Android Auto update - "Coolwalk"

VAMike

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Feb 22, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
3,270
Reaction score
4,145
Location
Virginia
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger Lariat SuperCab
this makes total sense, and I've wondered why it's taken so long for the manufacturers to figure out that landscape is a stupid orientation for a digital map. or am I the only one that doesn't really GAF what's a mile to the left and right of the road I'm on and more interested in what's in front? And then to add insult to injury they put a damn icon bar horizontally across the bottom and reduce the vertical space even more. Maybe it would make sense to move the icons to the wasted space on the sides?
Sponsored

 
OP
OP
mtbikernate

mtbikernate

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2020
Threads
10
Messages
1,069
Reaction score
2,354
Location
NC
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger XLT 4x4
iPhone Car Play has had it for a while. I think you have too. You just didn't know it.
no. this tiled layout is new for Android Auto. There's been a lot of talk about it for awhile. Some ppl have had it for several months, but they had to participate in the Android Auto beta testing program. Which I did not. It's only been a month or two that it's been rolling out to everyone else.
 
OP
OP
mtbikernate

mtbikernate

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2020
Threads
10
Messages
1,069
Reaction score
2,354
Location
NC
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger XLT 4x4
here's a screenshot of my dash showing the split screen view in a Ranger. for obvious reasons, I wasn't going to take a picture of the screen while parked in my driveway, showing the map.

Right now, the music tile takes up the whole right column. But for a period of time after starting it, it shows another tile with recommended locations to navigate to based on your driving history.



I don't mind the smaller map tile as it is. Seems to show what it needs to show. I just don't like the wasted space from the music tile when I'm not streaming. I'd prefer if that tile showed whichever music source was being used, whether it was whatever streaming app or other source from the Sync3 system (AM/FM, SiriusXM, USB, whatever).

The suggestion of having the icon bar at the bottom being switched to a vertical bar is a good one. Map would be more useful in a taller orientation so you can see a little farther ahead.
 

MrJ1s

Member
First Name
Mark
Joined
Sep 9, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
8
Reaction score
8
Location
Central Wisconsin
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ranger XLT
Occupation
Semi-Retired
"I think what I want most, though, is better AA integration with vehicle systems. Such as, I have to exit the AA interface if I want to mess with the native vehicle systems like the climate control screen, AM/FM radio, controlling music from the USB port, and so on. And I lose the ability to voice control those things when AA is active since the Google Assistant takes over completely. And of course, Coolwalk doesn't do that".

Exactly, when you consider what Android Auto does to your infotainment system voice functions its worth comes into question. I am beginning to think that most of us clamoring for Coolwalk have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to AA. How many of us really need a map displayed in the center of our dashboards when most of us are driving around locally? If you are concerned with current traffic conditions most local radio stations provide that information and it is usually reported in "realtime".

Beyond that I would like to be able to adjust climate control without having to start pressing buttons on a screen to escape from AA to do so. I live in the Upper Midwest, it is 15° F below zero this morning and in the summer it can get above 90° F. My climate control is always getting adjusted up or down relative to fan speed and temperature. Then there is the Android Auto voice commands, my SYNC 3 only needs a command like Sirius 114, Google Assistant needs the "Hey Google, play Fox America's Newsroom on SiriusXM". Has anyone noticed that AA does not play well, (pun intended), with SiriusXM? And then there is the issue with having whatever App on your phone to interface with AA, I usually have my phone buried in a holster attached to my belt. That takes a lot off of the top of your internet connection strength.

I know, many will say "Well then don't use it". I am beginning to think that I will not unless I am on a long trip. When I do that I may be using the Waze App now that I have had the time to acquaint myself to it. Waze seems to provide more than Google Maps which I have used for thousands of out of state miles.

Up until recently I was sold on AA and Coolwalk, (whenever that is released to the masses). So much so that I went out and bought the Motorola MA1 wireless adapter when they went on sale and dropped the price 30% about four weeks ago. Now I am thinking that the tether thing was not so bad.
 

