Jun 27, 2019

Android Auto scale on car screen.

Ok, so there have been many discussion about Android Auto and why does it not feel the screen and why does it not scale properly, etc. In quite a few occasions I have explained that Android Auto can only output at certain resolution 800x480, 720p and 1080p potentially limiting how this can be scaled.

Well the good news is that Android Auto CAN be scaled at any resolution / size / screen, even potentially to portrait mode for Tesla, it is all down to the car's manufacturer to implement it properly, but this can be done. I've been playing around with this as a proof of concept, and are some screenshots from some really weird resolutions.

So if Android Auto does NOT fill your car's screen (ex some Mercedes) and they try to tell you that this is not possible or that Google doesn't allow it or anything else similar, tell them that is NOT TRUE and point them to this post. It is 100% down to the car/headunit manufacturer how they implement the AA protocol.

Screenshots from resolutions of: 2048x480,1280x480,480x1280,1024x600 both landscape and portrait mode, some attached here the rest can be viewed here:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPM4--ivgplR54OcXYcQLyIyttVk55zRiGqJN7Y4GETjDLGgBqeLmEfQoJgcLYRiA?key=WmRTU2J2T3ZFM3VZZlVpRE9WZ1BCOXlQalVhU093

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Paul - GStore Email Team

Community Specialist

Jul 11, 2019

Hey everyone,

Thanks Emil for the visual clarification. To also add to Emil's post, Android Auto supports Widescreen display from Android Auto version 4.1 or later. It’s up to the car makers to support the feature. If you don’t see Android Auto UI optimized for the widescreen display of your car, we recommend you to contact the customer support of your car maker for more information. Thanks!

Last edited Aug 7, 2019

Community Specialist Paul - GStore Email Team recommended this

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All Replies (47)

Oleg Volkov

Jul 6, 2019

Hi! So what about Mercedes?

Apple CarPlay started to cover full screen once they updated app. No updates for head until.

Mo Aky

Oct 4, 2019

@Daniel N 4898 Agreed! I went through a similar experience with Mercedes and their support is shocking. Once they make the sale, they do not care about their customers or their needs. I might switch to Audi for my next car.

Shine Dharmarajan

Nov 7, 2019

Car play works without any issues.

Even mirrorlink carmode works in full screen.

Only this stupid buggy Andriod Auto has this limitation.

User 6254385608181515588

Nov 16, 2019

Google should force those companies(ex Mercedes) to update their config. Since not everyone knows the things you mentioned above, they just keep blaming android auto and google.

Emil Borconi Szedressy

Gold Product Expert•Original Poster

All About Android Auto

Nov 16, 2019

I'm sure if it will be that simple Google would have done it a long way, I think the problem is that Google here is at the mercy of Mercedes, as actually car companies are opening up their own precious platforms to Google and Apple and they are most probably bound to lose some revenue (no more expensive navigation upgrade, voice feature upgrade, etc), so I can understand that they don't jump so quickly to fix this, or they simply won't fix it at all, as someone posted here (based on Mercedes reply).

As a side note, recently visited my old workplace Alpine Hungary, which now manufacturers screens for Volvo cars (portrait - Tesla style) and I found out that on those screens, CarPlay is also not allowed full screen only the oem navigation. This does make me think that above idea of all being actually tied to the revenue, makes a lot of sense, but I do not work for any of this companies, so this is only my speculation, it's not a fact (the part with being done for interest, the technical bit is a FACT!)

EdL321

Nov 16, 2019

They will never fix this, next time you pick a car make sure we vote with our wallet. If MB does not want to update this car with a simple software fix, then I will get audi next time

Nick Bogomolov

Dec 19, 2019

So I am confused - I have an Alfa now and how come my android auto looks nothing like the version from 2018 CES like in that YouTube video posted earlier?

Rob R 6707

Jan 9, 2020

I can understand that the head unit plays in the ability to highest resolution but I don't understand why in my case I am not getting the best resolution with AA.

I have a BMW which came with an 8" screen, I replaced it last week with an aftermarket 10" touch screen. This unit runs Android and I can swap between that and iDrive. If I run Waze natively on the Android screen it looks great, high resolution and full screen. The issue with using it natively is that I need to run a hotspot on my phone in order to tether it. Alternatively, I can plug in my Android phone and it automatically launches AA on the screen. However, it looks terrible, it is low resolution stretched across the screen, circle icons are oval in shape and it's resolution is so bad it is somewhat blurry. On top of that the audio from AA when playing Spotify or using google assistant sounds low quality. Running Spotify natively on the Android screen sounds great. Everything goes through the same Aux so I don't understand the difference in sound quality.

I have enabled developer settings and set video to allow up to 1080 but that did nothing at all. Basically, this is not AA having to deal with auto manufacturers to support high res and wide screen, this is Android with Android and it still can't seem to do it right.

Harangus David

Feb 10, 2020

Ok, colegu😂, but how can i adjust it manualy? I try to make android auto fit megane 4 portret display, do i have any chance or i have to wait for a renault update for r.link 2?

Emil Borconi Szedressy

Gold Product Expert•Original Poster

All About Android Auto

Feb 10, 2020

Sadly(Sajnos,Din pacate) you have to wait for Renault to update the rlink 2 (if they ever)

Harangus David

Feb 10, 2020

I think for many of us the best solution,and the fastest, would be if google will introduce in develop mode more fixed resolution, so we can chose the best for us, for example if i chose 1080p fixed mode it helps a bit , at least 75% of the screen

Last edited Feb 10, 2020

s a 8472

Feb 26, 2020

Hi @Harangus David,

i have r link too. But I don't have a fixed 1024 setting in dev. Mode. Just one saying up to 1024. It is a German program version. In my case it fill approx 50 percent of the screen. I am driving a grand scenic IV from Renault.

Can someone give me a hint please?

Last edited Feb 26, 2020

Paul Belkin

Mar 9, 2020

Well I see that I received no reply showing the picture of my Waze being displayed on AA and it shows that friggin shadow on the top 1/3 of the screen.

As an update, Google Maps does not have the shadow and the drop downs do not block the image after they time out.

Not sure why it retains that area in a shadow but it is a PITA!