Database Develop

What is the DEAL with Car Mode???

A long time ago, when stuff actually worked, I was able to slide my One into the HTC dock and it would enable the "Car Mode" state (NOT Car.apk, the stock garbage car app). With it, it would launch the apk associated with launching with Car Mode. This apk was set by the user if more than one car dock apps were installed (think opening a browser link from search, and it asks you if you want to use Chrome or Internet or Dolphin or Maxathon) which I had set to InDrive. So, I'd slide my dock in, and it would automatically launch InDrive, start playing music through bluetooth, and start Autoguard recording in the background.
But then they broke it. I believe it was 4.3 IIRC.
I'm now on 4.4.2 and it looks like they never returned the functionality to change what app gets launched when you slide it into the dock.
Purely, my question is: is there a way I can change the app that launches when I slide it into the dock? I'd like to get InDrive working again as that best suits my needs.
Some other info: There was a workaround which essentially re-enabled car-mode (and of course required root and a custom recovery image) but that wasn't even reliable, as it would only launch intermittently. I can't find this and doubt it works with 4.4.2.
I'm currently on Android Revolution HD 62

Putrid186 said:
A long time ago, when stuff actually worked, I was able to slide my One into the HTC dock and it would enable the "Car Mode" state (NOT Car.apk, the stock garbage car app). With it, it would launch the apk associated with launching with Car Mode. This apk was set by the user if more than one car dock apps were installed (think opening a browser link from search, and it asks you if you want to use Chrome or Internet or Dolphin or Maxathon) which I had set to InDrive. So, I'd slide my dock in, and it would automatically launch InDrive, start playing music through bluetooth, and start Autoguard recording in the background.
But then they broke it. I believe it was 4.3 IIRC.
I'm now on 4.4.2 and it looks like they never returned the functionality to change what app gets launched when you slide it into the dock.
Purely, my question is: is there a way I can change the app that launches when I slide it into the dock? I'd like to get InDrive working again as that best suits my needs.
Some other info: There was a workaround which essentially re-enabled car-mode (and of course required root and a custom recovery image) but that wasn't even reliable, as it would only launch intermittently. I can't find this and doubt it works with 4.4.2.
I'm currently on Android Revolution HD 62
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't really use it but as i recall it was an NFC tag built into the car dock that made the phone react to it being inserted. have you messed with any NFC programing apps ?

clsA said:
I don't really use it but as i recall it was an NFC tag built into the car dock that made the phone react to it being inserted. have you messed with any NFC programing apps ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not NFC
edit: To elaborate, there are docks that use NFC. This is not one of them. The HTC Dock uses what they call "SmartCable" for enabling car mode (which doesn't actually enable car mode it just launches their stupid proprietary garbage app.

Looks like the car mode apk that it launches isn't actually HTC's, it's google's?
Not a real question I want answered, this post is just intended to be a bump.

bump

Android Auto with Android head unit

hey guys,
i just found out android head units exist and it makes me excited. that being said i have a subaru legacy 2015 and all ive wanted was the ease of use to have the address pulled up on my phone and have my head unit automagically have it and give be turn by turn directions on its screen. so i would like android auto because it seems to be the simplest to use and most intuitive because i use google music as my main source of music and google maps as my main maps. is this a option of the android headunits the reviews seem to focus on the android os not how it interacts with my phone, the last thing i want to do while driving is type in an address when someone text me i want to be able to hit a link and have it pop up on my headunit. you know what i mean?
anyways that's the main thing but i would like "ok google" being sent to my phone and displaying on the screen would be a big plus as well as backup cam support and dvr function and if magically possible retain control over my cars functions like changing my key locking functions would be nice but only if possible ive come to terms with losing that functionality.
car: subaru legacy limited 2015
phone: pixel xl

Q: How to stop Android Auto deactivating the car's build-in navigation?

