dadrocker

After recently realizing that Apple Maps was routing me in a way that was wildly increasing my drive times compared to Waze's routing (e.g., 35 minutes vs. 1:05 compared simultaneously, with help from someone riding shotgun), I'm evaluating whether Android Auto ("AA") and Waze will work for me.

I'm an unabashed Apple fan boy, but my first impression of AA is positive. The AA interface seems a bit more intuitive than CarPlay (though come on, Audi -- how about a touchscreen!?). But the resolution of AA and Waze on the MMI screen makes me cringe. Compared to the native MMI display, and even to CarPlay on MMI, AA and Waze look awful. Is there a setting I'm missing somewhere that can help with this? I don't know my way around Android at all. The phone I bought is a cheap Moto E4. Is it the phone?

And while we're at it, it seems like most of the apps on the Android phone itself cannot be deleted; is that correct? While setting it up, I tried to delete a bunch, knowing that this will only sit in my center console, but it seems like the best I could do is disable them (rather than actually deleting them). Not a huge problem, though.

Also, as a point of reference for anyone thinking about trying what I'm trying, I'm using Pocket Casts for my podcast needs. Someone on this board mentioned it once, I think. So far it's okay, but not as robust as Overcast, which is my favorite. But Overcast is only iOS, while Pocket Casts is iOS and Android. That allows me to keep my podcasts in sync on both devices. Are there any other cross-platform podcast apps that support AA and CarPlay?

audi-one

Yes, there is a developer 'secret' menu where you can improve the resolution. It is an impressive step up actually.

1. Launch the Android Auto application on your smartphone
2. Tap on the hamburger menu icon in the top left corner
3. Select the About option
4. Tap repeatedly on the About Android Auto portion of the heading until a pop-up states that Developer settings is enabled
5. To locate the Developer settings, select the multi-dot menu button in the top right corner
6. Tap on Developer settings

You can up the resolution to 720. There's an option for 1080 but I don't think it actually does anything.

Also, you can change a setting in the dev options so that AA pops up automatically when connected to the MMI via USB, instead of you needing to scroll in the MMI to activate it. Much better this way.

In terms of deleting apps, many phones are locked down by the provider so you get to deal with their fun bloatware. Frustrating, yes. Disabling them is the only option for most users, unless you want to get more advanced into 'rooting.'

dadrocker

Many thanks - the resolution change makes a big difference! I appreciate the help.

scoopman

Re podcast players, not that I know of (outside of things like Spotify). What doesn't PC do that you want it to?

dadrocker

Thanks for chiming in. This is certainly a first world problem, but since you asked, there are two things that I've picked up on so far. Maybe you can tell me that I've just missed these:

First, in Overcast, there's a setting to enable a playlist to go on to the next item and start playing it automatically. I don't see that in Pocket Casts. That feature is relevant to the next point.

Second, in Overcast, you can make a playlist in which you specify which podcasts are included. Within that playlist, you can prioritize the order in which each podcast appears. Each podcast can then be sorted however you want within that list. So you might have a playlist that looks like:

1. This American Life - Jan 31
2. This American Life - Feb 8
3. This American Life - Feb 15
4. WTF - Feb 2
5. WTF - Feb 5
6. Radiolab - Feb 3
7. Radiolab - Feb 10

Within this construct, you can also edit the playlist on the fly, such that you could move item #5 up to item #1, for your own reasons, without having to redo the definitions of the playlist itself. So if there's a guest on #5 and you really want to hear that one next, you can manually override and slide it up to next in the queue. This is helpful when, for example, I'm halfway through an interview at the end of a commute home. I can slide that up in the queue to make sure I finish it next time. Otherwise, the episode I'm in the middle of might get pushed down in the queue due to the release of new episodes from higher priority podcasts.

I see that Pocket Casts has "filters," but I haven't found the ability to do much with a filter other than sort a podcast or group of podcasts by date, let alone the more granular things I've grown used to with Overcast.

ArvX147

Thanks for the tip on resolution, just did it and everything looks way better!!

scoopman

I'm heavily into podcasts too and you've hit upon the two biggest complaints I have with Pocket Casts.

PC used to play the next episode in a Filter when the one you're listening to was done, but they stopped doing that as a conscious decision.

Also, you can reorganize PC subscriptions in an order you'd like, but that doesn't affect the sorting for a Filter.

There are some things you can experiment with in the Settings for an individual podcast subscription to add new episodes of the subscription to "Up Next" which will automatically play the next episode of a particular podcast when a new episode is posted. I use this, for example, to add the latest hourly NPR newscast to play when it's posted each hour, and also for "The Daily" each morning.

This all being said, PC is the best podcast player on Android by far. The developer of PC is really great and responsive, and I'm sure would welcome the feedback from you. I'll pass it along on your behalf (I know him) and we'll see what he says....

scoopman

Also you want to check "Request video focus on start" on that same Developer Settings menu and AA will automatically take over the screen when you plug it in instead of having to scroll down to the "Android Auto" green menu item to start it up.

dadrocker

Thanks for this tip, and your other comments. I'll PM so we can nerd out re podcasts and their players without troubling our friends here any further.

Wires

Is there a way to change the contrast on AA? I find during the way, it has a white background, and light grey roads (hard to see when driving). During the night, it's the inverse, and just as hard to see. I was looking to use AA for google traffic, but the traffic lines are super thin on the "washed out" roads.

I had bumped up the display to 1080p in the developer settings, but no change.