V60 Recharge Ultimate (my23) - Google Automotive is awful

[sk546]

Originally Posted by smithsc

Thats the same as mine, seems like i've fallen lucky having possibly one of the last S60 PE's and having Sensus

The last of the S & V 60 PE's were MY22.5, on the S & V 60's, AAOS didnt get installed until the introduction of MY23 so yes, if you feel that is luck then it is.
The XC60 got AAOS from MY22 and so the last of the XC60 PE's (also a MY22.5) came with AAOS. Having had both Sensus and AAOS, if you take out the lack of functionality with the Volvo App I have found the AAOS a much better, faster and user friendly system (once you have found your way around) than Sensus was. It has its own specific annoyances but dosent everything!!

Enjoy your PE!!

[smithsc]

Originally Posted by sk546

The last of the S & V 60 PE's were MY22.5, on the S & V 60's, AAOS didnt get installed until the introduction of MY23 so yes, if you feel that is luck then it is.
The XC60 got AAOS from MY22 and so the last of the XC60 PE's (also a MY22.5) came with AAOS. Having had both Sensus and AAOS, if you take out the lack of functionality with the Volvo App I have found the AAOS a much better, faster and user friendly system (once you have found your way around) than Sensus was. It has its own specific annoyances but dosent everything!!

Enjoy your PE!!

I'm sure over time the AAOS will be head and shoulders above Sensus but all I hear at the moment is bad things about AAOS.

[dgomes]

Originally Posted by smithsc

I'm sure over time the AAOS will be head and shoulders above Sensus but all I hear at the moment is bad things about AAOS.

I am not so sure...

The way I see it there are some fundamental structural differences between the two systems that make me feel skeptical about that possibility...

1. Sensus is entirely built around the car in order to take full advantages of all its technology and features. In AAOS, we can see clearly that they are struggling even to make what we know is already present in the car accessible to the user...

2. AAOS is a platform that likely has its design algorithms, graphic display objects and and overall user interface built into it in a way that that is the space you have to navigate. It is not clear to me that AAOS will ever have the same refinement and harmony with the whole concept of the luxury of the car that I feel now with Sensus;

3. I am not sure who is in charge of "fitting" and debugging AAOS for the car, but it does not seem like progress is being made at any reasonable rate... It took them more than a year to make Apple CarPlay available, something that today even the most basic popular cars have... And even when they did it, it is still tethered, that is one "generation" past what luxury cars are now offering...

My personal antagonism with it is that for me Sensus transpires all the though and care that was put into its design, harmony and integration with the luxury feel of the car and the driver´s experience on it.

With AAOS, for me, the interface and experience is nothing special... it is almost like the user interface and experience of a cheap popular car... totally opposite to what I have come to expect of the luxury feeling of a modern Volvo...

One way I could describe my current feeling of Volvo's implementation of AAOS is through the picture below...

[Kingmunky]

Originally Posted by ma42

Kingmunky .... are you using AAOS or Sensus? if AAOS, what version do you have? thx

Sensus on a 2017 xc90

[Pablo B]

I've just picked up my T8 XC90 Ultimate Dark and to be honest I love the new AAOS system - one question though....the speed sign recognition was very poor on my way home- is there a setting I can change to improve it? Thanks.

[S90]

I'm soon to take new delivery of a '23 V90 T6 Ultimate. Having had 2 Volvo S90's up to this point with Sensus I was worried about the new AAOS. However, and maybe I'm in the minority, but does it really matter? I listen to music and use sat nav, I use voice commands to call people etc.

Most of the time I don't interact with the centre screen, Im not even interested if a song title isn't displayed, I know what the song is.

I don't need apps in my car, and trust me, I'm a techy. As long as Google maps works well, ACP works for music and calls I don't really care about anything else? Am I weird?

[ma42]

I'm still pursuing AAOS functionality problems with the dealership I bought the car from. They now say that, after checking (presumably with Volvo technical), that "the USB port does not support playing of music".

More alarmingly they state "Volvo blocked the audio wagon app via an update earlier this year. It’s not a bug within the system it’s intentionally blocking it, it was a third party app not something the developers approved".
As Volvo does not supply an app that will play mp3s it looks like a case of cutting of your nose to spite your face.

Meanwhile, I'm gratefully using Audiowagon to play mp3s on a flash drive via a USB port (the one with the white border). It is a bit worrying if it is Volvo's intention to block Audiowagon but not provide an alternative.

AAOS will be implemented on every Volvo. Uniquely, any AAOS or mobile app issues or problems or requests for improvements will be shared across the range. I've asked the forum admins to create a separate heading for AAOS under Technical Topics so that all the experience of different model implementations can be shared and discussed.

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by ma42

It is a bit worrying if it is Volvo's intention to block Audiowagon but not provide an alternative.

I think it's more likely that it's Google that's blocking music via USB. There's no potential revenue stream for them if you listen to your own(ed) music.

Google's entire business (other than storage/cloud computing) is centred around advertising, subscription revenue streams and gathering data about you.

[giftgrub100]

Originally Posted by ma42

I'm still pursuing AAOS functionality problems with the dealership I bought the car from. They now say that, after checking (presumably with Volvo technical), that "the USB port does not support playing of music".

More alarmingly they state "Volvo blocked the audio wagon app via an update earlier this year. It’s not a bug within the system it’s intentionally blocking it, it was a third party app not something the developers approved".
As Volvo does not supply an app that will play mp3s it looks like a case of cutting of your nose to spite your face.

Meanwhile, I'm gratefully using Audiowagon to play mp3s on a flash drive via a USB port (the one with the white border). It is a bit worrying if it is Volvo's intention to block Audiowagon but not provide an alternative.

AAOS will be implemented on every Volvo. Uniquely, any AAOS or mobile app issues or problems or requests for improvements will be shared across the range. I've asked the forum admins to create a separate heading for AAOS under Technical Topics so that all the experience of different model implementations can be shared and discussed.

Some strange information being provided to you, yes the USB was blocked earlier with a software update but that came back with version 2.2 when it was unblocked.

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...=326119&page=7

Details from other users in above link.

You do have other options, like downloading the music to your phone creating playlists and streaming it through bluetooth, using Spotify or Tidal or many of the other music related apps, i think in our connected world things are moving very quickly, not too long ago we would have had a pile of CD's to listen to.

I was an ipod classic user until I got this system and had to switch to using the podcast app on the phone to listen to my weekly fix, while the system is not perfect its got some good features that take time to adjust to and make the most of.

[ma42]

For some reason, although I can connect my Android phone OK, I can't stream music unless I initiate on the phone.
I don't use spotify or tidal or any other streaming service and I don't want to have advertising if using the free versions. I have a large collection of mp3s and, as I have in most previous cars of the last 15 years, want to continue to listen to my own collection. It isn't rocket science and I find it hard to believe or unreasonable to expect in a £50K+ car that it is such a problem to be able to use a USB port or for Volvo to provide an app to play mp3s from a flash drive.