yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Auto General] Passa91:
I don't actually have Google Now enabled on my phone and still don't. I don't really like it on the phone (guessing what bus I'm trying to catch, documenting what it thinks I'm researching online, etc). I like just having it in the car for controlling music and directions by voice, it's like a DJ taking requests.

Obviously this can all be done without a head unit, but having an AA head unit means you have a large and clear screen that makes it easy to see directions/lane advice, located in a good area of the dash so you can dart your eyes to it without fully taking your eyes off the road. When I used my phone in AA standalone mode, I had problems finding a good place to mount it in my car and the mic wasn't great.

EDIT: I will also say Google Assistant is kinda limited in the car. Sometimes its responses are useless. Eg I ask it what the score is in the cricket ("what's the score in the test match between Australia and India") and it gives me something worthless like "Australia is batting in their second innings".
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
Ahhh, ok. Fair enough, but just so you know you can use it for JUST the voice and disable everything else (including cards). That's what I've done. I don't even use Google Now Launcher as my launcher. Nova Prime is far better!
[Android Auto General] Passa91:
That's exactly what I have :) using Nova as well. No hotword when not connected to Android Auto though, I find it a bit creepy (but let's be real, they're probably still listening to us even if it's off...)
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
Hmmm, might need Google Launcher afterall. I have mine set to listening on any screen (even when off), which is yes, very creepy. :P
[Android Auto General] leonkernan:
Sorry, didn't look back at this thread until now.

Hopefully in the mean time you googled it yourself, but just in case:

http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/0...-a-developer-mode-and-heres-how-to-enable-it/
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
Nah, I hadn't googled it, but thanks for posting that! I was on version 2.1.70... but that post you gave is rather old and the version they are talking about there is 1.0.06. So I downgraded to that, but AA auto forced me to upgrade back to 2.1.70... However, I did enable the dev mode before that happened. AND then I realised I got confused from the get go... the warning screen is from the Sony head unit, NOT from AA. So I never saw any AA warning screen, and I still have to tap OK to the Sony head unit warning screen everytime I use my car / the head unit / AA. LOL!
[Android Auto General] teancum144:
I had high hopes for this unit, but I'm probably going to return it. Here are my issues:

Wow! Android Auto is limited. You cannot scroll through an entire playlist -- you can scroll down only a certain number of songs. This is supposed to be a safety feature, but this makes it less safe because you scroll as far down as you can, play the bottom song, and then go back into the playlist, scroll down further, and repeat until you get to the desired song. This process is way more distracting than if you could just scroll down through the entire playlist.

Bluetooth audio keeps cutting out and I have to reset the device to get it to turn back on -- sometimes that doesn't even work.

While playing music, the navigation audio is so quiet that you can't hear it. I think it's coming through the phone instead of over the speakers. I changed a setting in maps to "Play voice over Bluetooth" to see if that will help, but haven't tested it yet.

The 2kHz is so harsh on the ears I have to turn it way down (in the equalizer) so songs aren't painful to listen to.

The touchscreen isn't very responsive near the bottom and edges of the touchscreen. That would be find if they didn't place buttons there.

As others have indicated, every time the thing turns on, there is a warning that requires you to touch the screen to accept. As others have suggested, I tried to go into developer mode, but can't get there maybe they removed that option. What a nuisance!! That is a huge pain point and is the nail in the coffin for me.

After this experience, I'm looking into using my nexus 7 and the macrodroid app with a headkit. ... full tablet functionality -- it looks awesome!!
[Android Auto General] Passa91:
The Android Auto team has finally admitted this is a bug. In AA 2.0 they changed the behaviour to only consider you in "park" if the head unit's GPS says you're not moving, and it ignores the handbrake signal the head unit receives. Since this unit has no internal GPS, it considers you always in an unsafe situation. They'll hopefully switch it to use the handbrake signal rather than the phone's GPS, cos you can just ground the handbrake signal to make the head unit think you're always parked. ;) Either way a fix is coming.

I've had no BT problems with multiple devices both with AA and just playing music through BT. Reviews online also comment the BT is very solid. Maybe it's something wrong with your device. You can use an external BT adapter with your device and see if the problems go away.

The navigation volume is separate to the media volume. But annoyingly, it's contextual. You can only crank the navigation volume while the navigation voice is speaking. As soon as it finishes, you go back to adjusting the media volume.

