Android Auto support

Gaia GPS, Mapy.cz, and Sygic all now work on Android Auto, with Gaia in particular providing some excellent worldwide and regional topographic and outdoor sources and Mapy.cz supporting its excellent worldwide maps. OsmAnd is expected shortly. Locus support would still be very, very welcome.

I'd love to see this, there is no point in having two screens in the dash area. Locus is so good on maps other Navigation just doesen't measure up

Yes ... when will we get Locus Map 4 on Android Auto? It would be a big plus. I use a competing app... but I would much prefer to be able to use Locus.

Mark, I use Gaia GPS, but I would much prefer to be able to use Locus.

freischneider, I absolutely agree with that priority, however Locus is also used a lot for 4x4 routes, so it would be very useful on the Android Auto screen.

I totally agree with freischneider and José Carlos. It´s really a pity that you doesn´t seem to have any plans to adapt this realy good app for anroid auto.

say by freischneider

"Locus Map is mainly made for hiking, biking and geocaching"

Why has Locus map a drawing mode for the car then? If it only for hiking, biking. You don't need that.

There are now Android Auto motorcycle units, this would be awesome. Willing to support this feature financially if the developer is up for it.

Can you advise if Locus will ever support Android Auto?

Regards

Mark Byrnes

Also came here to say that Android Auto navigation units are available for Motorcycles.

In colorado, A lot of offroad jeeps use Locus Maps as well.

I recently stopped paying for Locus Pro and moved to Open Street Map. It has android auto support.

Yes Android Auto support will be nice.

Because with Locus map you can easy make your own map with poi. That is a wish if you take a routetrip or going with your car on holidays.

Exactly. So I now use the free version of Locus. Download my tracks and import into OSM Android that I now pay for instead of Locus.

Everything works as intended ;)

There is apparently a solution that will put Locus (and most other Android apps) on Android Auto: "Carlinkit Android 13.0 CarPlay Ai Box Max" is a separate Android device that sneakily inserts itself into the Android Auto connection (wireless to phone, USB to car). It's not cheap, and seems likely to be high maintenance for our kind of software. I bought one that turned out to be defective and opted to get a refund rather than a replacement. I just felt like it was going to be more than I wanted to deal with (software configuration for various apps, etc). I'm old and don't get out of the local area that much. Osmand, Gaia, Magic Earth, Mapy.cz, may not have everything I am looking for, but maybe they are good enough. The Carlinkit device lists for $299 in the US, with Amazon having a $100 off coupon.

@Menion: I think you've got more than enough input and otes for this feature - over YEARs. So it is high noon now to deliver. And the discussion about target audience and focus of the app is useless and meaningless. There is fluid behaviour of sports people between car and bike/hike or even integration, if you are on a moto bike, going highway first and offroad an hour later, on the same device. And Locus is good enough for simple road navigation (no need or ask to compete with Google Maps in the field of traffic jam avoidance!). Android Auto is a standard in the 2020s, and Locus is way behind. Time to fix now. (On iOS you will face the equivalent demand, BTW.)

Cheers

Michael

I smell an "interesting" attitude in some of the post here. Are you treating your car manufacturer the same way when he refuses to integrate your idea asap, although you pay for your car? If LM does not fit your demand and you find a better solution, then off you go; fair enough. But if someone approaches myself (as developer) in the same manner I would consider removing that topic from my 2do list for a while, even if it is a reasonable function.

I personally would appreciate AA for LM, in particular for usage at motorcycles, but I am far from forcing anybody to set that up asap.

BR

Phil

I would need Android Auto on a Motorcycle. It is used by several motorcycle companies but also many motorcycle aftermarket devices

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Android+Auto+for+motorcycles

I just want to share "my support" for Android Auto.

For now, I did not pay for premium as I only used it while hiking - I only purchased offline maps I needed.

However, I have finally bought a 4x4 and was happy to pay for premium (the only thing I really need is keeping the screen on at all times), but please, please, make it work with AA - I can't have multiple screens in my car..

