Android Auto Music Apps

[Doc Rocket]

For those who use Android Auto: Do any music player apps that are Android Auto compatible work well with music that is locally stored? Right now, I keep my music library on an SD card in my phone. My phone is (in theory) compatible with wireless Android Auto (no current vehicle I own has Android Auto compatibility), but it works very well to play music through Bluetooth. Looking at the Google Play store, it seems like the the music player apps that are Android Auto compatible are either a) oriented primarily or exclusively to streaming, b) very buggy with stored music, c) force ads into the playing of stored music (if I wanted ads, I would listen to the radio, really), or d) some combination of the above. Nothing seems to deal well with locally stored music and Android auto (at least judging by the app reviews). I will note that I did not read all of the thousands of reviews for these apps, just the dozen or so most recent, but the complaints seemed to be consistent.

I don't want to stream music, I don't want ads, I don't want DJs who think they are much funnier than they are, I just want to listen to music I like while I drive, and I don't want to pay a monthly fee to listen to music I own. Is the Android Auto a lost cause for me?

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[EvlNvrDys]

For those who use Android Auto: Do any music player apps that are Android Auto compatible work well with music that is locally stored? Right now, I keep my music library on an SD card in my phone. My phone is (in theory) compatible with wireless Android Auto (no current vehicle I own has Android Auto compatibility), but it works very well to play music through Bluetooth. Looking at the Google Play store, it seems like the the music player apps that are Android Auto compatible are either a) oriented primarily or exclusively to streaming, b) very buggy with stored music, c) force ads into the playing of stored music (if I wanted ads, I would listen to the radio, really), or d) some combination of the above. Nothing seems to deal well with locally stored music and Android auto (at least judging by the app reviews). I will note that I did not read all of the thousands of reviews for these apps, just the dozen or so most recent, but the complaints seemed to be consistent.

I don't want to stream music, I don't want ads, I don't want DJs who think they are much funnier than they are, I just want to listen to music I like while I drive, and I don't want to pay a monthly fee to listen to music I own. Is the Android Auto a lost cause for me?

Well according to multiple sites, looks like Poweramp is compatible

Like yourself I prefer the music on my phone as opposed to Sirius or FM Radio. But I've never owned a vehicle with Android Auto, hell, this will be the first I own with a screen and backup camera (cuz you know, it's too hard to do it using your mirrors )

Anyways, looks like my preferred player should work, I guess I'll find out for sure once I get my Bronco.

 

[Doc Rocket]

The google play store did not list that one under their "compatible apps", I'll take a look.

 

[HotdogThud]

I've had good luck with spotify and locally stored music, but the current fave is PlexAmp. No more need to store it all locally, when I can host my own collection and share it to any device that's mine (via Plex). Also works like a champ with android auto

 

[Thed]

I uploaded my entire library to Google Play Music back in its infancy. Even though GPM is dead, I still have all my music in YouTube Music, which I exclusively use.

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

For those who use Android Auto: Do any music player apps that are Android Auto compatible work well with music that is locally stored? Right now, I keep my music library on an SD card in my phone. My phone is (in theory) compatible with wireless Android Auto (no current vehicle I own has Android Auto compatibility), but it works very well to play music through Bluetooth. Looking at the Google Play store, it seems like the the music player apps that are Android Auto compatible are either a) oriented primarily or exclusively to streaming, b) very buggy with stored music, c) force ads into the playing of stored music (if I wanted ads, I would listen to the radio, really), or d) some combination of the above. Nothing seems to deal well with locally stored music and Android auto (at least judging by the app reviews). I will note that I did not read all of the thousands of reviews for these apps, just the dozen or so most recent, but the complaints seemed to be consistent.

I don't want to stream music, I don't want ads, I don't want DJs who think they are much funnier than they are, I just want to listen to music I like while I drive, and I don't want to pay a monthly fee to listen to music I own. Is the Android Auto a lost cause for me?

If you've already taken the time to have all of your music capable of being portable why not just copy it to a USB drive, stick it into the head unit, and let SYNC play it and bypass AA entirely? AA has lots of good uses but in your case you don't need to play anything from your phone so cut out the middleman.

 

[Doc Rocket]

If you've already taken the time to have all of your music capable of being portable why not just copy it to a USB drive, stick it into the head unit, and let SYNC play it and bypass AA entirely? AA has lots of good uses but in your case you don't need to play anything from your phone so cut out the middleman.

We'll see how this one works for me, but the issue with previous vehicles has been that the head unit (2017 Nissan Frontier) cannot handle more than about 180 files TOTAL on the USB drive, so either I make up USB drives with 180ish song playlists and have a bunch of them, or I play from my phone which can handle it. I agree that this would be a good solution, just not sure (without trying it) that it will work. I certainly hope that the Sync 4 system doesn't choke out on small numbers of tracks, but we'll see. Also trying to see if the Android Auto capability was going to do anything for me at all.

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

Really? I have the cheapest "stereo" I could find on Amazon and have an SD card with well over a 1000 songs. Problem is no matter what I do it will only play them in order by Artist

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

We'll see how this one works for me, but the issue with previous vehicles has been that the head unit (2017 Nissan Frontier) cannot handle more than about 180 files TOTAL on the USB drive, so either I make up USB drives with 180ish song playlists and have a bunch of them, or I play from my phone which can handle it. I agree that this would be a good solution, just not sure (without trying it) that it will work. I certainly hope that the Sync 4 system doesn't choke out on small numbers of tracks, but we'll see. Also trying to see if the Android Auto capability was going to do anything for me at all.

