The spread of Android Auto has been haphazard throughout the very cautious auto industry, with one of the largest car makers, Toyota, a notable holdout. It seems the winds of change are sweeping through with a new report pointing to Toyota reaching an agreement with Google to include the tech in their upcoming range.
Toyota has been including Apple’s CarPlay in their vehicles since January however has reportedly been reluctant to include Android Auto over ‘safety and security concerns’. Those appear to have been resolved with a report in Bloomberg stating that Toyota has reached an agreement with Google to include Android Auto in their vehicles starting as soon as this October.
Exactly which vehicles would see the update isn’t clear, with Toyota selling many vehicles including the popular Camry, HiLux, RAV4 and Corolla and more lines in Australia, as well as the luxury Lexus brand.
This is a welcome change for anyone looking to purchase a new vehicle this year, but Toyota hasn’t made an official announcement as yet, so perhaps hold off signing that new lease until we know more.
Many of the gripes about Android Auto and Google Maps are addressed by using Waze instead. Speed camera alerts, digital speedometer,speed limit warning, etc. Works perfectly, and it’s free.
finally maybe i’ll look at toyota again now. just focus on the basic, audio, radios, basic bluetooth.
another else can be done with the phone.
Google Maps is better than any other maps. There is no competition. With Android Auto, you can say the name of a business or restaurant, and it will navigate you there, factoring in road blockages and traffic jams. Problems start when you use other maps, with lesser capabilities, without the business names, or with unsophisticated voice recognition. Many people try to remove the car’s inbuilt maps, and replace them with Android Auto.
still no camera alert / speed limit display on google map, and that is why my cars builtin GPS is my go to.
Well that and the much bigger display… sure it is archaic and takes a bit of getting used too, but my routine is:
1. Find exact address of business (web search / google maps)
2. Type the address in the car’s GPS…
It makes it much easier this way and surprisingly not that much more complicated.
The only downside is that you have to stop and put in the address.
Another thing google map doesn’t have is lane assistant (showing exit lanes or which lane to drive on)
I don’t know which version of Google Maps you’re using but mine has lane guidance. Have been using Android Auto in our Volkswagen since February. Displays beautifully on the dash touch screen.
“The only downside is that you have to stop and put in the address.”
You just highlighted why people prefer to use Android Auto, rather than a car’s built in maps.
Not to mention that it integrates with your calendar entries, so literally tap on the new appointment and it open up nav in Google Maps with one touch. Missed AA greatly when we were drove a Toyota Outlander (Kluger) during our NZ holiday and had to look for places, especially AirBnB locations which were being automatically saved to our calendar.