Having the phone to your ear while driving is grounds for a fine from DGT, but with Android Auto, being on the phone without awkward postures, taking your hands off the wheel or looking at the road. Actually, there is not just one way to call in Android Auto, but several. Get the most out of your vehicle’s infotainment system and never miss a call.
Old school: with the Phone app
It’s the most intuitive way to call in Android Auto, because in essence It’s the same as doing it on mobile. If you want to call someone, enter the menu where you will see all Android Auto apps on the console and press ‘Phone‘. There you will see your contacts and it will be as easy as tapping on the contact you want to talk to to initiate the call.
The reverse path also does not represent much mystery, a notification appears on your phone’s console screen: so-and-so is calling you. Touch and respond.
with a shortcut
This case uses the Phone app like the previous one, but it speeds up the process because, after all, we usually always call the same people. So instead of going to ‘Contacts’ and scrolling until you find it, it’s more convenient create a shortcut to appear on the general screen as if it were another application.
To do this, follow the path below on your phone: ‘Settings‘ > ‘connected devices‘ > ‘Android-Auto‘ and once there press ‘Customize app menu‘. Then press ‘Add shortcut to applications menu‘ and click ‘call a contact‘. Now all you have to do is choose the contact to appear the next time you connect the phone to your car.
With Google Assistant
Until now, to make calls with Android Auto, we’ve had to resort to touching the car’s console, but not only can you be in the middle of a call with your hands and eyes focused on driving, you can also you can call without touching anything. The key uses a voice command for Google Assistant. It’s as simple as saying something like ‘call x‘.
With WhatsApp (only certain models)
Up to the point above, the means to make and receive calls on Android Auto that any car with this infotainment system and an Android Auto compatible phone can perform. But there’s more: this 2023 Google is implementing different ways of making calls in Android Auto.
At the beginning of January, Google announced some news: WhasApp version 2.23.9.75 adds support for making and receiving calls on WhatsApp with Android Auto, but only if you have the latest generations of Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy (There is no official list of models).
Coming soon: with Zoom and Microsoft Teams
At Google I/O 2023 just a few weeks ago, Google announced the arrival of professional applications such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex on Android Auto in the months to come and with them, these work meetings (but with nuances).
It’s not that you can be present on company video calls while driving (which would be distracting), but simply you can only answer calls in audio mode, since there is no video support. In fact, the interface with which it will display when a call arrives will be similar to that of phone calls.
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