Why would I want Android Auto?

R

roadrutz

:
CX-9
Now that Mazda has announced that Apple Car Play and Android Auto will soon be available as retroactive upgrades for most existing post-2016 Mazda models, I got to wondering why I would want either. My phone is an Android, so obviously that's the one that would be of interest. But what is available through Android Auto that isn't already in the CX-9 -- other than the ability to play Spotify live, which would run up the data bills on the phone? Am I missing something?

BTW, if you didn't see the announcement the upgrade will cost Cdn$450 in Canada, presumably around $350 in the US.
 
Probably most notably, at least for me, is Google's really good voice command/control which makes Mazda's seem ancient. Google understands everything. Being able to run Google Maps which is also much better.

Inputting destinations into Mazda Connect (and most stock car systems is really tedious). On your phone is a snap.
 
JPL said:
Probably most notably, at least for me, is Google's really good voice command/control which makes Mazda's seem ancient. Google understands everything. Being able to run Google Maps which is also much better.

Inputting destinations into Mazda Connect (and most stock car systems is really tedious). On your phone is a snap.
Click to expand...

I share the same sentiment. It makes a few things better or easier to use. Of course, it also puts the map on the larger screen. I'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff you can do, like run podcast apps and what not.

I'm not sure if this is possible, but if I can also access my phone's music app to switch playlists, that's a bonus for me. The only reasons I have to take my phone out of my pocket are to put it in the mount for nav, or to change playlists.
 
Waze, better voice control (including Google Assistant), and playing/controlling music stored on my phone via Google Play Music.

Edit: I'm currently using Android Auto via AIO, and also use it in my F-150 (built-in to the factory system). After having used AA for almost a year now, it would take a lot for me to buy another car without it.
 
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APPLE IOS 12 Now allows Third Party Navigation Apps in Carplay. I assume that would include WAZE. So I'll be getting it as soon as it is available
 
With AA, Waze is very fluid through the nav screen. Reason alone for me to upgrade. Pandora and Spotify are also very easy to use.
 
trickdout6 said:
Waze, better voice control (including Google Assistant), and playing/controlling music stored on my phone via Google Play Music.

Edit: I'm currently using Android Auto via AIO, and also use it in my F-150 (built-in to the factory system). After having used AA for almost a year now, it would take a lot for me to buy another car without it.
Click to expand...

Why? What's so great about it?
 
I love the way the (Factory) Nav System on my 2018 CX-9 works with the *Heads Up Display* -

MY QUESTION Will the Android Google Maps also interface with and appear in the HUD?
 
Hockeye said:
I love the way the (Factory) Nav System on my 2018 CX-9 works with the *Heads Up Display* -

MY QUESTION Will the Android Google Maps also interface with and appear in the HUD?
Click to expand...

I agree. I find directions on the HUD really intuitive and easy to follow. I'm pretty sure nothing on AA will do the same.
 
Mostly navigation and easy of use. Mazda maps is only free for 3 years, after that, you have to pay for updates. The map is plagued with errors. It*s pretty bad at directions. Real traffic updates. Real road changes. No need to wait for the biannual update to get new information.
 
I'm a huge Google fan and even I am Meh on AA.
There are some serious advantages, though.
#1 I have the AIO version on my CX-5. Let's be honest: do you EVER use the Voice Command button on your steering wheel? EVER? I know you don't, No one does. Imagine it being ridiculously helpful. Its not. Imagine it being GOOGLE or SIRI.
#2 And yea, it's great that MZD will read your text to you. Wouldn't it be nice if you could reply? WITHOUT taking your eyes off the road?
Those are really my big 2. The Navi in the Mazda is more then fine enough for me. Yea, it screws up some times. Waze has screwed me over, too. And LIVE TRAFFIC is ridiculously over rated. Most of us don't need that. And "Google updates when roads change" is a weak argument where I live. Cleveland is over 200 years old... our roads don't change much, if at all. ;)
And MZD worked when I was in BFE Ohio and had no cell service. Advantage MZD.
I ran both ono a trip back from Michigan and Waze DID route me a different way that saved me almost 30 minutes. Advantage Waze that time. Its nice to have options.
I use AA about 25% of the time. Not must have for me, but it is nice.
And you should really get it for resale value alone unless you're trading in to a Mazda dealer.

Another use case:
Some times I'll be driving with my son.
"Hey daddy? Who was the first transformer?"
I just plug in my phone. Wait 20 seconds. Press the voice button: "Hey Google, who was the first transformer?"
And Google replies.
 
