Car India – August 2019

Edifying and

Entertaining

AndroidAutoandAppleCarPlaycanbeyourperfect

drivingcompanions.Hereishow

Story:KunalGangar

ISTENINGTOMUSICISAPRIORITY
formostofuswhiledriving.With
smartphonesenteringthefray,therewasa
needtomodernizein-car
entertainmenttoan
infotainmentsystem
andthisiswhere
serviceslikeAndroidAutoand
AppleCarPlaycomeintothe
picture.Carmanufacturers
havebeenmarketing
theseforquitesome
time;however,areyou
reallyawareofthe
advantagesofusing
eitheroftheseas
comparedtothe
carmanufacturer’s
built-in
infotainment
system?
Safetyis
paramountwhen
it comesto
drivingandthat’s
oneofthereasons
whyyouseecar
manufacturers
implementingfeatures
suchassteering-
mountedmultimedia
controlssothatthedriver
isnotdistractedwhiletrying
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controlsorthescreenonthe
dashboard.Smartinfotainment
systemstakesafetya stepfurtherandalso
enhancetheuser’sdrivingexperience.
Usingthesesmartinfotainmentsystemsisquitesimple.Just
pluginanAndroiddeviceforAndroidAutooraniPhonefor
AppleCarPlay.YoumayhavetodownloadtheAndroidAuto
appif yourdevicedoesnotcomepre-loadedwithit.The
phoneautomaticallydetectsthatit ispluggedintoanAndroid
AutoorAppleCarPlaycompatiblesystemandswitchestothe
appropriteuserinterfaceonthecar’sdisplay.
Comingbacktotheadvantages,theinterfaceinAndroid
AutoandAppleCarPlayismuchmoreuser-friendlyand

responsive,makingthemeasytouseascomparedtothecar’s

defaultinterface.Youcanforgetaboutpressingbuttonsor

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everythingcanbecontrolledviaGoogleAssistant(in

AndroidAuto)orSiri(inAppleCarPlay).In

ourexperience,GoogleAssistantis

betteratpickingupIndianaccents,

whichmakesit easierforthe

systemtounderstandand

execute.Youcaneven

dictatemessagesoraskto

calla contactviathe

voiceinterface.That

said,if youstillwant

tousethephysical

buttonsonthe

steeringwheelor

theintuitivetouch

interface,youcan

doit.

AndroidAuto

orAppleCarPlay

cantakecareof

yourmusicaswell.

There’snoneedto

curatemusicfor

yourlongtripsor

listentorandom

songsontheradio.

Youcanlistentothe

samemusicinyour

smartphoneviathesame

favouriteappssuchas

GooglePlayMusic,Apple

Music,Spotify,andmore.

Anotherimportantfeaturethatyou

cantakeadvantageofisnavigation.The

issuewiththecar’snavigationfunctionisthe

recencyofthemapdata.WithAndroidAutoandApple

CarPlay,however,youcanuseGoogleMaps(worksin

CarPlayaswell)togetupdatedmapdataalongwithreal-

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That’snotall.Smartinfotainmentsystemssupport

additionalappsthatyoucanusewhiledriving.Theapps

thatworkrightnowarelimitedbutyoucanusemessaging

appssuchasWhatsApporlistentopodcastsonyour

favouriteapp.

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Feature | Smart In-car Infotainment

118 CAR INDIA^ August 2019 http://www.carindia.in