5thGenRams Forums

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Android Auto full screen?

StuartV

Ram Guru
Joined
Jun 27, 2019
Messages
1,087
Reaction score
850
Location
Lexington, SC
Is there a way to get Android Auto to display using the full screen on the 12" Uconnect?

I feel like I'm just being dense, but I could only get it to display in split screen mode.

It's really just idle curiosity, though. Unless/until FCA makes wireless Android Auto work for Screen Projection (or whatever they call it), I can't see using AA very much. I can stream music from my phone through the Uconnect just fine over Bluetooth.

I think it would be nice, though, to have Google Maps for Nav, and be using the whole screen for it. At least when using that, I can tap the Microphone button on the screen and use voice to find where I want to go....
 

SpeedyV

Ram Connoisseur
Staff member
Site Supporter
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
5,102
Reaction score
4,773
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
Is there a way to get Android Auto to display using the full screen on the 12" Uconnect?

I feel like I'm just being dense, but I could only get it to display in split screen mode.

It's really just idle curiosity, though. Unless/until FCA makes wireless Android Auto work for Screen Projection (or whatever they call it), I can't see using AA very much. I can stream music from my phone through the Uconnect just fine over Bluetooth.

I think it would be nice, though, to have Google Maps for Nav, and be using the whole screen for it. At least when using that, I can tap the Microphone button on the screen and use voice to find where I want to go....
Lots of prior discussion on this, but...not today. Apple CarPlay might get there first, with the new capabilities coming in iOS 13, but I’m trying not to be too optimistic just yet.
 

Jtr

Ram Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2018
Messages
583
Reaction score
338
Location
Illinois
Is there a way to get Android Auto to display using the full screen on the 12" Uconnect?

I feel like I'm just being dense, but I could only get it to display in split screen mode.

It's really just idle curiosity, though. Unless/until FCA makes wireless Android Auto work for Screen Projection (or whatever they call it), I can't see using AA very much. I can stream music from my phone through the Uconnect just fine over Bluetooth.

I think it would be nice, though, to have Google Maps for Nav, and be using the whole screen for it. At least when using that, I can tap the Microphone button on the screen and use voice to find where I want to go....
Not at this point. We are stuck with the split screen and have to hope a future software update will give us that functionality. That's why some have went with the 8" screen because the software is not engineered to full utilize the 12" landscape.
 

StuartV

Ram Guru
Joined
Jun 27, 2019
Messages
1,087
Reaction score
850
Location
Lexington, SC
Thanks, guys. This ain't my first rodeo with Dodge. If it doesn't work today, I will not be counting on it ever working in this truck... Oh, well, maybe that will be one more reason to upgrade to a new truck again in 2 or 3 years. One with an EcoDiesel, the MF tailgate, and wireless Android Auto...

:cool:
 

maddog49

Active Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2019
Messages
142
Reaction score
81
Android is supposedly releasing a update to android auto for your phone in September that will have a full length display. They had pictured of it on a ram 12" at the end of last year.
 

Jtr

Ram Guru
Joined
Nov 25, 2018
Messages
583
Reaction score
338
Location
Illinois
Android is supposedly releasing a update to android auto for your phone in September that will have a full length display. They had pictured of it on a ram 12" at the end of last year.
This would be fabulous
 

StuartV

Ram Guru
Joined
Jun 27, 2019
Messages
1,087
Reaction score
850
Location
Lexington, SC
Honestly, until it can do wireless screen projection, I'm probably not going to use it.

Having to plug in a power cable sucks. If it was fully integrated into the 12", so that I could fullscreen any one app or splitscreen it and have Google Maps on half and the Android Media Player in the other half, then maybe I would use it even with having to plug it in. But, I don't see that happening.

Of course, the ultimate will be wireless AND full integration. But, I highly doubt the latter will happen. Well, really, I am also highly doubtful that FCA is going to upgrade our existing units to work over wireless. They'll probably add it to a future version of the Uconnect, but I doubt they will retrofit it to the units we have now. I think FCA history speaks in my favor, as well.

