Android Auto Thursday

[ViperSSD]

are we there yet?

 

[gavram]

After spending the week enjoying Android Auto in a Jeep rental car that costs about a third of the Lucid my patience is waning...how hard can it be to add after a year+ since announced and a wide variety of low end cars currently offering it??

 

[borski]

After spending the week enjoying Android Auto in a Jeep rental car that costs about a third of the Lucid my patience is waning...how hard can it be to add after a year+ since announced and a wide variety of low end cars currently offering it??

Have you ever built Android Auto into a vehicle? I can pretty much guarantee they’re not just sitting on it going “meh, we’ll get to it eventually, it’s not a big deal and nobody cares.”

Software is hard. It’s not like the movies.

And the price of the car has nothing to do with the difficulty or ease of software engineering.

 

[hellolucid]

funny how not so long ago people were claiming (read through this thread) how Lucid is just waiting for Apple to release CarPlay so they could release both Android Auto and CarPlay together

 

[gavram]

Have you ever built Android Auto into a vehicle? I can pretty much guarantee they’re not just sitting on it going “meh, we’ll get to it eventually, it’s not a big deal and nobody cares.”

Software is hard. It’s not like the movies.

And the price of the car has nothing to do with the difficulty or ease of software engineering.

Whatever. They advertised the car would have Android Auto & it's been over a year...they're not meeting consumer expectations.

 

[joec]

Whatever. They advertised the car would have Android Auto & it's been over a year...they're not meeting consumer expectations.

Exactly what every one said, every day, about CarPlay. Heck, many here were threatening lawsuits.

Funny how the major complaints eventually all get addressed and then cease to be trending topics on this forum.

 

[borski]

Whatever. They advertised the car would have Android Auto & it's been over a year...they're not meeting consumer expectations.

That isn't the conversation we were having; you asked how hard it could be. I was explaining it can be very hard.

As to meeting consumer expectations: I agree. I wish they would release it ASAP, if only so that we could stop hearing about it on this forum.

But that doesn't make it any more or less difficult to build and perfect.

 

[nadecir]

You can argue about development priorities, but the lack of official communication on Android Auto from Lucid is inexcusable. We can only assume that Lucid development is actually
presently working on implementing Android Auto.

Android Auto is supported by over 60 other vehicle manufacturers. Lucid could have implemented and deployed Android Auto months ago. They choose other priorities instead.

Developing a new piece of software can be challenging. However, Google's Android Auto has a well supported, mature development toolkit that many have used successfully to bring Android Auto to their vehicles. The toolkit is designed to make implementation expedient and development is much easier than starting from scratch.

 

[joec]

You can argue about development priorities, but the lack of official communication on Android Auto from Lucid is inexcusable. We can only assume that Lucid development is actually
presently working on implementing Android Auto.

Android Auto is supported by over 60 other vehicle manufacturers. Lucid could have implemented and deployed Android Auto months ago. They choose other priorities instead.

Developing a new piece of software can be challenging. However, Google's Android Auto has a well supported, mature development toolkit that many have used successfully to bring Android Auto to their vehicles. The toolkit is designed to make implementation expedient and development is much easier than starting from scratch.

I agree, we are not at all privy to their priorities, and that is annoying. Or the reasons behind their priorities, for that matter. For all we know, a huge percentage of their customers have iPhones, so they consider Android Auto a low priority. That would jibe with recent figures from Apple and some recent statements from auto manufacturers. Typically, new car buyers have about a 70% chance of being iPhone users in the US, according to them. For a luxury brand like Lucid, it could very well be significantly higher.

Having said that, Lucid can't ignore Android Auto forever. They advertise "compatibility" with it on their web site. It would be nice if they came out with some sort of statement, no matter how vague. Something like "We plan to release Android Auto before the end of the year." Then again, they got burnt saying exactly that about CarPlay last year, which ended up shipping a few months later than they suggested. So they may be thinking, damned if you do, damned if you don't?

A lot of folks here have expressed concern that Lucid is a "quiet company" when it comes to revealing their road map.