Fair enough, definitely some limitations in a number of devices in their ability to handle large drives and/or large amount of content. I *believe* that with AA (and Carplay as well) and Sync 4 you *should* be able to say something like "Play <desired song/artist> from Doc's phone" with your current setup of having all your music on an SD card in your phone. Will be handy once we can see a user's guide for Sync 4. One thing I'm happy about is that allegedly Sync can play FLAC so I don't have to settle for converting/copy my rips to lossy MP3's.

 

[Doc Rocket]

Really? I have the cheapest "stereo" I could find on Amazon and have an SD card with well over a 1000 songs. Problem is no matter what I do it will only play them in order by Artist

Nissan has not been known for updating the Frontier on a steady basis... Mine is mechanically identical to a 2005 (which, to tell the truth, was part of why I bought it--no unknown problems there), and the head unit is similarly behind what would have been SOTA in 2017. I am sure that a really cheap head unit has much better features, but this is a well known 'feature" of that head unit. The latest and greatest infotainment hardware does not make it to the Frontier, maybe to the Murano, but not the Frontier.

 

[mjcutri]

For those who use Android Auto: Do any music player apps that are Android Auto compatible work well with music that is locally stored?...

Pulsar works great for me with AA, only used it plugged in so far, but I imagine it will work just as well wireless. I keep my mp3s on a SD card in my S10e.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rhmsoft.pulsar

 

[Doc Rocket]

Fair enough, definitely some limitations in a number of devices in their ability to handle large drives and/or large amount of content. I *believe* that with AA (and Carplay as well) and Sync 4 you *should* be able to say something like "Play <desired song/artist> from Doc's phone" with your current setup of having all your music on an SD card in your phone. Will be handy once we can see a user's guide for Sync 4. One thing I'm happy about is that allegedly Sync can play FLAC so I don't have to settle for converting/copy my rips to lossy MP3's.

We can always hope.... I'd worry more about the lossless conversion if a) we were not talking about a vehicle with a near-vertical windshield, a plastic roof and knobby tires, b) I wasn't looking at factory speakers for a while (I haven't seen a breakdown yet of what the sizes and mounting depths are to even see what better options are out there, or the impedance of the factory speakers even. I know that there will be improved speakers for the factory holes, I know that even if they are some odd value of impedance, line-level input converters are going to be there, etc, but without some basic information, I can't even start a plan), and c) I hadn't spent a career around unmuffled diesel generators, turbofan engines, chemical rockets, and then large vacuum pumps, with intermittent exposure to shooting ranges. The losses are primarily in the high range, and that is gone anyway.

 

[Doc Rocket]

Pulsar works great for me with AA, only used it plugged in so far, but I imagine it will work just as well wireless. I keep my mp3s on a SD card in my S10e.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rhmsoft.pulsar

That looks pretty good, I hadn't seen that one, but the average review score is about as high as I have seen for Android music apps. Part of the reason I started this thread is I was pretty sure there were apps that were AA compatible, but were not on the "AA compatible" list in the play store, because that was a pretty short list, mostly aimed at streaming services.

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

We can always hope.... I'd worry more about the lossless conversion if a) we were not talking about a vehicle with a near-vertical windshield, a plastic roof and knobby tires, b) I wasn't looking at factory speakers for a while (I haven't seen a breakdown yet of what the sizes and mounting depths are to even see what better options are out there, or the impedance of the factory speakers even. I know that there will be improved speakers for the factory holes, I know that even if they are some odd value of impedance, line-level input converters are going to be there, etc, but without some basic information, I can't even start a plan), and c) I hadn't spent a career around unmuffled diesel generators, turbofan engines, chemical rockets, and then large vacuum pumps, with intermittent exposure to shooting ranges. The losses are primarily in the high range, and that is gone anyway.

Oh, trust me, I have no illusions about sound quality in a truck (or, really, any vehicle that isn't a really well done, well insulated luxury vehicle). There's just no way to replicate a quality home audio setup in a truck. I'm just happy that it would save me the effort, I hope, of having to go through the effort of converting and copying my base FLAC library. The kicker is that with a stock stereo (going Lux, so hopefully slightly better than base) the higher quality source material *should* help it out some. Should really let my extensive collections of Britney Spears and Justin Bieber shine!

 

[Doc Rocket]

Oh, trust me, I have no illusions about sound quality in a truck (or, really, any vehicle that isn't a really well done, well insulated luxury vehicle). There's just no way to replicate a quality home audio setup in a truck. I'm just happy that it would save me the effort, I hope, of having to go through the effort of converting and copying my base FLAC library. The kicker is that with a stock stereo (going Lux, so hopefully slightly better than base) the higher quality source material *should* help it out some. Should really let my extensive collections of Britney Spears and Justin Bieber shine!

I'm getting the Base, so all I can really hope is that I can play my Motorhead, ZZ Top and Johnny Cash loud enough to hear it on the highway over the tires (also getting Sasquatch). And I totally get not wanting to re-rip anything, that takes too long and rewards too little...

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