"missed it by that much..." - Android Auto and VLC

[timbop]

I was playing with Android Auto tonight, and thought I found a loophole when I saw that VLC was available as an AA app. For those that don't know, VLC is a powerful third party media player available on tons of platforms. I copied an .mp4 to my phone, installed VLC, and checked that it could play the file on my phone. It worked perfectly as a native android app, playing my movie with no issues.

So, I went out to the car, started it in accessory mode, opened AA, selected VLC from the app list and..... it won't even show video files. It will let me select podcasts and audio files, but not my .mp4. I'm guessing the car tells the phone that it cannot play video, so VLC decided to be helpful and not let me choose a file the car says it can't render.

bummer. It would really be nice to play video on the 15" screen to kill 30 to 40 minutes waiting for it charge.

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[sockmeister]

I was playing with Android Auto tonight, and thought I found a loophole when I saw that VLC was available as an AA app. For those that don't know, VLC is a powerful third party media player available on tons of platforms. I copied an .mp4 to my phone, installed VLC, and checked that it could play the file on my phone. It worked perfectly as a native android app, playing my movie with no issues.

So, I went out to the car, started it in accessory mode, opened AA, selected VLC from the app list and..... it won't even show video files. It will let me select podcasts and audio files, but not my .mp4. I'm guessing the car tells the phone that it cannot play video, so VLC decided to be helpful and not let me choose a file the car says it can't render.

bummer. It would really be nice to play video to kill 30 to 40 minutes waiting for it charge.

I know what you mean. But with that infamous $200 car AI box dongle, you can...

 

[JamieGeek]

I was playing with Android Auto tonight, and thought I found a loophole when I saw that VLC was available as an AA app. For those that don't know, VLC is a powerful third party media player available on tons of platforms. I copied an .mp4 to my phone, installed VLC, and checked that it could play the file on my phone. It worked perfectly as a native android app, playing my movie with no issues.

So, I went out to the car, started it in accessory mode, opened AA, selected VLC from the app list and..... it won't even show video files. It will let me select podcasts and audio files, but not my .mp4. I'm guessing the car tells the phone that it cannot play video, so VLC decided to be helpful and not let me choose a file the car says it can't render.

bummer. It would really be nice to play video to kill 30 to 40 minutes waiting for it charge.

Ah but you can and you did: on your phone.

Yeah it'd be nice to see it on that "big screen" but hey...

 

[timbop]

I know what you mean. But with that infamous $200 car AI box dongle, you can...

Ah but you can and you did: on your phone.

Yeah it'd be nice to see it on that "big screen" but hey...

I already have an 8" kindle fire tablet so I'll use that instead, but it's a clunky solution and one more thing to have to keep track of and charge. I think eventually Ford will add the capability while the car is in "park", but it may take time

 

[krazieboy]

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ourite-apps-on-android-auto-painfree.4270013/

This is the workaround.

 

[sockmeister]

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ourite-apps-on-android-auto-painfree.4270013/

This is the workaround.

Ok, now this looks interesting. I'm going to try it out... No-root is a big deal.
Thanks

 

[Luke]

I was playing with Android Auto tonight, and thought I found a loophole when I saw that VLC was available as an AA app. For those that don't know, VLC is a powerful third party media player available on tons of platforms. I copied an .mp4 to my phone, installed VLC, and checked that it could play the file on my phone. It worked perfectly as a native android app, playing my movie with no issues.

So, I went out to the car, started it in accessory mode, opened AA, selected VLC from the app list and..... it won't even show video files. It will let me select podcasts and audio files, but not my .mp4. I'm guessing the car tells the phone that it cannot play video, so VLC decided to be helpful and not let me choose a file the car says it can't render.

bummer. It would really be nice to play video on the 15" screen to kill 30 to 40 minutes waiting for it charge.

I’ve been holding my breath waiting for an OTA that will add that option and access to record the dashcam, before I invest on the Android box to let me play the videos and a 3rd party dashcam. But I'm turning blue already ?

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