Hi all,
I've posted this question already in the AA product forum without success. Hopefully there is a higher willingness for strange requests here @ XDA.
I'm using AA for Google Maps navigation and Spotify in my VW e-Golf.
At the same time I would love to display the VW Discover Pro map with POI's on my Active Info Display (virtual cockpit).
It works well with AA home screen, Spotify playback, phone, even with Google Maps as live map only.
BUT if you start a routing in Maps the VW map on the Active Info Display turns black and shows something like 'Navigation is running on main screen' or so.
Does anybody know a setting / hack / trick to switch this behaviour off?
Thanks
Axel

I found that using Waze instead of Google Maps allows me to do this. Maybe not an exact solution, but it does work.

There is the same problem with Waze in my car. Waze as moving map is okay but if you start a routing the AID map is turning black.
Maybe I need to explore if I can change any setting by OBDII coding...
Thanks anyway

I have the same problem in my Passat B8. When I use Android Auto navigation, I see on the AID screen that navigation is already running in Google Maps. It would be nice to be able to see VW maps on a virtual cockpit, and even better to see Google maps there, although with current software it is not real.
I will be grateful if you find a way to do it and share it here.

Axxxxel said:
There is the same problem with Waze in my car. Waze as moving map is okay but if you start a routing the AID map is turning black.
Maybe I need to explore if I can change any setting by OBDII coding...
Thanks anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For sure it works with Waze and screen mirroring (I use it all the time) but maybe not with Waze directly through Android Auto.

I suppose it is not possible since Android Auto manages "navigation focus" of the car. Once you launch Google Maps/Waze, Android Auto asks the car to turn off built-in navigation.

Has anyone tried to access the GEM (green menu)?
Maybe there is an option to let the head unit ignore the navigation focus request.

Hi. Yes I've been in to the engineering menu and there is no option for this.

Subscribing.

I have Passat B8, I can have VW maps on dash, with Waze navigating, Google maps will not work.
Start car, plug in phone, AA starts, go to Waze, select destination. Then bring up VW Discover Pro map on dash.
Dont know how to get POI on VW Discover Pro map on dash.

Has anyone found a solution to this? Searches haven't turned up much. No problem if root is needed.

beejkitsune said:
Has anyone found a solution to this? Searches haven't turned up much. No problem if root is needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the solution has been given. Use android mirroring, then use waze or Google maps or sygic or any other program through mirroring, not Directly through android auto .
This way it will work. I haven't try it, but someone above said it worked.

Would be really nice if someone discover a fix for this.... I am an audi owner with virtual cockpit and is very frustrating to see the compass icon while using google maps.... and I don't have a mirroring solution....

What do you mean by android mirroring?
Until recently Waze had a bug with the new Android Auto interface and did not disable the car navigation.
Maybe a route to investigate for a dev? I’d pay& kill for such a tweak.

For reference: android mirroring means mirroring the whole screen of the phone to the Head unit and thus being able to "remote" control it. (basically project the phone to the center console)
There are a few apps that can do this, Google is your friend

I drive a Polo mk6 (AW) and there is a workaround using Waze, that I've just accidentally found.
- on steering wheel set Nav to show on Active Display dash
- plug your phone and start AA normally
- if not already, open Waze and start a route, next hit STOP, and then start the route again.
- now both, integrated Nav should be displaying on AID dash and Waze with your route on Composition Touch.
hope it helps

Years later but finally solved!
I found the MIB2 Toolbox already some years ago but found nothing to activate the AID map while using Google Maps.
Meanwhile the genius guys managed to patch the MIB2 head units to ignore the phone navigation status.
It really works - and some other nice feature too, like VIM
GitHub - jilleb/mib2-toolbox: The ultimate MIB2-HIGH toolbox.
The ultimate MIB2-HIGH toolbox. Contribute to jilleb/mib2-toolbox development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com

Axxxxel said:
Years later but finally solved!
I found the MIB2 Toolbox already some years ago but found nothing to activate the AID map while using Google Maps.
Meanwhile the genius guys managed to patch the MIB2 head units to ignore the phone navigation status.
It really works - and some other nice feature too, like VIM
GitHub - jilleb/mib2-toolbox: The ultimate MIB2-HIGH toolbox.
The ultimate MIB2-HIGH toolbox. Contribute to jilleb/mib2-toolbox development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you explain what youhave done after installing the toolbox? From the github readme the options for Android Auto are limited. Which alterations did you make?

