1) The recent findings of a GPS (nice one mikeygnyc) https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...ex-models.html. This means it could be available for EX or EX-L (sorry LX peeps).

2) HondaLink: Well it is quite terrible. I watched the several videos on it. It is slow, ugly and even the commentators seem to get lost sometimes. I checked out the ratings for the apps and they rank between 1 and 2 on ITunes and 2.5 on Google Play. I have had Hondas since my 87 CRX Si, I love the cars, I think they are the best. Honda should stick to making great cars and let someone else handle programming. In my research I found this older job listing on linkedin.com (https://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/10155460). A Honda Android Developer in Mountain View........another company is in Mountain View too.....

3) "Fragmentation": While this has been passed around as a negative for android developers, it could serve as bonus for us. Honda promises Android support in late 2015. Why not let the developers of Google Android worry about getting it work for every single device rather the Honda developers. Personally I have an S5. I am wondering how the fingerprint scanner will work with android auto. Will have to keep it in car mode the whole time or will I just have to scan my finger the first time I plug it in? I digress, I am not a developer so maybe someone can chime in.

4) Honda is a founding member of the open automotive alliance (Open Automotive Alliance). It is highly unlikely that Google did not give the specs of Android Auto to one of its founding members.

5) Be the first to have Android Auto in the subcompact class (and I guess Carplay too). I remember the when Toyota first introduced the Tercel in the eighties. Most American car manufacturers were producing mammoth cars, then the Japanese came in with these smaller gas efficient cars which allowed them a leg up in market share. Of course this on a smaller scale but it would just be......progressive. Toyota Yaris will have a touchscreen in their new vehicles: 2015 Toyota Yaris Preview - CNET. Granted they aren't a Android partner but they are a CarPlay partner.

6) The tablet looks exactly the same! If you saw Google I/O conference, you will see the tablet in the prototype for the Honda Android Auto looks like the tablet in the current Fit. I know it is impossible to know the specs are the same:
7) They would get my $20k tomorrow (even if it was only in the EX-L)


Can you tell I REALLY want Android Auto?

2008 Honda Fit
140k miles

 

My computer and phone are on my desk and when I am in my car I drive it without being distracted.

I do have the Accord horn update to wake up the texting/talking assholes. Also a writing instrument to take the licence numbers so they can get a call from police.

 

Apparently you are also completely ignorant to Android Auto. Everything is done through voice so there is no traditional texting and no one would have actually put their phone up to their ears. Android Auto has to be approved by many government agencies before launch but I guess you know more than them? Please comment when you actually know something on the matter.

Personally I hate people who text and drive/talk with their phones while driving. I have never done it and I never will. I also hate people who comment on things they know absolutely nothing about it.

 

 

"Honda should stick to making great cars and let someone else handle programming. "


You said it yourself, Honda should stick to making great cars. The only tech features I care about are the ones that make the drive safer and as far as I can tell the new fit has got a lot of them. We as drivers should concentrate on driving while we're driving.


What feature does Android have that Honda's system or even iOS don't offer that is so important or useful in a car?

 

Thank you both. Right I know nothing aobut what OP posted but did get the impression it is still distracting from driving. Thank you both for backing me.

 

Hey, the police operate laptops while driving. All we need is the same 'training' they have. J/K

 

While I would like my 2015 Fit to have Android Auto, I think it is unlikely. Honda's press release states that they will start releasing cars with Android Auto next year, that right there squelches most, if not all, hope. See the link below for my analysis of why Android Auto is unlikely to come to the 2015 Fit. For those who are concerned about distracted driving, cursory research will reveal that this technology is focused on improving driver safety. Taking your eyes off the road to use the volume slider or using a "writing instrument" while driving are not safe.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...ml#post1249949

Honda Vehicles to Seamlessly Integrate Android Smartphone Features with Android Auto - Honda.com
"Honda will introduce select vehicles compatible with Android Auto™ in 2015."

 

Android is way too fragmented for a solution on auto, unlike Carplay for iOS.

 

The fragmentation that blights the Android platform just means that only a handful of Android phones will be compatible, not that the solution won't work at all. Google already demo'd a working Android Auto solution at their conference in June.

Carplay will work with all iPhones released in the last two years.

 

Honestly I'm too lazy to read what features Android Auto has that makes not having compatibility with it a deal breaker for some. Can someone please enumerate them? As far as taking eyes off the road to change the volume, with the current Fit EX you don't even need to look down or move your hands off the wheel to do that with the wheel mounted controls... granted a knob is much better but the screen I think would only bother the passenger. I mean if the control was already at your finger tip why would you stretch all the way over there? I always thought Android users loved tech for tech's sake anyway. Joke

 

It's entirely possible that the different players will implement Android Auto differently.

And as history and initial quality surveys show, no matter how reliable or well made your car is, that high tech gadget in the dash can make or break your models reliability ratings and ultimately how well it does in the marketplace.

