Android auto questions

[ozy]

I realize this is not specific to the Clarity but was wondering about general usage of android auto. First of all, why does my Clarity always activate bluetooth when I select AA as the source? The phone is plugged into the car, so why the bluetooth? When I leave the car with the phone in my pocket the bluetooth stays on the entire day for no reason. Also, why does my Android Auto not have the ability to swipe the black screen out of the way? I am running Nougat on a Samsung note 5 and there is no way to swipe the black screen away. Are other people as annoyed as I am by the jack booted efforts of AA to "reduce distractions"? It infuriates me that when I'm stopped on the side of the road I can't take a quick look at my screen and see what's going on. I don't intend to text or read while I'm driving but I think I should make decisions for myself. I saw a video on youtube that suggested that one could actually watch youtube on the main screen of the car on AA (but I couldn't get it to work). There are lots of times when I'm stuck motionless in my car for long periods of time when I would love to have this functionality. Just wondering if anyone was able to do this. Last point, it seems as if Waze gets frozen on my AA screen most of the time. I like Waze more than Google maps but it seems more finicky. Any way around this?

 

[ClarityDoc]

Running Pie on Google Pixel 2XL, not having these problems. Automatic BT connection is an option in Pie, I believe. Connection ends when the car is turned off. No trouble dismissing AA when sitting still.

Sent using Inside EVs mobile app

 

[tim]

Regarding locking the phone while Android Auto is connected, I used to see this behavior, but now I don't. My current phone allows swiping the screen and using the phone while Android Auto is connected. I'm guessing one of the phone updates made the difference. I'm currently running 8.0.0 Oreo.

 

[David in TN]

Instead of trying to swipe the AA screen away, just press the Home button to go to your home screen. I know it says swipe, and it is frustrating and doesn't always work. Just go to home screen.

I keep Bluetooth on on my phone all the time and am not sure what the issue is with that.

I have two different cords I my car. A red one that is connected to the 1.5 amps USB Jack for AA. A black one that is connected to more powerful, multi outlet, lighter plug.

I have a Samsung Note 9. If I want to do AA for Google maps or Waze, then I use red cord. If not, I use black cord. I can stream music to headunit using Bluetooth.

Oh...if you see a silver cord - that's for those folks who have iPhones...like most of the people in my family. I usually keep it hidden in the glove box! [emoji846]

Sent from my SM-N960U using Inside EVs mobile app

 

[petteyg359]

why does my Clarity always activate bluetooth when I select AA as the source? The phone is plugged into the car, so why the bluetooth?

Because AA uses Bluetooth to transmit audio.

When I leave the car with the phone in my pocket the bluetooth stays on the entire day for no reason.

Bluetooth is not a stupid protocol. If it's not actively connected to something and transmitting data, it uses practically no power. You use far more power turning the screen on to glance at the phone during the day than an inactive Bluetooth radio will spend over the full 24 hours.

Are other people as annoyed as I am by the jack booted efforts of AA to "reduce distractions"?

No. Too many idiot so-called "drivers" around and "this is why we can't have nice things". I'm all for taking the safety labels off of coffee, power tools, and knives, and letting natural selection take its course among the morons, but when they are pointing their 2-ton kinetic weapon in my direction, not so much.

I can't take a quick look at my screen and see what's going on

I've never seen an Android Auto app that you couldn't back out of with a few presses. I've gone through three phones. One was stuck on Android 4, one was 6 and 7, and now my current one has been 7 and 8 and 9. Every one, the AA app had an icon on the phone to back out to the home screen. Swipe up, hit the circle. Simple.

 

[ozy]

Because AA uses Bluetooth to transmit audio.

Bluetooth is not a stupid protocol. If it's not actively connected to something and transmitting data, it uses practically no power. You use far more power turning the screen on to glance at the phone during the day than an inactive Bluetooth radio will spend over the full 24 hours.

No. Too many idiot so-called "drivers" around and "this is why we can't have nice things". I'm all for taking the safety labels off of coffee, power tools, and knives, and letting natural selection take its course among the morons, but when they are pointing their 2-ton kinetic weapon in my direction, not so much.

I've never seen an Android Auto app that you couldn't back out of with a few presses. I've gone through three phones. One was stuck on Android 4, one was 6 and 7, and now my current one has been 7 and 8 and 9. Every one, the AA app had an icon on the phone to back out to the home screen. Swipe up, hit the circle. Simple.

Well, that is not my situation. I see a black screen in front of me (no ability to swipe it away). When I press the Home button nothing happens, screen is still black. I can press the left button which is my "open apps" and it will give me a tiled view of my open apps. If I happen to see an open app that I want to use I can press on it and thus leave momentarily leave AA. However, let's say I want to go to an app and it's not one of the recent apps in the tiled view, then I literally need to exit out of AA by closing it. This sequence is so annoying that I tend to just leave it on the black screen even when I'm sitting parked somewhere and have a few minutes to till. I'm running nougat.