SmartLink needed for Android Auto?

[ChrisGTL80]

Hi all,

 

First post - I have the Amundsen system on a 2016 Octavia Estate vRS. Do I need to have SmarkLink activated before I can use Android Auto?

 

Phone is a Samsung S7 Edge. My system detects the phone when I plug in the USB but then starts playing random music files from my phone (including ringtones, alerts and my saved videos..........very odd!!) but then nothing else happens.

 

 

[LordTyrion]

Did you make progress with this? I also have an S7 edge and am struggling with Smartlink. I tried Android Auto but it doesn't show my music, the reason I want to link my phone in this fashion. 

 

I then tried mirror link but my car would not recognise any app with it.

 

Did you f I nd a solution?

[LordTyrion]

Just in case anyone wants to know the answer to my little question. Apple Music is currently not compatible with Android Auto so no matter how many times you plug it in, turn on and off etc it is not going to appear

[Michael G]

"Apple Music is currently not compatible with Android Auto".

 

Other streaming music services are available 

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/promotion_3001303_android_auto_all?hl=en_GB

 

In answer to other questions - Android Auto will work on an android phone, in standalone mode. It shows a similar display and like the original idea, is optimised for safety on the go.

 

To handover to the car screen, the vehicle does need Smartlink activated. Once licensed, it supports AA, Appe's CarPlay, and the older Mirrorlink tech.

 

In our 16 plate Yeti, Smartlink was factory activated at extra cost. My wife's old S6 would work with Mirrorlink, but not AA. Her new S8 works fine with AA.

 

As expected, my old Nexus 6P and new Pixel 2XL both work fine with AA, being Google phones.

 

AA saved us £600 compared to the OEM satnav, gives a choice of Google Maps or Waze on the nav side, and adds other functionality too - controllable from the car by voice, touch, or SW switch.

 

I love it. Pleased to see Smartlink is standard now on our newly ordered Karoq.

[maul]

If you have an android phone you need to download android auto from Google play on your phone before it will work. It needs that app to do anything. I used to have an s5 connect fine to android auto.

[Michael G]

Indeed. I should have mentioned that. Thanks maul.

 

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

 

 

 

[nicka62]

My nearly neww Octavia SE_Sport does NOT have smartlink installed (need registration code from dealer).  I have now wasted several hours attempting to make my phone talk to the Admunsen unit (the phone connects via Bluetooth just fine).   Bar Stewards; no android auto support so I'm stuck with Garmin Satnav or back to my smartphone in a holder showing Wayze or Google maps.  What would it cost them to just throw this in with the price of the car.  I suppose they want to see if it's something people are willing to pay for.

 

Next problem .... getting track listings of the music on my smart phone to show on the Admunsen; so far I have to set music playing on the phone .. upon which it plays on the Admunsen when BT media is selected.   With no CD player (old fart, yes, I know)  I'm stuck with using the Google Music on the phone, but without a track / album listing on the car's screen it's back to having the phone in a holder. 

 

 

[Michael G]

We paid £150 for factory activated Smartlink in our last Yeti. Its replacement, a Karoq, has Smartlink as standard. I expect that will be the way forward on new cars.

 

Meanwhile your dealer could licence/activate SL on your car, at cost. Well worth it IMHO to get Waze, WhatsApp etc on the car screen. No phone holder required. The phone needs connecting via USB lead (for now) but then can be tucked anywhere as control is handed over to the car.

 

Can't speak to BT as we play from SD and only use BT for calls (when AA is not connected).

[Rustynuts]

13 hours ago, nicka62 said:

My nearly neww Octavia SE_Sport does NOT have smartlink installed (need registration code from dealer).  I have now wasted several hours attempting to make my phone talk to the Admunsen unit (the phone connects via Bluetooth just fine).   Bar Stewards; no android auto support so I'm stuck with Garmin Satnav or back to my smartphone in a holder showing Wayze or Google maps.  What would it cost them to just throw this in with the price of the car.  I suppose they want to see if it's something people are willing to pay for.

 

Next problem .... getting track listings of the music on my smart phone to show on the Admunsen; so far I have to set music playing on the phone .. upon which it plays on the Admunsen when BT media is selected.   With no CD player (old fart, yes, I know)  I'm stuck with using the Google Music on the phone, but without a track / album listing on the car's screen it's back to having the phone in a holder. 

 

 

 

You're not stuck. You can buy the activation license from Skoda. Or you could use the Amundsen sat nav and put your music on a USB stick.

[nicka62]

True enough; just anoying to pay £1000s for a car and find a locked out feature that costs them little to provide.  Still, cometh the day that the Garmin based satnav is hopelessly out of date and an update costs as much as updating smartlink .. it may be worth paying the dealer.  We have the same satnav on the Citigo so it's not unfamiliar but the display is not as good as TomTom's and the traffic info and routing not as good as Google Maps or Wayz.

 

Meanwhile .. the music listing issue is sorted in two ways:

 

1.  Put the music on an SD card and push it in the spare SD slot.  You can fit an awful lot of music onto 2GB, let alone 8GB.  Copied directly from my hard drive to which I've been ripping music using Foobar over the years.  The car plays it fine, it's all sorted and displayed with album covers. 

 

2.  Uninstall Android Auto (as it's little use in this case) Plug in the smart phone via a data enabled USB lead and put the phone into "USB connected for file transfer" mode.  The phone then behaves like a USB drive and the car doesn't  know it isn't one.  Then hit USB as the media source on the car - it tries to play all the ring tones and stuff, but if you hig "database" then it finds the files in the same way as on the SD card.   What it choses to play next after an album finishes or when you press the "next" button on the MFSW seems a bit random .. but it works and better than a glove box full of CDs.