or video games is worse today than it was before OTA updates

Arguably the peak quality after a few months/years of fixes is better, but that doesn't really matter because usage is front-loaded

Re: My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be very simple to write out details but make them harder to access. Motivated users will find them.

To what end? Pleasing a few nerds? Nerds that are just as likely to have ripped out the OTA modem or not be using a car like that.

It is genuinely lost on me why tech nerds specifically have a hard time grasping the idea that they are not the only people that matter. That sometimes, someone will know that something will upset computer nerds, and will still do the thing, because they see it as worth it overall.

Like spoilt children. I genuinely don’t know if it’s the decades of SV pandering or what.

MOST OF THE TIME, NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU. And they’re probably right not to.

Re: My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be very simple to write out details but make them harder to access. Motivated users will find them.

To what end? Pleasing a few nerds? Nerds that are just as likely to have ripped out the OTA modem or not be using a car like that.

What you really mean is that there is very low value to the company in appeasing this minor vocal audience. What you forget is that you are posting on a message board to an overlapping audience.

Re: My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto

#120
post #39
post #14

When I bought my car, it had no Car Play or Android Auto. Upon some investigation I found out that both of them were installed on all the current models. It’s just disabled on the cars sold without the option. Some open source software for the car entertainment system flashed on the car was able to turn on the flags to enable various features including Car Play and Android Auto. So a happy story.

Even hardware features (heated steering wheel, rain sensing wipers, etc...) are now behind software switches which the car maker can control based upon subscription or trim-level purchase. All the hardware pieces are installed at build time

You’re telling me it’s not cheaper for them to bundle the hardware but to disable it than not bundle the hardware?
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