Or, at least, @Menion tell us if we should even hope for this, or if there is any timeframe?

Hi guys, Denis ...

I'm telling, "you should hope". It will still take some time, but it is doable (this year for sure) ;)

urrah, urrah, urrah !!!

Great! :)

Thanks!

Thank you!!

That's wonderful news.

Awesome

Great !!

This is SUUUUUPERRR EXCITING.

Been keeping my mouth shut since I felt the developer did not want to spend time and resources on it.

I am VERY excited for this!

Luke

YES !

Super excited about the possibility of perhaps this year! Definitely would be the feature that brings me back to Locus Map

Nice to see, there is still interest in this feature after all these years :)

Once there is something to test, I'll let you know.

I don't want to spoil the excitement, but Android Auto and Android Automotive OS (AAOS) are quite different. For Android Auto, its easy to share settings between a handheld app and the in-car display as the handheld app 'projects' the map to the car's display. AAOS is quite different as it hosts the app itself, there is no associated handheld app. The settings infrastructure for AAOS is quite different to that on a handheld. I am not sure whether the Play Store will accept an Android Auto only offering.

Adding my support for this feature as a motorcycle user. I prefer Locus (bought Classic) but not having Android Auto is a deal breaker, so sadly will go with OsmAnd or Gaia subscription until Locus supports AA. I ride off road and my phone is taking punishment being mounted on the handlebars - a cheap Android Auto screen (EVKey / Carpuride / etc) solves this problem

If AA support is ever added to Locus, I will consider coming back.

Any update in the meantime ?

Android Auto would be super-great as I do not want to have my smartphone exposed to vibrations (photo lenses).

Also more than happy to test, should there be a beta program.

too late. switched to osmand and csncelled gold.

yes you can.

Hello everyone,

Locus Map is, and will continue to be, focused primarily on hiking and cycling. In these areas, Android Auto is not (yet) very useful. Sorry it took so long, but for logical reasons, it hasn’t been a big priority for us. Also, due to the lack of many advanced features compared to larger navigation apps, I still recommend Google Maps, Sygic, etc., for full car navigation.

Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, I really hope to publish a Beta version by the end of the year. Thanks for your patience.

Hello,

I would like to share my experience with Locus Map, which I have been utilizing since 2016 for off-road driving. Throughout the years, I have explored various offline navigation applications, but I have found that Locus Map consistently stands out due to its superior features tailored for hiking, cycling and off-road navigation.

While the potential integration of Android Auto would significantly enhance user experience, I believe that, at present, no other offline mapping application can compete with the capabilities offered by Locus Map.

I look forward to seeing continued advancements in Locus Map.

Good morning.

I would love to be able to see Locus on the car screen, but I absolutely agree this is not the priority for the application's development.

I can't understand why the lack of Android Auto gives reason to abandon Locus Map. The purpose of Locus is essentially mountaineering, hiking, cycling .. for car navigation I use Maps, or Waze, or Mapy, the latter being perfectly compatible with Locus and which I use in the car when I want to locate me in relation to tracks recorded by Locus.

In short: hope Locus will have Android Auto soon, perhaps till the end of the year as promised, but I would never stop using it because of the lack of Android Auto.

I'm not a Locus or Asamm defense attorney... 🙃😉

Greetings from Portugal 😊

The use case & requirements for adventure motorcycling is not very different from hiking & cycling. For turn-by-turn navigation in / between towns, Google Maps / Waze is the obvious choice & I use it 90% of the time. However, once off the beaten track and out of signal range, I need something like Locus, and as per my previous post, Android Auto is the deal breaker that forced me to move to Gaia. I'll be back once AA support is added, though! Thanks for the good work, @Menion, totally understand having to prioritise requests.

Hi guys,

Android Auto support is "ready" for public testing. More about it here.

This is an invitation for anyone, interested in testing or discussion.

For others: I'll inform you here, once this feature is stable and ready to publish officially on Google Play. The expected ETA is the start of the next year if there won't be serious complications.

