I used it regularly to have Google Maps maintain a "Location History" which I spent HOURS editing to match my actual visits. A month ago, a Google change to Maps caused my Location History to be corrupted. If Google was going to alter my data, I saw no reason for them to keep it, so I deleted my Location History.
That left me with no real reason to continue to use AA, except on rare trips where I need to run Google Maps for routing or traffic information. While I found a work-around (see related thread) to the connection issues, I found them annoying. With one minor exception, the native Impreza head unit interface is more useful & flexible than AA for messaging & phone calls, & certainly more reliable.
I use it all the time now with the JVC head unit which has wireless AA and it's implemented in a much more useful way. The stock HU was just too much of PITA to plug in the USB (especially with one USB port which normally has a USB stick in it) took forever to come up, was pretty spotty functionality wise, etc.
I just can't count on Android Auto to work when I need it.
-- If I'm in a hurry and plug the phone in too soon after starting the car, it refuses to work.
-- Sometimes just driving along, it goes black.
-- When I try to use voice input it responds so slowly that I can't even tell if it's working at all.
-- A USB cable that used to work suddenly stopped and had to be replaced!
-- Or it won't work until Subaru issues a software update.
When I go on a trip somewhere unfamiliar, I bring a standalone GPS that I can count on. Also, I keep a car for many years. I have to believe that after a few years Subaru will just say, sorry, this device is obsolete, no more updates.
I just can't count on Android Auto to work when I need it.
-- If I'm in a hurry and plug the phone in too soon after starting the car, it refuses to work.
-- Sometimes just driving along, it goes black.
-- When I try to use voice input it responds so slowly that I can't even tell if it's working at all.
-- A USB cable that used to work suddenly stopped and had to be replaced!
-- Or it won't work until Subaru issues a software update.
When I go on a trip somewhere unfamiliar, I bring a standalone GPS that I can count on. Also, I keep a car for many years. I have to believe that after a few years Subaru will just say, sorry, this device is obsolete, no more updates.
The AA was a good selling point for me with the vehicle. I have had hit and miss luck with the AA system. Used to work well, then an update killed it...next one fixed it, last one made it hit and miss. Most of my issue is with the voice command, always takes way too long to do anything if it ever really does anything. I cannot count on it, so I just usually do not plug my phone to it
I use it for Google Maps, Waze and occasionally the phone's music.
I have had the AA navigation fail at times and usually use a Garmin on the dash for the primary info but Waze will give real time road info; a "debris on highway" alert was once very appreciated. "OK GOOGLE" and find a gas station or restaurant is an impressive trick - these really are the good old days! AA even seems to get the blue-tooth working after an initial blue-tooth "failure to connect".
I do wish they would get Torque easily working on the car's screen.
Ditto. I have a USB cord coming out of my center console for whenever I want to plug my phone in. If I had only one port (and if a USB Hub didn't work) I imagine I'd be using Android Auto a lot less.
I have a Pixel 2 XL and never had a problem with android auto that wasn't mirrored by the standard head unit. For example if I connect the phone through usb the only time it doesn't connect or respond is rarely if I restart the car after running into the store and haven't unplugged the phone, when connecting wirelessly I have had connection issues as well, sometimes the phone would connect and work other times it randomly would disconnect. I just attribute it to a poor headunit.
I like AA for the map function, it's useless to me otherwise. I haven't got a data plan cause I'm cheap and free wifi is everywhere.
I downloaded about 152599.619 km² of offline maps, basically a big rectangle from east of Montreal to north of Pembroke, West to Hamilton and south to about Syracuse. Works awesome provided I'm parked when I want to put in an address because it requires data to get directions by voice control. Would be nice if Google Assistant would reference it's local database before requiring the internet.
I hate that AA interferes with the native audio and phone voice control and that I have to access the phone to turn it off.
AA has a button on the HU to "return to Subaru" (or something similar) but all it does it shut down the AA screen. I'd like it to shut down HU interaction with AA until I re-enable the program via the HU's Apps control.