ruudvddries_hattem said:
Can you explain what youhave done after installing the toolbox? From the github readme the options for Android Auto are limited. Which alterations did you make?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if I remember everything...
- You should not use the official release 4.1 - this is from Feb 2021 and doesn't contain the navigation fix
- Download the Master as ZIP and copy the unzipped content on your SD card --> https://github.com/jilleb/mib2-toolbox/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
- You can find the customization later in your green menu under Customization\Navigation - not in the AndroidAuto section

Once you have M.I.B installed and the Green Engineering Menu activated you install the Navignore option https://github.com/Mr-MIBonk/M.I.B._More-Incredible-Bash/discussions/93

Android Auto - How it works?

Hi,
I have searched on the internet but I can't find any good info about android auto.
First I don't understand how it works. I have seen that you need android auto on your phone in order to communicate with your car device but what is running on the car device? Is a different type of operating system?
Can I add an application developed for Android on Android Auto?

adrian94a said:
Hi,
I have searched on the internet but I can't find any good info about android auto.
First I don't understand how it works. I have seen that you need android auto on your phone in order to communicate with your car device but what is running on the car device? Is a different type of operating system?
Can I add an application developed for Android on Android Auto?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AA consists of 2 parts -
AA application running on the phone
AA client on say a car headunit (could also be another android phone or an android tablet) that mirrors the AA phone display
AA can be run self hosted on a phone, then you don't need the second part.
If you want to have a fixed display (client/server setup) in the car & you don't already have a car headunit supporting AA, you can install an app such as HUR- https://forum.xda-developers.com/ge...ndroid-4-1-headunit-reloaded-android-t3432348 on the headunit/tablet. There's a trial version that you can download to try.

Hi kk131
Thank you for your replay.
So if is running on my phone this means that all my phone application will be available on my car console?

adrian94a said:
Hi kk131
Thank you for your replay.
So if is running on my phone this means that all my phone application will be available on my car console?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the purpose of AA is to enable phone use during driving, it provides limited access with a simplified display :
Google assistant - so you can have voice interaction
Phone
Navigation - waze/google maps
Music apps - google play music, spotify (depends what you have installed on your phone)

Great info.
I am asking this because I have an application of podcast on google play and I would like to be available on AA and I am trying to find out how can I do that.
Do you know any relevant info on the web that can clarify me? I am guessing that there are some constraints if we speak of automotive

Install AA on your phone., run it, see if the app is shown in the menu. If it isn't you can go into AA developer mode and enable 'unknown sources' and test again. The thread I referenced above covers getting in AA developer mode.
If that test is successful, then go further and install the client on your car console.

Great, I will try it and come back with some answers.
Thank you for your time

Hello again,
I manage to complete all my tests and all was ok. I have installed a few applications and one custom application and all worked ok.
I have one more question for you if you can help me of course.
Do you know a tutorial or something from where I can start with Android auto? I have seen that there are not tow application (one for Android and one for Android auto ) is the same app but for Auto version are fewer scenes.
If you can give me a hint here it will be just great.
Thank you.

adrian94a said:
Hello again,
I manage to complete all my tests and all was ok. I have installed a few applications and one custom application and all worked ok.
I have one more question for you if you can help me of course.
Do you know a tutorial or something from where I can start with Android auto? I have seen that there are not tow application (one for Android and one for Android auto ) is the same app but for Auto version are fewer scenes.
If you can give me a hint here it will be just great.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would be helpful to know what hardware you have in your car.
I'm not an expert, I use a Nexus 7 tablet for the car display with headunit reload (HUR).

