Android Auto support

Alan Winston ●

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.

Reply URL

6

Joachim ●

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

Reply URL

6

José Carlos Callixto ●

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.

Reply URL

3

freischneider ●

Locus Map is mainly made for hiking, biking and geocaching. Therefore, it will be implemented only when the developers have a lot of time. Currently there are many tasks in the main application area and these have prio.

URL

1

Mark Irons ●

Could you share which alternative app you use?

URL

3

José Carlos Callixto ●

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

URL

3

José Carlos Callixto ●

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.

URL

5

José Carlos Callixto ●

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.

Reply URL

5

Kjell Forssen ●

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.

Reply URL

3

Jelle Ruben ●

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.

Files:

Reply URL

2

Menion ●

We are not saying that it is "only" for ... we always tell it is "mainly for" ... This means, when we decide which features need our attention, hike&bike stuff has a higher priority.

URL

3

Next Generation Enduro ●

It's now available for motorcycles, pls contact me if you want financial sponsorship for this feature

URL

5

Next Generation Enduro ●

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

Reply URL

1

Alistair Parsons ●

Just to hijack a thread, what bike dashcam do you use?

URL

Mark Byrnes ●

Can you advise if Locus will ever support Android Auto?

Regards

Mark Byrnes

1

szefte ●

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.

Reply URL

2

Jelle Ruben ●

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.

Reply URL

1

szefte ●

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 ;)

Reply URL

2

Alan Winston ●

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.

Reply URL

1

Alistair Parsons ●

i dont get the appeal of android auto...ive got my tablet mounted in front of car, doesnt a phone/tablet mount acieve the same thing...could soemone tell me the advantage of android auto...

URL

1

szefte ●

It's like asking what's the appeal of having a smart light switch in the house...I can turn on the light by myself just fine.. why would I need convenience if my my home adapting brightness and light color temperature to the time of day and time of sunset.

it's all just convenient and innovative features. The thing is if we don't want innovation just get a paper map.

Android auto is a standard feature on my 7 year old shit car. I expect it.

URL

1

Alistair Parsons ●

friend of mine has AAwireless, seems to be the same sort of adapter but for 60 euros

https://www.aawireless.io/shop

URL

1

Alistair Parsons ●

I tink the phrase not all tech appeals to all geeks.....

URL

2

Blihi ●

There's many examples. First, in many European cars, mounting a tablet on the dash won't work. It would block essentially every other control on the dash. I prefer to have the AA on the dashboard only and to keep the phone off.

However, there is a much larger usecase for motorcycles. These now often come with AA integrated. You leave your phone in your pocket, where it is dry, safe and within reach should you crash. The dash shows the AA dashboard which is waterproof, sufficiently bright and can be controlled with handlebar controls.

BMW went the other route: They made a cradle for phones and they provide their own navigation app. This app is quite feature-poor compared to Locus, but you can send tracks from Locus to the BMW app (although you lose any via-point in the planned route)

URL

2

Alistair Parsons ●

Motorbike makes a lot of sense....

URL

1

szefte ●

the adapter wont work. Locus can't be bothered to enable this feature.

URL

1

szefte ●

I bought a Carpuride Motorcyclr unit from Amazon. https://a.co/d/2T0Ttic It's perfect. Main appeal is 1000 nit brighrness. Even a a Samsung S24 can not beat how bright this thing is.

So not only are new bikes capable of Android Auto, aftermarket has built Android Auto units.

URL

2

Michael Bechtold ●

@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

Reply URL

4

Menion ●

... don't you have a cloning machine?? 😱

And ... no (other) excuses make sense, agree.

URL

2

szefte ●

to clone more people in order to work on this feature? haha, that would be nice.

honestly.... it is not that much work to implement. look into it. android auto interface is extremely basic, yet very useful.

URL

2

Dennis Bareis ●

OsmAnd looks pretty good, I'm going to let these guys have their "Kodak" moment.

