AAA 596: Samsung's Foldable Fjord

Beep boop - this is a robot. A new show has been posted to TWiT…

What are your thoughts about today’s show? We’d love to hear from you!

I have been meaning to contribute my thoughts and experience with Android Auto for months now, but finally am doing it based on the recent uptick in AA feedback

I am not a car guy. I don’t own a fancy car. I have a 2008 Jeep. No head unit media screen. No bluetooth. But, I do have a 3.5mm port. I have been using a cheap Bluetooth adapter to connect to my vent-mounted phone for audio, and until last year would use Android Auto for phone screens as my navigation. I’d have to launch the app manually, but after that I could access Google Assistant and use the controls for Pocketcasts built into AA.

Since AA for phones is no more, I have tried using Driving Mode (like Flo demoed) on my OnePlus 8T running Android 12. I am disappointed. No large buttons. No support for Pocketcasts. Just Google Maps with a button to summon Google Assistant.

I rented a car in the fall and realized what I’m missing out on, but I’m not prepared to spend 20K to replace my car.

Until then, I’ll keep trying different 3rd party apps like AutoZen to fill the gap left by Google.

Do you not get this screen? This is a Samsung S22, Android 12. I can switch between Pocketcasts, Qobuz, TuneIn, YT Music etc.

From what I’ve worked out, there are 3 ways to trigger Driving Mode. Use Google assistant to open it, configure it to open when it connects to your car BT, or there’s a setting that uses sensors to detect when you’re in a car.


No, my driving mode looks very different. Maybe it’s a Oneplus problem?

You can buy Android head units for the in-car audio, have you looked at one of those? Simply swap out the original Jeep head unit and plug in the Android one, it will come with Blutetooth and possibly cables and microphone for hands-free telephony as well. Prices start, here in Europe at around 300€, that would be a lot cheaper than buying a new car.

It’s not that much of a deal to me to make a modification to my car, especially because it was working until Silicon Valley Google decided to end the feature because “everyone” has a new car every 3 years

That looks like standard Google Maps? You have to select a destination and start navigation to get driving mode to start (if enabled in Maps).

Does it fail as Flo said on her OnePlus if you say ‘hey Google open driving mode’?

Can you get to the Driving Mode settings screen (Settings/Navigation settings/Google Assistant Settings) from Maps and try the different launch driving mode options?

If you enable the top one, you can try it out without having to get in the car. When you start a route, you should get the black bar at the bottom. I think this is the screen @JasonHowell has only seen. Hit the 4 squares bottom right and you can make calls, look at messages, select your audio. You only seem to get the full display when it’s triggered by your car BT or it detects a journey.

Notice the option to create a shortcut on your home screen.

My previous screenshot is what I get when I ask assistant to open driving mode. No change when I select a destination Very much just Google Maps. Here’s what I get in Maps settings/Navigation settings/Google Assistance Setting.

I don’t have the 4 square menu, or any of those large icons. Maybe it’s a OnePlus problem. I just want my Android Auto back :cry:

Just had a look on the OnePlus forums, OOS 12 doesn’t support driving mode :man_shrugging:t2:

Thanks @Jamze

Another reason why this 8T is looking to be my last OnePlus device, after owning seven others (One, 3, 5, 5T, 6, 6T, 7T). Still not certain what my next device might be

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Same here. Had the One, 3, 5, 6 and 7 Pro then bailed. Have had Pixels and Samsung since, both have been great.

I thought I saw an article the other day that implies OOS 13 is already available?

For the 10 Pro, yes. No mention of driving mode in the release notes though.

Read some reports this feature is disabled for all OnePlus phones. People say if you root and change the manufacturer name to anything other than OnePlus, it works.

Maybe its some accreditation thing OnePlus decided not to get for some reason.