That's a choice they have made, whether we like it or not. It's part of the brand now. I doubt it will change anytime soon. There are definite advantages to keeping quiet about plans. For one, it allows you to change those plans without raising a stink about it. But there are clear downsides, too. Like upset customers who want their expectations set.

All design is a tradeoff.

 

[MoniputerLM]

Have you ever built Android Auto into a vehicle? I can pretty much guarantee they’re not just sitting on it going “meh, we’ll get to it eventually, it’s not a big deal and nobody cares.”

Software is hard. It’s not like the movies.

And the price of the car has nothing to do with the difficulty or ease of software engineering.

Software is very hard. Too bad someone at Lucid didn't realize that 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[OldAg]

I have the GT and another ICE Auto. The other auto has Android Auto, I have never bothered to even set it up. All I want is a great sound system that works 99% of the time. We navigate by Android phone and have for many years. I don’t have the interest or patience to learn manufactures Nav systems and have never found one as good as Google maps.

 

[MoniputerLM]

I have the GT and another ICE Auto. The other auto has Android Auto, I have never bothered to even set it up. All I want is a great sound system that works 99% of the time. We navigate by Android phone and have for many years. I don’t have the interest or patience to learn manufactures Nav systems and have never found one as good as Google maps.

I use Android Auto in our other cars for navigation using Google Maps. It displays the maps on the main screen or HUD so I don't have to look at my phone.

 

[borski]

Software is very hard. Too bad someone at Lucid didn't realize that 3 or 4 years ago.

Sure, this I agree with. I think mistakes were made by a spectacular hardware and automotive engineering team assuming software was easy, just like most people who have never written software.

They’re well on their way toward fixing it, but that takes time.

 

[Amster]

I use Android Auto in our other cars for navigation using Google Maps. It displays the maps on the main screen or HUD so I don't have to look at my phone.

I kind of miss Google Maps too, and sometimes check it before leaving my house. I think it's a little more accurate than the Lucid Navigation, and definitely finds things that the Lucid Navigation doesn't. But the Lucid's navigation is actually pretty good. I've definitely gotten used to using it while waiting for Android Auto to be released.

 

[ViperSSD]

Also, I use calendar to manage my appointments and addresses for everything. Being able to just click on it in calendar and have it preload is so much easier than having to type it into the Lucid nav and then double check that its the right road name, town, etc... Its minor but it reminds me of when you used to have to print out the mapquest directions before leaving the house, then it turned into opening up maps after you get in the car on your phone and now for me, its tap the nav destination as I'm already on the road.

 

[ec256]

Happy Android Auto Thursday!!! Just remember that good things come to those who wait.

 

[nadecir]

I saw this today about Lucid entering the Chinese market.
-----
Lucid Group is preparing to enter China, its head of China operations, Zhu Jiang, said today (June 8).

Lucid is driving towards the competitive Chinese market

The luxury EV maker seeks to compete against BYD, Tesla, and other startups like Xpeng and Nio

qz.com

-----
The Chinese are overwhelmingly Android users. So perhaps that will spur Lucid to introduce Android Auto in the near future.

Lucid has undoubtedly lost some sales by not supporting Android Auto, and they really need to increase demand at this point in time. So there is hope, I presume.

 

[ColoradoKent]

I just wish Lucid had a radio that worked as good as the one in my first car, a 1952 Plymouth.

 

[Halodde]

I kind of miss Google Maps too, and sometimes check it before leaving my house. I think it's a little more accurate than the Lucid Navigation, and definitely finds things that the Lucid Navigation doesn't. But the Lucid's navigation is actually pretty good. I've definitely gotten used to using it while waiting for Android Auto to be released.

The nav itself is decent. But trying to use Alexa to set a destination doesn't work well at all. That's a big reason why I want AA. For the time being, I'm stuck using my phone to navigate with Waze

 

[MoniputerLM]

Happy Android Auto Thursday!!! Just remember that good things come to those who wait.

Bah, humbug!