Anyway, the Uconnect nav works okay, once you have found where you want to go. What I have found for that is to use Maps on my phone to find where I want to go, then share it from Maps on my phone to the Uconnect app on my phone, and from there Send it to the truck Nav. Bonus that I can do that while in motion. I can do a lot of it with voice, and it works better than the Uconnect voice searching in Nav.

For that matter, another thing that would be nice is if the Uconnect app let me login to my Google account, so that my search history and saved locations would show up in the Uconnect app. That would save me one step in getting a destination from my phone into Uconnect Nav in the truck.
 

YawnY

Active Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
48
Reaction score
31
You can use android auto wirelessly, but you have to have WiFi enabled on the truck.
 

StuartV

Ram Guru
Joined
Jun 27, 2019
Messages
1,087
Reaction score
850
Location
Lexington, SC
You can use android auto wirelessly, but you have to have WiFi enabled on the truck.

Part of what that says is this:

  • A compatible head unit - Your car radio, or head unit, needs to be capable of running Android Auto. It also needs to have Wi-Fi, and it needs to be certified to use its Wi-Fi connection in this manner.
Is the 12" Uconnect "certified to use its Wi-Fi connection in this manner"? I had the impression that it is not.

If it will work, I already have AT&T and I will fork over the $20/month today!
 

392DCGC

Ram Guru
Joined
Aug 1, 2018
Messages
565
Reaction score
378
You can use android auto wirelessly, but you have to have WiFi enabled on the truck.

Lots of prior discussion on this, but...not today. Apple CarPlay might get there first, with the new capabilities coming in iOS 13, but I’m trying not to be too optimistic just yet.

Android is supposedly releasing a update to android auto for your phone in September that will have a full length display. They had pictured of it on a ram 12" at the end of last year.

There's a lot of misinformation in here.

1. Android Auto in its current state, and CarPlay, only use the top half of the screen. This has NOTHING to do with software updates from Google or Apple. For this to change, RAM has to release software that allows either of those to utilize the full screen, and I haven't seen any examples of this in portrait orientation, only landscape. I'm sure it's possible but most manufacturer aren't using portrait oriented displays.

2. Wireless Android Auto (& CarPlay) have nothing to do with purchasing the in-truck WiFi. The infotainment must support either or both of these features for it to be available, and yes it uses WiFi for data transmission, so one would think RAM could have done it, but the hardware pipeline may not be setup for this to be possible.

3. The examples of Android Auto taking up the entire screen are NOT Android Auto... it's Android Automotive which is entirely different. Automotive takes place of the infotainment system and operates independent of your phone. It's interesting that this was showcased in a RAM, but it obviously doesn't exist on the consumer level and there's been 0 indication it is coming... same thing going on with Volvo right now.
io-auto-1-of-8-768x432.jpg
 

RAMpage

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2019
Messages
225
Reaction score
131
Location
Ottawa, ON Canada
There's a lot of misinformation in here.

1. Android Auto in its current state, and CarPlay, only use the top half of the screen. This has NOTHING to do with software updates from Google or Apple. For this to change, RAM has to release software that allows either of those to utilize the full screen, and I haven't seen any examples of this in portrait orientation, only landscape. I'm sure it's possible but most manufacturer aren't using portrait oriented displays.

Partially correct, yes. It still has something to do with the phone OS because versions of iOS (not sure about Android since I do not use it) have included updates for certain screen sizes. iOS 13 will apparently include quite a few additional screen resolutions to CarPlay.
 

SpeedyV

Ram Connoisseur
Staff member
Site Supporter
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
5,102
Reaction score
4,773
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
There's a lot of misinformation in here.

1. Android Auto in its current state, and CarPlay, only use the top half of the screen. This has NOTHING to do with software updates from Google or Apple. For this to change, RAM has to release software that allows either of those to utilize the full screen, and I haven't seen any examples of this in portrait orientation, only landscape. I'm sure it's possible but most manufacturer aren't using portrait oriented displays.

2. Wireless Android Auto (& CarPlay) have nothing to do with purchasing the in-truck WiFi. The infotainment must support either or both of these features for it to be available, and yes it uses WiFi for data transmission, so one would think RAM could have done it, but the hardware pipeline may not be setup for this to be possible.