VAMike

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Feb 22, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
3,270
Reaction score
4,145
Location
Virginia
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger Lariat SuperCab
Exactly, when you consider what Android Auto does to your infotainment system voice functions its worth comes into question. I am beginning to think that most of us clamoring for Coolwalk have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to AA. How many of us really need a map displayed in the center of our dashboards when most of us are driving around locally? If you are concerned with current traffic conditions most local radio stations provide that information and it is usually reported in "realtime".
um, no, not even close. sure, we have a traffic station that summarizes the most exciting incidents in a large metro area of a couple million people. very seldom does that happen to coincide with where I'm going. 20 years ago I listened religiously during my commute, and it sucked every time I was sitting in a traffic jam that didn't make the top 3 being announced.

Beyond that I would like to be able to adjust climate control without having to start pressing buttons on a screen to escape from AA to do so. I live in the Upper Midwest, it is 15° F below zero this morning and in the summer it can get above 90° F. My climate control is always getting adjusted up or down relative to fan speed and temperature.
The major issue here isn't AA, it's that ford made changing the climate settings overly dependent on the touch screen. That said, I mostly just keep it in auto and change the temperature, but for those who are picky about the settings ford should have just put in a couple more buttons.

Then there is the Android Auto voice commands, my SYNC 3 only needs a command like Sirius 114, Google Assistant needs the "Hey Google, play Fox America's Newsroom on SiriusXM". Has anyone noticed that AA does not play well, (pun intended), with SiriusXM?
no, I never used siriusxm even when it was free, just no value proposition for me vs content via the phone. I did listen to XM before sirius bought them, but that was a long time ago, and my phone did a lot less.

Up until recently I was sold on AA and Coolwalk, (whenever that is released to the masses). So much so that I went out and bought the Motorola MA1 wireless adapter when they went on sale and dropped the price 30% about four weeks ago. Now I am thinking that the tether thing was not so bad.
I love wireless AA. Even with a cable it's great, as I can plug the phone into a high power charger instead of the low-wattage output from the sync system.
 


D Fresh

Banned
Banned
First Name
Doug
Joined
Dec 10, 2020
Threads
20
Messages
6,282
Reaction score
13,543
Location
Colorado
Vehicle(s)
'20 Lariat FX4, '17 FiST, '16 CX-5, '95 YJ
Occupation
Milkman
Pretty dumb that there's no way to thumbs up or down on Pandora on the split screen.

The only helpful addition it gives is artist/title information at all times.
 

MrJ1s

Member
First Name
Mark
Joined
Sep 9, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
8
Reaction score
8
Location
Central Wisconsin
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ranger XLT
Occupation
Semi-Retired
um, no, not even close. sure, we have a traffic station that summarizes the most exciting incidents in a large metro area of a couple million people. very seldom does that happen to coincide with where I'm going. 20 years ago I listened religiously during my commute, and it sucked every time I was sitting in a traffic jam that didn't make the top 3 being announced.


The major issue here isn't AA, it's that ford made changing the climate settings overly dependent on the touch screen. That said, I mostly just keep it in auto and change the temperature, but for those who are picky about the settings ford should have just put in a couple more buttons.


no, I never used siriusxm even when it was free, just no value proposition for me vs content via the phone. I did listen to XM before sirius bought them, but that was a long time ago, and my phone did a lot less.


I love wireless AA. Even with a cable it's great, as I can plug the phone into a high power charger instead of the low-wattage output from the sync system.
Well Mike,

Now that we all know what your preferences are I for one will just go about my day. Thanks for the info.
 
