MirrorLink

Relentless81 · 27 Aug 2019 at 13:16

Hello,

I was hoping some of you might be able to educate me on MirrorLink because I'm a little confused about certain aspects of it.
My phone doesnt support MirrorLink but my new car does, I would very much like to have Android Auto on the car screen but I have a few questions about whether or not I've understood everything correctly.
The MirrorLink website is down, this leads me to believe along with some other stuff I've read that it might be a dead standard as car manufacturers move toward Android Auto and Apple Car Play, would that be right?

Are there many Android devices that support MirrorLink these days? I'm considering changing my phone so any suggestions on a phone that has would be appreciated as the website is down I cant check the list.

Even if I bought a phone that supports it, there is always a risk an Android update could remove it or it just stops working as it seems a little flaky from what I've read?

And, even if I bought a phone with MirrorLink and it pairs with the cars head unit, it might not display Android Auto and I'll be left to try and find an app on the Play Store that supports MirrorLink enabled devices of which there doesnt appear to be many again making me think its fast becoming if not already become a dead standard?

Any help in trying to understand it a bit better appreciated

Thanks

M1k3H · 27 Aug 2019 at 13:53

My car has MirrorLink, and my phone supports it.

MirrorLink, I think, is an implementation before Android Auto (it definitely looks and feels like it!), and to be quite frank I don't bother using it as it is unsupported by most apps.

I would suggest a good mount, and using the Android Auto app on your phone, whilst paired to the car via bluetooth.

Relentless81 · 27 Aug 2019 at 14:03

M1k3H said:
My car has MirrorLink, and my phone supports it.

MirrorLink, I think, is an implementation before Android Auto (it definitely looks and feels like it!), and to be quite frank I don't bother using it as it is unsupported by most apps.

I would suggest a good mount, and using the Android Auto app on your phone, whilst paired to the car via bluetooth.

Ah thats not good to hear and yeah it was before Android Auto and CarPlay and it promised loads but it seems its not kept up

Thats exactly what I did in my old car. My new car has a screen in the dash, if I mount my phone to one of the vents it will cover the screen. I think I'm going to have to pay to get the built in Nav updated but its not very good compared to Android Auto and I used the voice commands a lot which I will miss.

M1k3H · 27 Aug 2019 at 14:11

Relentless81 said:
Ah thats not good to hear and yeah it was before Android Auto and CarPlay and it promised loads but it seems its not kept up

Thats exactly what I did in my old car. My new car has a screen in the dash, if I mount my phone to one of the vents it will cover the screen. I think I'm going to have to pay to get the built in Nav updated but its not very good compared to Android Auto and I used the voice commands a lot which I will miss.

I had to find the right mount, as my car's the same (screen in middle, below vents). In the end I went for a magnetic vent one that I mount on the driver's side vent.

I also used to use a windscreen mount, again placed on the outer edge of the windscreen.

In my BMW I got a CD mount which also works very well, this time due to the vents' angle being very steep which meant the phone would have been sat at a weird angle.

Kenai · 27 Aug 2019 at 14:16

Any possibility of the car having firmware upgrades available from manufacturer to enable Android Auto?

I know it's something Skoda offer on cars that had the hardware but were manufactured before they had licence agreements in place.

Relentless81 · 27 Aug 2019 at 14:19

M1k3H said:
I had to find the right mount, as my car's the same (screen in middle, below vents). In the end I went for a magnetic vent one that I mount on the driver's side vent.

I also used to use a windscreen mount, again placed on the outer edge of the windscreen.

In my BMW I got a CD mount which also works very well, this time due to the vents' angle being very steep which meant the phone would have been sat at a weird angle.

Thanks I'll consider a mount I'll see how much the built in Nav gets on my nerves which I imagine wont take long

Kenai said:
Any possibility of the car having firmware upgrades available from manufacturer to enable Android Auto?

I know it's something Skoda offer on cars that had the hardware but were manufactured before they had licence agreements in place.

Its booked in for the 12th of September to have the firmware and maps updated, I dont think it'll support AA though, they didnt support it until the new unit came out in 2017. The best I can hope for it MirrorLink I think and I'll even have to change my phone for that because Nokia dont support it even though they invented it!