 

If they plow into us while they are typing away it'll be written up as being our fault.

Must be nice to be above the law.

 

android.com/auto/
Will give you a nice overview with lots of pictures, only a few sentences of text.

I think the reason a lot of people are really excited about Android Auto is because it does everything a driver would want, and the interface looks superior to anything else out there.

The software/hardware model is similar to how iPhone users can use the Honda app to display navigation on the car's touch screen. By offloading the infotainment software to your mobile device, everytime you get app updates, OS updates or a new phone, your car gets more features. Everytime Google adds services to Google Now, your car will get smarter.

It gives easy access to directions, traffic, weather, music, etc... pretty much anything a driver would want. Android Auto also establishes an ecosystem for app developers to distribute apps to a car, this would be a legal nightmare for an individual developer to do on their own.

To answer your question about why a driver would use the touch volume slider, the steering wheel controls might be in an unaccessible position due to the wheel being turned. The driver might be in the act of spinning the wheel, making the buttons a moving target and continuously repositioning their hands out of reach of the buttons.

But like you said of course they would try to use the steering wheel controls, because the volume slider is dangerous to use. I see a lot of people in this thread linking Android Auto to distracted driving, which is questionable since Android Auto is voice controlled and designed to improve safety, but nobody is complaining that Honda included a dangerous touch slider which supports two activities which can cause distracted driving, music and phone calls.

 

The different players need only sell phones that run the latest version of Android, Android L. Then it is up to the app developers to write apps that take advantage of Android L services, those services then integrate with Android Auto. Google has abstracted the implementation of Android Auto from hardware and software developers to isolate those partners from the challenging legal issues of writing vehicle software.

The problem is that very few, if any, Android handset manufacturers are capable of selling a phone that runs the latest version of Android. The only phone compatible with Android L right now is Google's Nexus 5. Anybody who just bought a Samsung S5 has a phone that can not be updated to the latest version of Android anytime soon. It took Samsung and Verizon over one year to update the S4 to KitKat. This is a strong reason to avoid manufacturers like Samsung who sell phones with butchered versions of Android, and then don't support their own products with future updates.

You bring up a good point that just one unreliable component can bring down the reliability of the entire car. This is why it is helpful to isolate the more complex technology, like vehicle software, to hardware that can be easily replaced (phone) and software that can easily be updated (Android). This is why so many people are excited about Android Auto. The HondaLink systems will never get a hardware upgrade, and few if any software updates. For example, I have a glitch in my LaneWatch and now I have to get the entire head unit replaced, this is a much more expensive and laborious repair than simply downloading a software update or replacing a phone.

 

See this is where most people fail to understand. They see android auto and they blindly say "you should keep your eyes on the road". They don't get that is what android auto is designed to do. There is no keyboard to text and for the most part everything is handled by voice control and/or the steering wheel control. Some might say "Even the voice control is distracting". I would say, having a conversation in the car is just as distracting. Lighting a smoke. Hitting Fast Forward on a traditional stereo.

I digress, this post was initially started about my thoughts about if Android Auto might be in the 2015 Fits (Ex and above), it wasn't about safety. Those who say it might not be as safe as other technologies should really go to the Android Developer section and watch the videos on the I/O conference where they state that that are working with government agencies to make it safe.

I really think they will support Android Auto and they are holding off until it is released so early adopters will buy their navigation systems.....

 

All the more reason to outsource it to Google rather than the Honda Developers.

 

Yeah this is what I am afraid of. Even though I have the S5, it is on TMobile. I can unlock now and move to ATT, depending on who might offer L first (Licorice, Lollipop, Lemonhead?). I wanted the vanilla version of the S5 but the Google Play edition isn't available

 

Android Auto will work very similarly to how the Chromecast works.

You will need to ask yourself four things.

Is my phone compatible with Android Auto? (Most likely will be yes for any phone released since Android 4.0)

Is my phone compatible with the app I want to use? (Again every phone since 4.0)

Is the app I want to use compatible with Android Auto? (This will work similarly to Chromecast and each app will need to have it's code updated, so this will vary on an app to app basis)

Is my car's display compatible with Android Auto?
This is the one big thing that we will not know until Honda comes out and says one way or the other. I doubt it though, the software would need to be built in and Android Auto was only recently announced to Developers to prepare for a full release sometime next year. That didn't give Honda a whole lot of time to build that capability in. And I don't remember a whole lot of auto manufacturers handing out free software updates for the in-car systems.

If Honda keeps a similar form factor for the head unit between model years we may be able to replace the head unit in a 2015 Fit with one from 2016 that is Android Auto ready.

And all these same factors apply to Apple Carplay. Just because those updates may rollout to the phones overnight doesn't mean they will automagically have Carplay capability in the 2015 Fit.

 

Just install the Google Now Launcher. I believe it was recently opened up to all phones. You will get the look of stock Android and get to keep the few useful apps included with TouchWiz.