5 Reasons Why Full Android Is Better Than Android Auto

While I don’t know if these statistics are accurate or not, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were. Android Auto and CarPlay make interaction with mobile apps not only more convenient but also easier and safer in a car.

Sure, most of us only use a handful of apps, such as navigation and music streaming, but Android Auto and CarPlay are gradually opening their doors to more capabilities.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best a driver can get in a car. After replacing Android Auto with full Android in my car, I can’t imagine going back to smartphone mirroring. Not until Android Auto receives major upgrades, at least.

Full access to the Google Play Store

The first reason to use full Android and not Android Auto in a car is the full access to the Google Play Store. Android Auto is limited to certain app categories, so the likes of YouTube and Netflix, for instance, are all blocked.

Obviously, you’re not supposed to watch Netflix while driving. But for those times when you wait to pick up the kids from school, a short YouTube video certainly makes sense.

Google doesn’t seem to be willing to unlock video apps on Android Auto just yet, so if you use full Android, this is no longer a problem. Depending on the screen of your Android-powered head unit, watching video content in your car could end up quite an immersive experience.

Voice commands that work just right

The voice command integration is essential to the way users interact with Android Auto. This feature, however, has been inconsistent, to say the least.

Voice commands sometimes break all of a sudden on Android Auto, with Google Assistant eventually no longer able to make phone calls or send messages.

This almost never happens on Android. Given its genuine Android experience, Google Assistant feels at home on your device, so everything is working properly 99 percent of the time. Your voice commands are processed by the Android device, be it a smartphone or a head unit that runs Google’s operating system.

No connectivity problems

What many could think to be the main benefit of an Android-powered head unit is the reduced likelihood of connectivity problems.

Android Auto has been struggling with such errors for several years, but Google still hasn’t found a way to address the stability and reliability side of the app. Cables are most often the culprit, but in some cases, a perfectly working configuration suddenly stops working for no clear reason.

If you use an Android device in your car, there’s no such thing as connectivity problems. The device is connected to the vehicle via Bluetooth, so you can listen to music on your car’s audio system. Otherwise, there’s nothing that could go wrong, as everything happens at the device level.

Higher quality screen

The displays installed in our cars don’t necessarily match the quality of a phone screen. Of course, this depends on plenty of factors, as premium cars come with higher quality displays, but most of the vehicles on the road use configurations that don’t excel on this front.

When I decided to give up on Android Auto and go for full Android, I wanted the screen upgrade to be massive. And to make this even more significant, I picked the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4, a high-end device whose foldable screens are the main selling point.

As such, running Google Maps on a foldable screen is something else. Samsung is known as the leader in terms of phone displays, so the quality you’re getting is top notch.

Sure enough, this also depends on your chosen mobile phone, as a budget model might not offer a substantial upgrade in this regard.

Games

Android Auto already comes with several games that come in handy when waiting in a parking lot. But the switch to Android opens the door to a massive upgrade on this front.

Android games have evolved a lot in the last few years, so they now support controller input. They have also improved significantly in terms of graphics, so for someone with a kid, using full Android instead of Android Auto is a way to keep the little one entertained while waiting to get the battery charged.

My Fold4 is connected to the vehicle speakers via Bluetooth. I paired a spare PlayStation controller with the mobile device to play games. The setup is great, and both the visuals and the audio are top-notch for the Android world. Given I managed to bring all of these in the car, going back to Android Auto makes no sense, especially given Google doesn’t necessarily seem committed to unlocking new capabilities.