{"slug": "android-auto", "name": "Android Auto", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 9, "warners": 2, "score": 2.704, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2026-07-02", "latest": "2026-08-17", "why": "Now I just hook up Android Auto and I'm back into the same podcast I had on the flight", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 2}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Now I just hook up Android Auto and I'm back into the same podcast I had on the flight", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.android.com/auto/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Android Auto"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 789384945, "item_id": 49336559, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49336559", "by": "starkrights", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "because it and android auto are made by actual UI/UX designers", "excerpt": "What does \u201cnot a good system in an objective sense\u201d even mean? In what objective measures do you see it fail in? I and basically everyone I know love it because it and android auto are made by actual UI/UX designers that aren\u2019t embedded systems engineers- resulting in an infotainment screen that isn\u2019t a complete and utter piece of shit, and has actual functionality. I use my phone for everything in my car anyways, es", "context": "", "use_case": "in-car navigation and infotainment", "switched_from": "", "story": "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI"}, {"id": 780373024, "item_id": 48773314, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48773314", "by": "Poacher5", "date": "2026-07-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Now I just hook up Android Auto and I'm back into the same podcast I had on the flight", "excerpt": "This is huge for me - I'm in rental cars every other week or so 'cause I fly a lot for work and getting to factories in the boonies isn't really doable on public transport. I used to spend 20 minutes in the europcar car park every single time and then have to log out of everything when I dropped the car off. Now I just hook up Android Auto and I'm back into the same podcast I had on the flight, my itinerary is planne", "context": "flies a lot for work and rents cars frequently", "use_case": "rental car infotainment", "switched_from": "", "story": "CarPlay Is Additive"}, {"id": 780350624, "item_id": 48771914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48771914", "by": "yoavm", "date": "2026-07-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "having Android Auto is absolutely a must have for me", "excerpt": "I use Android and having Android Auto is absolutely a must have for me. AUX cord? It's been a few years since I've seen a phone with a headphone jack, or a car with an AUX input. I also don't miss the time where my phone had to be connected on one side to USB for charging, on the other side to the sounds system, and my navigation was done using a a 6\" screen that kept falling between the chairs. Android Auto/CarPlay ", "context": "Android user", "use_case": "car navigation and music", "switched_from": "", "story": "CarPlay Is Additive"}, {"id": 780338480, "item_id": 48771155, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48771155", "by": "fluidcruft", "date": "2026-07-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Android Auto a lot when traveling in rental cars.", "excerpt": "I use Android Auto a lot when traveling in rental cars. The alternative is annoying. With Android Auto, I at least know how to navigate and play audio with minimal effort. Otherwise I just use my phone and in a rental I typically don't have a mount so it's annoying because my phone discovers new and unexpected places to hide. First world problems, I know.", "context": "", "use_case": "navigation and audio in rental cars", "switched_from": "", "story": "CarPlay Is Additive"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 785842816, "item_id": 49115176, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49115176", "by": "hulitu", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "You mean an app that doesn't work ? There are plenty of those.", "excerpt": "> Is there an open-source alternative to Android Auto? You mean an app that doesn't work ? There are plenty of those.", "context": "", "use_case": "car infotainment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google will expand age checks on Android worldwide till the end of the year"}, {"id": 780913104, "item_id": 48807069, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48807069", "by": "gumby271", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "warn", "quote": "What I don't love is how Android Auto is slowly breaking since it assumes more and more that you have a touchscreen.", "excerpt": "I love the click-wheel on my Mazda3 and I love that it allows the screen to sit out of arms length up on the dashboard. Its a very nice interior. What I don't love is how Android Auto is slowly breaking since it assumes more and more that you have a touchscreen. It used to be that it would focus buttons in notifications, making it easy to interact with. Now the focus doesn't seem to change at all (or only sometimes) ", "context": "Mazda3 owner", "use_case": "in-car interface", "switched_from": "", "story": "Car touchscreens are cheap, not good"}]}], "who": [{"by": "Poacher5", "context": "flies a lot for work and rents cars frequently", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48773314", "date": "2026-07-03"}, {"by": "yoavm", "context": "Android user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48771914", "date": "2026-07-03"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["in-car infotainment", "in-car navigation and infotainment", "car music and navigation", "car infotainment", "in-car interface", "rental car infotainment"], "compared": [{"slug": "carplay", "name": "CarPlay", "co": 9, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48769397", "title": "CarPlay Is Additive", "mentions": 5}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49331220", "title": "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49107950", "title": "Google will expand age checks on Android worldwide till the end of the year", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48806151", "title": "Car touchscreens are cheap, not good", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 3, "warn": 2}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 789384945, "item_id": 49336559, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49336559", "by": "starkrights", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "because