AA-EntryNav 0.1.5-test.3

Fixes for the last test's wait for iDrive, to try before 0.1.5. The service, the supervisor and the iDrive app change.

Fixed

• Android Auto no longer stays hidden. If the iDrive app never told it to come up, Android Auto could stay hidden for the rest of the drive while your phone stayed connected. It now comes up by itself after 15 seconds at the latest. Time on a call or in reverse doesn't count.
• No empty window over a call or the reversing camera. If a call came in or you selected reverse while Android Auto was waiting for iDrive, an empty window could stay over iDrive's call screen or the camera and take the controller until the call or reverse ended. It now closes at once.
• iDrive's menu comes back if your phone leaves at the wrong moment. If your phone disconnected just before Android Auto came up, iDrive could stay on a blank screen until you pressed a button. It now goes back to the Android Auto menu after 3 seconds.
• iDrive's messages show over Android Auto again. After a session that ended before Android Auto came up, iDrive's own messages, such as Check Control warnings, could stay hidden behind Android Auto in the next session.
• The compatibility check looks at the right Bluetooth slot. Before installing, it checked the slot My BMW uses, so it warned when My BMW was connected and missed a busy Android Auto slot.

AA-EntryNav 0.1.5-test.2

A test of fixes from the original project, to try before 0.1.5: Android Auto leaves My BMW's Bluetooth slot alone, keeps a quiet phone connected and waits for iDrive before it shows. The service, the supervisor and the iDrive app change.

Added

• Turn arrows on the X3 G01's instrument cluster. Its cluster refuses the full route Android Auto sends, so no arrows appeared. Create /var/local/data/AA/kombi-single-maneuver over SSH and restart Android Auto, and only the next turn is sent. Cars without the file are unchanged.
• More detail in the service's log, when logs are on: which Bluetooth device connects or disconnects (the phone or another device, never its address), why a Bluetooth link closed, and the phone's longest silence every 10 seconds of a session.

Fixed

• Android Auto leaves My BMW's Bluetooth slot alone. It used to take over the slot the My BMW app connects to. While it ran, My BMW couldn't find the car, and BMW's own service treated Android Auto's Bluetooth link as its own, which may be what made wireless Android Auto slow for some drivers. Android Auto now takes a spare slot, and falls back to the old one only on a car that doesn't have it.
• Android Auto stays connected when your phone goes quiet. Some phones stop sending anything while iDrive has the screen and no music plays, and the car ended the session 5 seconds after you pressed MENU or MAP. The car now checks on a quiet phone itself and ends the session only if the phone doesn't answer.
• Android Auto waits for iDrive before it shows. When your phone connected while one of iDrive's own windows was on top, such as right after unlocking the car, Android Auto came up, couldn't hold the screen and left after about 4 seconds. It now waits until iDrive is ready, then comes up.
• MENU and MAP leave Android Auto straight after BACK. Pressed within 2 seconds of BACK or a left tilt, they could leave you in Android Auto.
• The iDrive controller works on cars with the older controller, such as the i3. It did nothing in Android Auto there, because one stray message from the car stopped Android Auto from trying the older controller's protocol.

AA-EntryNav 0.1.5-test.1

A sharper Android Auto picture, to try before 0.1.5. Only the service changes.

Changed

• A sharper Android Auto picture. Your phone now draws Android Auto at 1920x1080 instead of 1280x720, and the head unit shrinks it onto the screen. The map arrow, roads, icons and text have smoother edges, and thin coloured lines lose the fringe around them. Buttons and text keep their size. If the head unit can't decode the larger picture, Android Auto goes back to the old one by itself. To go back by hand, create /var/local/data/AA/video-720 over SSH and restart Android Auto.

AA-EntryNav 0.1.4

Connect your phone with a QR code in iDrive, more reliable connecting over the USB cable, and fixes for the picture, the microphone, Bluetooth, the instrument cluster and the controller. The service and the iDrive app change.

Added

• Connect your phone by scanning a QR code in iDrive. A new row in iDrive's Android Auto menu shows a QR code that joins your phone to the car's Wi-Fi and tells the phone app where to find the head unit. It never contains the root password. A PIN of 4 to 8 digits, chosen the first time and typed with the iDrive controller, protects it. The code is hidden while the car is moving. After five wrong PINs the page locks for a minute, and each wrong PIN after that doubles the wait, up to an hour; restarting doesn't reset the count. Forgot the PIN? Delete /var/local/data/AA/flare-pin over SSH and choose a new one.

