Android Auto

I have finally managed to get my Android Auto setup working reliably. It has been the goal since I purchased the collectible Subaru Forester STI JDM (MY2005). It is an awesome car, probably the best Forester Subaru has ever done. But being 18 years old it lacks some convenient modern features, mopstly related to the head unit - navigation and apps.

I decided to retrofit it with a Pioneer AVIC-F80DAB 2-DIN unit, one of the first models with capacitive touch and Android Auto support. Unfortunately I could never get the Android Auto working reliably. It was either not connecting to my phone or disconnecting randomly. So I gave up. 

Until recently when I decided to give it one more try (assuming 4 years have passed and both Pioneer and Google probably have figured out most of the quirks and fixed them). I also had a suspect USB cable, with an extender on Type-A connectors, which I was blaming for the random disconnects.

After all the latest firmware updates and replacing the cable all looked good. Until I assembled the unit back into the dashboard just to learn it would not connect. I repeated the whole process three times - disassembling and testing, as things were looking good and assembling back just to see it did not work. In he end it turned out the Pioneer was getting confused by a smal Bluetooth headphone - an old Plantronics model - which was sitting in a tiny charging cradle connected to the 2nd USB port on the head unit (just for charging). It seems the headset was doing something on the USB data lines too. So when I had it all taken apart, the headset was put aside (and Android Auto was connecting to my phone). When put back into the dash again, I was placing the headset in the cradle and it was "interfering" with the USB bus.

Clearly Pioneer's implementation of Android Auto connection is not robust and can get confused by another random device connected to the second port. Yet another example of a software-based hardware product which has not been tested sufficiently before before being released. Pioneer also has a service note on the Internet saying they have some incompatibilities with some A-to-C USB cables. Sigh.

Ultimately I blocked the USB data lines leading to the headset cradle, so that it only uses the power lines to charge and does not interfere with data communication.

The end result is very satisfying. Android Auto is like having my phone transferred to the 8-inch capacitive touch screen with all functions nicely integrated and provides full client continuity. Remember Josh Topolsky? What he wanted back in 2010 is finally here. Have your context (navigation. calls, address book, etc.) transferred to a different screen and UX experience (car mode) and back when you switch off the ignition.

I must say I'm now fully addicted to how it works (e.g., it remembers every couple of weeks I fly to the US and to make that happen on Friday afternoons drive from work to a COVID test facility rather than directly home, to get ready for a Saturday flight. Cute. And super recommended.

It seems with Android Auto the car console manufacturers managed to achieve what the digital camera makers could not - a very well designed and future-proof integration with smartphones.