Carplay and Android Auto coming soon? Crossing fingers...

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sillyxone said:
I think with their limited resource, Mazda probably will wait a bit and put all the effort in implementing the new standard, instead of wasting effort on Carplay and Android Auto now just to scrap them later.
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I don't think that's what's happening here. For a company to be joining a consortium like this is to make sure they are involved and in the know. It is also a way to keep options open, in a quickly changing tech landscape. Mazda is probably devoting little to no engineering effort to this right now, just waiting for it to become more mature and with proven success record.
Whereas with Android Auto and CarPlay, these systems are shipping for a while and, I believe, people like them.

The part that you don't see, services running in a datacenter, such as voice recognition, Google maps backend, machine learning etc. are the big advantage Google and Apple have over Ford/Toyota. What makes these systems awesome is mostly not present in the car. Ford/Toyota will need to beg Apple to support their tech properly.
 
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sillyxone said:
I think with their limited resource, Mazda probably will wait a bit and put all the effort in implementing the new standard, instead of wasting effort on Carplay and Android Auto now just to scrap them later.
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In many cases, and in Mazda's case, contractors develop these systems and not the auto brand. Johnson Controls developed the Mazda infotainment - but they sold off their infotainment division a couple years back. I think the system is a bit in contractual limbo with mostly bug fixes being done, but not major feature additions.

Ford recently brought development back in house after years of the terrible, contractor built mytouch system that resulted in a lawsuits and endless problems.
 
androidauto-2.0.jpg
 
old-school said:
What is CarPlay and/or Android Auto? What do they do?
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https://www.android.com/auto/

Android Auto is a simpler, safer way to use your phone in the car.
Whether on your phone screen or on your car display, Android Auto was designed with safety in mind. With larger touch targets, a simplified interface, and easy-to-use voice actions, it's designed to minimize distraction so you can stay focused on the road.
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Anchorman said:
I think they pretty much mimic and give access to the Apps on your smartphone.
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A very limited subset of apps. CarPlay only currently allows apple maps for example, so Waze or Google Maps won't work with it yet.
 
craigo said:
A very limited subset of apps. CarPlay only currently allows apple maps for example, so Waze or Google Maps won't work with it yet.
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Let's be realistic here. The amount of apps that support Carplay are a heckuva lot more than what Mazda provides including the app that nobody uses like Aha.

Carplay current supports:
Podcasts
Audiobooks
iHeartRadio
At Bat2
Spotify
Stitcher
CBS Radio
Overcast
Pandora
Slacker
NPR One
Clammr
Downcast
CBS Radio
Messages

And if not mistaken, Carplay is expandable unlike Mazda's infotainment system which you will always be stuck with whatever Apps came with your vehicle.
Additionally, Mazda does not even support live traffic except for the useless Total Traffic Network which you can barely see on it's map. You can't even zoom in or out on the map. What a useless concept. They had the live traffic option via subscription years ago, then they get rid of that like they got rid of wifi.
 
I'm using Android Auto, on my Kenwood and it is not perfect at all, but it is only the first iteration of the app. Hopefully updates will make it better.
For example my phone won't work, it just switching on and off. Sound comes through, only in the phone. How do I stop navigation? The only way I have found is, with voice command.
I'm still using my old Note 3 with it, which has MHL. The problem will be, when I upgrade to the Note 8(wanted the 7, but everybody knows what happened), most likely won't have MHL, so my Kenwood won't work anymore.
 
I think the real problem with AA/Carplay is the Federal Safety Regulations regarding distracting the driver. These regulations are why the Mazda screen locks keyboard entry while moving and forces the use of the console wheel for selection of menu options. I don't think any auto mfg can do full cell phone interface on a car screen - perhaps replacement vendors can? Has anyone noticed that the accident counts and car death rates are up since many drivers are distracted by their cell phones?
 
GAXIBM said:
I think the real problem with AA/Carplay is the Federal Safety Regulations regarding distracting the driver. These regulations are why the Mazda screen locks keyboard entry while moving and forces the use of the console wheel for selection of menu options. I don't think any auto mfg can do full cell phone interface on a car screen - perhaps replacement vendors can? Has anyone noticed that the accident counts and car death rates are up since many drivers are distracted by their cell phones?
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Cell phones causes drivers to be out of touch with the traffic flow since they can't take in all that information. Normally a cellphone user is either too slow causing folks to shift lanes or worse is driving fast being a hazard.
Saw a video where an 18 wheeler ploughed through many cars killing kids - reason he was changing the song being played on his cellphone. Did not notice his lane slowed down.
But AA will fix this issue - by making it easier to be more distracted jejejeje!
 
GAXIBM said:
I think the real problem with AA/Carplay is the Federal Safety Regulations regarding distracting the driver. These regulations are why the Mazda screen locks keyboard entry while moving and forces the use of the console wheel for selection of menu options. I don't think any auto mfg can do full cell phone interface on a car screen - perhaps replacement vendors can? Has anyone noticed that the accident counts and car death rates are up since many drivers are distracted by their cell phones?
Click to expand...

This is why Carplay and Android Auto are limited to mostly navigation and audio. Dicking around with a phone is very dangerous. I keep mine in a holster next to the gauge cluster, but the small UI still makes it unsafe to mess with while in motion.
 
GAXIBM said:
I think the real problem with AA/Carplay is the Federal Safety Regulations regarding distracting the driver. These regulations are why the Mazda screen locks keyboard entry while moving and forces the use of the console wheel for selection of menu options. I don't think any auto mfg can do full cell phone interface on a car screen - perhaps replacement vendors can? Has anyone noticed that the accident counts and car death rates are up since many drivers are distracted by their cell phones?
Click to expand...

I just recently returned from a trip to Japan, visited Hiroshima (home of Mazda) and Tokyo, and what I saw there from riding on the buses within the city looking down into the cars ( some cars models we don't have here) was that when the cars stopped at a traffic light the infotainment display would automatically turn into a tv/ video.. when the driver started moving the video would go off and the map would re-appear for driving.
 
Texting and driving is the worst offender, causing accident statistics to rise. Carplay or any voice assistant that speaks and lets you verbally respond is not perfect, but much less distracting. Many modern vehicles have built this into the phone button on the steering wheel. In apples case, pressing it brings up Siri and it reads your text or emails. It also will ask if you want to respond verbally keeping your eyes on the road. Unfortunately even this can't eliminate being mentally distracted. I remember just being on the Bluetooth talking for 10 minutes and missing my exit with my eyes perfectly affixed on the road. I guess only self driving cars of the future can possibly solve this, but than what good is having zoom zoom if you don't experience the thrill of driving yourself.
 
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Android Auto is less distracting then using your smartphone and is not much different than using a legacy infotainment system, if not a little better.
This is because it has excellent voice recognition, you need to mess with it less, e.g. say "Navigate to work" and your done, no need to mess with menus and scrolling. With proper car integration, car controls and buttons interact with the system, not just the touch screen, and physical buttons are a bit safer for use than a touch screen button.
Of course, Google Maps is by far the most complete mapping app backed by the most complete map data + machine intelligence to best serve the driver.
Lastly, if you still mess with Android Auto too much while driving it will lock up for a few seconds, to make you concentrate on your driving.
 
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