I don't have this problem. Could be a problem with your head unit. Make sure you're tapping it firmly - it's a resistive touchscreen and not a capacitive touchscreen like your phone, so it requires a firm finger or your fingernail.

This drives me barking mad too. I'm hoping for a firmware update but there haven't been any at all for this unit, despite the fact that it is upgradeable... I also changed the settings in developer mode (and there was an option for it), but it has no effect on this head unit.
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
I've had no BT issues either.

I find the volume levels to be quite reasonable. I do like how the music volume "dips" when the Google Maps voice needs to speak an instruction, are you not getting this "dipping"?

I do not have this issue either.

Here's the thing guys... The warning is from Sony, not AA. The dev mode in AA will most likely NEVER be able to alter this warning. Hopefully Sony gives us the option to skip this warning with an update. I am not hopeful though.
[Android Auto General] teancum144:
I'll have to try again to be sure -- if it was dipping, the Google Maps voice wasn't loud enough. I went into settings/navigation settings and changed the "voice level" to "louder". Hopefully that will help. Still, I think I'm going to return the unit.
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
Also check what voice mode the Google Maps voice is set to. There are three options. I cannot recall what each one is, but I think it's normal, alerts only (with an exclamation mark) and off or muted.
[Android Auto General] matata86:
Hello,

Today I installed the SONY XAV-AX100. Super. Everything works quite smoothly. I just have a problem with calling through android car. If someone calls me or call me and I connected via android car, so the call does not appear on the radio display only phone which is useless

Some idea?

My phone is Huawei P10 with Android 7th

The second problem is with the steering wheel controls. If I set the button to answer or reject the call setup restarts.

My car is a Hyundai i30 (2016). Please you have someone this radio with Hyundai (and Kia), and it works well you control on the steering wheel?
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
Did you wire up your steering wheel? You will prolly need a module that connects the Sony radio to your steering wheel buttons. Stinger is a brand that you can buy.
[Android Auto General] matata86:
So finally this radio is a big disappointment.

Phone book and call log are read to by clicking on the call log or phonebook.

Not loaded automatically at system startup. This is a huge problem. I do not see the name of who is calling before you start the phone book.

This should be able to load immediately after starting the system otherwise it is meaningless.
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
That's odd, mine does not behave that way. I suspect something is not right with your head unit or phone... What phone are you using? Also, is this happening in AA or the normal Sony interface?
[Android Auto General] matata86:
In Aa everything is in order. The problem is Sony interface. They contacts and call log are read immediately after system startup. What is your firmware please?
[Android Auto General] kyocon:
im having an issue with phone call sounding really staticy/not-understandable when using this? any fixes?
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
Sorry, I assumed you were using Android Auto, not the default Sony interface. I am using Android Auto.
[Android Auto General] c.ashwin:
All, Purchased the XAV AX100 few weeks ago and all I can say is AA is still in its infancy and there are plenty of bugs in the Head Unit itself. Some quirks which I noticed:

1) Steering Control mapping keeps getting reset every other day, its extremely annoying to waste time setting up the mapping all over again.

2) Lack of support for exFAT file system - This is major as FAT32 only supports files less than 4 GB. Most usb drives are formatted for exFAT. This limitation will cause most of the HD format movies to not play ( Mostly used when parked after a long outdoor trip).

3) The most useful app is TuneIn Radio, its absolutely amazing to listen to BBC and WNYC many thousands of miles away in southern India. However the big quirk is the scrolling - Even when parked I cant seem to scroll beyond a few taps before the screen gets frozen.

4) Media cannot be played through the phone's internal storage and if you want to play music it has to be through BT Audio. This is huge limitation and definitely deliberate as technically its no different than playing off a USB drive.

Does anyone know where will I find the latest Sony Firmware for the XAV? I looked at support sites but they only have manuals for download.
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
Sounds like you have a wiring issue? Who wired it? I had mine done at an audio installation specialist. I'm not 100% happy with the job they did, but I am not having issues like you've described.

I haven't used that app, but if you google the scrolling / locking issue in AA and you will find Google have deliberately limited scrolling in the name of safety. It's infuriating. All music apps that work in AA will have this limitation, Google must have demanded it. If you hate it as much as I do, please voice your opinion about it on the Google Community Forums here: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/android-auto

The parking issue you described is documented around the net here and there. Many reports say it's a bug. I don't know how true that is, but I suspect it's just Google attempting to be safe even if it breaks the functionality. For example, this head unit does not have GPS built in, so to determine location it needs to use the phone. I'm pretty sure my head unit was not wired up to my car's brake, so how would the head unit know if I am in park or not? The phone's GPS. Well, I read somewhere online that the car's park status is determined by GPS. I don't know about everyone, but my GPS is never 100% accurate, or at least never accurate enough to pinpoint if my car is in park or not. Therefore this feature is useless. Again, infuriating. Even when my car's engine is off I could not scroll due to "not parked"! Ridiculous!

