Review: Android Auto infotainment system is off to a fabulous start

Jefferson Graham | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Sitting behind the wheel with Android Auto Jefferson Graham takes Android Auto for a spin in a Hyundai Sonata, for a hands free navigation through directions, restaurant information, and listening to music.

LOS ANGELES — We all know we spend way too much time in cars fiddling with our phones for directions, answering texts and listening to music and podcasts.

So Apple and Google have both proposed tech solutions to cut down on distractions, with built-in infotainment systems that use our voice instead of fingers fuddling on smartphones.

I’ve just spent a week testing out Android Auto, which is just becoming available on a handful of new cars from Hyundai and other manufacturers.

The verdict: It is a fabulous idea that will only get better in the next few years as more apps become available for the system.

Android Auto is a walled garden system of approved apps — you can use favorites like iHeartRadio, Stitcher, TuneIn, NPR One and Spotify for music and podcasts, as well as Google Play Music.

Messaging apps include WhatsApp, Kik and Google Hangouts.

Missing in action: Let's start with the greatest navigation app ever — and it happens to be owned by Google. Where's Waze? Also missing in action: popular apps like Facebook and Facebook Messenger for hearing message updates, or getting local restaurant information and reviews, YouTube (even without video, YouTube's music selection far exceeds that of Spotify and Google Music), Pandora Radio, Amazon Kindle (books on tape for the car, anyone?) Twitter (for audio tweets) and the list goes on. (Note: Though not on the official Google Play lists, both Pandora and Amazon Music will work with Android Auto if downloaded directly to your Android handset, Hyundai says.)

You start the experience by plugging in an Android phone (using the operating system Lollipop or later) via a USB cable into the audio unit of the car.

From there, the phone becomes non-functional to your fingers, but brings the Internet connection to the car.

All the action now takes place on the steering wheel, where you tap a button to access the microphone and dictate your actions instead of opening your phone and clicking buttons while you drive.

In a perfect world, you can speak, “Play Billie Jean by Michael Jackson on Spotify,” and Android Auto will respond accordingly. Or say, "Play Pink Floyd" or "Play U2." (Pronounce it correctly, or Google will remind you that it can’t open “YouTube.”)

You can use the microphone to dictate and send a text, but you can’t dictate an email.

The music commands function well, when they work — which isn’t always. In our tests, sometimes Android Auto would get hung up on my music requests and not complete them. And podcast apps are a welcome addition to the music, but the controls need some attention.

You can’t use your voice to say, “Open Stitcher,” or “Play TalkingTech on Stitcher.”

For podcasts, you need to use the touch-screen of the Android Auto display screen, and use your fingers to navigate, which of course, is something we shouldn’t be doing while driving.

In the case of Stitcher, the touch-screen display will then open up Stitcher’s front page and topics, and the same goes for TuneIn, which offers access to thousands of radio stations and podcasts, as well as NPR One.

The best performer of all on Android Auto is mapping and navigation, as it has Google Maps built-in.

Say, “Directions to California Pizza Kitchen, Manhattan Beach,” and up it comes instantly, navigating your way there, along with a link to call the restaurant as well. (You'll need to hit the touch-screen to connect.)

Android Auto launched on new Hyundai Sonatas this year, and is also now available on a handful of new models from Honda, Cadillac and VW, with many more promised for 2016.

To get Android Auto, consumers might need to step up from the base price for some sort of navigation or audio system upgrade. For the Sonata, Hyundai's website quotes an additional charge of $1,100 on 2015 models, but the manufacturer says audio units come free with 2016 cars.

Apple’s similar infotainment system, CarPlay, is slowly rolling out to new cars and is currently available in models of Ferrari, Chevrolet Corvette’s and VW’s Tiguan SUV and Golf cars.

Follow USA TODAY tech columnist and #TalkingTech host Jefferson Graham on Twitter, where he’s @jeffersongraham, and listen to his daily audio tech reports on Stitcher and Tune In.