it and android auto are made by actual UI/UX designers", "excerpt": "What does \u201cnot a good system in an objective sense\u201d even mean? In what objective measures do you see it fail in? I and basically everyone I know love it because it and android auto are made by actual UI/UX designers that aren\u2019t embedded systems engineers- resulting in an infotainment screen that isn\u2019t a complete and utter piece of shit, and has actual functionality. I use my phone for everything in my car anyways, es", "context": "", "use_case": "in-car navigation and infotainment", "switched_from": "", "story": "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI"}, {"id": 789347600, "item_id": 49334225, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49334225", "by": "delecti", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Android Auto", "excerpt": "I start my music and navigation route before leaving my garage, and any other interactions (volume up/down, skip song) are buttons on my steering wheel. What do I need voice input for? (I use Android Auto, but it's basically the same thing for these purposes)", "context": "", "use_case": "car music and navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI"}, {"id": 785842816, "item_id": 49115176, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49115176", "by": "hulitu", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "You mean an app that doesn't work ? There are plenty of those.", "excerpt": "> Is there an open-source alternative to Android Auto? You mean an app that doesn't work ? There are plenty of those.", "context": "", "use_case": "car infotainment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google will expand age checks on Android worldwide till the end of the year"}, {"id": 780913104, "item_id": 48807069, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48807069", "by": "gumby271", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "warn", "quote": "What I don't love is how Android Auto is slowly breaking since it assumes more and more that you have a touchscreen.", "excerpt": "I love the click-wheel on my Mazda3 and I love that it allows the screen to sit out of arms length up on the dashboard. Its a very nice interior. What I don't love is how Android Auto is slowly breaking since it assumes more and more that you have a touchscreen. It used to be that it would focus buttons in notifications, making it easy to interact with. Now the focus doesn't seem to change at all (or only sometimes) ", "context": "Mazda3 owner", "use_case": "in-car interface", "switched_from": "", "story": "Car touchscreens are cheap, not good"}, {"id": 780373024, "item_id": 48773314, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48773314", "by": "Poacher5", "date": "2026-07-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Now I just hook up Android Auto and I'm back into the same podcast I had on the flight", "excerpt": "This is huge for me - I'm in rental cars every other week or so 'cause I fly a lot for work and getting to factories in the boonies isn't really doable on public transport. I used to spend 20 minutes in the europcar car park every single time and then have to log out of everything when I dropped the car off. Now I just hook up Android Auto and I'm back into the same podcast I had on the flight, my itinerary is planne", "context": "flies a lot for work and rents cars frequently", "use_case": "rental car infotainment", "switched_from": "", "story": "CarPlay Is Additive"}, {"id": 780357169, "item_id": 48772323, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48772323", "by": "benrutter", "date": "2026-07-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I don't miss android auto at all.", "excerpt": "There's so many comments on the lines of \"I would never buy a car without android auto/car play support\". I 100% used to be on this camp, \"A car without android auto, what am I, a caveman!?\". Anyway, separately to anything car related, I got fed up of some of google's treatment of android and switched to Murena's /e/os which is a de-googled spin of android. It doesn't support android auto, and that held me back from ", "context": "", "use_case": "in-car infotainment", "switched_from": "", "story": "CarPlay Is Additive"}, {"id": 780350624, "item_id": 48771914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48771914", "by": "yoavm", "date": "2026-07-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "having Android Auto is absolutely a must have for me", "excerpt": "I use Android and having Android Auto is absolutely a must have for me. AUX cord? It's been a few years since I've seen a phone with a headphone jack, or a car with an AUX input. I also don't miss the time where my phone had to be connected on one side to USB for charging, on the other side to the sounds system, and my navigation was done using a a 6\" screen that kept falling between the chairs. Android Auto/CarPlay ", "context": "Android user", "use_case": "car navigation and music", "switched_from": "", "story": "CarPlay Is Additive"}, {"id": 780338480, "item_id": 48771155, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48771155", "by": "fluidcruft", "date": "2026-07-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Android Auto a lot when traveling in rental cars.", "excerpt": "I use Android Auto a lot when traveling in rental cars. The alternative is annoying. With Android Auto, I at least know how to navigate and play audio with minimal effort. Otherwise I just use my phone and in a rental I typically don't have a mount so it's annoying because my phone discovers new and unexpected places to hide. First world problems, I know.", "context": "", "use_case": "navigation and audio in rental cars", "switched_from": "", "story": "CarPlay Is Additive"}, {"id": 780331553, "item_id": 48770722, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48770722", "by": "stego-tech", "date": "2026-07-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "until CarPlay and Android Auto were mature options", "excerpt": "I\u2019m with OP, here: CarPlay is additive to the experience, but also is something that provides me a degree of consistency across my automotive experiences - when vendors bother to implement it properly. I have an old Honda Fit that I installed one of Pioneer\u2019s \u201capp radio\u201d units into, which included replacing the dash facia. I use CarPlay on it almost exclusively, but if I want Pioneer\u2019s incredibly mediocre UI/UX, it\u2019s", "context": "", "use_case": "in-car infotainment", "switched_from": "", "story": "CarPlay Is Additive"}]}