OP
OP
mtbikernate

mtbikernate

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2020
Threads
10
Messages
1,069
Reaction score
2,354
Location
NC
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger XLT 4x4
Exactly, when you consider what Android Auto does to your infotainment system voice functions its worth comes into question. I am beginning to think that most of us clamoring for Coolwalk have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to AA. How many of us really need a map displayed in the center of our dashboards when most of us are driving around locally? If you are concerned with current traffic conditions most local radio stations provide that information and it is usually reported in "realtime".
Nope. local radio stations here definitely don't do traffic updates any faster than the app on my phone can handle. Nobody here has a traffic helicopter, so they're just relying on police scanners, the limited number of traffic cams, or the Google Maps traffic layer. But besides that, I live in a city with a complex road network and traffic is unpredictable. So even if I am going to a place I know how to reach with good traffic conditions, I often still run nav just on the off chance that there's some traffic snarl that explodes. One day trying to get to a movie theater that shouldn't be more than 20min away ended up taking me 2hrs.

Beyond that I would like to be able to adjust climate control without having to start pressing buttons on a screen to escape from AA to do so. I live in the Upper Midwest, it is 15° F below zero this morning and in the summer it can get above 90° F. My climate control is always getting adjusted up or down relative to fan speed and temperature.
I leave my climate control on auto and only adjust temp and fan speed on the dash as a result (and not often at that - my wife does those things far more often than I). Too many of the settings require the display to mess with, and I simply don't mess with them as a result. I use the seat heater to compensate for those times when I first get into a cold vehicle.

Then there is the Android Auto voice commands, my SYNC 3 only needs a command like Sirius 114, Google Assistant needs the "Hey Google, play Fox America's Newsroom on SiriusXM". Has anyone noticed that AA does not play well, (pun intended), with SiriusXM? And then there is the issue with having whatever App on your phone to interface with AA, I usually have my phone buried in a holster attached to my belt. That takes a lot off of the top of your internet connection strength.
Definitely don't mess with Sirius/XM. I was an early adopter of XM before the merger with Sirius and I kept it for awhile. But holy hell the stations are repetitive. I got sick of them years ago, so sat radio is dead to me now. I have a couple local FM stations I listen to, a thumb drive with some music loaded onto it, and some stations on Pandora that I rotate through. AA only makes it easy to get to Pandora. It makes it HARDER to use FM stations and the USB drive. It would be really handy if AA had the capability to recognize systems on the vehicle head unit and mirror them, or at least give quick links to them, rather than burying them under another layer of apps/button presses. As I've said before, this is partly a Ford problem, and partly an AA problem (AA is a layer on top of the Ford system, not fully integrated with it).

It would be great if AA would let the music tile display sources from the Sync3 system and allow you to change them with a swipe (I've noticed that the Coolwalk interface does allow a swipe on that panel sometimes). Maybe this means I'm a candidate for a head unit replacement that has a native AA operating system? I'm nervous to do that and lose access to things that the Sync3 system has.

I know, many will say "Well then don't use it". I am beginning to think that I will not unless I am on a long trip. When I do that I may be using the Waze App now that I have had the time to acquaint myself to it. Waze seems to provide more than Google Maps which I have used for thousands of out of state miles.
I switch back and forth between a few different mapping apps depending on the scenario. In town, I use Google Maps. In the woods with no cell reception, I use Gaia. On long road trips, I use Waze.

Up until recently I was sold on AA and Coolwalk, (whenever that is released to the masses). So much so that I went out and bought the Motorola MA1 wireless adapter when they went on sale and dropped the price 30% about four weeks ago. Now I am thinking that the tether thing was not so bad.
Just wait until you realize that in order to selectively use AA/Waze on your head unit only when you want to use it, that you either have to unplug your dongle or disable Bluetooth on your phone. If you want to selectively use AA that way, the physical cord is the better choice. Wireless AA is better if you're using AA every time you drive the way I do and some others do. I use it so extensively that I don't even know the voice commands for the Sync3 system.
 

