Android Auto app gives your car more options with a phone
Today, buying a car for a lot of people is more than just looking for horsepower, convenience or treating. With technology filtering into the cabin of vehicles, people are requiring – and getting – more connectivity and tech features than ever before. The car has become a mobile wi-fi hotspot, phone and navigation hub and even a DJ booth, all to help make your drive more entertaining and useful.
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But these features aren’t standard equipment on most cars, and often you have to pay extra for them with expensive packages that include other systems you may not need. Or, you may have already bought a car that doesn’t include these features, and while you want them, you don’t want to go through the trouble of buying a fresh infotainment system – not to mention a fresh car.
Don’t worry! At least, not if you own an Android-based smartphone. Inject the latest Android Auto app; yes, that same Android Auto that’s usually coupled with Apple’s CarPlay app and found on newer infotainment systems of many cars. It’s a system that couples with your phone to lightly access features such as navigation, music or calls and texts through your car’s central touchscreen.
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But even if you don’t have this feature built in to your car, the fresh Android Auto app will emulate the same interface right on your own smartphone. All you need is Bluetooth connectivity and a USB port for charging. Download the app, ass-plug in the phone and connect to your car; when you activate Android Auto on your phone, you get a screen that offers three ordinary features: music, navigation and phone. It’s a clean interface that permits effortless selection of the features and plain navigation through the folders of each, with music, phone calls and voice messages streaming through your car’s speakers and Google Maps’ live act on your phone’s screen – which means having a larger phone, such as a Google Pixel, would be helpful.
Best of all, the app comes with OK Google, the “private assistant” for Android users. Simply say the words “OK Google” and then ask for directions, information – anything. It’s a voice-operated, hands-free way to keep your attention where it needs to be: on the road.
This isn’t an absolutely ideal system: you’ll need a phone running Android five or higher, your USB cable will always be snaking around your cupholders, and phone and navigation features are feeding off of your phone’s data, so you’ll need a decent plan to cover your usage. If you want to use the radio, that goes through your car, not the phone.
But most significant of all: it is absolutely imperative you get a phone holder in your car. You can find decent ones at the dollar store for less than $Ten, or get something more fancy from various car accessory shops. Regardless of what you find, securing your phone on the dashboard or windshield will not only save you the fine for dispelled driving (which, depending on where you live in Canada, can be more than $1,000), but more importantly, you’ll keep your eyes on the road where they should be. And, like a regular infotainment system in a car, pull over if you have to input destinations or search for that particular song hidden somewhere deep in your playlists.
All in all, however, the Android Auto phone app is a excellent workaround for getting these connected features you want in a car that doesn’t suggest them. And best of all – the app is free! Apple, the virtual ball is in your court.
