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Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

theverge.com

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Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#21

Post by [deleted] »

jfoster wrote: post #17
Someone1234 wrote: post #5

Just in case some people are confused: There are two different things with the same name - - Android Auto vehicle communication technology that mirrors your phone's screen to a vehicle's head unit. - Android Auto phone app that displays the same interface on your phone's screen like a normal app (e.g. mount your phone up high and use directly, or use some other screen mirroring technology to send it to the head unit)…

The fact that the situation exists where Google has two products that do the same thing and one of them has the same name as another of their products that does something different is just bad news overall. It's great that this specific instance will be resolved soon but are Google, as an organisation, learning any broader lessons at all?

[deleted]

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#22

Post by ethbr0 »

scld wrote: post #18
jfoster wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that the situation exists where Google has two products that do the same thing and one of them has the same name as another of their products that does something different is just bad news overall. It's great that this specific instance will be resolved soon but are Google, as an organisation, learning any broader lessons at all?

The lesson, I guess, is that if you print money from some other dominant business unit, you don't have to have any other good ideas or execution.

Google has tons of other good ideas. They just seem to suck at executing them. And specifically, at evolving and supporting them.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#24

Post by pbronez »

Someone1234 wrote: post #5

Just in case some people are confused: There are two different things with the same name - - Android Auto vehicle communication technology that mirrors your phone's screen to a vehicle's head unit. - Android Auto phone app that displays the same interface on your phone's screen like a normal app (e.g. mount your phone up high and use directly, or use some other screen mirroring technology to send it to the head unit)…

and then there's "Android Automotive" which is installed directly on the car by the OEM.

Honestly the branding is just terrible.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#25

Post by odux »

jfoster wrote: post #17
Someone1234 wrote: post #5

Just in case some people are confused: There are two different things with the same name - - Android Auto vehicle communication technology that mirrors your phone's screen to a vehicle's head unit. - Android Auto phone app that displays the same interface on your phone's screen like a normal app (e.g. mount your phone up high and use directly, or use some other screen mirroring technology to send it to the head unit)…

The fact that the situation exists where Google has two products that do the same thing and one of them has the same name as another of their products that does something different is just bad news overall. It's great that this specific instance will be resolved soon but are Google, as an organisation, learning any broader lessons at all?

In this case, these are very complementary and can even be considered the same thing. the core Android auto idea is to give a driving interface with limited features, less distractions, large legible texts etc. It is by default displayed in the car displays but there can be cars which do not support this. For those situations Google had a solution to display the same interface on the phone. This was especially useful for people to get used to this technology before upgrading their car. Google probably decided that there are enough bee cars and enough after market units with this technology that they don't have to support this anymore. I think it is too early considering there are a lot of older cars on the road and there is a acute shortage of new cars.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#26

Post by stronglikedan »

Someone1234 wrote: post #5

Just in case some people are confused: There are two different things with the same name - - Android Auto vehicle communication technology that mirrors your phone's screen to a vehicle's head unit. - Android Auto phone app that displays the same interface on your phone's screen like a normal app (e.g. mount your phone up high and use directly, or use some other screen mirroring technology to send it to the head unit)…

I'd rather the first be discontinued, since I've never been able to get it to work properly. I've since got a gooseneck phone holder that holds my phone up over my car's AA screen, and use the second instead. Oh well, I suppose I'm not shocked by this decision.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#27

Post by Eridrus »

MrGilbert wrote: post #2

That's... well. Sometimes, timing is bad. I own a 2010 Mazda 6, which comes with bluetooth, but has no display whatsoever. I installed a custom head unit with Apple Car Play. Unfortunately, this head unit became unresponsive every once in a while, and only restarting the car would help. That annoyed the hell out of me. So I went back to the stock experience (it's BOSE after all), and tried to playback audio over blue…

Have you tried the new Assistant Driving mode?

I couldn't tell from the article if it was meaningfully different....

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#28

Post by Ajedi32 »

Figured this was coming once I saw they were duplicating features from Android Auto in Google Maps.

Only thing I really hate about this change is that Maps' driving mode doesn't currently let you do anything until you enter a destination. So until I tell Maps where I'm going I can't even play music over Bluetooth.

Android Auto also starts automatically when I turn on my car, whereas Google Maps doesn't, but I suppose I could fix that pretty easily with a Tasker task.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#29

Post by stronglikedan »

mabbo wrote: post #23

I drive a ten year old car with no built in Android auto interface. Having Android auto in my phone has been a big deal for me. This sucks.

My car's AA implementation is horrible, so I use the implementation that's being discontinued. The worst part is it's too new to replace the head unit with one of those fancy wireless AA units out there, since my car has an integrated infotainment system. This does, indeed, suck.

Re: Google is shutting down its Android Auto mobile app in favor of Google Assistant

#30

Post by willcipriano »

karolist wrote: post #8
francis-io wrote: post #3

My expirence with Android Auto in my Skoda Fabia 2019 is patchy already. The connection stopped working in the past year for a few months, now it only connects to my in car screen partly, and spotify wont load. I love the idea of keeping in-car entertainment on my mobile, so I can get updates. In practice, my car will get left behind eventually and I'll be stuck with a dumb screen in my dashboard.

Does your car support wireless Android Auto? If not, try switching to a different cable. The push to wireless is because people are having all sorts of problems with patchy cables and then blame it on Android/phone/Google. Too bad only very recent cars support it. Mine does, it works great.

100% on the cable. I had 10 or so laying around that all didn't work but I could hook up to my PC just fine. Thought it was my old phone at the time. I bought this one and problem solved: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G12WYCG
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