Any Non official car kits that auto bring up car mode? Because that price is nuts.
this is what i use. puts it into car mode with no problems. was using it with my m7 and now with the m8
i'm using Tylt-Capio-NFC-Universal-Mount with trigger app from the play store works like a charm
I use Tasker to program not only car mode, but things like home mode, work mode, mute when I have a calendar appointment containing a specific word, to activate app-specific device settings... Anything really. There's a learning curve but easily the most valuable app in the play store, IMO.
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Just installed this last night. All I can say is, slick. I had been using Custom Car Home, which also offers large icons, but Ultra adds street location read out, and speed and direction displays. It also will automatically turn your wifi off, and Bluetooth on when activated, and the reverse, when it turns off. Free 30 day trial, in the market, and $1.99 to purchase the license. Well worth it, imo.
https://market.android.com/details?id=spinninghead.carhome&feature=search_result
CarHome Ultra by TheSpinningHead
spotmark said:
Just installed this last night. All I can say is, slick. I had been using Custom Car Home, which also offers large icons, but Ultra adds street location read out, and speed and direction displays. It also will automatically turn your wifi off, and Bluetooth on when activated, and the reverse, when it turns off. Free 30 day trial, in the market, and $1.99 to purchase the license. Well worth it, imo.
https://market.android.com/details?id=spinninghead.carhome&feature=search_result
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+1 yep. I've been using this since the early beta release.
it's an easier car dock app for setting up shortcuts and dealing with our weird usb--> 3.5mm audio setup. I do still need to use the stock Samsung/TW Music Player to allow me to redirect the audio through the dock, then launch whatever I really want to listen to - this car dock app makes that easier (and has some nice bells & whistles .
I do wish there was some a simple app that would direct media audio out the [desk|car] dock upon launch. Maybe a voodoo sound option or something...
good find....
The only problem I have with this app, is now my son, who is sitting in the back, constantly reminds me of my speed.
Try Galaxy Dock Sound Redirector by xcaliburhand, available in the market. Works for me like a charm. There are no controls, it just automatically redirects sounds to USB when you insert the phone into the car dock.
I have not tried it with the phone calls, imagine it won't work, but I'm so used to "unplugging" the phone and taking the calls over speaker, so that's not an issue for me.
I don't use a wired connection, in my car. I use the Motorola T505, which plays my music, and calls through the stereo over FM.
another good find!
ddavv said:
Try Galaxy Dock Sound Redirector by xcaliburhand, available in the market. Works for me like a charm. There are no controls, it just automatically redirects sounds to USB when you insert the phone into the car dock.
I have not tried it with the phone calls, imagine it won't work, but I'm so used to "unplugging" the phone and taking the calls over speaker, so that's not an issue for me.
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Just installed and headed out to my car to verify function - sounds like just what the proverbial doctor ordered...
Edit: very slick - I plug into the car dock, Car Home Ultra launches and the Galaxy Dock Sound Redirector displays a brief (and silent) pop-up notification that the sound has been redirected to the USB port. Audio from Pandora and TuneIn Radio plays out via the Car Dock simple as that.
When I remove the phone from the dock, audio is reset to normal (with a similar brief pop-up notification). The notification is optional, and activation is selectable for Car and Desk docks.
Thanks!
Thanks for pointing out Galaxy sound redirector! does exactly what I need without forcing me to use the crappy samsung dock app!
Hello all, I had a Son XAV-601BT, which was supposed to be a very promising and awesome android headunit, but ended up being a dud because mirrorlink doesn't work well, etc, I can only connect my phone with bluetooth and play music through it. I just got a Nissan Titan and want to up my in car experience. I had a good bit of audio equipment I took out of my old 240sx and was going to reuse it, which included the 601BT, 2 kicker amps (one for the sub, another 4 channel for speakers), and polk audio speakers, but the headunit is basically.. meh.
I was wondering what would be the ideal route to go to get the best experience. I know they have head units that have all the android auto stuff built in, but since I already have a nice amp I can use to drive the speakers, would I be better off just using a tablet and getting things connected up that way? I would like to be able to utilize good quality voice for commands and phone calls, but I am not sure if using a tablet for that would work (using the phones capabilities through the tablet to make calls and texts via bluetooth or some other way.)
If anyone has any recommendations on how I can have a nice sized mounted capacitive screen to control my audio (spotify), navigation, and be able to use voice commands (though I could technically just make them through my watch as I have been), I would love to hear some suggestions. If the best route to go would be an actual android auto headunit, then so be it, but I would like to know if alternatives can do this.
See my sig for Headunit app for Android Auto. Nexus tablets are working well with it.
Tablet solution likely takes some time to get it the way you want it, but it makes it very customizable and can be done cheaply-ish.
