which works better with Clarity, Android Auto or Carplay?

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ozy

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Just broke my android phone and am considering making a switch to iphone XR or XS. I've never used iphone but a large part of my phone use is within the car. So which is better with Clarity, AA or Carplay? I have used AA for a while...it's slightly buggy but OK. At least google maps works very well on it. I briefly tried Carplay once and was struck by how intuitively and quickly it was recognized by the headunit. Really seamless. However, I did note that google maps did not seem to work as well. As far as I could tell it did not recognize voice commands, had a strange font to it and I could not pinch the magnification. Also, Spotify did not seem to respond to voice commands. This was a while ago so I don't' know if anything has changed.
 
I'm an Android person, but between a dead phone and its replacement, I used an iPhone. I found Siri and Carplay superior to Android Auto. More intuitive and it understood me much better than my Android phone . Unfortunately, I use my Google voice number as my main number, and couldn't get the default dialer on iOS to call using voice/Hangouts
 
I have both and was using the android for Waze until iOS 12 allowed third party navigation apps. Even with the loss of arrows on the instrument cluster for navigation with waze or goggle maps I don’t miss it at all. Android auto would hang often and was just darn unreliable for me.
 
Google voice recognition is easy ahead of Siri, IMHO. Otherwise I think it comes down to iOS versus Android preference - the AA and CarPlay connections seem comparable based on comments here and elsewhere.

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Finding many people who have used both will be hard. You’re either an Apple or an android, and few go to i the other side very often. I used my last Civic for business and it had the same tablet the Clarity does. I used CarPlay very heavily with my iphone. It worked fine, but if it ever got wonky I’d need to reboot the tablet maybe once per month.
 
I have Android. My wife and adult kids have iPhones. Two iPhones are connected to my car.

When traveling, we've used both, switching back and forth. We all prefer AA over CP.

But everyone has an opinion.

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I have used both extensively. Much of the decision comes to personal preference. Each has pros and cons. Ultimately iOS provides the most reliable performance due to Apple’s standardization of hardware and software, which make it easier for car makers to develop systems that work well with them. This is especially important if you use multiple vehicles, as you can be certain that iOS will likely work on any of them. Due to variances of hardware/Android version, Android is always a crapshoot. Car makers will often publish a list of Android phones which are compatible, so you may want to research which phones are compatible with the Clarity. Chances are the phones on the list will be older, as those were the phones available during the cars development. If you buy Android that isn’t on the list, you may have issues. When Apple integrated Google Maps into CarPlay, I finally gave up on Android.


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I far prefer google maps to apple maps but I don't think you can use your voice to request an address on google maps if you are using car play? Also, I love to use Spotify when I drive and could not use my voice to request songs. With my Android I could simply say "Johnny Cash" and it would instantly bring up his music. With carplay I think you need to search for things while you are driving which is too dangerous. This alone is a major disadvantage. Also, is it my imagination but doesn't Google maps look really weird on carplay? Unless it's some kind of phone resolution problem I saw a big difference between the nice maps I was used to on my android and the clunky map on car play. I think, however, if you use apple maps it looks excellent (but most people don't seem to like apple maps). I'm trying to decide between buying another android or going with an iphone XS, and this is complicating the decision a little.
 
Have not tried Android yet as wife doesn't dare to sit in that cockpit...
I had an issue with Carplay not recognizing the phone while it was locked but I found the switch I had to turn on. Apple maps sucks, WAZE is fine (app is great but I still don't like the map layout), while although I find Google maps pretty much the more useful of the bunch, it seems a bit restricted as compared to the phone, like lacking the capability of route overview and alternatives with a single tap. But the worst part was when I tried to switch music app from Pandora to Amazon music and the system hung up and had to unplug and replug the phone and restart it all over again while driving... I have also an online nav app called HERE that I wish they would include in CarPlay, as well as the Volta free charger app.
 
ozy said:
I far prefer google maps to apple maps but I don't think you can use your voice to request an address on google maps if you are using car play? Also, I love to use Spotify when I drive and could not use my voice to request songs. With my Android I could simply say "Johnny Cash" and it would instantly bring up his music. With carplay I think you need to search for things while you are driving which is too dangerous. This alone is a major disadvantage. Also, is it my imagination but doesn't Google maps look really weird on carplay? Unless it's some kind of phone resolution problem I saw a big difference between the nice maps I was used to on my android and the clunky map on car play. I think, however, if you use apple maps it looks excellent (but most people don't seem to like apple maps). I'm trying to decide between buying another android or going with an iphone XS, and this is complicating the decision a little.
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1. You can voice search Google Maps and Spotify on iOS/Carplay by installing the Google Assistant app for iOS. After installing, a Google Assistant widget can be added to the "Today View" on the iPhone. You simply swipe to Today view and press the Google Assistant microphone icon and voice search your heart away.