VAMike

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Feb 22, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
3,270
Reaction score
4,145
Location
Virginia
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger Lariat SuperCab
Well Mike,

Now that we all know what your preferences are I for one will just go about my day. Thanks for the info.
says the guy who came into a thread about a new AA feature to rant about AA generally? I didn't realize it was a "MrJ1s opinions only" channel. Cheers.
 

VegasP11

Well-Known Member
First Name
Ian
Joined
Dec 20, 2019
Threads
5
Messages
205
Reaction score
607
Location
Kansas
Vehicle(s)
2019 Lariat FX4
I just got the Coolwalk update on Friday and I really like it. As weird as this sounds it looks much more like the Ford Sync interface which I liked more than the regular AA interface.
 

Brett Fields

Well-Known Member
First Name
Brett
Joined
Jul 20, 2021
Threads
6
Messages
291
Reaction score
722
Location
Brooklyn
Vehicle(s)
2021 Lariat FX4, Blackout, Tow
Occupation
Paramedic
Ooohhh!!!!
Came back from the mountains yesterday. On the drive back, I thought I arbitrarily touched something I shouldn't have and couldn't figure out how to get it back to my "regular" screen.

Ooopps.....
 
OP
OP
mtbikernate

mtbikernate

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2020
Threads
10
Messages
1,069
Reaction score
2,354
Location
NC
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger XLT 4x4
Ooohhh!!!!
Came back from the mountains yesterday. On the drive back, I thought I arbitrarily touched something I shouldn't have and couldn't figure out how to get it back to my "regular" screen.

Ooopps.....
If you want to go fullscreen, you just tap the app you want as fullscreen in the quick link menu at the bottom of the screen or on the AA home screen.

Looks like Coolwalk as it appears on my head unit is not a totally finished product. They're still playing with things, such as experimenting with a light theme, new animations, and whatnot.

Android Auto working on new animations, light theme (9to5google.com)

Also worth noting in this article is that Coolwalk does different things depending on the size of your screen. Larger screens apparently get the menu bar off to the left side as well as a little more tile placement flexibility (such as the ability to move the map to the right panel and put the music app on the left).

This article shows that arrangement on a not-very-tall-but-super-wide screen

Android Auto 8.9 Beta enables Coolwalk removing rotary and touchpad restrictions [APK Download] (androidsage.com)

Interestingly, my Android Auto version is still on 8.7.630264 so I don't even have 8.8 yet. Looks like that one is also doing a staged update on the Play store.

Android Auto 8.8 Starts Rolling Out as Coolwalk Is Now Available for More Users - autoevolution
 

Dr_Strangelove

Well-Known Member
First Name
Adam
Joined
Oct 14, 2022
Threads
9
Messages
791
Reaction score
3,633
Location
Henderson, NV
Vehicle(s)
'22 XLT Supercrew 4x4
Occupation
Art & Design
I'm on the exact same version of AA - 8.7.30264

I received this update yesterday afternoon sometime. Drove into work without it and looked at my screen on the drive home and what do you know?

So from what I can tell this is 100% an interface update and no functions have been added?
 
OP
OP
mtbikernate

mtbikernate

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2020
Threads
10
Messages
1,069
Reaction score
2,354
Location
NC
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger XLT 4x4
I'm on the exact same version of AA - 8.7.30264

I received this update yesterday afternoon sometime. Drove into work without it and looked at my screen on the drive home and what do you know?

So from what I can tell this is 100% an interface update and no functions have been added?
yeah, coolwalk just rearranges the interface a bit. though some of the other updates, like 8.8 and apparently 8.9 beta do change some functions and add features and whatnot.
 

TXRangerTim

Well-Known Member
First Name
Tim
Joined
Feb 2, 2023
Threads
3
Messages
636
Reaction score
2,885
Location
TX
Vehicle(s)
2021 XLT Tremor
Occupation
Retired
How do you get the split screen to work? I don't have that option on the main screen or in settings. I have Android 13 on my phone and it appears that I have the updated sync also.
Sponsored

 
 



Top