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      11-22-2020, 03:50 PM   #1
ggalanis
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Android Auto seems oddly designed

I had my car in for service this week and was updated to a version of iDrive that finally has Android Auto available. I was eager to try it out to see if it would be useful or if it had functions that worked better than the iDrive version.

My biggest problem with it is that you can't get rid of the dead space on the right that shows the date/time taking up about 1/4 of the screen. You can remove the music info (which keeps showing up when you start up even if you are listening to other non AA music sources) but you then just have empty space on the side. See pic below (from bmwblog's site). Even when using Google maps, or Waze or anything really, that space is wasted.



Does anyone know a way to get rid of it?

I like how Google maps is integrated with the HUD of the car. That was the best advantage the OEM nav had going for it before the latest update allowed that to be available to AA and carplay i believe. It is weird though that if you are using google maps to direct you to your destination, you lose the map in the instrument cluster. It also keeps the next indication (i.e. upcoming turn) permanently showing in the HUD and on the screen eating away at more of the screen real-estate. I don't mind it in the HUD even though it is different than how my idrive nav works, but blocks too much of the map for my taste. Haven't found a way to minimise it... If it were not there the entire time, it would be less of a problem.

Tried Waze today for a short trip and it was not integrated with the HUD yet in case anyone is wondering. Other than that it seemed to work ok.
Used it to reply to some chat messages (using the signal app) and it was ok, but the voice recognition seemed to be sub par. My phone usually does a better job, but i didn't use it for an extended period of time so maybe it was just a bad sample size.

Anyone have anything notable i should try running through AA?
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      11-22-2020, 04:01 PM   #2
thereef510
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your complaint about the android auto not filling up the screen is a common complaint across many other brands. it is not a bmw specific issue.
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      11-22-2020, 04:07 PM   #3
ggalanis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thereef510 View Post
your complaint about the android auto not filling up the screen is a common complaint across many other brands. it is not a bmw specific issue.
yup. Didn't mean to imply it was a BMW issue. Just odd/bad design.
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      11-23-2020, 06:47 PM   #4
zhangyi17
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Hopefully navigation application like Google map and waze can take the full screen. Right now, 1/4 is wasted...
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      11-24-2020, 12:56 AM   #5
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I prefer it.

Normally the music information is displayed in a small horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen which is hard to read. The weather and time is normally a bar at the top and too hard to read.

And it shouldn't be weird that you can't run the map layout in the gauges, as the google maps is usually more up to date and accurate than BMW maps, with all the latest roads. This means there could be a conflict.
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      11-24-2020, 04:31 PM   #6
ggalanis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TJ_BMW View Post
I prefer it.
to each their own. Being able to change it via a setting would be the best of both worlds.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TJ_BMW View Post
And it shouldn't be weird that you can't run the map layout in the gauges, as the google maps is usually more up to date and accurate than BMW maps, with all the latest roads. This means there could be a conflict.
if you are on google maps but without guidance, the map in the center console still shows as normal. Goes away only if you enable guidance. Once you kill the guidance, the map reappears.
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      11-24-2020, 09:48 PM   #7
TJ_BMW
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ggalanis View Post
if you are on google maps but without guidance, the map in the center console still shows as normal. Goes away only if you enable guidance. Once you kill the guidance, the map reappears.
I know, that is how it has to be. They cannot overlay the maps from Google onto the ones from BMW, as they will not be identical. If BMW had Google as it's map supplier, it wouldn't be an issue.
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      11-25-2020, 07:30 PM   #8
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wonder if it can be coded like Apple CarPlay to be full screen, not 2/3rds
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      03-04-2021, 06:12 AM   #9
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Sorry if this is considered bumping an old topic.

Google has released a new update to Android Auto, meaning that this "dead" space on the side will now be used as a split screen.

I haven't tested it yet.

Source: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/a...ed-157117.html
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      03-04-2021, 02:11 PM   #10
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I can confirm that this new interface is supported in my 2020 X7. Looks much better!
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      03-04-2021, 03:47 PM   #11
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I've used it, and while it's better, I'd still like the option to have the maps in full screen. The other day I accidentally clicked on BMW maps and was amazed how much bigger the screen looks when you can have the map over the full screen.
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      02-09-2023, 06:16 PM   #12
zhangyi17
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Reviving this old post. Today after I upgrade AA 8.7.630264, my android auto is finally full screen in navigation mode with Google Map..
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