Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/AA Torque
OBD2 apps are slowly but surely making their way to Android Auto, but a skilled developer has managed to bring the world's best OBD2 solution for Android to the infotainment screen.
The Android Auto plugin for Torque does exactly what its name suggests. It displays data from Torque right on the infotainment screen running Android Auto. The best feature is the support for custom PIDs, so you can have virtually any data in any car as long as you configure a PID and set up the app to import it on Android Auto.
The plugin is currently a work in progress, with anyone allowed to contribute to the project on GitHub. It includes themes, fonts, icons, and backgrounds to customize the interface, allowing users to create up to ten dashboards.
One of the most special features is the support for control knobs, so you can also use the app in Mazda cars.
Installing the plugin in the car isn't as easy as pressing the "install" button on the Google Play Store, as the process requires several extra steps, including enabling the developer mode in Android Auto and the installation of the plugin using Kingstaller. You also need Torque Pro on your device, as the plugin must import the PIDs from the app.
Torque has long been the best OBD2 app for Android despite the Google Play Store now offering several advanced alternatives. Torque's main selling point is the gigantic community and larger collection of custom PIDs, though many competing applications introduced similar functionality, including support for Torque PIDs.
The number of apps available on Android Auto keeps growing, especially as Google unlocks new categories. The search giant recently announced the debut of Zoom and WebEx by Cisco, two productivity apps that allow users to join meetings from the infotainment systems in their cars. Zoom and WebEx don't support video calls on Android Auto for obvious reasons, but users can use the audio integration to participate in meetings and make calls.
Google also unlocked the IoT app category on Android Auto, paving the way for an influx of apps that allow users to remotely control their smart homes from the infotainment screen. Several apps launched on the Google Play Store to let users control their garage doors on Android Auto, with more similar solutions already on their way. The IoT category also allows developers to bring various other applications to Android Auto – for example, the first OBD2 app that launched in the car uses IoT integration for the in-car experience.
AA Torque should work with any OBD2 adapter, including generic ELM327 dongles, and can also read EV information as long as you set a custom PID for these functions. You can also write custom formulas using EvalEx.
The plugin is currently a work in progress, with anyone allowed to contribute to the project on GitHub. It includes themes, fonts, icons, and backgrounds to customize the interface, allowing users to create up to ten dashboards.
One of the most special features is the support for control knobs, so you can also use the app in Mazda cars.
Installing the plugin in the car isn't as easy as pressing the "install" button on the Google Play Store, as the process requires several extra steps, including enabling the developer mode in Android Auto and the installation of the plugin using Kingstaller. You also need Torque Pro on your device, as the plugin must import the PIDs from the app.
Torque has long been the best OBD2 app for Android despite the Google Play Store now offering several advanced alternatives. Torque's main selling point is the gigantic community and larger collection of custom PIDs, though many competing applications introduced similar functionality, including support for Torque PIDs.
The number of apps available on Android Auto keeps growing, especially as Google unlocks new categories. The search giant recently announced the debut of Zoom and WebEx by Cisco, two productivity apps that allow users to join meetings from the infotainment systems in their cars. Zoom and WebEx don't support video calls on Android Auto for obvious reasons, but users can use the audio integration to participate in meetings and make calls.
Google also unlocked the IoT app category on Android Auto, paving the way for an influx of apps that allow users to remotely control their smart homes from the infotainment screen. Several apps launched on the Google Play Store to let users control their garage doors on Android Auto, with more similar solutions already on their way. The IoT category also allows developers to bring various other applications to Android Auto – for example, the first OBD2 app that launched in the car uses IoT integration for the in-car experience.
AA Torque should work with any OBD2 adapter, including generic ELM327 dongles, and can also read EV information as long as you set a custom PID for these functions. You can also write custom formulas using EvalEx.
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