Technology is developing at a breakneck pace. But although homes, offices and places for entertainment are actively supplied with the latest gadgets that make life much easier, car manufacturers are not in a hurry to apply innovations in car entertainment systems. Most often they are offered as auxiliary functions, which requires additional costs. Significantly expand the capabilities of multimedia systems in the car, the interfaces from Android and Apple, which have already managed to take a strong place among the integral gadgets for drivers.
Android Auto
It is a separate program for a smartphone. The application was released in 2015, although it was announced a year earlier. The main disadvantage of using this interface is that it has regional restrictions, since it operates on the basis of Assistant. However, experienced users managed to circumvent this inconvenience by downloading the program through third-party repositories.
To install Android Auto, you must download it from Google Play. The application interface is quite simple - task cards that are most often used are displayed on the screens. Also in the interface is a navigation bar with buttons for accessing the information system of a car, phone and music.
The main concept of Android Auto is ease of use and the least possible number of factors distracting from driving. That is why, in addition to viewing maps, listening to music and audio books, as well as communicating via audio messages, the interface does not have anything. At the same time, Android Auto supports other applications for playing audio, radio and books, and you can use both Google Maps and Waze to navigate on the road.
In the interface of the entertainment system for cars based on Android, the function of displaying printed messages and long viewing of the playlist is not supported. In Android Auto, all the most popular instant messengers are available, with the exception of Gmail, which cannot be used through the interface.
Apple carplay
The American product for the entertainment system in the car was introduced earlier than the counterpart from Google. Apple has proposed its own novelty as a built-in iOS function, so it has no regional restrictions, and the image is presented as an analogue of the image on the smartphone screen. However, the program interface is quite simple - it can be compared with the menu of the first iPhone models. In the column to the left of the main screen there is a panel with the icons of the programs that were launched last.
Like a competitive application, CarPlay focuses on audio interface controls for safe driving on the road. However, messages are only available with WatsApp, iMessage and Facebook Messenger. Apple's interface has advanced features for listening to audio tracks. In addition to Apple Music, the system allows the use of additional applications.
The only significant drawback of the system is a navigation implementation that supports exclusively Apple Maps. But manufacturers are already puzzled by the solution to this issue, and already with iOS12 in Apple CarPlay testing began Waze and Google Maps.
By using the Apple or Android interfaces, you can significantly increase the convenience and functionality of in-car entertainment systems. In addition, their use solves the problem of connecting the car to the Internet without being tied to the car. All the actions of the developers of these interfaces are aimed at expanding the functions of these entertainment programs.
