Android auto, if you do not use google apps or music players, is useless. It only allows google apps and some music players to display on your car's screen.
That's not true, I've used both Whatsapp and Telegram via Android Auto before. Besides navigation/media/communication, what kind of applications do you think would be useful to have with Android Auto anyways?
Correct. Android Auto – itself - requires Play Services. Regardless, support for Android Auto gets OSM a brand new market. If they support CarPlay (and MirrorLink, if that’s still being put into cars), better still.
I think this has been true for a long time, but is no longer true. There's actually now multiple navigation apps for Android Auto that are not from Google.
I don't personally use Android Auto at the moment, but I felt pretty similarly about Apple Carplay as well, though the ecosystem for it has improved as well. The one thing I really like about Apple Carplay more than Android Auto (at least last time I used Android Auto) was that Android Auto could only control audio apps that were supported by Android Auto, whereas Apple Carplay can control anything that has iOS player controls on the lockscreen. I really wish Android Auto would support that in some way, just for convenience.
Some additional things may work if you go to developer options from the android auto hamburger menu and enable "unknown sources". This is especially relevant if you install things from f-droid.
Thanks for this advice! There are several apps I use from f-droid (osmand, Voice audiobook player, antennapod) that could potentially benefit here. I've had to switch to the play store version of the ones I care about.