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7eregrine said:
I'm a huge Google fan and even I am Meh on AA.
There are some serious advantages, though.
#1 I have the AIO version on my CX-5. Let's be honest: do you EVER use the Voice Command button on your steering wheel? EVER? I know you don't, No one does. It's not. Imagine it being ridiculously helpful. Imagine it being GOOGLE or SIRI.
#2 And yea, it's great that MZD will read your text to you. Wouldn't it be nice if you could reply? WITHOUT taking your eyes off the road?
Those are really my big 2. The Navi in the Mazda is more then fine enough for me. Yea, it screws up some times. Waze has screwed me over, too. And LIVE TRAFFIC is ridiculously over rated. Most of us don't need that. And "Google updates when roads change" is a weak argument where I live. Cleveland is over 200 years old... our roads don't change much, if at all. ;)
And MZD worked when I was in BFE Ohio and had no cell service. Advantage MZD.
I ran both ono a trip back from Michigan and Waze DID route me a different way that saved me almost 30 minutes. Advantage Waze that time. Its nice to have options.
I use AA about 25% of the time. Not must have for me, but it is nice.
And you should really get it for resale value alone unless you're trading in to a Mazda dealer.

Another use case:
Some times I'll be driving with my son.
"Hey daddy? Who was the first transformer?"
I just plug in my phone. Wait 20 seconds. Press the voice button: "Hey Google, who was the first transformer?"
And Google replies.
Click to expand...

Google Maps and Google Assistant/Siri would be the drivers for me. The two reasons that you listed are very nice to have as well.

The nav in the Mazda just isn't as good as Google Maps (much like the OEM nav in practically all other vehicles). The only time I ever use it is if I want to see turn markers on the HUD or if my phone happens to die and I don't have a charger for it. Google Maps is much better in so many ways (lane identification, offline functionality, Google map updates, live traffic updates, etc.). Some of the benefits are more important/effective to others - I'm realizing now that can depend a lot on one's location.

In your example, a well-established city doesn't really benefit from frequent map updates. But in my case, those updates were great to have when I was in Calgary. I also find a lot of value in Google's live traffic reporting, but it can be improved. It only calculates the traffic on your route when you first set the destination. Would be nice if it checked traffic every 3-5 minutes and updated the route accordingly. Even then, avoiding the "red streets" always saves me a bit of time and headache.

Also for the record, Google Maps has an offline mode, but it requires access to the internet for the initial map download.

  1. Open the app, then open the hamburger menu (top left for me). Choose "Offline maps".
  2. Choose "Select your own map", then pinch to zoom in and out of the map. If you choose a large area, the file size that Maps will need to download will be bigger (for example, a full map of Ohio would take up 540MB of space on your device, while a map of Calgary takes up 35MB).
  3. Press Download, and you're done.

Now, if you are ever without cellular signal, Google maps will use the map you downloaded on to your device. Of course, you won't get live traffic, but functionality is the same as Mazda's OEM nav (minus the HUD integration).
 
7eregrine said:
Let's be honest: do you EVER use the Voice Command button on your steering wheel? EVER? I know you don't, No one does. It's not. Imagine it being ridiculously helpful. Imagine it being GOOGLE or SIRI.
Click to expand...

All good points and I thank you for your comments. But just FYI, I DO use voice command quite a lot! I use it for phoning and I use it for inputting destinations. It is a little clumsy ("Do you mean...?") but it works. No argument that Google would be better, but for $450?... I guess I don't use nav enough to get excited about all the bells and whistles that are missing from the Mazda system.
 
sm1ke said:
In your example, a well-established city doesn't really benefit from frequent map updates.
Click to expand...
I also live in a city that was built for a million people. Current population 400,000. What's traffic? I don't need Live Traffic. We do have rush hour. Many of those people moved to the suburbs (MSA Population: 2.1 million), but our rush hour is seriously about 40 minutes long. And it's always in the same places. We simply do not need LIVE TRAFFIC here in Cleveland.

Also for the record, Google Maps has an offline mode, but it requires access to the internet for the initial map download.
Click to expand...
I have Cuyahoga County downloaded already. I certainly don't need the whole state. But I did NOT download the area I was traveling to on my vacation weekend. I didn't think I would have cell phone signal issues?!? Have you seen Verizon's coverage map? According to that there are ZERO dead spots in Ohio or Michigan. Pro tip: there are. We get to our cabin and NO cell signal at all. Which was nice... but. So I go out to the car and I'm looking to find a restaurant and a gas station in the POI of the MZD maps. SO NICE.
(Wife comes out... "How are you doing that without a signal?" LOL It's a good thing she's pretty. hahaha)

Also in defense of MZD, I love how it's just a couple clicks. bip bop boop > Navigate Home just to get me to the freeway or whatever if I need to. It does what I need it to most of the time. I mean all I need to do is get to a freeway, I don't need it to nav all the way home. Don't have to plug in anything or whatever. Just get in bip bop boop and go.

