{"id":65820,"date":"2016-11-07T22:49:09","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T22:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/?p=65820"},"modified":"2016-11-08T14:46:47","modified_gmt":"2016-11-08T14:46:47","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-android-auto-2-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/2016\/11\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-android-auto-2-0\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything you need to know about Android Auto 2.0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ap_resize\"<\/p>\n

Android Auto is a brilliant way to control your phone on the road, but until this week the only way to get it was to buy a car with it built in or get an expensive replacement car stereo. Thanks to its recent 2.0 update<\/a>, it’s now possible to run Android Auto directly on your smartphone, giving everyone\u00a0access to Google’s advanced driving interface.<\/p>\n

We’ve installed the app so you can see how it works, find out to install it and see what accessories you might need to complete the setup.<\/p>\n

What’s Android Auto 2.0 like?<\/h3>\n

\"android-auto-2\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you first launch Android Auto 2.0, you get the screen on the right, which includes a ‘hamburger’ menu button and the voice command button, a music widget and Google Now cards including weather and recent address searches. Hitting any of the three buttons at the bottom brings up a simplified version of the relevant Google app (Maps, Phone, Music).<\/p>\n

It’s all pretty smooth, with big touch targets and the frequent option of voice input to ensure that you’re not too distracted while you’re driving. There’s also a night mode, as you can see above, which uses warm tones to ensure your night vision isn’t unduly disrupted. In short, it’s exactly what you’d want while driving – access to the most important functions of your phone with minimal distractions.<\/p>\n

How to install Android Auto 2.0<\/h3>\n

\"android-auto\"<\/p>\n

The 2.0 update for Android Auto will be rolling out to most countries via the Google Play Store<\/a> in the days to come. If you see the screen on the left when you first start the app, you have the old version, 1.6 — see below. If it’s the centre screen, you’ve got the right version.<\/p>\n

If you want to try it right now and you’re comfortable getting your hands a little dirty, you can download the app from APK Mirror here<\/a>. (You’ll need to\u00a0allow apps to be installed ‘from unknown sources’, which is set in Settings > Security on most Android phones.) You’ll need a smartphone or tablet running Android 5.0 or later for it to work.<\/p>\n

Essential Android Auto 2.0 accessories<\/h3>\n

\"car-accessories\"<\/p>\n

In order for Android Auto to work, you’ll need some accessories. A car holder<\/a> or dock<\/a> is the absolute minimum requirement, as you’ll need a convenient and safe place for your phone or tablet to sit while you’re using the app. A car charger<\/a>\u00a0is also recommended by Google, as having the screen on for an extended period can really tank your device’s battery. You also might want to look into an FM transmitter<\/a> or another way of connecting your phone to your car’s stereo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wrapping up<\/h3>\n

So there we have it — everything you need to know about Android Auto. If you have any questions or feedback, please get in touch via the comments below. Regardless, thanks for reading and have a nice day!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Android Auto is a brilliant way to control your phone on the road, but until this week the only way to get it was to buy a car with it built in or get an expensive replacement car stereo. Thanks to its recent 2.0 update, it’s now possible to run Android Auto directly on your smartphone, giving everyone access to Google’s advanced driving interface.<\/p>\n

We’ve installed the app so you can see how it works, find out to install it and see what accessories you might need to complete the setup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":65830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[311,228,216],"tags":[8923,8924],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65820"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65820"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65831,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65820\/revisions\/65831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mobilefun.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}