Android Auto is probably the most advanced driving assistant on the market. The ecosystem is compatible with dozens of applications from the Google store. To this must be added the options that the assistant itself integrates to make driving more bearable. Most of these options are easy to find. Others, however, are not in sight for the user on foot. This time we have compiled several Android Auto tricks that you probably did not know and that you are interested in knowing to get the most out of the assistant.
The options that we will see below have been tested only in the touchscreen version of Android Auto. The options present for the car display version may differ from the mobile app. They may also differ from the most up-to-date versions of the wizard.
Android Auto without cable in 2020: requirements and compatible mobiles, cars and radios
Create automatic replies for WhatsApp or any application
Tired of using Google Assistant to send responses every time you get a notification? With Android Auto you can configure automatic responses for WhatsApp and any messaging application in general.
The process is as simple as going to the application settings, in the gear wheel of the side menu, and then to the Automatic response section . Finally, we will click on the text box to edit the message that we want to send each time we receive a notification. Of course, the number of characters is limited.
Open Android Auto every time you get into your car
If our car has a Bluetooth connection but does not have Android Auto, we can configure the mobile application to start every time we enter the vehicle. Again we will have to go to the Settings section, more specifically to Automatic start. Within this section we will activate the options of Automatic start and Detection of device in the pocket to prevent the application from starting when we keep the phone in our pocket. Of course, to use this function we will have to keep the Bluetooth of the car and the phone on.
Take a look at the gas prices of nearby gas stations
By itself, Android Auto is not able to provide us with the price of gasoline from the nearest gas stations. For this we will have to resort yes or yes to third-party applications. Waze is the best application in this case .
After installing and starting the application on the phone, we will open the Waze side panel and click on Gas Stations . A list with the gasoline closest to our location will be displayed immediately. To know the price of the gas stations, just click on the gas station in question, as we can see in the image above. Of course, the price may be somewhat outdated, although it is not usually common. The ideal is to compare with the price of other applications and websites to certify the data.
Use VLC to play the music stored on your phone
Dozens of users have complained about the lack of support from major music players to play music locally on Android Auto. Currently, the only application that offers support for the internal storage of our phone is VLC . In fact, it is fully compatible with Android Auto, so we can control it through the application interface. Just press on Play to start playing the content stored in memory.
Hide the content of notifications from outside eyes
By default, Android Auto displays the content of notifications on the screen, regardless of the originating application. WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype ...
To hide the content of the messages within Android Auto we will have to go, once again, to the application settings. Once inside, we will slide to the option of See received messages (or Always see messages, depending on the version of the application) to disable it completely. If we want to hide notifications directly, we can disable the option to Show message notifications. The application will automatically stop showing reception notifications on the main screen.
Have Android Auto warn you when you exceed the maximum speed
Waze is the best GPS navigation application that we can install on our mobile. And proof of this is the function that allows us to activate personalized alerts when we exceed the speed limit of the road.
How to fix connection problems and other crashes in Android Auto
To make use of this function we will have to go to the Waze settings within Android Auto. Next, we will click on the Alerts and warnings section and finally on Play alert sound . We can also activate the options of Show speedometer and Movstar limit and speed to have a more accessible control of the speed of the car.
And turn on developer settings to play with more options
Did you know that Android Auto has hidden options? These options are present in the application development settings, at least in the 2019 versions of Android Auto.
To activate this hidden menu we will have to go to the Information about Android Auto section within the Information menu of the Android Auto sidebar. Once inside, we will press a total of 10 times in a row on the upper bar in blue with the text Information about Android Auto. Next we will see a menu that will ask us if we want to activate the development options. Now we just have to click on the three points on the top bar of the application to access the menu in question.