Making sure that you have a secure connection through USB is very important for android auto. In my previous car I upgraded to a Pioneer unit with AA and even people reviewing that unit would complain about losing connection from time to time. The issue is that the USB connected to the head unit is already running a usb out to a certain distance (in this case to the center console) and then if you connect a long wire (ex. 4ft, 6ft) it has to run power to even greater length. When I started using AA in my 2019 with 8" head unit I thought that using cable which came with my samsung phone would allow for the best connection possible but after a few days I noticed it would stop working randomly. It would also bother me that I had so much extra cable in the center console. I started using another cable which is much shorter and the connection feels much more solid; it actually takes a little bit of effort to unplug the phone but I've already gotten used to it and its worth it if it allows for a better AA experience. I bought the cable from amazon just search "aceyoon USB 3.0 Type C Cable Braided Charging Cord 1ft Short 2 Pack USB 3.0 "
I appreciate that you don't like the word lawsuit but my that's not enough to invalidate my statements. Android Auto is advertised as a selling point and its issues are not disclosed.
Not. Every. One. Has. Issues. It’s a small percentage that does. If yours is having an issue you take your car to the dealer for them to re program the system.
It’s more of a novelty system that hasn’t been out long enough to be 100% flawless.
Just like other thing that breaks or malfunctions on your vehicle. That’s what warranties are for.
And generally you wouldn’t be charged for an update even if out of warranty.
Not. Every. One. Has. Issues. It’s a small percentage that does. If yours is having an issue you take your car to the dealer for them to re program the system.
Just like other thing that breaks or malfunctions on your vehicle. That’s what warranties are for.
And generally you wouldn’t be charged for an update even if out of warranty.
I get that you're trigged by the word lawsuit but don't externalize your internal issues. Before a lawsuit could be initiated it would be neccesarry to make contact, seek resolution, and make demand if resolution is not reached. I just bought the car the other week, I've not made any contact with Subaru, I went on a forum to voice my frustration and speculation and now I have a punk riding my ass about my thought processes.
No I’m trying to speak with logic and reason with you. You said outbacks didn’t have the issue. I was correcting you stating them and other brand / models do.
As the program isn’t a Subaru program. It’s illogical to blame subaru. Just how you can’t blame manufactures who used those faulty airbags. Wasn’t their fault.
Welcome to the forum, and the Subaru owners.
Also you don’t have to quote me every time as I’m replying to you directly under your comments and video cersa.
No I’m trying to speak with logic and reason with you. You said outbacks didn’t have the issue. I was correcting you stating them and other brand / models do.
As the program isn’t a Subaru program. It’s illogical to blame subaru. Just how you can’t blame manufactures who used those faulty airbags. Wasn’t their fault.
Welcome to the forum, and the Subaru owners.
Also you don’t have to quote me every time as I’m replying to you directly under your comments and video cersa.
Your information and experience is appreciated and has provided a great counter to mine. I'm contacting Subaru per your advice and will report back regarding it's successful. However I can't agree with absolutist statements absolving Subaru of fault or the proposed forum etiquette pertaining to quoting of posts. However I hope we can come to a point of agreement that those disagreements are not worthy of further debate and conclude this comment chain.
I've contacted Subaru directly and am giving that 7 business days before contacting the dealer. I'm also trying to catch a logcat of some of the crashes.
AA gave me zero trouble on my 19(8" with navigation and HK), I now connect my phone all the time, running waze even when I don't need navigation so I know traffic or if there is cops on my way. Never experience problem for the 2 months of ownership. Phone were Nokia 6.1 and Huawei P30pro
By writing them I can establish a paper trail. Dealership I bought it from did not reply to non-sales email last time I sent one through the contact form.
As for the local service rep, is that like the rep from the dealership I bought it from? It isn't the closest dealership to me, and I do my own service except for stuff like this, am I going to get treated differently if I go to the dealer closest than the one I bought it from?
Generally no. All the dealer networks are pretty good. But you should go through the chain of command. You almost always have to call the dealership as most don’t communicate very well through email
And I do all my own service work as well, i was mainly referring to warranty work. For instance since I have a good relationship with my dealer, our last car was out of warranty by a week when the brake switch failed. They still covered it just because I asked.