It should be possible to get rid of the black box when not Navigating. OsmAnd does.

I think Google are pretty fussy about font size on AA.

Hello, I also tested Locus Map and noticed a few things. The font on the map is a bit too big. Switching from one map to another takes a bit of time or is laggy. It would be good if you could separate the navigation announcements from the normal music and have them separate. When I use Google Maps, it is always on its own volume channel. It would be nice to have the navigation search on the screen so that you can enter the street there and start the navigation.

Telefon mám Pixel 6 s Androidem 15. Po instalaci testovací verze do telefonu se mi v autě Locus zobrazil hned po prvním následném nastartování. Podrobil jsem vše důkladnému a dlouhému testování. Souhlasím s předřečníkem, že písmo v mapách je na obrazovce zbytečně velké. Aplikace mi v průběhu testování párkrát spadla. Nejstabilněji vše fungovalo, pokud jsem Locus spustil nejprve v telefonu a tam také zadal cíl navigace. Až poté jsem nastartoval Android Auto, kde navigace na velkém displeji pokračovala. Trasa se správně zobrazuje, fungují i hlasové příkazy. Moc se mi nelíbí, že avízo k nejbližšímu odbočení se pro vzdálenost menší než kilometr zobrazuje s jedním desetinným místem, (např. 184,2 m), což je zbytečné a nepřehledné. Jsem moc rád, že jsem se dočkal a věřím, že "dětské nemoci" budou brzy odstraněny.

So welcome but when I Installed on Samsung Z Fold 3 Locus didn´t appear on Android auto.

Wonderful news. My imported map of google earth looks very blueish. Switching maps it does not update only if I disconnect locus from the radio. Can you add record button and the guide button or navigation when you select a point on the map. Great start thank you.

Opened up LocusPro on my Samsung A23 switched on Carpride it updated itself, LocusPro appeared as an App and as soon as I started the route on my phone the large black box disappeared, so will try using it on the weekend on my ride to Wales - well done getting it so far!

Thank you! That's a good start

Merci! c'est un bon début

Unfortunately, the installed BETA does not appear in the Android auto launcher. It probably has something to do with my phone (Pixel 8 PRO) and installing it from an unofficial source. We'll see when this feature is in the official app from the Google Play Store

The app does not appear on the android auto preferences panel on a pixel 7 - android 14.

Hi guys,

thanks all for testing. Few notes:

App not visible after install

I also have this problem in own car. Based on the official Google Docs, app should not be visible when not installed from Google Play. It anyway works for most of people > fine, but not guaranteed.

Features that won't change (probably) till official release

• scaling problem of the map > the map system is not prepared for drawing a map on two completely different screens
• refresh during navigation once per second (based on the GPS updates) > needs a bigger refactoring

Features I would like to finish/improve before final release

• change of the map (reflect phone map change?)
• basic address search

---

Some minor problems were updated in the published RC2 version on Friday. I'm glad it works for most of you and seems to really be a usable, perfect!

Could you add the GUIDE ON option on the radio screen when you select a point on the map?

If you do an internal release on GPlay and folk enable GPlay developer mode and AA developer mode, then an AA app should show on car head units. You can share to something like 100 email addresses as an internal release.

Hi. The Locus AA app will be great !!

1.

My car is changing the day/nightmode at Locus AA when driving at day - irritating when driving in and out of tunnels..

I don't like the nightmap at Locus because it's so different then the daymap.

My car is dimming the screen at night/day , and I think only diming the daymap when driving in tunnels is better than changing day/night mode all the time. (See pictures)

Or - possible to disable the nightmode (as in the APP.)

2.

The fontsize and width of range/timecircle is too big.

I got an Android headunit in my car , and I have also installed the AndroidAPP of Locus in my car.

See picture for better solution/layout from the Android App at the same screen.

3.

I want start/stop of tracking in AA

4.

I want dashboard overlay at AA.

As: Height, distance , time

5.

I like the "+"/"-" buttons at the same place as in the android app.

