Android Auto support

Menion ●

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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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Mark Irons ●

Could you share which alternative app you use?

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José Carlos Callixto ●

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Next Generation Enduro ●

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

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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.

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Neoaliphant ●

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

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Mark Byrnes ●

Can you advise if Locus will ever support Android Auto?

Regards

Mark Byrnes

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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.

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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.

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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 ;)

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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.

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Neoaliphant ●

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...

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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.

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Neoaliphant ●

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

https://www.aawireless.io/shop

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Neoaliphant ●

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

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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)

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Neoaliphant ●

Motorbike makes a lot of sense....

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szefte ●

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

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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.

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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

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Menion ●

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

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

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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.

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Dennis Bareis ●

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

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Neoaliphant ●

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.....

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szefte ●

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

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Neoaliphant ●

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

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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.

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Michael Bechtold ●

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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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szefte ●

Android auto is 10 years old mate.

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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

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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?

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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

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Kjell Forssen ●

So nice!

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Christian Michel ●

awesome! Thank you!

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Hardliner ●

How can i be a beta tester

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Mauro Morando ●

urrah, urrah, urrah !!!

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Denis Zogovic ●

Great! :)

Thanks!

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Next Generation Enduro ●

Thank you!!

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Bill Chadwick ●

That's wonderful news.

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szefte ●

Awesome

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Christer Fure Nervik ●

Great !!

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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

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Vincent Schyns ●

YES !

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Dirk Gently ●

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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laforest ●

Hi,

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

but I agreel,we need AA !

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Wolfgang ●

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

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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!

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Pierre Köver ●

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.

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Denis Zogovic ●

Who isn't :)

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Menion ●

Hi guys, I still spend most of my time on the new version of the data manager so there was no time on Android Auto last two months. I still believe, that till the end of the year, there will be at least a version for test. Thanks for your patience.

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szefte ●

too late. switched to osmand and csncelled gold.

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Jelle Ruben ●

Can you use Osmand with Android Aunto and can you make you own poi gpx files like Locus?

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David Lombardi ●

Going to do the same. It's a joke it's taking Locus so long

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Jelle Ruben ●

Nop no problem with it I don't use Android Android a lot.

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szefte ●

yes you can.

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Menion ●

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.

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Neoaliphant ●

i compeltely agree, for car navigation i use google maps, as its mostly from peoples postcodes in my contacts. for outdoor navigation, recording and cycling its the locus poi database.

While osmand looks decent, it does appear more road centric, so it makes sense they have prioritised android auto.

Locus has many other features that otehr apps havent, and its this specialisation that makes it appealing.

theres no harm in using 2 apps.

i have to admit, that while ive been using locus since 2010, there was a couple of years i was using mostly viewranger because of the syncing. now with locus4 syncing the crucial missing part has been fixed.

there are so any otehr outdoor specific ideas on here, that resources to a mostly car/street navigation luxury feature, like android auto , seems liek it shopuldnt be a high priority.

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Alzadjali ●

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.

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Menion ●

Thanks for the nice words!

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José Carlos Callixto ●

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 😊

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Charl Smit ●

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.

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Pierre Köver ●

That's exactly my use case as well, should you not have guessed - and I don't want to have my smartphone exposed to weathering and particularly vibrations because of the camera lenses.

AA screen mirroring devices are much more rugged and do not have lenses that could take mechanical damage.

And offroad, Google Maps and Waze are of no use.

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Menion ● ●

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.

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JohnCNA ●

Off to a great start! Tried it out a few minutes ago. Works pretty good in both full screen and split screen modes. However, I could do without the big black box in the center of the screen when in split screen mode and no navigation target set.

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Pierre Köver ●

Wonderful - great news !

Immediately installed and will test asap and report good things and potential improvement points.

Lovely that it was developed ! :-)

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Menion ●

Thanks JohnCNA for the test!

I hate this box as well. Still can't find the option to get rid of it!!

The old method of how to display a map is now deprecated and the new method I use forces developers to always display something in the "message area". I'll keep investigating...

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Denis Zogovic ●

Can you by any chance at least make it smaller? Like, set up a smaller font?

Here is a pic of my (Renault RLink), and if the text on that block was the same size as on the map, it wouldn't be to much of a hassle.

I normally don't use Locus for navigation, but for orientation, or following over a track, and my "default" screen is like this :(

0ad70071e4a23cfa351b79806e513450

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Denis Zogovic ●

And, BTW, thanks!!!

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José Carlos Callixto ●

Hi,

Great and good news! But... I installed the APK but Locus doesn't appear on Android Auto 😢

I tried both files in the Auto folder, but nothing.

What could be preventing it? Locus on the smartphone works normally and has been updated to 4.26.3.1 Auto, as seen on screen.

Thank you in advance for any help and best regards.

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Wolfgang ●

@José same prob here. I have a Google Pixel 8 with Android 15.

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José Carlos Callixto ●

Mine is a Ulefone Armor 26 with Android 13.

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Wolfgang ●

Today it just appeared and it works 😃

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José Carlos Callixto ●

Today is a special day, for sure... mine also appeared, without doing anything 🤣

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José Carlos Callixto ●

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Bill Chadwick ●

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.

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Hardliner ●

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.

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Pavel Stupka ●

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.

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Kjell Forssen ●

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

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JohnCNA ●

In my case, (Samsung S22+ and Android 14) I had Locus opened on my phone before I started the car. After AA opened on the car screen, I opened the apps screen and the Locus icon was at the end of the apps list. Oddly, Locus did not show up in the AA settings Customize Launcher area until a day later. And then I could move it to the top, next to Google Maps on the screen.

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Kjell Forssen ●

Thanks for your information. I will try to do like you tomorrow!

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Alzadjali ●

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.

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Stephen Coward ●

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!

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Vincent Schyns ●

Thank you! That's a good start

Merci! c'est un bon début

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Radomir Hlavsa ●

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

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Mauro Morando ●

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

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JohnCNA ●

On my phone Samsung S22+, it did not appear in the AA Launcher settings at first, either. But when I started Locus before starting the car, it did show up in the all apps screen on the car. After a day or two, Locus did show up in the Launcher and I could move it up where I wanted.

Can you see it at all on the car screen? Run it from there and it might show up in the Launcher later.

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Menion ●

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!

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Alzadjali ●

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

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Bill Chadwick ●

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.

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Christer Fure Nervik ●

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..

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Menion ●

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.

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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).

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).

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1

Christer Fure Nervik ●

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 .

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1

Alzadjali ●

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.

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1

Menion ●

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.

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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.

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1

Hardliner ●

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

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1

Radomir Hlavsa ●

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 :-)

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1

Mauro Morando ●

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

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2

JohnCNA ●

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!

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Android Auto support

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Locus Map on Android Auto

Android Auto

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