WinterCar

Those of you that use Android Auto often in your Q5, can you share your experiences? I'm use the phone version on my current car (mount it to the dash), and would like to know how it compares to the built-in version on the Q5.

kcdubya

Just to be clear, Android Auto is not actually built into your Q5/SQ5. What is displayed on the MMI console is the Android Auto app as running on the phone after you connect your phone to the MMI bluetooth and start the app. Functionality-wise I have not found any difference. That is, all features available directly on the phone are available through the MMI console.

The main difference is user experience. That is, I find it very easy to control Android Auto through the MMI control panel when driving and of course you get the larger display.

One annoying thing I found. I have set Android Auto to start automatically as soon as my phone connects to the MMI bluetooth so I don't have to remember to start it. Most of the time that is very convenient. However, occasionally I start the car and then want to do something directly on the phone. However, at least on my Samsung Note 8, I find even if I exit Android Auto, it restarts and gets focus so I really have to fight with it to use another app. Most of the time I just admit defeat and shutoff the car so I can get to the other app.

augerpro

I thought the phone needs to be plugged in for AA to work?

WinterCar

Thanks, this is helpful. I'll look out for this when I do a test drive. I'm happy to hear the user experience is better when using Android Auto through MMI.

Ron.S

I have a Google Pixel so don’t know how it compares to Samsung. The Auto on does start Android Auto when set to Auto but I think that is intended for users that don’t have it in the vehicle and mine is easy to turn off once activated and stays off. Alternatively you don’t need to set it to Auto, it should activate once you plug it in USB to vehicle. In my 2018 SQ5 it only activates the first time if I have the vehicle running and then plug it in. But stopping for gas and restarting it reactivates automatically. It works much better in my Audi than it does in my GMC truck. You can do a lot of things with the Google Assistant when in AA mode. Audi needs a one step process to switch in and out on the MMI and it would be nice to display AA on the driver screen like you can with the factory. It has come a long way in just two years considering the lag time in getting technology into vehicles.

kcdubya

Thanks for the clarification guys. I just happen to be getting in my car when I saw these replies and WinterCar and Ron. S you both seem to be correct. I always plug in my phone when I get in the car so I never noticed that was the trigger.

Based on your comments and after some more testing I see that Android Auto does it indeed start automatically when it is plugged-in, its easy to stop when you unplug the phone, and the autostart feature is useless at least for how I use Android Auto which is only in my Audi.

So I guess I am now less "annoyed"!!

paperbridge

I use Google Maps via Android Auto and have had a good experience with it. The UI in Waze is not as good with street names that are difficult to read, so I don't use Waze.
Occasionally, Google Maps or Android Auto will crash, but it starts back up automatically and relatively quickly so doesn't have much of an impact on the experience.

kcdubya

Agreed. In my previous car, Waze was my go to Navigation app because I really liked the road hazard alerting capabilities but I think the the Google Earth integration is so good in my SQ5, that I have dropped Waze. I primarily use Android Auto for music

AndroidRobot

I've used AA in 6-7 vehicles now (between rentals and owns I've owned/own). It's odd at first not using a touch screen, but now I prefer the MMI **** for AA control. The only time it's not as good is with Waze. Either way AA in dash is the best form to use it

Boink

I find it a bit clunky in operation (compared to the rest of the MMI). I still don't see how texting works with it.
Generally, the only real advantage I see is with asking Google stuff.