I have no issue in this department. Are you using the Sony interface or Android Auto? I'm using AA and no issues. By default, AA uses USB for music and maps / navigation, and bluetooth for phone calls and messages.

I think this has been asked, but sadly we have zip from Sony. :(
[Android Auto General] rallysquirrel:
Myself and my neighbor both have the issue with time not displaying correctly. Happens every once in a while that the time is off by many hours. Wife said that after a couple of reboots, it then displays the correct time.

---------- Post added at 11:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 AM ----------

The unit does not dim at night, which is horrible. The maps feature does dim automatically with headlights on though.
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
I had a time issue on mine also, but only once so far. At first I thought it was a sync / lack of network access because it happened while the wife and I were out of town in a place where the signal was ridiculously bad. I got this error on my phone:

[IMG="Error Message from AA on phone"]http://i67.tinypic.com/2exowo1.png[/IMG]

All I had to do to fix was correct the head unit time (and maybe date too, I cannot recall).
[Android Auto General] Passa91:
Re time, disable RDS time sync in settings. If a local radio station is broadcasting the wrong time, it'll change the time on the head unit as well. This is what was causing problems for me, a popular FM station broadcasts the wrong time over RDS.

For the light dimming - my unit dims the backlight with my headlights. You've obviously hooked it up correctly if Android Auto itself can tell whether the lights are on - pop into the head unit's settings and set the screen dimming to "Auto".
[Android Auto General] Spooky_b329:
I've had this unit for some time now, most of the issues I have are already mentioned in this thread; I'm going to update my firmware today from 1.00.09 to 1.02.06 and I'm hoping some are resolved...

1) Ability to remove parking camera guidelines. My vehicles OEM camera already has lines by default, so I end up with two sets. Its mounted on the back of a van so they are useless, I can see the corners of the van! Also they block the the view of my towball so makes it harder to hitch trailers.

2) Volume control is too fine. I'd like to be able to change the 'coarseness', at the moment its about 25 'twiddles' (not complete turns) to go from min to full volume.

3) The Android Auto issue with not detecting any satellite signal and hence defaulting to drive mode. Presumably AA could just use the phones GPS to provide this function?! (I realise this is a Google issue and will not be resolved by Sony Firmware)

Finally, slightly irritating that US models come with a remote, and UK versions do not. Mine is fitted in a campervan and I'd quite like to be able to kill the tunes from bed! It looks like it has the IR sensor below the Home button so I'm going to buy a remote on ebay, hopefully it works!

(Finally finally; I have mine wired to two cameras. Default is the rearview camera, then I used a 5 pin relay to switch the coax signal between the rearview and another camera in my horse trailer. The screening of the coax's are just spliced together. I'll post up a more detailed set of instructions if anyone is interested. My next job is to incorporate the reverse signal so one button switches to the second camera and switches the unit to rearview at the same time)
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
How are you going to update the firmware? Does it update through the smartphone? I was unaware there was an update available.

I'm pretty sure mine uses the phone's GPS...

The Australian version came with a remote. Is it possible you got sold one where the remote was missing?

This sounds very interesting! I would love to see your details instructions!
[Android Auto General] Spooky_b329:
This is the firmware link I found; https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/mobile-cd-players-xav-series/xav-ax100

Thats interesting...so can you scroll without limitation in Android Auto? On mine, particularly noticeable in Spotify is a limit to the number of touches to go through the menus. Its partly down to Spotify not being particularly well designed with AA in mind. Obviously the navigation uses the phones GPS but its the vehicle in motion detection that is the bug bear.

I checked with the retailer and they said its not included, also none of the sellers included the remote in the description. Would be interested to hear from any other UK owners about this.

I'll try and remember to pop back this evening or tomorrow. I've done a fair bit of fiddling as the entire unit now runs off a leisure battery system so I can use it without worrying about whether I can start the van after a weekend parked up!