Android Auto alternative

Hi,
I'm disappointed with AA. I think there is some space for an open source alternative to this system which is so closed.
Moreover the end of life of the standalone version makes me feel that Google doesn't care much about their customer experience.
I tried the Google Assistant driving mode and it's... a disaster for now.
I think it would be easy to create a great AA like launcher. But to make it succesfull there must be a community and an ecosystem around that. Apps are important even in automotive context.
Typically Waze is a key app that many drivers want.
At this time I'm wondering what is the best approach to start this kind of project. I see few show stoppers and I'm interested to get some thought from you about that.
1/ Head unit integration : long time ago I worked on the reverse engineering of the AA protocol. I discovered that the protocol is using SSL certificates. Head units holds a public key and mobile use a private key provided by Google Play Services. The problem is that these certificates have very short lifetime (about 6 months) and if I remember fine the root cerificate will expire in 2030 or something. I don't think that head unit s check the expiration date anyway (because many of them don't have system time). But for sure you need a Google private key in order to initiate communication with a head unit. The key could be captured decompiling code few years ago, don't know if it's still as simple as that.
If head unit really don't check the expiration date then it could be possible to replace the whole AA stack with an independent one.
But even if this work I'm not sure it's possible to disable the native AA protocol and take control of the USB port without rooting.
2/ Apps integration. There are 2 categories of Automotive apps : media apps and navigation apps. I think there are also a category for messaging apps.
Navigations apps are apps that provides an automotive friendly display. Waze does this for example.
Media apps are easy to integrate becaase they rely on the legacy mediabrowser APIs.
Integrating the navigation apps is tough. Because these apps are exposing a special AA service that only privileged apps can invoke (by default).
However apps dev can also allow a third party app to connect their dispkay service. This won't ever happen except if the car launcher become mainstream.
Good point is that would not require any change in implementations : it's just an access right problem.
I have seen a lot of car launchers in Play store. They all display the apps on native mode which is not what you want while driving.
Any comments to this ?

I would also like to see an alternative way...but unfortunately I did not find anything yet.
I'm also not happy with everything on Android Auto.
For example:
- I have apps (e.g. navigation) that are not compatible with Android Auto
- I can't accept Whatsapp calls on Android Auto
- The navgation of media apps is not the best way (if you want to change the playlists, there are way too many inputs necessary)
- I can't turn off Google Maps (GPS) to preserve battery and reduce heat on the phone
- I need internet (I live in a rural area...therefore sometimes I don't have internet and then in a lot of times, Android Auto just crashes...)
- I don't like Google's update policy (it's just good luck if a new version of Android Auto works stable). I want to have a working version and leave it on the phone.

From a user standpoint I definately would like to see an AA alternative. I don't need to watch videos or anything like that but there are a few necessary apps for me that AA doesn't allow.

SOFO888 said:
- I don't like Google's update policy (it's just good luck if a new version of Android Auto works stable). I want to have a working version and leave it on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can achieve that by disabling Android Auto automatic updates on Play Store app.

CaioTheBrain said:
You can achieve that by disabling Android Auto automatic updates on Play Store app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, unfortunately not. Every Google app has an expiration date, also Android Auto. This expiration date then forces you to update your app. Otherwise it will not start.

There are a few Android dongles that trick the car's headunit into thinking it is connected via Android Auto. However, most of the devices are CarPlay AI units that trick the headunit into thinking is is connected to a CarPlay device and then display the Android system through the headunit. But they are all buggy.
Perhaps something can be learned from how they do that. An app that mimics Android Auto but allows full user control would be great.

I am by no means an expert but I want to help do this! I liked using rooted devices for AA and having AA tweaker but I always felt like it was just the start of something not a finished product so I'm definitely down with this. What I feel like would be the simplest approach would be making an Android auto app that (it communicates with your phone and doesn't need data) runs on a cheap tablet that you put on your dash or wherever in the car and from there you have full control over the app and device. Just my thoughts

Did someone tried sreen2auto? Its mirroring your phone to your android auto. Search it on XDA forum.

drnightshadow said:
Did someone tried sreen2auto? Its mirroring your phone to your android auto. Search it on XDA forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to use Screen2Auto but it required too much upkeep every time Google made changes to Android Auto. The last time it broke I couldn't get it working again.