Like: Buttons at bottom left (as in Android App)

Dislike: Buttons at left side (as in AA)

6.

Want my position looked in lowerposition of the map (1/3 -2/3) , not in the center of the screen/map.

7.

The color of the textbox in Locus AA is now solid color.

I think a seethrowcolor is better/nicer.

Google Maps in AA , got a very clean and good looking layout - with the colors and text.

Look at Google Maps to get some tips..

Hi guys,

firstly, a few news in the app

• add: "Quick map switch system"
• add: car map may reflect changes in the selected map on the device
• add: support for the selection of multiple points & tracks
• add: track detail & option to start navigation
• add: support for Premium only (not yet active)

Mainly the last point is important info for all. We have not yet decided on 100%, but most probably, Android Auto support will work only for the Gold Premium users! This is a small warning, not to waste time with testing when you are sure, Gold is no way for You. Thanks for understanding.

---

New version 4.26.3.2 published. It is no longer a separate APK, but it is part of the official Beta version here. This also confirms that Android Auto support will be part of the next public release (at the start of December).

• add: "Quick map switch system" - works great!
• add: car map may reflect changes in the selected map on the device - works great!
• add: support for the selection of multiple points & tracks. - can't find this.
• add: track detail & option to start navigation - can't find this .

It is getting better thank you. Could you add record track and guide on when you select a point. I use them for offroad.

• add: support for the selection of multiple points & tracks. - Not available
• add: track detail & option to start navigation - Not available.

Thank you.

I've completely forget: there is also a full search system!!

About

• add: support for the selection of multiple points & tracks
• add: track detail & option to start navigation

In case, there are more points and tracks in one place and you tap on them, the app should (similar to what the phone app does) offer a list of items under the place you clicked. In case, you tap on the track (on the map or in the list), you should get the page of the track detail, together with the option to navigate on it.

---

Android Auto > the whole system is very limited. Changes Christer wrote about are not possible. Developers cannot move buttons around the screen to any place, display the dashboard, or simply do whatever is possible on the phone, sorry. The whole system is made for car navigation and Google forces developers to keep it simple. You may of course recommend me some times or other apps for inspiration (except Google Maps, because they seem not to use only the public available methods, grrrr).

I would like to fix a few more minor problems and it is now close to what will be published.

Later (2025), the mentioned graphical map problems should be fixed as well of course.

And some control of track recording, guidance mode etc? It may be partially doable, but please, leave such advanced features to later. Google has to verify that "Locus Map for Android Auto" follows all guidelines and recommendations and there is a bigger chance for success without some hacks.

I have tested the new Version of Locus Map for Android Auto:

• Full search system is great
• track detail & option to start navigation works great
• Quick map switch system works great

My problem is the Screen or Map was in dark theme and it was not change to light theme.

The problem I have is that the map display is shown in the dark theme and doesn't switch to the light theme at all. On the other hand, when you drive into a tunnel the display normally switches to the dark theme. That doesn't happen.

When I search for an address in the navigation on Android Auto and the calculation starts and I haven't started Locus on the phone, I see the hourglass.

I can't start a recording on the display, I have to do it on the phone.

The Maps was not optimized for the Screen in the Car...

Best Regards

Hardliner

So today during a car trip I tried to display all apps on the car display and to my surprise Locus appeared there. When I then tried to move (select) the app in the Android car launcher, it was also possible. So great and I will test :-)

Me too! Locus appear using a Pixel 7/Android 15: I'm very happy!

I used 4.26.3.2 for a short trip today and it did quite well. Although for 1 minute or so the map did not rotate correctly after a turn. I was set for 'heading up'.

Another oddity I noticed is that Locus is not honoring the Android Auto 'driver position' setting. Even though I'm in US and we are left hand driver position, I have my Android Auto setting to 'right driver position'. This places the search and info boxes in Google maps on the right side of the screen and the unobstructed map & vehicle pointer on the left half of the screen, closer to me and easier to view/read street names.