I like how MZD shows what is coming up at the next 3 exits automatically. GREAT feature that Maps\ Waze doesn't have.

Geez I sound so pro MZD here.. lol... I do think it gets a bit of a bad rap. It's not amazing but it's perfectly serviceable. Oh, and I still get comments when people see the cross street thing in the infotaiment.
If you ONLY want maps and don't need LIVE TRAFFIC I would agree $450 is WAY to much. I mean Maps works through bluetooth anyway, right? But if you're really into Google, use your phone for music, need live traffic... it is very nice to have.
 
7eregrine said:
I also live in a city that was built for a million people. Current population 400,000. What's traffic? I don't need Live Traffic. We do have rush hour. Many of those people moved to the suburbs (MSA Population: 2.1 million), but our rush hour is seriously about 40 minutes long. And it's always in the same places. We simply do not need LIVE TRAFFIC here in Cleveland.


I have Cuyahoga County downloaded already. I certainly don't need the whole state. But I did NOT download the area I was traveling to on my vacation weekend. I didn't think I would have cell phone signal issues?!? Have you seen Verizon's coverage map? According to that there are ZERO dead spots in Ohio or Michigan. Pro tip: there are. We get to our cabin and NO cell signal at all. Which was nice... but. So I go out to the car and I'm looking to find a restaurant and a gas station in the POI of the MZD maps. SO NICE.
(Wife comes out... "How are you doing that without a signal?" LOL It's a good thing she's pretty. hahaha)

Also in defense of MZD, I love how it's just a couple clicks. bip bop boop > Navigate Home just to get me to the freeway or whatever if I need to. It does what I need it to most of the time. I mean all I need to do is get to a freeway, I don't need it to nav all the way home. Don't have to plug in anything or whatever. Just get in bip bop boop and go.

I like how MZD shows what is coming up at the next 3 exits automatically. GREAT feature that Maps\ Waze doesn't have.

Geez I sound so pro MZD here.. lol... I do think it gets a bit of a bad rap. It's not amazing but it's perfectly serviceable. Oh, and I still get comments when people see the cross street thing in the infotaiment.
If you ONLY want maps and don't need LIVE TRAFFIC I would agree $450 is WAY to much. I mean Maps works through bluetooth anyway, right? But if you're really into Google, use your phone for music, need live traffic... it is very nice to have.
Click to expand...

Respectfully, Cleveland may not need live traffic, but there are plenty of other places in the US that do. Regardless of whether you find it useful or not, the fact is that both the Mazda Connect nav system and GMaps offer live traffic, BUT GMaps does it for free.

In terms of setting destinations, GMaps still wins for me. I literally just open the app, and based on my usage statistics, it offers an option to navigate home, or to work, or to grandpa's house. Literally two taps.

Bonus is that you also get walking/cycling/transit maps with GMaps.

Big kicker: GMaps is free to download, free to update, updates are timely, and there are no subscription fees.

TL;DR:

Mazda Connect nav is nice, but Google Maps is still better. I mean, Mazda Connect's nav is just fine, but is it really worth it when you have to buy new map updates every cycle?
 
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roadrutz said:
Now that Mazda has announced that Apple Car Play and Android Auto will soon be available as retroactive upgrades for most existing post-2016 Mazda models, I got to wondering why I would want either. My phone is an Android, so obviously that's the one that would be of interest. But what is available through Android Auto that isn't already in the CX-9 -- other than the ability to play Spotify live, which would run up the data bills on the phone? Am I missing something?

BTW, if you didn't see the announcement the upgrade will cost Cdn$450 in Canada, presumably around $350 in the US.
Click to expand...

I have AA in my Mazda CX9 2016 AWD since more than a year now via AIO and the best feature for me is the ability to put WAZE into the SUV big screen. The original GPS in the Mazda still hangs so I mostly use Waze. And because I live in Mexico City, a city with more than 22 million inhabitants, lot of people here have Waze so I can enjoy real time traffic.

The bad thing is the AA with AIO requires the USB connection and I hate to use cables so I don't use AA since about 4 months now
 
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