Android Auto soon to be discontinued?

[JoeDirt]

This is the app that runs on Android phones by default when you connect it to a car that supports it. AA used to work great. Never had a problem with it at least until the last couple of updates Google has released. These all have been extremely buggy. I tried removing the AA updates on my S20 to revert to an older version but it forces me to update AA when I reconnect my phone to the truck. One gets the notion that Google intentionally released a buggy mess of an update to get people to happily switch to Assisted Driving Mode. The problem is we'll still be stuck with the bug ridden crap version of AA.

Now AA does behave much better on a system with sync 4 compared to Sync 3.4. Not sure if there are also related conflicts with the current version of Sync 3.4 and AA but it wouldn't surprise me.

This is the app that runs by default on my phone when I plug it in to my truck. Different app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.projection.gearhead

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[ScrappyLaptop]

It's not just Google. It's all the tech companies. You have entire teams of people pushing "updates" for no other reason other than to "update" it and justify their job.

A thoughtful tech company would put hard limits on their updates to force themselves to be more deliberate in what they're doing.

It's not just tech companies, it's so many corporations. When next-quarter or even more immediate profit or stock price numbers become the singular concern at the top, it filters down. At some level people whose job is to create new features or design the user/customer experience start to feel it too, and push out changes just so they have something concrete to show at their next review or simply talk about loudly and with much importance in meetings.

In my opinion, in their zeal to make something new and exciting (ie to make themselves important within the company), much of the world of consumer products has completely lost the lessons learned a couple generations ago. Lessons how to retain brand recognition, brand loyalty, how to ensure ease of use and so on - and marketing now runs the show at many companies. Marketing which needs to constantly create change or they have no purpose. It sorta makes sense, as over time the primary skill many CxO's & mid managers seem to have is marketing...themselves.

Now if you don't mind, I gotta go yell at those kids running across my lawn.

 

[D Fresh]

It's not just tech companies, it's so many corporations. When next-quarter or even more immediate profit or stock price numbers become the singular concern at the top, it filters down. At some level people whose job is to create new features or design the user/customer experience start to feel it too, and push out changes just so they have something concrete to show at their next review or simply talk about loudly and with much importance in meetings.

In my opinion, in their zeal to make something new and exciting (ie to make themselves important within the company), much of the world of consumer products has completely lost the lessons learned a couple generations ago. Lessons how to retain brand recognition, brand loyalty, how to ensure ease of use and so on - and marketing now runs the show at many companies. Marketing which needs to constantly create change or they have no purpose. It sorta makes sense, as over time the primary skill many CxO's & mid managers seem to have is marketing...themselves.

Now if you don't mind, I gotta go yell at those kids running across my lawn.

You've hit the nail on the head.

I've watched a few people over the last decade, through careful marketing of themselves, not only create new positions for themselves but create whole departments. Safety Engineers.

 

[TechnicallyReal]

We shall see.

Well, for those of us who have devices that will get the Android 12 update that is.

I already have this change on my phone (Pixel 5 with Android 12 beta 4). Doesn't affect anything for me at all, in-vehicle.

I used to use AA directly from my phone (before I had AA-compatible vehicles), and I hated it. If I was still a user of it, I don't think I'd miss it.

 

[ScrappyLaptop]

Safety Engineers

I dunno, I've known people over the years who lost fingers or an eye at work because they intentionally violated workplace safety rules. My grandfather used to tell stories about how workplaces were before OSHA, workplace safety laws and the like, and it was pretty miserable.

 

[D Fresh]

I dunno, I've known people over the years who lost fingers or an eye at work because they intentionally violated workplace safety rules. My grandfather used to tell stories about how workplaces were before OSHA, workplace safety laws and the like, and it was pretty miserable.

OSHA and workplace safety laws are one thing. Individuals making 6 figures a year to flip through a Grainger catalog are another.

 

[janitorjim]

OSHA and workplace safety laws are one thing. Individuals making 6 figures a year to flip through a Grainger catalog are another.

can I get the link to that job posting please

 

[D Fresh]

can I get the link to that job posting please

Here's a start.

https://www.indeed.com/m/jobs?q=Safety+Engineer

 

[ScrappyLaptop]

Here's a start.

https://www.indeed.com/m/jobs?q=Safety+Engineer

ISO 26262 (under required knowledge & experience) - that's vehicle design safety, not workplace?

Either way, Lucid looks okay until you realize it's a battery company that turned into a car company with no sales, now owned by a private equity company that was created just to purchase Lucid. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Capt Jon]

A suggestion to maybe be able to keep using the current version of the AA app. I do this with apps on my phone that I don't want to update or are later deleted. Just removing updates is not always helpful. Download App Backup and Restore by Trustlook Security Lab. Once installed backup the current version, of the app, on your phone to the archive. You now have a permanent copy of the app if you ever need to reinstall it. You also need to turn off "Auto Update" for the app, in the app store so it won't keep updating automatically. You can backup any app you have added to your phone. For most apps you can also download older versions on the web site apk.pure.com

 

[VAMike]

I already have this change on my phone (Pixel 5 with Android 12 beta 4). Doesn't affect anything for me at all, in-vehicle.

I used to use AA directly from my phone (before I had AA-compatible vehicles), and I hated it. If I was still a user of it, I don't think I'd miss it.

Yes, this is only for running a special dumbed down display directly on the phone screen, not for running the phone through the vehicle head unit. On my old car that lacked Android auto support in the radio I used the phone screen version approximately once before realizing it added nothing over just running maps/waze directly.

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