There are 2 popular lines of $300 Chinese HUs discussed on XDA. They are best described as... the Chinese stuff you find on EBay/Alibaba etc. Source is available but the latest Newsmy is still stuck on Android 4.4.
Or for $500-2k get a Pioneer or Kenwood Android Auto 4100/6100/7100NEX. There's a custom ROM just come out for some Pioneers, but it will take time to mature.
Awesome, thanks for the info. I really appreciate it. I was looking in to some of the interesting setups people have, such as using an Arduino with an IR transmitter that you connect to the tablet, so you can use a standard smaller headunit, hide it in the dash to connect to the speakers and control the volume, and the tablet can be mounted nice, and when you hit the volume etc on the tablet it makes the Arduino blast the IR to the head unit, and it makes the volume go up as if you pressed the button (or in this case, the remote)
That might work well with a head unit app or something similar. I will download the APK's you linked and check them out!
I like android auto when it works. Its great to use for waze and listen to music. Here is where I feel it fails and idk if its a real issue or I need to learn to use it properly.
For example with Waze: If I have my phone plugged in and android auto active, i can't put in a new address or search for a gas station. Waze on my car has no option to type or search for gas stations. If I try to open waze on my phone it won't open. The only way i can do is to unplug get what i need done in waze and plug it back in. I get frustrated and it makes it so unsafe. How do I fix this issue?
There's nothing wrong with your AA, this is how is meant to work for safety reasons. There is no search box during drive, you have to stop and then you can search for a new address. Or, you can do a voice search, by pressing the microphone button on car's screen. Take a look here: https://support.google.com/waze/answer/7580507?hl=en
Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk
informative. thanks
After I upgraded my Nexus 6 to LOS 18.1, I discovered that Android Auto is included in the necessary package MindTheGapps. I am able to use AA via USB cable in my car (Hyunday i10/2017) and I am beginning to like it. Controlling the music player is so much better in the car's big screen!
I tried to establish a wireless connection using Bluetooth, because the AA app on my phone offers that option, but I can not make that connection, and I am beginning to think I might have a problem of understanding this technique. So I would appreciate a bit of help and explanation here.
Without the cable, just using BT, I am able to select people in the address book and make phone calls. The control buttons on the steering wheel also working perfectly: take calls, hang up, volume control. I guess this is some sort of typical old school free hand phone call protocol.
Also, when on BT, I get minimum control over the phone's music player with the steering wheel buttons, *after* I started the player on the phone's screen: next/previous track, volume control.
When I plug in the USB cable, AA starts and I get full control over the music player using my car's entertainmane screen: I can dig around in artists and albums list, and I can do any thing I can do on the phone's screen.
As said before: the AA app belonging to the MtG package offers to connect AA through BT, and I very much would like a galvanic separation between my car and my phone. But I can not make it work that way.
So, my question is: am I on the wrong track there? Does AA over BT work at all? Or do I need to make a wifi connection? What conditions need to be fitted on the phone, the LOS version, the GAPSS version and the car?
Many thanks in advance!
Wireless AA uses WiFi, you can not do AA with just BT. Your car does not support Wireless AA. You can connect via USB and use AA (it will use BT, too), or you can connect wireless with just BT, without AA.
Thanks!
I was totally confused there, because the AA app in LOS offers wireless connection to the car using BT. If I am getting it right now, that option only applies to streaming phone calls and music to the car.
Wouldn't it be better to label that option otherwise?
This one is really annoying me - with my new Dacia Jogger, I've found that Android Auto always thinks I'm driving, even when parked, with the engine off. The problem with this is some navigation apps completely disable the ability to search for a destination, so I can't progam in a route once I'm connected! Also Gameshack is disabled because AA thinks I'm driving too.
There any way to fix this or stop AA from disabling interactions?
Your headunit has a wire connected to the handbrake sensor in your car, and this way it knows if you're parked and can't restrict some activities. This information is passed from the headunit's firmware to Android Auto internally, and this way Android Auto can restrict or allow you to do some stuff like use the touchpad, use certain buttons, etc.
In order to save money (or due to a bad Android Auto implementation), some headunits don't send handbrake status information to Android Auto. This way you can use the onscreen voice button all the time (in the lower corner of Android Auto) even if the car is moving, but the downside is that some Android Features get broken, like Gamesnacks or alphabetic search in lists. They can do this for a number of reasons, like not having a dedicated voice button in the steering wheel or headunit, but it's not the ideal case.
I suggest you to find other people with the same car model and see if their cars behave in the same way. If so, then this is a headunit problem and the carmaker should release a fix. If this only happens in your car, I would check if there's a wiring issue in the handbrake or something similar is happening.
you might also want to check if there's some settings menu in your headunit with some option to check this.
You can also try to sync a new phone over bluetooth to your car headunit while parked. If it refuses because the car is moving (even if is not) then it could be a wiring issue.