I don't know if this AA setting is propagated to third party apps or is only used by Google Maps.

I also noticed that street names were not displayed unless I zoomed way in.

I'm really thrilled that Locus is working so well in Android Auto. I put ALL our waypoints in Locus when we road trip. Hotels, restaurants, national and state parks, trailheads, scenic points and geocaches. Even though Google Maps has the option to download offline maps, it is cumbersome and often unreliable when we are way out in the national parks or wilderness areas. Locus has navigated us many times through unmarked dirt roads in the wilderness when the mighty Google failed. 😄 It's sooo nice to have it up on the bigger car screen now!

Hallo,

wann wird Locus Map für android auto funktionieren?

Freundliche Grüsse

Herrmann

Von meinem/meiner Galaxy gesendet

So now I have to buy a new car ... because my currrent doesn't support Android auto. (:

Hi guys

New Beta version 4.26.3.4 uploaded

If there won't be any serious problems, this version will be published during the next week on Google Play.

Changes
- chg: (AUTO) enabled access only for Gold Premium users
- chg: (AUTO) massive rework of orientation handling, mainly for Android Auto system
- chg: (AUTO) major update in handling clicks on the map and handling negative search/nav results
- add: (AUTO) option to disable automatic day/night mode
- add: (AUTO) option to enable/disable simulation of navigation (Beta)
- add: Event caches display start/end date at start of the listing
- fix: (AUTO) paused map rotation when map screen lost focus
- fix: (AUTO) problem with error during address search
- fix: incorrectly working "Clone line style"
- fix: arrow icon for the compass rotation
- fix: incorrectly visible distance marks in high zoom levels
- fix: crash when recording audio over Locus API intents
- fix: unable to edit time notify value in POI Alert
- fix: logging a geocache on a live map doesn't change the icon of the cache
- fix: re-initialization of WMS/WMTS maps after the clear of the cache
- fix: correct "owner" icon for visible geocaches over live map
- fix: downloading of lab caches when difficulty, terrain or size based filter is defined
- fix: some of the dashboards can't be selected into a preset
- fix: rarely not working WMS map in case of multiple selected layers
- fix: incorrectly read NMEA messages from some USB GPS devices

@fix: arrow icon for the compass rotation

I don't know if it's related to the point mentioned. Today I used the waypoint guidance. Everything was ok on the map, but in the line where I see the name of the point (cache), the distance and the direction, the arrow behaved very strangely. At first it behaved as if the phone was upside down. Then it kept the direction it fixed at the beginning and the arrow did not react at all to the change of direction. The arrow on the map, showing my location, behaved correctly. I had to downgrade to the BETA version from Google Play. There it works correctly

Clarification in Czech: Upřesnění chování šipky v horním panelu, která ukazuje směr k bodu. V horním panelu kromě ní vidím název bodu (keše), vzdálenost a směr. Vzálenost, pokud se pohybuji, tak se korektně mění. Směr šipky, ikdyž stojím na místě a má se použít kompas, tak se nemění. Jak se směr při startu navigace nastaví tak v případě použití kompasu už zůstane. Pokud se ale dám do pohybu, tak je k určení směru použita GPS a směr se začne měnit. Pokud se ale zastavím, zůstane směr tak, jak mířil při pohybu. Pokud provedu downgrade na verzi 4.26, tak vše okamžitě funguje korektně.

Hi guys,

first public version of the Locus Map with Android Auto setup is uploaded on the Google Play and waiting for the final confirmation. It may took from a day to 14 days, but I'll inform once this version will be out.

Thanks all for help and push ... this feature can't be realized without it!!

Also small sorry for the "Gold requirements" to some of you, using Silver of Free app. We in the end decided for this, to add something unique to Gold tier and also something not crucial for hike&bike based app. Thanks for understanding.

---

I still see a space (not much) for some improvements. One big is map fluency. It will be hard, but doable > next year. Otherwise, feel free to post a suggestions and questions. Please use "android auto" tag, so it is easier to find similar topics.