Fixed

• Tilting the iDrive controller left no longer closes Android Auto. iDrive also takes a left tilt, and the BACK button, as its own back, which could close Android Auto while you moved between its apps. Both now stay in Android Auto.
• Over a USB cable, Android Auto no longer hangs on a blank screen while connecting. If the phone stops answering partway through, Android Auto tries again by itself after 10 seconds. It used to wait until you unplugged the cable.
• Over a USB cable, replugging the phone works straight away. If the phone turned down the first request to start Android Auto, the car ignored it for 30 seconds, even after you unplugged it and plugged it in again. It now asks again after 2 seconds, and at once when you replug it.
• Over a USB cable, a connection that fails to start no longer retries every second. It now waits 10 seconds before asking the phone again.
• The picture recovers by itself if the car's video decoder stops. It used to stay frozen until you stopped Android Auto. It now comes back within a few seconds.
• The picture no longer stays smeared after a lost video frame. Android Auto now asks the phone for a fresh picture.
• The Assistant's microphone no longer gets stuck. If the car's microphone stopped sending sound, stopping Android Auto could hang, and the microphone could restart over and over while the Assistant listened. It now gives up after a few tries and waits for the phone to ask again.
• A slow answer from the car's Bluetooth no longer stalls Android Auto. It could hold up everything the phone sent for up to 25 seconds, and drop the connection.
• No more garbled road names or distances on the instrument cluster. Odd text or numbers from the phone are cleaned up before they reach it.

AA-EntryNav 0.1.3

Android Auto stays on screen when you change driving mode, and several fixes for touches, the COM button, the picture and BMW's USB music. The service, the supervisor and the iDrive app change.

Changed

• Android Auto stays on screen when you change driving mode. Switching between Comfort, Sport and the other modes used to hide it for a few seconds. It now only steps aside if iDrive is set to show driving mode changes.

Fixed

• Touches no longer get stuck. If you lifted your finger just as something else took the screen, such as the volume bar, a popup, reverse gear or MENU, the phone could think you were still touching it.
• The COM button no longer gets stuck when a call comes in while you're holding it.
• Android Auto no longer steps aside for no reason. It should only do that when you press a button such as MENU.
• BMW's USB music and apps work with Android phones again after Android Auto crashes. They could stay blocked until the head unit restarted.
• iDrive no longer says "Connecting..." while Android Auto is stopping.
• The picture no longer freezes after a glitch in the video. A few damaged video frames could freeze it for the rest of the drive.

AA-EntryNav 0.1.2

Two improvements for Android Auto over a USB cable. The service and the iDrive app change.

Changed

• iDrive tells you to plug in your phone. With wireless off and no phone on the cable, Android Auto's entry in iDrive's Media menu says to plug it in, instead of "Connecting...".

Fixed

• Android Auto over a USB cable reconnects by itself. If it dropped just after the Android Auto logo appeared on the phone, it could stay stuck until you stopped it. It now tries again within a few seconds.

AA-EntryNav 0.1.1

The colour Android Auto logo in iDrive. Only the iDrive app's images (AAEntryNav_ALL_Images.zip) change.

Changed

• The colour Android Auto logo in iDrive. Android Auto's entry in the iDrive menu, and the Start Android Auto button on its page, show the colour Android Auto logo instead of a white outline.

AA-EntryNav 0.1.0

Important

Restart the head unit after installing. Android Auto won't start until it has.

The first release of AA-EntryNav: Android Auto starts every time and keeps clear of the reversing camera.

Fixed

• Android Auto starts every time. Another program on the head unit could take the connection Android Auto uses at start-up, and Android Auto then wouldn't start for the whole trip. This was seen on another car with the same software. It now uses a private connection no other program can take.
• Android Auto no longer appears over the reversing camera. It could if the camera came on just before Android Auto stepped aside, or if you selected reverse within 3 seconds of opening Android Auto.
• Changing the car's clock no longer upsets Android Auto's timing. When GPS corrected the clock while driving, a wait could end early or drag on. Android Auto now times things from when the head unit started.