Edit: I've just noticed the firmware upgrade adds support for 'built in' navigation, so maps on the head unit without a phone connected. However, the plug in module (XA-NV400) is £355!!!
[Android Auto General] Spooky_b329:
Two Camera's into One Input

A quick hand-drawn guide to wiring 2 camera's into the head unit. Its quite easy to do if you can identify your positives from your earths, and have a soldering iron.

EDIT: REALISED I HAVE OVER-COMPLICATED THIS! For many of you, a simple two way switch can do the job of the relay. I used a relay as the standard factory switches in my van only come as one way switches, and I wanted to keep things looking standard!

In the diagram I have shown the coax connectors for simplicity, but you can also chop off the connectors and solder the wires directly for a neater job. I left the connectors on for the camera side as the wires were so thin I struggled to strip a spare one and still have some copper left. For the head unit side, I sacrificed an old cable so one end plugged into the radio, and the other was chopped and soldered to the relay pins.

[IMG="Two Camera's into Head Unit with 1 Input"]http://i66.tinypic.com/xga16g.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Horse!"]http://i63.tinypic.com/r7iwic.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG="Dash Wiring"]http://i68.tinypic.com/5km36h.jpg[/IMG]

(You only need one relay for this 'project', although the picture shows three, they are to allow my head unit to run from leisure batteries)

[IMG="Soldering Coax Connectors"]http://i65.tinypic.com/2e6fwo2.jpg[/IMG]

There is an alternative method where you just join the video feeds together without a relay, and then switch the power between the two cameras. The one that is 'on' should display on the head unit. If you managed to have both on you will probably get interference and ghosting. I didn't try this option as my second camera runs from a trailer power supply and the video cable goes to a wireless transmitter instead of directly to a camera.
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
Awesome! Thanks! I googled and found what could very well be the exact same file from the Sony Australia website. I'm downloading that one just in case it's different, region specific or something like that.

No, absolutely not. No scroll in AA, and it's something Google have put in place to maintain safety. I hate it. They are shooting themselves in the foot. No one likes this limitation, but they keep justifying it as a safety issue. I say, yes, it's safe, but you have basically destroyed the usability. Voice commands cannot and most likely will never be able to control everything. I cannot use voice to play certain bands / artists due to the oddness / uniqueness of artist names. The Google focus on single songs over albums drives me crazy. Who the hell is content to use voice to tell AA to play a single song, then listen to it, then repeat the process over and over? If I sound overly critical and bitter about AA, it's cos I am. It feels like they rushed out a product before fully testing it. They didn't publicly inform potential users how limited it's interaction was either. Just thinking about it makes me mad.

That sucks.

Thanks heaps!
[Android Auto General] Spooky_b329:
I just put the new firmware onto the unit. Did not notice any obvious changes but I have worked out how to hide the reverse camera guidelines, I suspect this might have been changed as I'm sure I tried this before. Just keep narrowing the bars using the > < button and they disappear :) So now I just have the discrete ones added by the camera itself.
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
Can anyone who's using the latest firmware (or even those not using the latest) tell me if they have successfully seen album artwork show up when playing music in the Sony interface (not Android Auto)?
[Android Auto General] ivaho:
I have bought this head unit as well and have found it to be very reliable with my iphone. When I use my pixel XL however I have a major problem. After about 30 minutes or so the screen goes black and music stops playing. The only way to get it working again is to kill the android auto app on the phone by clicking the previous apps button and swiping android auto off the screen after disconnecting the phone. Anyone else seen this and is there a way to stop this from happening? I am running the latest firmware from the sony website. Also is there a way to make the reverse camera mirrored?
[Android Auto General] Passa91:
You could try exempting the Android Auto app from battery optimisation. Could be that after 30 mins your phone is going into deep doze and shutting down Android Auto.
[Android Auto General] ivaho:
I already did that. Did not have any effect on the problem. :(
[Android Auto General] Tykhe:
Has anyone experienced sound problems with this Sony? It sounds like the sound is sticking to the boxes like glue or if someone put a bag over each box. There are no highs and lows, poor bass quality and the EQ has nearly no effect (Can´t hear a big difference on the 2k , 4k, 8k ,16k frequences, doesn´t matter which setting). I thought it has something to do with the boxes but putting a small cheap Pioneer Radio on them I got excellent sound on all frequencies and even with low volume it was nice and clean. It´s a difference between day and night. I sent it back to Sony today for checking it but I´m not confident that they´ll find something.
[Android Auto General] invertedskull:
Can anyone using the latest firmware (1.02.06) confirm if we still have to tap OK when powering on?