Just picked up a 2019 Mazda with Android Auto. LG V30 running Android 8.0. I have all sorts of weird things happens indicating this app is NOT stable. I'm wondering who I go to, to try to work out the problems, Google or Mazda? (I doubt Mazda can do anything.)
I've been a Software Developer for over 20 years and my opinion thus far is Android Auto is both unstable and poorly thought out.
Geez, I could build a list a mile long but here's some major things off the top of my head...
- When replying to a text message, I get as far as AA reading my reply and asking me if I want to send, which I confirm, and then it says "Ha. Something went wrong." If I then ask "What went wrong?" AA Says there was a server error but I've fixed it now. No, you haven't, because it keeps doing it.
- The command "OK Google... Send text message to {insert contact name}" responds with "I don't know how to do that." Are you kidding me? I can do that on my phone when not using AA.
- The command "read last text message" AA responds it can't do that either.
- The command "read last notification" can't do it.
There are pretty basic necessities when driving. I'm sure Google has some explanation like "apps aren't allowed to access {some data} for security purposes." But in reality, at the end of the day, the software engineer's goals should be centered around making user functionality as useful as possible and easy to use. Looks like thus far, they've really missed the mark.
The funny (but sad) thing is, the Mazda salesman said the Apple Car Play worked better, but didn't warn me about the issues I was going to have with Android Auto. I can see why he said Apple was better. But Google is such a small company with so little resources, I can therefore understand why Android Auto is subpar (NOT.)
I've been a Software Developer for over 20 years and my opinion thus far is Android Auto is both unstable and poorly thought out.
Geez, I could build a list a mile long but here's some major things off the top of my head...
- When replying to a text message, I get as far as AA reading my reply and asking me if I want to send, which I confirm, and then it says "Ha. Something went wrong." If I then ask "What went wrong?" AA Says there was a server error but I've fixed it now. No, you haven't, because it keeps doing it.
- The command "OK Google... Send text message to {insert contact name}" responds with "I don't know how to do that." Are you kidding me? I can do that on my phone when not using AA.
- The command "read last text message" AA responds it can't do that either.
- The command "read last notification" can't do it.
There are pretty basic necessities when driving. I'm sure Google has some explanation like "apps aren't allowed to access {some data} for security purposes." But in reality, at the end of the day, the software engineer's goals should be centered around making user functionality as useful as possible and easy to use. Looks like thus far, they've really missed the mark.
The funny (but sad) thing is, the Mazda salesman said the Apple Car Play worked better, but didn't warn me about the issues I was going to have with Android Auto. I can see why he said Apple was better. But Google is such a small company with so little resources, I can therefore understand why Android Auto is subpar (NOT.)