---

@Radomir, I'll look at it during next days.

I've been testing the AA function and I love it! There are some questions I have though:

1) What are the (auto)zoom-levels and -settings used for AA? At the moment, the map seems to be zoomed in too far and in general I do not like auto-zoom for navigation (except for point 3).

2) Which are the settings for icon sizes and for the size of the route? On the AA screen, they look too large.

3) When deviating from a track and with recalculation-settings off, would it be possible to automatically zoom out so that both the current position and the next trackpoint are in view? This way, the driver or rider can find their way back to the track themselves.

4) The movement of the arrow-icon is jumpy. The map moves smoothly, but the arrow-icon jumps with the same frequency as the GPS updates (1 Hz) when navigating. Strangly enough, when not navigating, this does not happen, i.e. the location icon is stable.

Hi, will it be possible to show and select saved tracks from the AA screen? Or have the same menu selections as the phone app? Thanks

Hello to all,

one bad news: since start of last week, I'm trying to publish Locus Map with Android Auto to the Google Play. For unspecified reason and without correct description of what is wrong, app is permanently refused. So today, I've published new 4.27.1 version on the Google Play WITHOUT Android Auto support.

So sorry. It will have to wait some time, till someone starts talking with us. Thanks for understanding.

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@David Lombardi

Auto screen reflects your phone map content. So whatever you display on the phone will also be visible in the car. Tracks and Points should also be selectable.

@Blihi

1) navigation starts on your phone, so the existing system is automatically used > presets. If you have any Preset attached to the car-based navigation, check it's settings

2) I know, one of big TODO tasks. Scaling is not perfect yet

3) I've also noticed this. Needs improvement, agree

4) same as point 2. Already in the TODO list, just a little more complicated (so same as point 2.)

Could it be that you are advertising Android 6.0 or higher, while Android Auto requires Android 9 or higher?

Re scaling. You must always use the CarContext for any graphic operations on the car screen (icon sizing etc). Clearly, the head unit and handheld have separate displays with different resolutions and DPI. It might be useful to have a separate shrink/magnify (not zoom) function on the head unit. That will help get the right amount of readable map on the screen.

maybe "quick map switch" should only work while car is stopped? - it seems distracting enough to limited by Google

After I received the Locus Map update via the Play Store, Android Auto disappeared.
Could you please upload a more recent version to Google Drive so I can test it again?

Google is blocking the AA version for reasons they do not tell.

Menion provides an AA capable apk version on his Google Drive (see one of his posts)

Version must be Higher than installed

Yes, and this means that once you have installed the AA version from GD, Playstore will leave you alone.

BTW: first thing I do when booting a new smartphone is disabling auto updates. Hence Locus shows up in the update list, which triggers me looking into GD.

Hi guys,

Google refuses to publish Locus Map with AA support because of incorrectly implemented "Test drive" mode, nothing more. My (not just) testing reveals that everything is implemented correctly, and my desperate attempts to get more info from Google failed.

I'll try to publish a new version by the end of this week and also upload it to Google Drive. The Current Google Drive version does not contain Android Auto support.

Thanks for understanding.

Hi to all,

another attempt to publish Locus Map with Android Auto support ... another failure. Today with an explanation:

"The navigation functionality in your app, (version code 1160) didn’t work as expected. It wasn’t clear how to start turn-by-turn directions."

---

So, at least the APK test version is available for download: http://bit.ly/lmVersionsTest

Happy holidays to all!

Yes, exactly.

But to be on the safe side, you should ALWAYS make a backup beforehand. Regardless of whether you are doing a beta or release update.

Merry Christmas to all!

Downloaded the beta update 4.27.1.1 and gave it a run this morning.

One thing I found irrating was that when I come to a stop, the screen consistently rotates 180 degrees or so and the direction arrows now point behind me. It is not defaulting to North up again. As soon as I start moving again, the screen rotates back again. This is with the map set to 'heading up' BTW. This is unique to Locus. Google maps navigation does not do this.