Android Auto
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2008
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2016 C300
Member
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 233
Likes: 13
2018 C350Te Wagon
My dealer checked with the importer and said there will might be a smartphone integration with Audio20 earliest in october this year. Don't think we will se anything of significanse before 19 model/facelift. Then there might be possible for assistance package with exterior amg on C350e on the 19 model. Only thing they know for sure is that there will be Multibeam on the facelift. New 205 scheduled in 2020/21
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Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
E300 2017
Android Auto is a menu option in the E300 2017 (Australia) but so far I can see little reason to use it. The mapping never finds legitimate addresses, the look is terrible, but it can play music from your phone & dial numbers but what's the point?
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 7,653
Likes: 560
2016 C300
Honestly I've never understood the intense interest and disappointment over the lack of Android Auto/CarPlay. For me, whenever reading a post about it, it helps to mentally substitute the phrase "Free Blow-Jobs For Life" for any instance of "Android Auto" or "CarPlay". Then the post suddenly makes sense.
Like:
The ONLY reason I got the C Class was the availability of free blow jobs for life!
See?
Like:
The ONLY reason I got the C Class was the availability of free blow jobs for life!
See?
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
E300 2017
Further "experimentation" shows that Android Auto via Bluetooth has very limited options but I realised that it should be connected via a USB port. I'll keep an open mind but I can't see that it does anything that isn't already done by the command system?
Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 165
Likes: 18
From: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
X253 GLC 43 (AU), X294 EQE 500 SUV (MY)
Simple - COMAND is just godawful to use. It's so bloody clunky and I'd rather use CarPlay anytime.
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 15
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E300 2017
Maybe different in Australia but AA & CarPlay are in Command (2017 E300) but really offer very little that Command doesn't already have & does it better.
Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 165
Likes: 18
From: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
X253 GLC 43 (AU), X294 EQE 500 SUV (MY)
Strangely enough, the NTG5.1 modules used in the facelifted MFA platform vehicles have CarPlay/AA support. And of course, the NTG5.5 system in the W213 has CarPlay/AA too.
Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 165
Likes: 18
From: Melbourne, VIC, Australia
X253 GLC 43 (AU), X294 EQE 500 SUV (MY)
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 292
Likes: 20
2020 GLC43
Honestly I've never understood the intense interest and disappointment over the lack of Android Auto/CarPlay. For me, whenever reading a post about it, it helps to mentally substitute the phrase "Free Blow-Jobs For Life" for any instance of "Android Auto" or "CarPlay". Then the post suddenly makes sense.
Like:
The ONLY reason I got the C Class was the availability of free blow jobs for life!
See?
Like:
The ONLY reason I got the C Class was the availability of free blow jobs for life!
See?
For better or worse, if you run on Android and to a degree iOS, the system already learn about your voice, location and patterns and able to suggest things to you that a static system never can. Car manufacturers also are really bad at UIs. I find that I can naturally speak to Google Assistant and get most things right while MB Command require you to learn and saying a bunch of confirmation prompts.
I see Android Auto and Carplay as safety feature as well. If it means locking people out of their phones and focus on the car's infotainment system, we are all safer for it.
End of the day, unless car manufacture want to get into business of making phones, lacking either Carplay or Android Auto will actually mean they are NOT with it and technologically inferior. This is true to the under 30/40 crowd. That's why MB rushed Carplay into A/B/CLA/GLA class. You are not going to get Millennials into your brand without them.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 7,653
Likes: 560
2016 C300
Oh, Mercedes has never had a problem being technologically inferior on entertainment stuff. It's almost a point of pride. I remember when you couldn't get a cup holder in a Benz, because German engineers felt that a driver should not be distracted by beverages at autobahn speeds.
The 2013 S550 didn't have Bluetooth audio for God's sake. But you're right, Millennials are married to their phones and MB needs to catch up. The NTG version that was developed for the 2014 W222 S Class (no CarPlay) happened to be the version that was available for the W205's launch in 2015. Everything that followed got smartphone integration. 2018 C's (builds starting in late summer 2017) apparently can get it though.
The 2013 S550 didn't have Bluetooth audio for God's sake. But you're right, Millennials are married to their phones and MB needs to catch up. The NTG version that was developed for the 2014 W222 S Class (no CarPlay) happened to be the version that was available for the W205's launch in 2015. Everything that followed got smartphone integration. 2018 C's (builds starting in late summer 2017) apparently can get it though.