There was no need to go to Subaru corporate. Be respectful, polite, and genuine and the same courtesy is usually shown back to you at the service desk.
I recently changed from an LG G3 (Android v6.0) to a Moto G7 Power (v9.0):
AA differences:
The LG G3 required that I NOT be logged into the phone in order for AA to work; the Moto G7 requires that I be logged in (this is slightly more convenient).
With the LG G3, if I disconnected the USB cable from the car before turning off the ignition, some of the G3's Bluetooth settings for the car were not preserved, & could not re-establish the Bluetooth connection between the two devices, even after turning the ignition off & on. Usually, I had to re-pair Bluetooth the two devices. I mostly avoided this problem by turning off the ignition before disconnecting the USB cable. With the Moto G7, this problem has apparently disappeared; I can now disconnect & re-connect at will without problems.
With the LG G3, once I had connected AA to the car, the car's native messaging panel was not accessible That meant that once I was running AA, I could not review recent (but BEFORE I connected via AA) messages, although sending new messages via AA worked fine (albeit I could not reply to prior messages). With the Moto G7, I can still access the car's native messaging interface while connected via AA & see prior messages. I have not yet tried to send a message from the car's native interface while connected via AA. I will try this soon.
Problem #2 was significant with the LG G3, because I never knew when I got into the car, whether it could automatically establish a Bluetooth connection after using AA, or whether I would have to spend a couple minutes clearing the erroneous Bluetooth pairing & then set it up again.
Problem #3 was an effective deterrent to routinely using AA.with the LG G3. We shall see if the Moto G7 effectively eliminates this problem.
... I have not yet tried to send a message from the car's native interface while connected via AA. I will try this soon. ... We shall see if the Moto G7 effectively eliminates this problem.
Result (all with AA active & connected to the car):
As I noted, I can see the last 48 hours (or last dozen; I don't know the criteria) of messages on the car's native message screen, but they do not appear in AA if they were received while AA was NOT active. I can reply to them using the car's native message screen.
When I receive a text message with AA active, it appears both in AA & the car's native message screen, & I can respond to it in either place.
if I receive a 2nd text message before responding to the first one in AA, I can no longer respond to the first one using AA; I see only the 2nd message in AA, & can respond to it in AA. I can still see both messages in the car's native message system.
Now, AA's message reply function allows me to dictate a voice response, which is then read back to me, & if confirmed, then sent. The car's native message reply system only allows me to choose between ten canned (by Subaru) text replies, so a reply using AA is more flexible, IF I have not received subsequent text messages.
Using LineageOS or LineageOS based roms the bluetooth works perfectly but Android Auto fails. I've made two issues on github for mindthegapps and opengapps but there is no development on them.
Using latest official stock "Android One" by Google(TM) 9.0 pie Android build the AA app works. Bluetooth connects but any time I try to make a call or play audio it crashes.
Crashes/bugs include:
Head unit going black.
Head unit not responding to touch, accepting steering wheel track change input, coming back to life about 5 minutes later. Still shows track changes on top.
Head unit entirely freezing and not updating display.
Android Auto closing on head unit but running on phone
I can isolate the phone from being at fault because during some crashes when the head unit becomes unresponsive and refuses to launch AA I can reboot the phone and try to connect and it won't work, but if I hold the power button on head unit it will reboot and start working.
I can confirm crashing issues being caused by bluetooth. It will seemingly work fine many times but then it will fail to pair randomly. Safest thing I've found is deleting my car from bluetooth connections every time. Android Auto forces the bluetooth to connect when the cable is plugged in, I wish it did not, wonder if removing bluetooth connection would fix the issues or break AA functions.
Summary Findings:
Bluetooth works great on LineageOS
Android Auto does not work on LineageOS
Android Auto does work on LineageOS with other head units
Bluetooth crashes on official Google Android
Android Auto crashes caused by head unit not phone OS
Looking forward to my phone or cable being blamed and hearing that everything working perfect for you in subsequent replies.
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