Do privacy focused phones have such a service? What maps and music apps do they use if such a thing exists?
Apple and CarPlay are your best bets if you want something easily supported and commercially available while not sharing so much information with Google and advertisers in general. I know Apple gets a ton of hate, but they seem to care about privacy more than most tech companies.
For mapping applications, Apple Maps, HERE, or ODMAND are decent options that seem to respect your privacy.
Music-wise, you could use the built-in Apple Music app and load your own music in with iTunes or pay for the subscription if that’s your thing.
Edit: Downvoting me because you dislike Apple doesn’t make me wrong. I’m not even a big fan of the company. Grow up and present a better alternative that benefits and fits OP, ya goobers.
Edit 2: Also fun fact since this is a privacy-focused community. Instance admins can query who took what voting action on a post/set of posts. I don’t care enough to bother with setting up my own, but its easy to get caught if your are using the same accounts to manipulate votes. Also an avenue for identifying who you are or for an interested party to learn more about you. Stay safe out there!
I don’t think Apple cares about privacy, I think it’s just a convenient selling point since they don’t have an advertising program. That said, they are less intrusive than Google by a mile.
They make a much larger effort than most tech companies out there. It’s substantially harder for an interested third party to get information from an iPhone user unless they have apps installed that allow for it. I’ve had clients complain about the lack of data they get from apple users compared to android, but there’s still identifiers like location from cell towers or wireless providers that can’t really be avoided.
I do fully expect Apple to buckle on their privacy stances the moment it becomes unprofitable though.
Apple’s business isn’t built around advertising. That’s literally the biggest reason is better to use than any google product.
If you need a level of privacy that goes beyond even Apple’s abstraction of location data, then you’re best off not connecting a smart phone to a car at all, and using offline maps.
Fully agree! Thankfully I don’t need that level of privacy lol
Yeah if privacy is a concern I seriously doubt Apple products are a good answer.
I think they weren’t implying it’s the best option, just that it’s the lesser evil. You can definitely go for some other foss options or a separate satnav entirely, but Apple Carplay works on most cars without requiring additional software or tools. Obviously OP will have to buy an iPhone.
This. Since OP was asking about android auto alternatives, there really aren’t any out there that I can think of other than CarPlay, which is Apple.
If privacy is a concern, don’t buy a smartphone or a car that connects to the internet. There isn’t a car OS or smartphone out there that is truly private. If you’ve got google services on your phone or are on a cell plan that’s tied to your name, your location and quite a substantial amount of identifiers make it easy for an interested party to track you.
I use organic maps and it has worked great for me. I believe it uses the same map data as osmand so they should be effectively the same, but I like organic maps enough that I feel its worth mentioning.
Thank you for mentioning this, just tried it and will be using it!
I’m not sure you’re being downvoted just because of the Apple dislike nor because of Apple’s blatant disregard to our privacy, but, instead, for answering ‘Apple’ when the OP asked about ‘Android’. Maybe a little for calling us ‘goobers’ hahaha
They said an alternative to Android Auto, which CarPlay is. They didn’t specify an Android-comparable alternative to Android Auto. I mentioned the goober thing after I got the 5 downvotes.
Btw nice username :)
Good point. I read it as they want an alt to Google’s Android Auto on an Android-compatible phone. But maybe they meant an alt to Google’s Android Auto on any phone. I just assumed that they would have asked for an alt for Apple’s CarPlay if they were on iPhone and Google’s Android Auto if they were on Android. Now, I’m the goober hahahaha
Thanks! On stock Android, if you dial that phone number (don’t press Call), you’ll be greeted with a little Easter Egg hahaha
There’s OpenStreetMap for maps, and Bluetooth audio for music.
There’s OpenStreetMap for maps
What alternative to Android Auto is compatible with OpenStreetMap? Since OP asked for an alternative, and what maps app works with that alternative.
Organic maps, is what I use.
I don’t know if you’re replying to the right person or if there is a language barrier. I don’t think Organic Maps is an alternative to Android Auto. Organic Maps is an alternative to Google Maps.
OP is asking for an alternative to Android Auto, and for a maps app that works on that alternative.
Sorry, more of lack of detail on my side. In my mind the map app is a part of the work flow. The voice assistant working over Bluetooth is the next piece, and finally button UI control and the VUI.
Unfortunately I haven’t seen anything like mimic 3 for Android or full something like full Mycroft replacement of the Google assistant VUI controls.
I mean placing your phone in one of those car holders or having someone else hold it. It may not be entirely as convenient as having it displayed on a built-in screen, but it’s Google-free and works. I don’t think there are any full software alternatives, because to my knowledge, the car has to allow apps to access the monitor, so you can’t just have any app there. Whatever other things Android Auto does, you should be able to do with just your phone.
I guess the alternative is to get something to hold your phone in place.
Android head unit that doesn’t have mobile data. You’ll basically have a full phone in your car but it doesn’t have any way to connect to Google
How does it connect to maps and streaming services then?
They can tether to your phones data
What prevents them from using tethered data to connect to the mothership?
A car sat nav, and something like GrapheneOS does hands free calling. Not sure if you can sync music through it as I haven’t tried yet.
I think the individual items are probably workable, but an integrated experience, possibly not.
Even car sat nav is an iffy subject. If you car has a data connection, there’s good odds that someone is harvesting that data.
For example, I’ve heard GMC happily sells OnStar data to the lowest bidder - it comes anonymized and aggregated but it’s hard to believe they aren’t collecting it in a less anonymous fashion.
How about Garmin?
Their Smartwatches are recommenced in Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included. I cannot imagine their sat navs have an issue. Especially older models.
Garmin’s very solid at keeping your info private from most third parties. Should be safe from anything outside of a valid law enforcement request as long as you aren’t syncing with another service.
It’s not a 100% solution, but many head units will have hdmi input, but you might have to accidentally install the head unit in a way that bypasses the parking brake interlock for it to work while driving. Most phones can utilize a USB-C to hdmi adapter for screen mirroring, although touch data won’t be sent to the phone.
Apple Car Play won’t share anything with Google as long as you don’t use Google apps on the iOS device. 🤣
Edit: meant to reply to OP.
Just curious, can Google apps still do cross app tracking if you check the do not track option on ios devices?
yea its called a map and CDs
And refolding a map is easier than navigating those psychotic infotainment thingies.
A cheap 32gb MP3 player hooked up to the AUX port on your old car radio is almost as lo-tech as CDs but allows you a much much easier experience.
I keep a GPS in my car in case of emergency, but I try to plan my trips ahead by memorising landmarks on OSM. As a species, we are losing our navigation skills.
We used to cross Europe with just a small piece of paper attached to the dash with the names of the cities we’d roughly cross and it worked.
i fesl you
There is no real alternative Only kinda alternatives by having a private maps Application
I think your best bet would be to get either a head unit that has full android on it or an Android tablet and then side loading the apps you would like to use
a head unit that has full android on it
Is that still a thing these days?! I feel like I haven’t seen one in many years. Everything seems to just integrate Android Auto instead.
I’m sure it’s still possible on certain cars, but they’re getting harder and harder to find as more and more companies move from the standardized head unit sizes and over to the tablet-style interfaces.
If you want an integrated setup you can either roll your own in car computer or use the apple stuff.
If you can tolerate the 90s style system then a secondhand gps (do your research) and an mp3 player connected to your stereo and the little clip that holds your phone in front of the vent works.
