MediaMonkey forum

just got a new skoda octavia vrs and noticed it had android auto on it... got everything working using google play as MMA not compatible yet...
looking forward to this

update: I can select MMA from the android auto app. will test in the car tomorrow

ok so gave it a whirl this morning.

MMA is working fine with AndroidAuto. however...

it seems that baked into AA is some crazy logic that if the car is moving then you can't browse albums or artists. For this it uses GPS, so you have to stop before the functionality becomes available. While this is a safety feature, for me it just makes things really inconvenient and so far i've not been able to browse albums or artists at all via google play music or MMA (even when stopped).

Is there a roadmap for MMA's AndroidAuto integration? i'd love to feed back some ideas on making it work better. Some more testing today to see if it works with voice etc.

Hi zombiefly,

AFAIK, MMA as currently integrated into Android Auto doesn't include support for browsing by Albums/Artists--only Playlists. And browsing of playlists _does_ work while driving. I'm wondering if you were inadvertently using another Media Player integrated with AA.

As far as a roadmap, we don't really have much more planned vis a vis Android Auto atm--our thinking was that in a car the functionality should be fairly limited (we were considering support for Genres/Artists, but weren't sure that it made sense in this context--too much browsing would be required while driving).

BUT if you think that more is needed, we're open to ideas.

Thanks.

-Rusty

hi guys,
i've disabled google play music and other AA compatible players and have been testing with MMA in AA today.
So far the experience has been excellent here's what i've done so far:

voice commands work well: "Play music by <artist>" "Play <artist>" "Play <genre>" "Play <album name>" "Play <playlist>"
I can browse playlists while driving, i can see the 2 playlists i sync from my computer.

problems noted:

1. Sometimes the voice command results in "OK, playing <artist>" then nothing happens, the google voice spinner just continues to rotate and no music plays. I haven't ever noticed this on google play AA

2. There is no way to browse albums/artists, even when parked (see ideas below)


ideas:

1. add the ability to browse the collection by artist/album/genre by touching the screen. This function would provide a scrollable results list, from which you could play now or add to the now playing list. A quick jump option would allow fast navigation by jumping to the selected position in the alphabetically sorted list.
This functionality should default to disabled when the car is moving, but enable full functionality while parked. I would also ask for the ability to over-ride the safety feature in the settings for cases where the "parking brake" sensor is not functional/working correctly, or if the passenger is controlling the music selection.

2. add the ability to browse the collection by artist/album/genre by voice. This function would work the same as the touch version, however the user could say "play <item number>" or "play <album name>" from the displayed list. If possible the voice command "show me albums by <artist>" would provide the results list, then "play <x>" would play item x from the list..

item 1 would make this complete. item 2 would be amazing to have. I'm not sure how possible it is, but i have some hope as yesterday i was able to use AA to dictate and edit a text message and send it to a contact's second mobile number all via voice commands.

"send text message to <user> mobile"
google:"what is the message?"
"hello, how are you?"
google:"your message is 'hello, how are you?' do you want to send it or edit it?"
"send"
google:"send to mobile 1. 12345-1245 2. 123567-12312 ?
"1"
google:"sending message to 12345-1245"

what do you think?

another request: shuffle button on the player car screen. couldn't see it so had to use the phone

Do any other apps support it?

Peke wrote:Do any other apps support it?

hi Peke,
if you mean the shuffle, yes. Google play supports it from the 3 dot menu on the player screen. (sorry for blurry screenshot)
https://postimg.org/image/t86h0iwqf/

First, Thank You, Thank You Thank You for implementing Android Auto support in MMA. It is a fantastic addition to the application and now allows me to use MM for my primary music server at home, while using the Android Phone with a Bluetooth Speaker, and now integration with AA which now extends more fully into the car listening experience.

In terms of items I feel are definitely worth adding to the MMA support for Android Auto are:

1. Shuffle feature on the touch screen. Many times Playlists get organized alphabetically by the Artist and can often run into hundreds and hundreds of tracks. It is a far better experience not have to listen serially, but rather shuffle through the playlist. Shuffle is already there for the Shuffle All, but that is a Menu Choice rather than something that can be enabled / disabled on demand. The On Demand flavor of Shuffle should be available no matter what playing mode is selected in my view.

2. Artist / Album Artist / Genre Menu choices. Google Music implements this currently. It sounded like this was a development choice to not implement for safety rather than the ability or usefulness of the feature from other posts within this thread. My two cents are that this is a useful feature and I guess it is debateable whether having this additional feature is a safety feature or not. Even if using your device in a vehicle which does not implement AA with its Infotainment system having the ability with MMA within the AA application to check through Artists and Albums should be included as you might want to just listen to a specific album, or shuffle through a favorite artist.

I've only used the AA feature once so far so I've not had a lot of time to play with the voice commands. So far asking to play a specific track like "Play How Many More Times" resulted in Google locating the track and playing it. I'm looking forward to seeing how granular the voice support allows for.

Again, Thanks for making a great platform even better with this addition.

where do you see the artist/album/genre in google music? I don't have that in mine...
This is my only major problem with using AA at the moment, i cant select artist/album unless I use voice

I'm wrong about Google Play Music having implemented the Artist / Album / Genre menu choices. I'm not sure where I got that. I tried Amazon Music also and it does not have the feature either. Sorry for the inaccurate information.

I still think it's a worthwhile feature along with supporting Shuffle for the reasons I stated.

Thank You.

i have read that the latest google play music is supposed to display artist/album when the car is not moving although i can't get it to work.
the "recent activity" lists recently added albums in a playlist though, but it's limited to the last 10 items. If it didn't have that limit then it'd work fine as you can search the list.

this is the functionality that i was posting about above.

Using LG V10 with Android Auto.

The skip functionality is very slow. On pressing either the screen button or using the hardware it takes about 10 seconds for the current playing track to stop and then another 10 seconds for the next track to start. This also happens on the phone itself when not using Android Auto.

Also noticed that it takes two presses of the play button to start the track playing initially, but I'm not sure if that issue is with Android Auto or MediaMonkey.

Thanks

Hi,
Are you using Android Auto On phone or on Android Auto compatible device?

LG V10 phone.

AA on OnePlus3 and SKoda Columbus head unit