3. The examples of Android Auto taking up the entire screen are NOT Android Auto... it's Android Automotive which is entirely different. Automotive takes place of the infotainment system and operates independent of your phone. It's interesting that this was showcased in a RAM, but it obviously doesn't exist on the consumer level and there's been 0 indication it is coming... same thing going on with Volvo right now.
View attachment 35588
Tell me, specifically, where my message shared misinformation. I pointed out that iOS CarPlay might beat Android Auto to market, but only because 13 enables multiple screens and non-standard screen support. This doesn’t imply (nor did I state) that Ram will actually take advantage of the new capabilities.
 

392DCGC

Ram Guru
Joined
Aug 1, 2018
Messages
565
Reaction score
378
Tell me, specifically, where my message shared misinformation. I pointed out that iOS CarPlay might beat Android Auto to market, but only because 13 enables multiple screens and non-standard screen support. This doesn’t imply (nor did I state) that Ram will actually take advantage of the new capabilities.
The latest CarPlay update in iOS 13 has nothing to do with using full screen in the RAM. CarPlay has already had adaptive screen size fill support. The update merely changed what content gets displayed in that area, which varies based on screen size.
 

SpeedyV

Ram Connoisseur
Staff member
Site Supporter
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
5,102
Reaction score
4,773
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
The latest CarPlay update in iOS 13 has nothing to do with using full screen in the RAM. CarPlay has already had adaptive screen size fill support. The update merely changed what content gets displayed in that area, which varies based on screen size.
Interesting. I was going off of info like this:

At WWDC, Apple also announced CarPlay support for irregularly-sized in-car screens, second independent screens for spots like between a car’s instrument clusters, and dynamic screen resizing that can adjust to show CarPlay content alongside information from other sources like the car manufacturer’s entertainment system. Manufacturers are generally slow to adopt new technology, but for vehicles released in the future, these additions to CarPlay’s frameworks promise to give carmakers additional flexibility that will open up new ways to implement CarPlay.”

Those comments (and the referenced announcement) were based on iOS 13.
 

klotz50

Active Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2020
Messages
36
Reaction score
10
Android is supposedly releasing a update to android auto for your phone in September that will have a full length display. They had pictured of it on a ram 12" at the end of last year.
And here I am stumbling across this April 2020 and still no 12"
 

BillyCrash

Active Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2020
Messages
69
Reaction score
144
Location
Republic of Texas
What I have found for that is to use Maps on my phone to find where I want to go, then share it from Maps on my phone to the Uconnect app on my phone, and from there Send it to the truck Nav. Bonus that I can do that while in motion. I can do a lot of it with voice, and it works better than the Uconnect voice searching in Nav.
I'm trying this now, sounds complicated but it really isn't. I selected my google map route on my phone, clicked share directions, found Uconnect and clicked share route. If it works, that's an acceptable process to me and allows for the full 12" map.
 

Kizzo02

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2020
Messages
16
Reaction score
6
Its an FCA issue and since FCA is abandoning their current in-house system and moving to the Android OS platform. I don’t expect any major feature updates to the current 4th gen Uconnect.

Uconnect 5 will be available this year for 2021 vehicles. It was specifically designed to handle screens that are 12 inches and larger, and will support wireless CarPlay and Android Auto.
 
Last edited:

SpeedyV

Ram Connoisseur
Staff member
Site Supporter
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
5,102
Reaction score
4,773
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
Its an FCA issue and since FCA is abandoning their current in-house system and moving to the Android OS platform. I don’t expect any major feature updates to the current 4th gen Uconnect.

Uconnect 5 will be available this year for 2021 vehicles. It was specifically designed to handle screens that are 12 inches and larger, and will support wireless CarPlay and Android Auto.
On the one hand, I hope this is a move in the right direction for FCA, I hope the new system is awesome, and I hope there’s an opportunity to retrofit the new system into our “old” trucks.

On the other hand, I’d recommend caution/skepticism if you’re thinking this will be an instant fix. Look at the years of teething problems some of us have experienced (I’ve been lucky). It may take some time to get UConnect 5 to a good place.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top