2. Google Maps in iOS/Carplay also has a microphone icon in the upper right corner of the screen which can be touched to enable a voice search.

3. CarPlay does not require any more "searching for things" than Android Auto, however each will have its differences in native app support. It's just as easy to ask Siri to play Johnny Cash, if one is using Apple Music as it is to use Google Assistant with Spotify or Play Music.

4. I am split between Apple Maps/Google Maps/Waze as well as Siri vs Google Assistant so its nice to have all available on iOS/Carplay.

5. There is much more to using a phone than the car interface, and both systems have pros/cons. It's nice to have choices!
 
I have a pixel 3 and iPhone 8+. I use the pixel as my main phone and the iPhone is my business line. I much prefer andriod but I can't get the car to play nice with my pixel. I tried everything, its just frustrating when it doesn't work 50% of the time. Carplay works everytime. I don't bother with AA anymore. I tried to get Honda to look into this but they have no idea what they are doing at the dealerships when it comes to troubleshooting the infotainment.
 
Thomas Mitchell said:
To avoid the wailing and gnashing of teeth that accompany unsupported phones, you can go here to check phone compatibility in the Clarity: http://handsfreelink.com/Honda/en-US/US/FindAPhone
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It appears that this list is woefully incomplete and/or outdated. It includes neither of the smartphones I have very successfully used with my Clarity and AA -- a mid-range Motorola G5 and a higher spec One-Plus 6T. I realize it would be very difficult for Honda to test all of the Android phones out there, but IMHO if they are going to publish a compatibility list like that they should at least test the phones that are currently offered by the 4 "big" wireless carriers in the US. I bought the Motorola at a big box store, but the One+6T from T-Mobile.
 
I have not tried Apple Play but am truly amazed the music sound quality coming wired from my phone. Playing Spotify or Tidal in HIFI mode, you'd never want to go back to Bluetooth once you experience the pure sound quality of Android Auto.
 
Texas22Step said:
It appears that this list is woefully incomplete and/or outdated. It includes neither of the smartphones I have very successfully used with my Clarity and AA -- a mid-range Motorola G5 and a higher spec One-Plus 6T. I realize it would be very difficult for Honda to test all of the Android phones out there, but IMHO if they are going to publish a compatibility list like that they should at least test the phones that are currently offered by the 4 "big" wireless carriers in the US. I bought the Motorola at a big box store, but the One+6T from T-Mobile.
Click to expand...
Industrial said:
I have a pixel 3 and iPhone 8+. I use the pixel as my main phone and the iPhone is my business line. I much prefer andriod but I can't get the car to play nice with my pixel. I tried everything, its just frustrating when it doesn't work 50% of the time. Carplay works everytime. I don't bother with AA anymore. I tried to get Honda to look into this but they have no idea what they are doing at the dealerships when it comes to troubleshooting the infotainment.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, Google is not a supported manufacturer of Android Phones for the Clarity according to Honda's list. Which is odd, as their version of Android is considered the most stock version. I will probably become supported about the time it is obsolete....
 
The first two or three days of ownership I was having connectivity issues with Android Auto but now it's working fine every single time I drive the car (yay!)
Not sure what happened, I'm using the same phone (Google Pixel XL), same USB cable...maybe there was a software update to Android Auto or something to that extent.
I can't really comment about CarPlay but Android Auto is great and does everything I want very reliably. Helps that I have a Google Play music account and a Google phone so everything feels more integrated.
 
I have used both, and prefer Android Auto. Unfortunately iMessage has me locked into Apple’s walled garden. CarPlay idiotically starts music playing every single time even if you just want directions. Android Auto supports turn-by-turn directions on the dashboard, similar to the Touring’s built-in navigation. Both of them take a strangely long time to initialize and occasionally flake out, which so far has been solvable by unplugging and replugging. My Android experience was specifically with a Google Pixel XL.
 
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