URL

1

Alistair Parsons ●

If theres even only a few users who leave Locus for anotehr app, that means theres missing features, theres bound to be many apps that have features that locus doesnt have, but one of the draws to locus has always been it has lots of features already. ive got clients that found locus to comlicated, and use OS maps, its ugly and extremely basic. so i think locus should play to its strengths and keep adding features, even if only limited use to some people, locus is the best power user app there is, and so shouldnt aim for simple. but....there are plenty of car navigation apps, the locus road navigation is good enough as Michael says, and I agree it doesnt need any improvement, put resources to other things.....

URL

1

szefte ●

Did you completely miss the part where 4 people called out motorcycle support need?

URL

1

Alistair Parsons ●

Szefte...who was that aimed at....

URL

1

Blihi ●

Motorcycle support would be a fantastic new set of features. Just to name a few ideas:

1) Android Auto support (and Apply Carplay if you will)

2) Routing profiles for motorcycles just like the website Kurviger.de has: Avoid highways, avoid city centers, prefer curves over straight roads, etc.

URL

1

Michael Bechtold ●

@szefte : do you have personal experience with AndroidAuto development? Do you have a "how to" that proves how simple that is?

URL

2

Bill Chadwick ●

Here look to have a helpful example.

https://www.here.com/docs/bundle/sdk-for-android-explore-developer-guide/page/topics/android-auto.html

URL

1

szefte ●

'Here' maps are really interesting.

They do have android support and integrate with everything really well. Even Amazon uses their maps in the US.

The example someone linked is a nice write up of how they are doing it.

But please, I have a job. I'm paying to support your app. Which presumably pays you to be a developer?

Why are you asking people to cite examples of how to develop?

If you can't be bothered to, just grab some code from Open Street Map and copy paste it mate.

This isn't rocket science.

URL

1

Michael Bechtold ●

Hi szefte,

cool - cool ...

1) I am not part of Asamm, the Locus company

2) I have been an advocate for new ideas / requests since more than 10 years

3) along the road, sometimes Menion might have perceived me as a pain in the butt :-)))

4) while I agree with Shuhhi re. tone, I am still pushy about this AA feature, because

5) Menion being a seasoned developer and inventor of Locus, and Locus being heavier than a sample app, I trust he sees from the example that the heavy lifting of mirrorig and synching between the device and the car screen is all covered in those AA libs. Hence,

6) @Menion: there's no cloning needed, but limited doing, I suppose :-)

Cheers

Michael

URL

2

Shuhhi ●

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

Reply URL

1

szefte ●

Android auto is 10 years old mate.

URL

2

Manfred Muster ●

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

Reply URL

2

Denis Zogovic ●

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?

Reply URL

14

Menion ●

Hi guys, Denis ...

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

cb4b76c5fd6f72cb556fc9304eb6eedd

Reply URL

1

Kjell Forssen ●

So nice!

URL

1

Christian Michel ●

awesome! Thank you!

URL

2

Hardliner ●

How can i be a beta tester

URL

3

Mauro Morando ●

urrah, urrah, urrah !!!

Reply URL

1

Denis Zogovic ●

Great! :)

Thanks!

Reply URL

1

Next Generation Enduro ●

Thank you!!

Reply URL

1

Bill Chadwick ●

That's wonderful news.

Reply URL

1

szefte ●

Awesome

Reply URL

1

Christer Fure Nervik ●

Great !!

Reply URL

1

Luke Galyan ●

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

Reply URL

1

Vincent Schyns ●

YES !

Reply URL

1

Dirk Gently ●

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

Reply URL

6

Menion ●

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.

Reply URL

1

Bill Chadwick ●

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.

Reply URL

1

Charl Smit ●

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.

Reply URL

1

laforest ●

Hi,

Ram mount is for you. expensive, but works well for an off-road bike

but I agreel,we need AA !

URL

1

Wolfgang ●

I have RAM Mount too on my bicycle and in my car - it's awesome :)

URL

1

Charl Smit ●

Agree - that's a good mount, but no matter what mounting option you use, it doesn't change having to deal with dust, vibration, rain, over-heating or (hopefully not!) crash damage. The screen would face the same issues, but at least it is >10x cheaper to replace than the phone!

URL

Android Auto support

Merged Objects

Locus Map on Android Auto

Android Auto

Replies (29)