Can't you just plug in a USB flash drive with your songs loaded onto it?

 

Android Auto is far more than just a way to play music files located on your phone. Approved Android Auto apps (on a recent vintage Android SmartPhone) display directly on your Volt/Bolt center screen. Navigation is one of the main apps - you have a variant of Google maps and navigation appearing on your center screen. In fact, for the Bolt, that appears to be the only way you will be able to do navigation.

Now, the original post raises an issue that I have been concerned about, particularly with navigation on the Bolt. When you have to patch together all this crap from a bunch of sources, and it does not work, or works poorly, who is at fault? Who will fix it?

Is the problem with the cable, the phone manufacturer, the Android OS, the Android Auto App, your phone service provider, out-of-cell-tower-range issues, or something else?

 

No, but I love the music thumb drive feature. For AA to function it'll need the Android Lollipop OS or later, maybe Bluetooth and some other stuff - I don't pretend to be an engineer...

 

I would recommend looking at this guide for general tips (It's for a Hyundai but most of the general principals apply).

https://www.hyundaiusa.com/myhyunda...aicontent/Data/teamsite/doc/downloads/AndroidAutoTroubleshootingGuideforCWP.pdf

The biggest tip is to use the cable the phone came with, as that one is usually of higher quality.

Another option that I like is the Anker PowerLine cables, as they are usually built for abuse and have thicker gauge wires (especially for power).

 

Neither the Chevy dealer's cable nor the one that came with the phone worked, which is why I initially panicked. This was the ONLY problem I had with AA and now it works beautifully. The cable that came with the phone works fine for charging.

 

Not aware of any "heavy duty" USB cable. There are cheap charging-only cables, and then there are good charging+data cables. Good phones usually come bundled with a good USB cable as well. If not, I recommend you get a good one from Amazon. This is version 1 of AA, so it will take some time to mature and stabilize. AA is not just about streaming music. It allows select apps from the phone to be displayed on the car's screen, and allows some level of interaction from the cars touch screen as well.

 

Ok, everyone - My original post complains about the awkwardness of having to supply a modern Android phone with Lollipop OS and high-grade USB cable (NOT HDMI) to make AA work. You would not want to leave the phone permanently hooked up that way. I'm simply wishing that LG or Samsung would develop a cheap AA box - a Lollipop phone stripped of everything not needed for its singular purpose. It could "look like" a Roku streaming stick, but with a USB plug which could stay permanently connected to one of the two USB ports. Sorry for any confusion.

 

Ok, everyone - My original post complains about the awkwardness of having to supply a modern Android phone with Lollipop OS and high-grade USB cable (NOT HDMI) to make AA work. You would not want to leave the phone permanently hooked up that way. I'm simply wishing that LG or Samsung would develop a cheap AA box - a Lollipop phone stripped of everything not needed for its singular purpose.

I guess my confusion stems from not understanding what you mean by "singular purpose". Is the singular purpose to play music? If so, then why not a USB drive? Is it to receive phone calls (i.e., to be a phone)? If so, then why not just use the bluetooth connectivity of your phone. Is it to use navigation? You can get that built into the car.

So I'm still a bit unclear on exactly what this "AA box" would be supposed to do for you.