Android Auto preinstalled app is not standalone

Apps & Core Settings
1

Hi.
Just would like to confirm.
Android Auto is proposed as a preinstalled app but it cannot work as-is.
It requires either to install Google apps (Google, Maps, TTS…) or Magisk and aa4mg stub.

Is it the correct understanding?

If so, what is the benefit of Android Auto preinstalled app compared to the Aurora store version?

I chose to go Magisk instead of installing Google apps (which would be a non-sense for me while using an ungoogled OS). Any other drawback than, of course, not having access to Maps and Google TTS?

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See:

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Hi. Yes, I have already installed the stubs.
I am trying to understand what does the preinstalled Android Auto brings, as it is needed to install more apps or to cheat them.

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Because it doesn’t work without the pre-installed Android Auto Stub, probably because of the lack of permissions.

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You can actually get stubs for all required extra apps, not just some. Just need to search (I lost links now, but they were very easy to find)

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My understanding that the Android Auto available to be enabled under “System Settings > Apps > Preinstalled Apps” can be considered a “shim” or “stub” in itself. It essentially sets up the namespace, etc., at the system level required by AA, but is not by itself a functional Android Auto implementation. Instead, after you enable it, then you will need to “update” Android Auto from Aurora (effectively installing the “real” Android Auto).

Some basic “from square 1” guidance is here in our documentation: Android Auto - iodé

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That guidance says that stubs can be used for Googleapp, Maps, & Speech services / TTS. It would be really useful if it provided links to recommended (or at least tested) stubs.

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Yes, agreed. If I can get some more consistent results I’ll submit the suggestions to the documentation editor.

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Pretty confident in saying that if you use the stubs, wireless AA will not work but it will work wired

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Yes - when I read it the first time I took it to mean the stubs were accessible through the Aurora store! Obviously the aren’t but I had to think about it for a minute or two.

Incidentally @rik is there a clear set of instructions somewhere (else) for installing the stubs for iodéOS (as you probably know I have a BraX3). I’ve enable AA in the OS and updated it in Aurora, and found some of the stub APKs (can’t find a GMaps one) but also instructions for installing the stubs I’ve found (e.g. on GitHub) differ slightly or reference extra steps that ‘seem’ redundant with iodé. Incidentally can you do it through something like the APKPure Store App or do they need to be done through a PC via USB and installer mode/rooted/etc?

P.S. Also if you are using an open source map app and the stubs on iodéOS do you also need to install Magisk (or aa4mg) or are these unneeded or preinstalled? As the documentation linked above doesn’t seem to mention them but they are in most of instructions I’ve found elsewhere…

TIA

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Hi.
I had to install Magisk through F-droid and then aa4mg, without AA launcher proposed by aa4mg.
During aa4mg installation, you can chose the stubs you want.

However, eventually, having Magisk installed was blocking other apps. So, to get Android Auto working without Magisk, I just installed Google, Maps and Google TTS from Aurora and archived them. AA is happy even if Google apps are not at all in use.

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Thanks that’s really helpful!

Ahh, okay thanks I didn’t realise that.

Great, thanks - I might give that a go first, as it sounds a bit easier, and just make sure they have all their data and network permissions revoked before I archive them, just to be safe…

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Stubs:

Agree, the links for the stubs belong in the iode docu for Android Auto.

I found the following APKs:

These have been installed without problems,
but are unchecked on my part, since I do not have a vehicle for the live test right now …

Alternatively/in addition, could this stub be integrated directly into iode for installation,
as well as AA itself is prepared as a stub?

There could also be a link that refers to the iode docu for the installation of Android Auto?

Android Auto developer options:

For apps that do not appear in the official AA launcher in the car:

Shouldn’t this also be in the AA documentary:

Search for “Android Auto” in the settings.
Scroll all the way down and tap “Version” 10 times in a row.
Now scroll up again, tap the three-point menu.
and selects the point “Developer Settings”

There - allow “unknown sources”.

Permissions / Data Protection:

No permissions are required for the stubs themselves,
or cannot be set at all.

With the permissions described in the iode documentary:

• Access to nearby devices

Bluetooth is also automatically activated.

Is that necessary? Also for a USB connection? If so, for what…

• Location access:

Necessary – for what?

Doesn’t the navigation apps for example, work if you completely remove AA network access?
MagicEarth also works offline if you have downloaded the cards …

For the protection of privacy, I withdraw Android Auto the network access in general …

General:

The iode docu should also indicate from which iode version this applies.

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So long as that is done in a way that allows installation of the ‘real’ app over the stub. I choose to use Google Maps (without logging in to a Google account) as none of the alternatives match its functionality, particularly the live traffic updates and dynamic re-routing.

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Yes, of course.
It’s just meant to be an easy-to-use option for those who want to use the stubs

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As @volker01 notes a few posts up, 2 of the stubs are coming from aa4mg (TTS, Maps), and 1 (“Google App”) from other places. I put all 3 togther, and posted them here:

I also added a very basic overview, noting that rooting (Magisk or other) is not needed for iodé because we already have Android Auto stub at the root level (for this very reason). But ROMs without that root level stub (LineageOS 4 microG, etc.) will likely need rooting for AA to work.

For @Guardian24 and wireless AA, it may be I didn’t have everything right, but wireless AA on my “stubs only” device gave the same “intermittent at best buggy results” as on my other device that had the full “google apps” installed. I want to test another car, I am currently blaming Toyota for the poor AA wireless experience (the car owner on an iPhone also has headaches with it forgetting the pairing, needing to restart the car sometimes, etc :slight_smile: ) Anyway, I think “more research needed” but if you have a spare phone to test, could you try with only the stub apps to see if it may work?

When I connected by wire, it did auto-setup a BT connection. I am also confused as to why, possibly for phone calls? Not really sure. My test car just traveled yesterday so I won’t be able to re-test for a bit.

Regarding notification permissions, even with the AA app (and stub apps) set to allow notifications (from their respective “App Info” pages), I still had the error that I needed to grant notification permissions. I then saw a dropdown prompt showing that AA was not yet approved for “Notification read, reply & control”. After approving AA for that, then it worked. I could NOT find this “Notification read, reply & control” permission just under “App info”, I also can’t find where this is set or denied when digging through System Settings. I want to get a bit better understanding of this (why “App Info” notification permissions alone aren’t enough).

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Nice! Where did the Android Auto stub come from? Do you know what licence applies?

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I credit where I found them in the READMD.md in my repo, but basically 1 or 2 out 3 from aa4mg project (couldn’t find the “Google App stub there”) and 1 or 2 out of 3 others from SolidEva (couldn’t find the “Maps stub” there). I could not find license info at either project (and I think they got them from elsewhere, maybe aa4mg wrote them, I guess I could unpack the .apks and see if there is any licensing inside them :slight_smile: ) Point is, not sure but would be happy to credit correctly :slight_smile:

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Thanks rik. I didn’t mean those stubs: I meant the Android Auto stub in the Iode gitlab

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Thanks @rik that looks great - I’ll work my way through that!
:smiley:

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