It's time to replace my Superb III's satnav with Google - or at least try it out. The built-in satnav just isn't clear enough for me at (not very) complex junctions!

 

Anyway, things seem to have moved on with Smartlink and so on since I bought nearly 2 years ago, so I tried following a video "ŠKODA SmartLink – Android Auto".

I plugged in my Android phone to the car via USB and here's the first problem: the car doesn't "see" it. I know it's plugged in because the phone shows that it's charging. 

Menu => Smartlink shows that I need to connect via USB - see photo.

 

Any ideas?

Have you got Android auto also installed on your phone and do you use a good quality cable to connect to the car?

2 minutes ago, john999boy said:

Have you got Android auto also installed on your phone and do you use a good quality cable to connect to the car?

John, thanks for the response.

Yes, I have got the app on the phone. I didn't do anything with it other than open it. Under its settings it has a section "Connected cars" and in this under "Accepted cars" it has SKODA.

So that leads me to believe that it has talked to the car!

I don't know about the cable quality - I'll play around with some others this pm.

As I remember, the first time you pair the phone to the car, after you physically connect it, you need to open the Android Auto app on the phone and go through several pages of terms and conditions. On the car side you simply need to select Android Auto (instead of MirrorLink) at the same time. It's a rather straight-forward process after you do that.

But yes, the connection quality can depend a lot on the quality of the cable. First time try it using your OEM charger's USB cable (assuming it detaches from the phone charger).

Edited 7 March, 20197 yr by newbie69

Solved! I tried using another cable and it worked fine;  I'm surprised, learned something there.

Thanks for the replies.

 

As an aside, it's not that impressive from a display point of view.

Edited 7 March, 20197 yr by keble6

25 minutes ago, keble6 said:

Solved! I tried using another cable and it worked fine;  I'm surprised, learned something there.

Thanks for the replies.

 

As an aside, it's not that impressive from a display point of view.

You can run Maps with satellite view enabled if you want a fancy look, although this has a heavier impact on your mobile data. If not used for Navigation and if not a Spotify fan I don't see much use of it either. I only use it when I absolutely need the latest road traffic/conditions information through Waze but constantly switching between the AA screen and the in-car Media, or Driving screens is a bit of a PITA. If more apps were integrated like some decent media players (not on-line ones) and the popular communication apps I would be using it more.

That been said, in a car with Virtual Cockpit, you can leave AA on the main screen but have access to the rest of the data (driving, media, telephone) via the driver's screen so it could be used more.

38 minutes ago, keble6 said:

As an aside, it's not that impressive from a display point of view.

Now you'll have to find some of the posts which tell you how to put your phone into developer mode to allow a resolution change. 

Developer mode goes something liike this from memory.

Android Auto (AA) open on phone. Tap the 3 horizontal bars top left corner.

Tap 'About' then on the top of the AA screen tap 'About Android Auto' 10 times. This should put you in dev mode, find the 3 vertical dots in top right corner, click and you can find stuff to do there.

 

It doesnt seem to make much difference on some phones but choosing the 720p option has improved the definition for some. AA is really little more than a basic presentation.

50 minutes ago, john999boy said:

Now you'll have to find some of the posts which tell you how to put your phone into developer mode to allow a resolution change. 

34 minutes ago, Sagalout said:

Developer mode goes something liike this from memory.

Android Auto (AA) open on phone. Tap the 3 horizontal bars top left corner.

Tap 'About' then on the top of the AA screen tap 'About Android Auto' 10 times. This should put you in dev mode, find the 3 vertical dots in top right corner, click and you can find stuff to do there.

 

It doesnt seem to make much difference on some phones but choosing the 720p option has improved the definition for some. AA is really little more than a basic presentation.

 

I know a thing or two about development mode, ADB etc. but had no idea this was possible on AA connection.

Is it the "Simulate secondary displays" option (set to None as stock) or "smallest width" (set to 360 dp as stock) that you guys were referring to?

Edited 7 March, 20197 yr by newbie69

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